As you turn the pages of COVERINGS, you will find that our goal is to assist you in creating your own, individual style. We want you to be comfortable in your own skin, and not desire to be in someone else’s. Admiring someone is one thing, but disliking ourselves because we do not look like them is another. After all, “It is He (God) who has made us, and not we ourselves.” He likes individual style. Why do you think no two women look exactly the same? It stands to reason that if we are styled uniquely on the outside, then our innate sense of style is just as unique. I guarantee, you have panache and COVERINGS is on a mission to help you find it.

I have always loved to wear pants; jeans and jackets with basic pumps and hoop earrings. And I won’t be caught without wild hair and lipstick! It’s my signature look. This goes beyond fashion. It is my basic style. Every woman has one. It’s easy to get in touch with yours. It is time for us to give our sisters space to become a butterfly. Create your signature style. We won’t let you down.

The imagination is a most intriguing thing. I once saw it spelled
“IMAGE-NATION.” It prompted me to consider the total concept. Is there really a place where images exist? The imagination truly is a world where images and concepts are born. It is a nation where the pioneer thinkers hang out. It is in the spiritual realm and to those of us with creative gifts it is more familiar and comfortable than the real world. It’s our favorite place. We go there every chance we get. Dreams are born there. Designs, ideas and inventions hide there waiting to be discovered.

The Apostle Paul said that there are many gifts in the body of Christ.
Some teachers, some preachers… all members with particular functions. I once heard Kenneth Copeland describe very simply that while some of us are toes, hands and so forth, some of us make up the minutest parts of the body which are atoms. So all of you designers out there…you artists and pioneer thinkers, who just can’t seem to “fit-in,” consider this. There are those of us who make up the imagination of the body. Don’t think it is strange. Everybody has one!

Stay beautiful,
Paulette Whitfield Black
Editor-in-Chief

Norma Kamali  in Walmart?  I must be dreaming.  Maybe I am having an out-of-body experience.  Where am I?  I feel strangely disoriented. Have I crossed over into the Twilight Zone?  Quick sombody pinch me!

Here I am standing in the middle of the Walmart women’s ready-to-wear department, completely caught off guard.  I came  in to pick up anti-aging skincare products.  Recently, my mirror on the wall has been telling me it’s time to do something about those fine lines, that aren’t so fine anymore. Since my husband insists that we live miles and miles from fashion civilization, Walmart has become my “go to” place for beauty needs.

I recall my mom first telling me about this chain.  She was so excited about this store where you could get everything at such a great price. What did I care?  I could afford to buy what I wanted, when I wanted from some of the best department stores.  As a matter of fact, I preferred it that way.  I wanted designer labels covering me from top to bottom, over and under.  At the time, I was a fashion art director for some of the top West Coast retailers.  Trust me when I say I can spot a knock-off from across the street.  The feel of a fine fabric is extremely gratifying to  the senses.   My mother was the only person for whom I would walk through aisles of rough, cheap fabric and houseware items, which did not interest me in the least.  She had to drag me in, kicking and screaming. I rea-l-l-ly did not want to go. Of course this was in the late 80’s so I craved the hardcore stuff.  Give me the YSL, Chanel, Anne Klein and for
goodness sake…NORMA KAMALI!

My friends and I gladly allowed ourselves to be defined by her interpretation of shape and color.  And now here she is, and here I am. Face to face in a new place in a new economy and a greener environment. Seemingly, Norma Kamali and I have learned the same life-lessons in our style journey.  Sometimes labels ae decieving.  Wal-Mart has become a giant in the industry, outlasting many of the older established retailers (the one’s I thought I could not live without.)  Norma Kamali’s sense of style is now about more than the “look.”  In a statement to Women’s Wear Daily she is proud to be part of the impact Walmart will have with the green initiative.  Once again she proves the pioneer spirit.  Once again she breaks the mold, only this time by providing designer style at a value.  And me?  Well,  I am not quite the style snob I used to be.  I’ve learned that the garment does not define me.   The designer label and I are two magificent works of art enhancing one another.  And great style can be found at a bargain, if you know where to look.

On a prophetic note; while the vision of this picture is before me and I am asking God for the words to explain what I see, my husband who has no idea what I am writing, starts to casually read me an article from Yahoo news:

the human body literally glows, emitting a visible light in extremely small quantities at levels that rise and fall with the day, scientist now reveal.

The freedom to enjoy your glow as a woman is a powerful gift. You just need encouragement, empowerment and inspiration. These two conferences will free us…See you there!

Encouragement, Empowerment & Inspiration Weekend Summit 2009
September 18-20
Ontario, CA

You are So Beautiful Conferences
September 9-12
Riverside, CA

Wannabes.  They are the ones who have to be noticed for wearing the latest and greatest fashions trends.  They are the ladies who just recently discovered and wear St. John Knits or Burberry (which have been around since the beginning of time, it seems, because the labels are so old) and think they have discovered new designer labels.  They are the one’s who wear their vanity on their sleeves and won’t sit next to or associate with women who are fashionably beneath them.  Wannabe’s are people who want to be heralded as the guru’s of fashion but have never studied fashion evolution.  You know the one’s I mean.  They are the ones who condemn you to hell if you don’t dress according to their denomination’s fashion dictates.  They tell you that a woman shouldn’t wear men’s clothing only, because they have never studied Genesis. God designed Adam and Eve the same thing to wear…Tunics of skins.  The last time I looked a tunic didn’t have legs!   I guess Adam should have told God there was no way he was going to wear that dress.  Eve should have said, uh-uh God.  Don’t you give me the same style Adam is wearing.  Don’t you know that will send me to Hell?   Fashion wannabe’s do irreparable damage from the pulpit.  Wannabes are those who have been called by God into the fashion design industry and  are simply too lazy and too arrogant to go to school and study their trade.  They would rather “boot leg.”

I frequently meet wannabes when I am producing a fashion show or laying out a fashion concept   They challenge me behind the scenes and sometimes to my face, because they are sure they are more fashionable than I am.  I feel sorry for them.  When you are a wannabe, you have to work too hard to convince others.  When you are something you don’t have to try be, you already are.  They never stop to think why I get paid for this and they don’t.  I didn’t have this career handed to me on a silver platter. Truly, many are called but few are chosen. They were not around when I paid with blood, sweat, and tears, and tuition, to get here.  Nights of staying up, honing my trade when no one was paying me. God was the only one who saw my diligence.  At the time that I was making my mark on the fashion retail industry, I got married, was having babies (3) and a major volunteer at my church.    I was able to do this in a city I had relocated to with no initial family.  When you don’t have a support system, you have to believe in yourself.  My goal was never to be the best, but to do it right.  In that, I became one of the best Fashion Advertising minds in the country.  Even in the world.  I say this most humbly, but when the biggest names in retail put billions of dollars on the line, they want the best and the brightest talents on the advertising team.  Trust me.  They are not calling in the “B” list.

Growing up with 10 sibs, I was always the most timid one. This is why I can tell you about that thing in your spirit that drives you. Don’t be afraid to go with it.  A man’s gift makes room for him and brings him before great men.  Your gift is something you come here with and it is programmed to perform a specific task.  If you let it, it will take you just where you are supposed to be, when you are supposed to be there.  It’s not about you trying to figure it all out are being super brave.  Just trust the gift and allow it to do its job!!!

IT IS HE WHO HAS MADE US AND NOT WE OURSELVES
I have always loved to wear pants, jeans and jackets with basic pumps and hoop earrings. And I won’t be caught without wild hair and lipstick! It’s my signature look. This goes beyond fashion. It is my basic style. Every woman has one. It’s easy to get in touch with yours.