Khalilah Williams-Webb, stylist, image consultant, and owner of Shirley + Alice

Baltimore, Maryland native Khalilah Williams-Webb is known for bringing style to the sidelines. She styles some of sports’ biggest names in the game (and fashion), most notably Carmelo Anthony. But Khalilah is more than that, much more. When she’s not hunting for size 14 shoes and extra-long trousers she works as a stylist for power players like Carol’s Daughter founder Lisa Price, and an image consultant for brands like Samsung and Foot Locker. Most recently she took on the role of shopkeeper at her new boutique, Shirley + Alice, (named for her fashionable grandmothers) in the legendary neighborhood of Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. She’s come a long way from cocktail waitressing and working the floor at Express and Tommy Hilfiger.

We caught up with Khalilah to learn more about what propels her success and the motivation behind her new retail venture.

Madame Noire: Where does your love for fashion come from?

Khalilah Williams-Webb: My mother and my grandmothers. As a young child, they use to bring me along with them as they shopped; shopping and dressing me up as a child! It honestly came so naturally because I grew up around it!

MN: You’re widely known for styling Carmelo Anthony, but you have a lot going on! Describe what your brand entails and what guides you when pursuing new ventures.

KW: My brand entails styling, imaging consulting, and running a my new boutique. But most importantly, maintaining my image as a great mom, wife, and family figure. When pursuing new ventures I love to be challenged.

MN: With so many ventures pulling from your creativity, how do you stay inspired to come up with fresh ideas?

KW: I strongly believe in taking  time out to refresh and rebuild!  But I also do a lot of research and draw inspiration from old movies, magazines, etc. I also have to give credit to my great team. We collectively come up with creative ideas to be ahead of the game.

MN: What prompted you to make the move into retail?

KW: It has been a dream of mine to open a vintage store since I moved to NYC two years ago.When my husband Richard and I found out we were expecting a baby,  I made the decision to slow down with styling, and to put my energy into my love for vintage. I began hosting trunk shows, first in my husband’s gallery, “House of Art”,  then in a mansion converted to a school (the ambiance was perfect). I started to realize with the amount of inventory I amassed and the demand, I needed a storefront.

MN: Do you approach styling men differently than dressing women?

KW: My approach to styling is no different. I make to adhere to what the client is looking for, and put my own twist to it.

MN: How is Shirley + Alice different from the other vintage boutiques that populate Brooklyn?

KW: I wanted a boutique that had a cozy and homely feel; as if  you are playing dress up at your girlfriends house or your mother’s closet as we all did as a kid. A place where you could feel welcome, have a glass of wine, conversation and do what women want to do most — shop! I want it to be an experience, not just a place to buy a piece of clothing.

It’s an understood rule among black women that it is impolite to walk up and stick your hand in someone’s hair without permission. But a new art exhibit in New York is breaking the rules.

In something like a social experiment three black women, one with loose, curly natural hair, one with locks and another with a relaxer, stood on a corner holding signs that read “You Can Touch My Hair.”

The exhibit was the idea of hair blogger Antonia Opiah. In an interview with the Huffington Post she said:

Black hair is unique. It requires different care techniques and routines. And in a country where we primarily see commercials for white hair products and magazines that mainly cover white beauty topics and TV shows that mainly feature white characters, we, and those curious about us, have to find information about our hair from other sources.It’s easy to cite the media as the cause for underexposure to the various cultures of America. The media definitely plays a huge role. But another factor is the lack of the right kind of curiosity across the American population.

The exhibit ran today and will run again tomorrow, June 8 from 2-4pm in New York City’s Union Square.

What do you think about this exhibit do you feel it places black women on display for mainstream consumption or is this a good way to promote discussion?

Source: WENN

Before the days of Basketball Wives, Love & Hip Hop and Real Housewives of Atlanta, reality TV junkies like myself indulged in  dating shows like Flavor of Love. Although the days of FOL have come and gone, a few of the show’s breakout stars have made their marks on the entertainment world. During a recent interview with Spoken Entertainment, one of FOL’s most successful and popular candidates, Tiffany Pollard aka New York, revealed that she’s planning to return to reality television very soon. She also discussed how she feels about her former co-stars and being a Christian. Check out a bit of what she had to say below.

On returning to reality television:

“I’ve been long awaiting a hearty healthy return to reality television. And the concept would have to fit my life and where it is right now.  Fortunately, three weeks ago…I shot a pilot with a brilliant production crew.  The concept is bananas.  When you guys see this.  It’s like…we couldn’t have accepted her back in any other way.  It’s true HBIC performance.  It’s coming!”

On why she’s not interested in doing Bad Girls Club:

“It’s not that I’m against that…but they already got that going. Why would they need me over there?”

On her former FOL co-stars:

“Obviously Flav and I and a lot of the other contestants are busy.  But if we see each other out somewhere…it’s all love.  We all support each other. If I see somebody from the past doing their thing on television I don’t throw shade.  To tell you the truth, there’s only so many spotlights on television so if you can jump into one of them, I’m applauding you.”

On finding love:

“Honey chile…I will say this.  There is somebody in my life. And he is a big part of it.  He influences me daily.  I keep it real private…and that’s why it works.  Sometimes when you moving in certain circles people try to infiltrate that love and test it.”

On being a Christian: 

“I am a Christian.  But I’m not a scary Christian.  God inspires me.  His whole gospel was to give back to people and to care about mankind.  I do a lot of humanitarian work.  Of course that does not get picked up, but when you do it from your heart….you’re not looking for recognition.”

Derrick Salters/WENN.com

Sure, she’s in the midst of filming Think Like A Man Too and is the star of BET’s new scripted show, Being Mary Jane, but Gabrielle Union isn’t stopping there.

According to BlackFilm.com, the actress just signed on to play in comedian/actor Chris Rock’s new film.  In the film Finally Famous, Union will play a reality show television star who is engaged to Chris Rock’s character.

For his part, Rock will play a comedian-turned-actor who is trying to be taken seriously as an actor – while being a recovering alcoholic. Union, dying to become a bigger star, tries to convince him that the best way for both of their stars to shine is if they get married on the reality show.

Actress Rosario Dawson will also be in the film and plays a journalist who has a little “personal” chemistry with Rock.

Gabrielle Union is super busy these days, which is great considering we hadn’t seen her in any roles for a while prior to her 2012 appearance in Think Like A Man.  You often hear that celebrity women get fewer roles as they get older but for Union, who turned 40 in October, she seems to have hit a great stride.

Finally Famous, directed by Chris Rock and produced by Scott Rudin, will begin filming this summer in New York City.

The phrase ratchet reality star almost sounds repetitious since there are few, if any, individuals on reality TV with redeeming qualities  But these stars here are some of the most notorious on the tube, and quite honestly, the worst 15-minute celebs we’ve seen in the past few years.

Source: Blog.Vh1

Stevie J

To put it simply, Stevie J is scum and think he’s God. Sorry to break it to you Stevie J, but you’re just ratchet. He has no respect for women and makes everything a joke (remember his strip club threats?) I feel sorry for Mimi and Joseline. They have a problem on their hands forever.

(Photo by Arthur Mola/Invision/AP)

Even if you’re not, it’s coming to television and should be interesting.

If you’ll recall, last year, Rihanna invited 150 journalists and bloggers as well as 50 fans with her on a “quick” tour to support her album Unapologetic. It was called “777″ because she did seven shows in seven countries in seven days. Madness, right?

Right.

After only a couple of days, many of the people on the planes praised and slammed all the debauchery on the plane. Rihanna is well known for her heavy touring schedule so while it may not have been much for her, it proved a bit much for those who came along for the ride.

In the trailer for the documentary that airs on Monday, May 6th on Fox, you see some people doing “confessionals” in which they admit that it could be considered fun but it is a lot on the body.

You can hear Rihanna in a voiceover saying, “Why did I think this was a good idea?” That was probably the question on everyone’s mind, including the  air staff, because rumors swirled that tempers clashed quite often on the week-long trip.

Check out the documentary clip below. Will you be checking out “777?” Would you have joined in on that tour experience?

Joseph Marzullo/WENN

Who knew that returning to Broadway after a 30 year hiatus would result in a Tony Award nomination?

Such is the case for the legendary Cicely Tyson.  The actress has not graced the “Great White Way” since her role as “Miss Moffat” in The Corn is Green but she is now being recognized for her work in A Trip To Bountiful, which is produced by New York Knicks’ star Tyson Chandler. Miss Tyson has been nominated for “Best Actress In A Leading Role In A Play.”

Although, she’s worked on Broadway since the 1950s, this is her first nomination in any capacity according to Black Voices.  The Emmy Award winner and Academy Award nominee rounds out the nominations for The Trip to Bountiful, as it has also been nominated for “Best Revival of a Play,” “Best Set Design,” and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play,” where Condola Rashad is nominated.

It is amazing that at age 88 (allegedly), Cicely Tyson still takes command of all her roles. As most of us know, she appears to be a permanent fixture in most of Tyler Perry’s “Madea” movies. It is also good to see a few people of color being recognized at the Tony Awards when we know it is often a “whitewash.”

Congrats to Cicely Tyson and to all the nominees!

Even though Alicia Keys just released a new music video for the sultry jam, “Fire We Make” with Maxwell last week, there’s no stopping the girl now, as she just dropped the video for her Swizz Beatz and Dr. Dre-produced jam, “New Day.” (Not to be confused with the 50 Cent song that her vocals were featured on, as well as Dr. Dre’s.) Guess she finally realized that “Girl On Fire” had its moment and it was time to move on like five months ago.

In the video, the beautiful singer can be seen meeting up with her background dancers in an ally to bust a move, doing so in a hot bustier-type beaded top and black pants (can we agree that her hair these days is just fabulous??). She’s also seen in concert performing the song while flashing images of New York City go by and an image of her face, lyrics to the track, and the title of the song is slowly but surely spray painted on a wall. It’s definitely a fashionable video and it makes me appreciate the song a bit more, but I’ll probably stick to “Fire We Make” for now, just because Maxwell is my husband and what not…

But anywho, check out the video below and let us know what you think. Is it a pass or play?

Which song would you like to see her make into a video next from her Girl on Fire album?

WENN.com

Just as I was thinking that the Kardashian’s have been flying under the radar as of late, news comes out that Kris Jenner — the momager matriarch of the clan — is about to be front and center once again. When we first reported on the possibility of Kris getting her own talk show it was just that, a possibility, but according to The Hollywood Reporter this is really happening and there’s even a debut date for the new show: July 15. Unfortunately, that’s not much time to mentally prepare.

The talk show, simply titled Kris, will be “Pop-culture driven” according to THR, and will feature celebrity guests, fashion and beauty trends, and discussions on lifestyle issues. Fox, which recently decided to dabble in the land of talk shows, is the network behind this new venture and has ordered a six-week test run that will air on Fox-owned stations in New York, Los Angeles, and beyond. If enough people tune in to Kris during that time, the test-run could turn into a nationally syndicated talk show that could air as soon as fall 2014 and would be produced by Twentieth TV. Robert Lifton, the executive producer of the one-hour talk show, seems to think that’s a likely possibility, telling THR:

“Kris has an incredible ability to connect with television viewers, demonstrates a wide range of interests and can successfully embrace light fare and conversation. She has a fantastic chance to be a true breakout personality in the daytime television space.”

And let’s not forget she has Kim. As long as people are interested in her daughter, her soon-t0-be-born grandchild, and her one-day-maybe son-in-law Kanye West, Kris will likely never have to worry about ratings. So, yeah, basically that Kardashian reign just won’t let up.

Would you watch her talk show?