This is an opinion piece. No I am not a stylist nor do I work in the fashion industry. But I love fashion, read a lot magazines and follow the careers of professional stylists. This is not for you to agree with, and you don’t have to like it. Just my two cents.

Over the years I have witnessed (and been a part of) so many fashion faux pas that I just might agree with Portland being one of the worst dressed cities! (Travel & Leisure)

Now I know when other parts of the country see Portland, they don’t see the culture I come from but more of the “Keep Portland Weird” culture. Because we already know they are a total mess I will not discuss them. This post is for those that are a part of the urban, African American, black, and hip culture.

For years people have complained that Portland does not have its own fashion scene. They have said that we copy other states and don’t have a mind of our own. I agree and disagree. There is a sort of “Portland look”, which includes nice jeans, Nikes, TOMS, Uggs, North Face and Columbia jackets and runs across all cultures. And then there is the topic of discussion today. I think it is best that we make a list of the wrongdoings of the fashion in Portland. And I will give some pointers on how we can fix this.

Women:

2.       Wearing a weave, doesn’t automatically make you cute.

 Throwing in some tracks (that most times do not match the texture of your own hair) does not make you look better. We all like to improve our look and some may do it by adding hair to our own. I suggest that you first get it done professionally and second that you don’t steer too far from what makes you naturally you. I don’t know many black women that have hair down to their kneecaps or that were born with hair in shades other than black and brown.

3.       Eye shadow doesn’t make it better.

There was a time when the women of Portland rarely wore makeup. We embraced our natural beauty. I miss those days. Because then came the “celebrity look”. All women wearing a beat face of makeup every day all day! Is that you? Because this is me! Aha! But really I think makeup is nice to wear when you are dressing up, to hide uneven skin tone and to enhance your look but when you look like someone else (mainly a clown) I think you need to put the brush down! And the eye shadow is always overdone. Put the brush down and consult a YouTube video so you can learn to BLEND BITCH! And lastly, let us all agree we will not cut our eyebrows off only to draw them on again. Get them properly shaped and if need be fill them in but we can’t possibly all have the same dark ass eyebrows! (I can’t wait for mine to grow back…sigh.)

4.       There is a difference between a day look and a night look.

 Let’s make this clear: a day look is something you wear to your day job, something you wear when attending to your kids, something you wear while shopping, something you wear to a BBQ. It is not the same as a night look, something you wear to a party, something you wear on date night, something you wear for drinks out with the girls. And yes a look can go from day to night but it almost always requires some updates. You may change your shirt or pants, put on different shoes, add a jacket or accessory, change your hair, update your makeup. But you should never go from your child’s birthday party to your friend’s (night) birthday party in the same fit. Not only because you look out of place but because now I’m wondering did you even shower in between?

And for later….

Men:

1.       You are not a rapper.

2.       When designer goes wrong.

3.       Pull up your pants.

4.       Fauxhawks are out and so are braids.

Nyla K. Moore