EDITOR'S LETTER: December 2013

This coat I found at The ARTisan Cafe at Stoney Point Shopping Center is a wonderful find that is on my wishlist this Christmas! In my fashion, this unique coat says everything I need it to say about me, and I absolutely love the jewel detail on the sleeve. It's intricate, subtle and gorgeously made (all the qualities I am about, if I do say so myself). 

Now that we are officially into the 2013 Holiday Season, tis the season for exuberance! In my fashion, this is the most glamorous time of the year for everyone. When it comes to holiday parties, family gatherings, and the celebration of the New Year, this is the time to be as decadent as possible. It's all about dressing to impress, and what's more impressive than over the top jewelry. This holiday season, your jewelry says everything! All around me I am noticing that the style that stands out the most is all about jewels, and embellishment, and regalia - adorning oneself with fantasy. In my fashion, what is sexy in the summer is skin; but during the winter, jewelry is the new skin. In the cold we are all covered in layers of clothes, so how else is one suppose to catch the eye of that boy across the room at a holiday dinner party. Don't be afraid to think out of the ordinary with how you wear jewelry this season (especially wearing jewels in one's hair as suggested in the December 2013 issue of Vogue). That's why I am so excited to feature the Swarovski Elements Horoscope Calendar in my READing Your Style Series on Astrology. In my fashion, they are excellent visual inspiration for one's imagination as we ponder the extent to which we can create uniquely regal looks for oneself during the holidays.

In my fashion, I am sure I would attract many head turns, and I would be happy to tell anyone to visit The ARTisan Cafe to find other ethnic inspired clothes, accessories, artwork, made by local artists. I will be posting more of some of the merchandise you can buy from the store on my Instagram. Hint: A great place for unique gift ideas!

As you know, #IMFblog is always about thinking outside the box, and how to be 100% unique. With my recent fascination in the zodiac, the point I am trying to send home this month is that by delving deeper into our zodiac and gaining a deeper understanding of our astrological influences, one may be able to conjure even more clever and unique looks to shine above everyone else and say exactly what we want our look to say about ourselves. I love when people want to know why I am wearing a certain item. I think with clothes we should always aim to show people something they haven't seen before. It's about generating intrigue in oneself, and gravitating the people whom you can create a dialogue with. I like when I get to go into detail about why I am wearing an item because it allows me to express my point of view and the way I see the world. Its empowering to know that others are interested in who you are, and in many situations it helps to create greater connections between the people we meet. In my fashion, life is all about learning from other people. Nothing we wear is an accident, and the clothes we put on tell a certain story about ourselves and explains what we are all about. One exudes strength in character when there is a certain intention put into the look we put together for ourselves; that strength of character is what I like to call, style. Hopefully, the stories I share this month about each sign of the zodiac proves entertaining enough for you to inspire world-shaking conversation with old family members, new friends, and potential mates. The idea is to not only impress with your jewelry, but also to go as far to impress others with whats on your brain.

READing Your Style: The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need

Going back to The 10 Rules to Live By which I focused on last year in December, my focus on Astrology this year in December piggybacks on the notion that by understanding our true selves, we can work towards allowing our strengths to flourish, as well as understand our problem areas associated with our personality type. The behavioral psychologist, Carl Jung, who pioneered the concept of the 16 personallty types for the The 10 Rules to Live By is said to have believed in the concept of astrological influence having said this: "We are born at a given moment, in a given place, and like vintage years of wine, we have the qualities of the year and of the season in which we are born." All this month I have been doing research to bring to #IMFblog on the science of Astrology. When I suggested in my last Serious Style post, Too Fat, Too Thin - Will We Ever Be Content?, that looking at a profile of your Sun sign might be a eye opening method of self-discovery, I decided to do a little investigating on my own to support the validity of my suggestion. With all the speculation surrounding Astrology, and because it has been substantially unsupported by scientific research, I wanted to find the reasons why it is that Astrological claims can be so accurate in accordance to the questions we have about our lives. Why is it that a lot of people find their personality traits to match the profiles of their astrological Sun sign? All this past month I have been reading, 'The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need' by Joanna Martine Woolfolk, to tap the origins of Astrology and find out what makes Astrology valid. Historically, for over 5000 years, Astrology is one of the oldest living sciences, and was highly regarded in ancient civilizations. Ancient astrologers charted the movement of planets and stars, and made predictions about eclipses, upheavals, famine, and fortune, and Astrology was inextricably linked to religion. The patterns that the stars form in the heavens were given names and worshiped as gods. With all twelve signs of the zodiac put together, we are able to see a picture of human beings - our bodies, minds, and emotions, and of all the surrounding world in which we live. Hundreds of years before the time of Christ, Greek philosophers formulated the theory of Man in Microcosm,  in that the human is the miniature version of the cosmos, and by charting the heavens at the time of your birth, Astrology can serve as a stairway leading into your deeper self. Many people will read the profile of their Sun sign and say, "This does not describe me accurately, " and dismiss Astrology, but knowing what your Sun sign is just a piece of the puzzle. There are other factors at work that account for the differences we have in our personality compared to whatever Sun sign we are associated with. Woolfolk's book tells you all you should know about the whole topic of astrology in which you will learn about Sun signs, Moon signs, Ascendants, Planets, and Houses, and how these factors interact to shape your life. What I aim to do in this coming month is focus on the story of Astrology by highlighting the legend behind each sign. To me, this understanding will help you to understand the origins of your planetary influences in your life and figure why our zodiac profile describes the personalty traits that are strongest within our individual selves. Like I said before, understanding our Sun sign is a small piece of understanding the whole of ourselves, and Woolfolk's book gives a better understanding of how to understand ourselves through the jigsaw that is Astrology. In my fashion, the legend behind each sign could be used as clever inspiration to use as representative of our personality in our everyday looks.

German Vogue and SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS teamed up to produce a series of images for a 2013 Horoscope Calendar

For a clearer understanding of the ways which you can represent your zodiac through your fashion is through the Swarovski Elements Horoscope Calendar. Swarovski Elements is a brand of the Swarovski franchise that specializes in providing creative talents in the world of fashion, jewelry, accessories, interior design and lighting with the latest on-trend crystal innovations. Swarovski represents one of the best in jewelry design, and this holiday season, with the trend I am seeing in elaborate jewelry design, their Horoscope Calendar images make perfect visual focus for this upcoming zodiac series. For the past few years, they have partnered with German Vogue to create a series of images for the coming years Horoscope Calendar. In my fashion, the images shot by an amazing photographer, Lado Alexi, are breathtaking! Above you will see the Vogue Covers for each month in 2013, but to represent the coming posts for this series I chose to feature his work from the 2012 calendar to depict each of the signs I will highlight this month. Check out the video below to see the making of the 2012 calendar, and then take a look at the Making of 2013 Calendar to stay up to date on this campaign. I am sure the 2014 calendar is currently in the making.