Street Style: Tony Triumph for Mari J Brooklyn.

Photos by Artist, Fashion Writer and Street Photographer: Mari J Brooklyn.

 Well known by a horde of melodramatic "clubkids", "Soho Celebrity's" and plenty of the popular connoisseurs to NYC's hip local sets, Mari J. Brooklyn has become a public figure by way of her chic personal style. Bringing a great deal of appreciation to the gimmick of paparazzi, Mari J. captures a broad range of street fashion which scales from elite figureheads to hip socialites over to fashion stylist, and dozens of aspiring models.

Just as soon as I arrived on set and we had all of our first time "size-ups", "hello's" and "how you doin's?" out of the way Mari and I got straight down to business.

Caption: Right, Mari J. Brooklyn is certainly the cool chick amidst many of NYC's hottest functions.

As we began to coast along Manhattans South Street Seaport and connected through varying decree's of mutual friends, Mari J. eventually opened up about her vision and by way suggested that I tackle a "rough and raw" urban look. She imposed that shooting me this way would suit me quite well being that my portfolio was so clean and didn't really have anything too "natural" going on anyway. Yet deep down inside my mind was scratching for anything but natural for that day. In the back of my thoughts I wanted to run, scream, jump back in a cab and hide like a little bitch wimp. If you know me personally then you know good and well how I feel about a bad photo! Not to mention for this particular day I was only working on about 5 hours of sleep and defintely relying on some good ole' natural man make-up to rid me of my sleepy eyes. Eh, whatever- I got over it.

To begin with, we condensed a few shots for the online magazine, Universe Magazine which Mari J. Brooklyn exclusively handles the street-style section for. Shout-out to my dear friend designer Jedda Kahn for allowing me snatch up his limited edition bear chain before hand. Moved along by my gritted expressions and this seemingly new and unused character of mine, Mari and I sparked a fresh conversation on modeling vs acting. We agreed that with modeling growing more and more lucrative every year that the acting world was truly where the mainstream success was. A place where respectable earnings flourish. Real money that today's "Supermodel" will probably never ever see but yesterday's Supermodel rightfully demanded. Even though modeling remains a deep passion of mine after all these years, this new comparison has definitely gotten my mind buzzing. Mari J. Brooklyn has definitely got me more then ready to throw-up my a middle finger to those generic "Model-Turned-Actor" cliche's!

Hoodie: The Gap     Jacket: Diesel    

Jeans: Ksubi Jeans     Shirt: Topshop(London)

Chain: Jedda Kahn Collection    Watch: Kenneth Cole    Bracelet: Redd Merge Accessories

Shoes: Converse Special Edition high-tops.

As the thought of expanding on this additional chapter in my career grows on me I can't help but get excited as it's generally been of ease for me to gain small walk-on roles in the past. This is all humbly speaking of course.

Based upon my shoot with Mary J. Brooklyn, couldn't you all see me rocking it out in a plethora of street drama's like The Warrior's, The Wire, Law & Order, and Brooklyn's Finest?

Well, I guess we'll find out. ;-)

Check out my feature on: UniverseMagazine here.
You can also dig into my past appearance on ABC's hit show: Ugly Betty here.

Catch the rest of our shoot photo's below.

 

 

TRIUMPH

Smile 4 Style: Preakness Power!

With the Kentucky Derby behind us and the 2011 Preakness right down the block, this week we're prescribing you a well-matched touch for a posh, fresh and dapper distinction. With only 5 days to get ready for a fabulous day in Baltimore, Tamira Wells drops us in on her top-tier recommendations.

*The Scoop: 136th Annual Preakness. Pimilico Race Track, Baltimore, MD. Reservations: 1-877-206-8042, ext. 300. Website: www.preakness.com/

Ms. Preakness

Button Front Tops by Topshop
Sandals by Jimmy Choo

The Fly Jock

Shorts by J.Crew
Boots by Ben Sherman

Get The Look!

More Diane von Furstenberg...

The Scoop!

Smile 4 Style: "Futuristic Pride" and the "Rich Girl Stride".

This week, our fashion-stylist Tamira Wells:

...dazzles our lady's into mid-Spring through some "Futuristic Pride" and a "Rich Girl Stride".

 Asymmetrical Bling for a 'Rich Girl' Spring.

An asymmetrical blend of futuristic trends.

Pumps by D&G
Earrings at Max & Chloe

....and Tony Triumph for the fella's:

....pairs the civility's of city life to a judicious lady's man and his sleek, easy-going charm.

The Analytical Lady's Man and his sleek charm.

Sportcoats by Alexander McQueen
Dress Shoes by D&G

*All items purchasable by clicking above photos to be re-directed to Shopstyle.

*Tamira Wells is a Baltimore, MD born fashion stylist located in Los Angeles, California. Get in touch here: Tamirawells@gmail.com

Fashionably,

The Scoop!

Double Strut: Naomi Cambell and Beyonce Tag-team Gucci Spring/Summer 2011.

Many ask: Who rocked it better?

Stylist just can't seem to keep their hands off this African and bead inspired number from Gucci's Spring/Summer 2011 campaign.

FYI: Beyonce wore it first for the March 2011 cover of L'Officiel.

Now: Naomi Campbell rocks the same dress for Vogue Japan's current June 2011 issue.

Regardless of any illegitimate intentions to a head-match of 'best body types', or maybe even a hysterical and quite contrary relation to Beyonce and any 'Naomi Campbell Walk' anguish, and regardless of who you feel as though rocked it better(most of the blogosphere unanimously crowned Campbell the winner) we can't possibly overlook the immeasurable fan-base and admiration that BOTH of these beauty's fulfill to our community's. With two international magazines catering to two different markets and two international icons dwelling at the top of two very different industry's, who knows the true reason behind this dress and it's multiple cover shots. What we do know is that Eastern cultures such as Asia do have a bizarre interest in duplication(hence the origin of designer knock-off's) especially trends they've already seen done within the western world such as Europe and America. Who knows if it was deliberate or not, or if L'Officiels Beyonce cover was even on Vogue Japans radar. Yet at the end of the day it's definitely a topic to raise an eyebrow, voice an opinion or even make you go 'hmmm'.

Your vote: Who do you think rocked it better? Let us know in the comments.

JUST IN: Beyonce's official "Move Your Body" music video was released today! How coincidental, a re-make of everybody's favorite clubtrack, "Get me bodied" as mentioned in the above story. Due to it's friendly, kid fit theme the Beyonce fan favorite antics such as "Snap for the kid's" and the "Naomi Campbell walk" weren't re-sampled. Big-ups on the comeback Bey....and those moves!

Peace!

Triumph