Apega/WENN.com

Read any blog, check any fashion site and you will almost always see someone say, “If I could just rock the Halle ____.”

Well, get ready because there is a chance you may be able to get a piece of Halle Berry in your closet.

According to EURweb, the actress will soon be coming out with her own shoe line. Berry will be working with Germain retailer Deichmann Shoes to release some shoes in line with what the Cover Girl would rock on her feet.

The line, “5th Avenue by Halle Berry” are described as being fashionable yet comfortable shoes bound to fit the lifestyles of all women (soccer moms, working moms, corporate women, fashion savvy women, etc…).

Halle, being a fashionable, busy and working mom, knows that there are often two things really important to women: their hair their shoes.

“Women have always loved shoes. It’s like if your hair is not right and your shoes are not right, the woman is not right. If both of them are right, you’re pretty much OK”

5th Avenue by Halle Berry will consist of 40 limited edition designs and will starting being available by the end of the month.

Another upside? The shoes will start at $60. Now, we don’t know what those shoes will look like but with only 40 pairs, the prices likely won’t get too far out of hand if you see a pair you like.

The possible down side? The shoes are only being released in the UK. There’s been no word from Deichmann Shoes as to whether or not they’ll be available to order online and ship to the United States.  If not, I guess we’ll just be looking at pictures online.

Good for Halle. This sounds like it was possibly something really fun for her to do!

Would you buy a pair if you saw some you liked?

Source: Sugarscope.com

Although Kelly Rowland announced that she was quitting the “X Factor” UK due to increasing demands from TV chiefs, Kelly’s reportedly finding out that those demands were intentional to push her out as a judge and she is not happy.

Kelly is said to be fuming over the fact that the show’s execs treated her the way they did so that they could go after former judge Danni Minogue and convince her to make a comeback to the program. Though the “Motivation” singer cited “global commitments” and “scheduling issues” as the reason for her departure, it seems her bosses were less than impressed with her, particularly after she flew back to America during last season to carry out another job when she should have been mentoring her contestants. Requesting that her pay be tripled to come back for a second season didn’t help either. Confirming news that she would not be returning, Kelly said:

“I love the UK and being part of the show last year. Mentoring the girls was such an incredible experience I will never forget.  I would like to thank Simon for the great opportunity and asking me to be a judge last season.”

Only Kelly and the TV execs know what went on for sure but if we see Danni Minogue back next season we can probably assume it’s true the “X Factor” wanted Kelly out. As they say in showbiz (or on Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3 album), on to the next one.

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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Source: Sandra Rose

Kim Kardashian must be hated in the UK as much as she is here in the US because she got a nasty surprise when she walked the red carpet for the launch of her new fragrance, True Reflection.

An obviously disgruntled—and prepared—onlooker tossed an entire bag of white flour at the reality TV star and, well, you see the damage that was done. Surprisingly, Kim wasn’t mad.

“That probably is the craziest, unexpected, weird thing that ever happened to me,” Kim told the network that pays her bills, E!. “Like I said to my makeup artist, I wanted more powder and that’s a whole lot of translucent powder right there,” she said, laughing off the situation.

The woman tried to run away after the stunt but Kim’s rep held her and she was escorted away by police. Although Kim didn’t want to press charges, a non-criminal battery report was still filed. Later, the woman was released as Kim popped back into her London hotel to change and get back on the carpet.

While we could probably think of a million reasons why the woman targeted Kim, some members of the media said they heard the woman grumbling about fur. Could it be that PETA strikes again?!

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Source: Global 14

Now last time The Dream spoke out about singers, ya’ll weren’t feeling his claim that R&B dudes have been trying to steal his sound, but this time he may actually have a point about music today.

In an interview with the Guardian in the UK, he spoke about the transfer of soul from the R&B genre to artists who you would expect to be more pop in the US, and how black artists have in turn adopted a more pop sound. He spoke on the genre he considers himself to be a part of, saying:

“It’s called rhythm and blues; they just took the blues out of it for so long.

“What’s crazy is that blacks can’t do soul records any more,” he said. “We love Adele singing it, but Beyoncé singing it? No, the tempo’s too slow, gimme the club hit. Now the blacks in America are responsible for the pop records, and everybody else is singing soulful records. It’s weird to me. We’re pigeonholed over there.”

On this, The Dream is absolutely right. This is an issue we talk about a lot, asking what is it that’s so unique about the Adeles, the Amy Winehouses, and the Duffys—basically soulful white singers from the UK that make a killing in the US—is it just that their sound is unexpected based on their looks and consumers go crazy over it? Is that what black artists are trying to do now by taking over the pop scene?

A friend just texted me this weekend asking me what was the deal with Chris Brown’s CD, saying he’s not R&B anymore, he’s strictly pop. That explained my confusion with his Grammy performance this year. But even Usher dabbled with the pop sound a bit on his last album, and no one would argue against the charge that Rihanna and Beyonce are extra heavy on the pop and light on the soul. The question is, is that the type of music these singers want to do or do they make this type of music because it’s the only music they can sell? There are obviously several black entertainers who have a soulful sound, but they’re not the ones getting the mainstream shine.

What do you think? Is it impossible for soulful black artists to have mainstream success in the US?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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Photos courtesy of entertainmentrundown.com and dancehallareaz.com

Looks like there will be big changes to both the US and the UK versions of Simon Cowell’s “X Factor” competitions. Simon already nexted half of the judging panel in America, and rumor has it he’ll be cutting Kelly Rowland in Europe next.

According to sources with the Daily Mail, Kelly “failed to connect with viewers” and “annoyed production staff with her diva attitude.”

“I’ve been told: ‘Kelly has got to go. She was not right for the show,’” the source said. “The producers didn’t like her and her commitment level wasn’t there. There’s an understanding she didn’t work on the panel.”

I’m sure Kelly won’t like that news, particularly with word that her rival, judge Tulisa Contostavlos, is almost certainly guaranteed to return for next season.

Meanwhile in the US, Janet Jackson sorta-kinda let it slip that she’ll be joining the “X Factor’s” judging panel. When Anderson Cooper asked about the rumor during the singer’s recent appearance on his show, her laughter pretty much gave it away. She said she’s not a judge on the show and when Anderson restated, “You’re not currently a judge on The X Factor,” Janet replied, “No, I am not but that’s all I really think I should say.”

Sounds like confirmation. What do you think about Janet joining the “X Factor?” Will she fit in well with Simon and L.A. Reid?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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Access to condoms, STD testing, and family planning information and treatment without having to go through parental channels has been great for young girls in many ways. Some teens can’t talk to their parents about certain things and others don’t truly have a parental figure in their lives to seek guidance from so it’s been very beneficial to have services available in schools or through other social organizations that can fill the void when needed.

But there comes a point when boundaries are pushed too much and parents are kept too far out of the loop, and that line has been crossed in the UK. A government program there allows teenage girls to receive birth control implants at school without their parents’ knowledge and consent, and some parents are outraged—as they should be.

More than just the blatant disregard for parental rights, parents are also concerned about their daughters’ health. Implanon, the 3-inch long plastic matchstick that’s surgically installed beneath the surface of the skin under the arm, is effective for up to three years, and according to one mother, the device was placed in her daughter without any consultation with her family doctor, she simply filled out a short medical history.

Parents say they’ve had to search their daughters underarms to determine whether they’ve been implanted and that their right to protect their children has been taken away, while other opposers like the Family Education Trust believe this method will cause teens to be even more sexually reckless. The latter concern is similar to those who believe teaching anything other than abstinence will cause teens to be promiscuous which is naive, but the parents have legitimate concerns.

At the age of 13, the age which the schools will implant these girls, teenagers are not in a position to make a long-term decision about their health, not just sexually, but overall. Hormones in birth control can have long-term effects and it’s important that girls know just what their signing up for when they receive these implants. It shouldn’t be the case that teenage girls only seek resources when they are in trouble–such as abortions or emergency contraceptives, but I don’t think parents should be kept out of the discussion when it comes to an eighth grade girl who is considering becoming sexually active. It’s also not clear whether any type of education accompanies these procedures and that’s just as important as the implant itself because birth control does not prevent STDs.

The attitude from the school system, and even a number of commenters on an article Jezebel wrote on the subject seems to be prevent teen pregnancy by whatever means necessary. The government reports that teen pregnancy has in fact been reduced since the program has been introduced, but there may be other consequences to giving a 13-year-old too much freedom over her sexual life at that age. Ultimately it’s a parent’s job to protect and guide their child in all areas at that age and a school system shouldn’t take that away.

What do you think about this program’s policy of implanting birth control in teens without parental consent? Should the US adopt a similar program since it’s effective?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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Seven years in the UK comprised of study, work and marriage wasn’t enough to convince UK officials to allow Namibian native Jessica Austin to stay in Britain. The Advertiser reports that in 2008 she faced expulsion from her home and family as the government argued she was no longer eligible to stay in the UK. After years of fighting the accusations, Austin won, and recently launched her own kilt business.

Jessica married her Scottish husband Steven Austin in 2007 and shortly after, she renewed her paperwork to stay in the country. But a year later, the government declared she had failed to renew her visa due to a timing and payment issue. The couple was shocked as Jessica faced separation from her husband and five-year-old daughter Milan. She was told she would have to start her visa process again–from Namibia.

Jessica was determined not to go without a fight. With the help of local newssource the Advertiser, the family won. In 2010 Jessica secured an indefinete leave status from Britain. Unfortuantely, the battle did not end without leaving devestating scars.

“We lost our house during the 10 months of fighting for my paperwork and I had to give up my job, but we had to pay our immigration lawyers,” Jessica told The Advertiser.

Jessica and her family didn’t let their finanical woes stop them. To help pay for their legal fees and mounting debt, the couple began to export Scottish tartan to her native homeland, where it is considered a luxury.

“At first we made eight at a time to see if they’d sell, but now we’ve launched a website and have already had 3000 hits from all over the world since it launched just weeks ago,” Jessia said.

Together the couple created Kahere Kilts, which now sells Scottish kilts for men and women in various fabrics and materials.

“We’re both still working and putting in long hours with the kilt company,” she said. “It’s amazing that we’ve found a new business out of everything that happened.”

I’ve heard your 30s are when you start to come into your own and become comfortable with who you are, but it may be another 20 years before women become totally confident with themselves, inside and out.

A recent survey of 3,000 UK women for the lifestyle site Myspecialk.co.uk, found that 52 is the age women feel most confident with their bodies and themselves overall. A lot of that confidence may stem from the fact that half of the women said that many of their primary goals had been achieved by that age.

“A woman in her 50s knows who she is, what her strengths are and values, as well as her weaknesses and failings,” psychologist Rebekah Fensome says. “You become more accepting of the things that you are good at and the things that you are not.”

So maybe 50 is really the new 30. At that age you finally have the confidence and self-assurance to do all the things you should and could have been doing before you hit the big 4-0. Hopefully that number will start to get lower and lower as women continue to make greater strides in society too.

What do you think about this finding? Would it be different here in the U.S.? Have you come into a state of total confidence with who you are inside and out yet?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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In this day and age it ought to be a given that if you act a fool in public, someone will record you and expose your foolishness to the world on YouTube.  That’s exactly what happened to Emma West, a woman in the UK who, with her 4-year-old child in lap, went off about black people on a public train, telling them they weren’t British because they’re black and that they should go back to their own country.

Death threats were sent to the woman after the video, “My Tram Experience,” was shot by Kelly Hollingsworth and posted online, and police say they had no choice but to lock her up “for her own protection” as “there is a serious risk of her being injured in revenge attack by the public,” Metro.co.uk reported.

West was also referred for psychiatric evaluation, but patriotic organizations like British First say “Locking this feisty English mother up in jail only reinforces the suspicion that if you are British then you are a second class citizen in your own country,” according to its website.

West will appear in court again on Tuesday.

Do you think police should have locked this woman up, even if it is her for her own safety? After watching the video, do you think she needed to be referred for a psych eval?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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Despite differences in cultural norms, accents and geographic location, black women all over the world face societal pressures to look and behave a certain way. Just as blacks who were merely attempting to survive in the aftermath of Katrina, were portrayed as looters and criminals. Charmaine Scott, a woman of Caribbean descent who now resides in the UK noted that the coverage of the London Riots was “disproportionately black and surprisingly female.”

Just as the media is notorious for labeling black women as undesirables, Scott says black women in the UK are belittled and often forced into subordinate social positions. Because of a lack of positive black women in positions of power in the UK, black women often looked toward Oprah Winfrey and actors on “The Cosby Show” as positive African American role models.

Watch as these black Britons talk about their plight in the video below.

You can read their entire story over at CNN.com.

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