You can wear black in any moment of the day, no matter your age. You can wear black with almost any occasion. A black dress is essential for every woman.
I, like most women, I dress for other women, I think. If I was going to dress for men, I think in general I would be just wearing, like, a fitted black T-shirt and tight jeans every day.
I think every woman in the world has to have a short black dress. That's what I always wear if I'm really rushing and I don't want to think. If you want to wear it during the day you can wear ballerina flats or sandals. And for the night you just put on some heels and and a necklace. That's kind of the statement dress of Chanel as well. But Chanel is put on a necklace and a little hat and that would be perfect for Chanel.
My father was very strict with me, and I kept seeing a disparity between their freedom and my lack of it, or how I had all the responsibilities and they had none. And the Catholic Church, all of the rules, and why did I have to wear a dress when they could wear pants? I would say to my dad: 'Will Jesus love me less if I wear pants? Am I going to hell?'
I prefer to be gender fluid or non-gendered and I dress in drag almost every day of my life even if I'm not in my full Jinkx Monsoon persona - I'm the kind of person who does not dress like my assigned gender and I wear makeup every day and sometimes wear wigs as a boy.
I do think younger women have to figure out how to combine their own sense of style with what is appropriate and authoritative. Some young women think there's no reason why they can't wear flip flops in the office in the summer because their accomplishments should exempt them from a stodgy dress code.
Five pieces every girl needs in her closet are; a great pair of a jeans, a good black heel, a great little black dress, tank tops for layering, and a jacket that can be worn day or night.
Also, I learned whether you are gay, bisexual, it doesn't matter, you know... because, at the end of the day, they're both gross. But mostly, I learned that elderly black women are wise beyond their years... but younger black women are prostitutes.
A Different World was run by black women, Debbie Allen and Yvette Lee Bowser. Lead writer Susie Fales-Hill was a hero of mine, because she was 28 when she was running one of the top shows on television. Going to work every day and seeing black women in charge made that normal to me.
My top tip for looking your best is to dress for yourself, not for anyone else. Even working with a stylist, I wouldn't wear anything she told me to wear unless I was comfortable with it myself. That said, it's good to push yourself out of your style comfort zone every so often to make sure you try new things.
Every company I know is looking for more women at the table. Every board is looking for more women at the table. There's a reason why men want to understand the challenges women face, address them, because then they're going to be better hirers, attracters and retainers of women.
When I was younger, I used to power dress - I'd wear black and grey and suits all the time, to make it feel like I belonged.
When I'm on stage, I generally wear what I would wear every other day, but I think my hair is probably bigger on stage - it seems to be my accessory!
If I were a buyer today in one of the American department stores, I would go with extremes-the most beautiful, the more expensive, the more eccentric. I would take risks. The worst thing would be to buy only the little black dress. You know why? Because everyone has it already. I would go with a purple dress, something different
Bomber jackets, for me, are the new blazers. They're something I can wear with suit pants or slacks - or I can go really urban with it. I think, as men, we don't have the little black dress that women do to go from day to nighttime, but the bomber can be the LBD for men.
My idea was you can't dress for the stage, you have to dress all the time like you're onstage. And so I would just always wear suits or some form of it. I wanted people to know I played music. That was kind of how you would find other people: you would just walk around looking a certain way and end up meeting someone who liked the way you look.