Daily Musings of A Embroidery Designer

Donyale Luna—the luminous enigma who shattered the glass ceilings of an unforgiving world, before the word “supermodel” even existed. A face both ethereal and bold, she danced between shadows and spotlight, a quiet rebellion against a nation still wrestling with its own contradictions.

She was a whisper of freedom in the fabric of an industry clothed in exclusion, a symbol of brilliance amid a history too complex for easy tales. Luna’s beauty was not just skin deep; it was a defiant poem written in light and edge, reminding us that true revolution glows in the spaces between comfort and discomfort.

Her story is not one for neat chapters but a wild constellation—a beacon for those daring enough to seek beyond what the surface reveals. In Luna’s reflection, we see the counterintuitive heart of this nation: fractured, beautiful, unfinished, yet endlessly striving

Life ,,,  is Like a box of chocolates for Black Women.

“Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between.” Maya Angelou “ I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.”

“The Black female is assaulted in her tender years by all those common forces of nature at the same time that she is caught in the tripartite crossfire of masculine prejudice, white illogical hate and Black lack of power. The fact that the adult American Negro female emerges a formidable character is often met with amazement, distaste and even belligerence. It is seldom accepted as an inevitable outcome of the struggle won by survivors and deserves respect if not enthusiastic acceptance.” ― Maya Angelou, “ “ I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.”

2nd photo credit :Mucubal Woman Holding Her Baby, Virie Area, Angola

Algerian-born Yves Saint Laurent launched ‘Le Smoking’ Look in 1966, his couture collection featured a style that divided fashion critics: a black tailored tuxedo with a classic satin side stripe (similar to adidas 3 stripe today), worn with a white ruffled shirt. 

Responses were tepid – it was the first time that any couturier had presented trousers as an option for eveningwear, and women wearing it were refused entry by some restaurants the following season..  My How Times have changed, this is prety tame..

Historical POV

Politics and Fashion 

Lets take the  70′s , This time period was alive with political activism , Feminism. environmentalism, and fights for Racial Justice. Sound Familiar?  Fashion was Democratized by the Fashion Designers of the socialites  Halston and Yves Saint Laurent and Couture was no longer just for the elites it was accessible to every one.

Queen Tings  Original Muva Beverly Johnson 70

Seydou Keïta

❤💕❤💕❤💕❤💕

West African Photographer 

A self-taught  photographer, he opened a studio in 1948 and specialized in portraiture.

Late Night Mood , perusing favorite illustrators in this case Bill Donovan and listening to Dilla homages.    

Bills sketches of Black Woman are just gorgeous , litterally i can envision these women in waking life.

Bill works in watercolor and gouache , he is artist in residence for Christian Dior.  To add to this hectic schecule  Bil is the author of Advanced Fashion Drawing / Lifestyle Illustration and has illustrated a number of books including The Dress Doctor, from the original by costume designer Edith Head and Birds of a Feather Shop Together, a collection of fashion fables, both for Harper Collins and more recently, The Pursuit of Style for the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

Indigenous First People of the Americas Mask Art

Two Wolves – A Cherokee Parable“ An old Cherokee chief was teaching his grandson about life…

‘A fight is going on inside me,’ he said to the boy. ‘It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt, and ego. The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside you and inside every other person, too.’ The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, ‘Which wolf will win?’ The old chief simply replied, ‘The one you feed.”We all wear masks since the begining of time . Today’s masks consist of ‘Brands and snap chat filters 

  Edward S. Curtis often asked natives to recreate their ceremonies wearing traditional garb so he could capture them on camera.

COLOR SHE-RO

Love everything she created....

Sonia Delaunay (14 November 1885 – 5 December 1979) was a Ukrainian-born Russian artist, who formally trained in Russia and Germany and spent most of her working life in Paris.  She co-founded the Orphism art movement, noted for its use of strong colors and geometric shapes . Check out some of her films below and most of all listen to  Mile Davis Sketches of Spain.

The Talisman , Fragments of Time Lost

Amazing looks like Mario , butit’s  Sengbe Pieh ( Joseph Cinque} Leader of the Seirra Leoneans of the Amistad , painted by Nathaniel Jocelyn1840S

Mario.......2002 The resemblance is uncanny what say you ?

Color Mood.....

"I believe that something else, the substance of your spirit, stays incorporated in the work. The work is made to transmit emotion. The starting point of the artist, if they are figurative, is the world. … The material with which you work is the objective world, but you incorporate some of your soul, and that is art." Antonio Lopez

“If I didn’t define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people’s fantasies for me and eaten alive.”  – Audre Lorde 

Color Color . Form  Sashay.   Love Sam Gilliam’s work  full of Freedom..

​ “ I was free to try anything i wanted to do i was free to be easy or mysterious , free to be the artist I wanted to be” Sam Gilliam  

A Eyes Wide Shut Moment...

They dress up as every culture but their own .. But I digress this here post is about Yves Saint Laurent , his come up and these illustrations.

The late Baron de Redé, the noted French( Everything ? lol ) aesthete, host, and financier, might be better known for his 1969 Oriental Ball, he is almost as famous for an earlier fête: his "Bal des Têtes", which was held in 1956 at Hôtel Lambert, Redé's Paris residence. The ball's theme was headdresses, with guests encouraged to wear fanciful creations.

According to Redé's memoirs, Yves Saint Laurent, then an assistant at Dior, was hired to design the ball.  We don't know the extent of Saint Laurent's contributions, but we do know that he designed a number of headdresses for some of the lucky female guests.  You can see sketches of his headdress designs below.  He also illustrated a rendering which depicted the theme of the party

Interview with The Master