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Vogue

Why Idris Elba’s Wife Sabrina Was Wrongly Reported as Pregnant

Sabrina and Idris Elba

Sabrina and Idris Elba

I’m not a fan of bumpwatch speculation that involves dissecting the roundness of a woman’s belly as seen through a skin-hugging dress but alas, however, Idris Elba‘s wife Sabrina is the subject of pregnancy speculation.

Back in July, UK press suggested the model and former Miss Vancouver beauty queen is pregnant based on a less than flat tummy she displayed while wearing a shimmery mirror dress while attending the premiere of his new movie Fast And Furious Presents: Hobbs And Shaw’ at Dolby Theater in Hollywood, California on July 13th.

However, at the December 16 world premiere of Idris’ new movie, Cats, on December 13, her tummy looked flat as ever even though she looks like she had gained a bit of weight past her usual svelte self.

Sabrina and Idris Elba

The lesson: Don’t believe the bumpwatch hype and stay out of women’s wombs! LOL!

The newlyweds got hitched in Morocco just this April in an intimate outdoor ceremony inside the Ksar Char-Bagh, luxury hotel in Marrakesh.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BwwONCplEyj/

Ashley Graham Says Serena Williams, Kim K and Amy Schumer Gave Her Messy Scoop on Pregnancy, Childbirth and Beyond

ashley graham

First-time mom-to-be Ashley Graham covers the January 2020 edition of VOGUE, photographed by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz.

The Sports Illustrated cover model shared a photo of the cover of her draped in a gold down cradling her bump. A second photo she shared featured Graham with her husband Justin Ervin bare-chested standing behind his wife cradling her belly on a beach.

Draped in gilded “Oscar de la Renta” caftan, the model looks radiant in her first solo cover for the U.S. edition of the fashion publication.

Inside the mag, Graham discusses social media’s “baby bump” obsession), what her mom pals Kim Kardashian, Amy Schumer and Serena Williams taught her about motherhood and her struggle to find support during this complete life change.

“I’ve always had control over my body — when everyone else wanted to dictate what it should be, I took full control over it — but I had this life inside of me saying, ‘It’s not yours anymore, it’s mine,‘” says Graham. “I was gaining weight rapidly. And I felt alone. And the one piece of advice that my stylist, Jordan Foster, gave me was, ‘Make pregnant friends.’ None of my friends were in relationships, let alone pregnant. And now I have nine pregnant friends.”

“When I look at this picture, I get so emotional because this moment feels bigger than me,” she captioned the post. “It’s indicative of our entire relationship – my husband @mrjustinervin supporting me ALWAYS from day one.”

The model continues, “I’m overwhelmed with so much joy and filled with such gratitude that we are doing this together ? Thank You Thank You Thank You.”

View this post on Instagram

A VOGUE COVER!!! — celebrating inclusivity, mothers, pregnancy and love —  is so surreal. I have dreamed of this moment my entire career since I was a catalogue model living in Nebraska two decades ago. Thank you @voguemagazine and #AnnaWintour for embracing a conversation around pregnancy and motherhood, which can be both incredibly exciting and also isolating. The community and support I have discovered along the way has been incredible, and to share this monumental moment with my son and husband in the pages of Vogue could not feel more special. @annieleibovitz, you made me feel like a true pregnant goddess ? Photographer: @annieleibovitz Fashion Editor: @tonnegood Makeup: @hannah_murray1 Hair: @sallyhershberger Bookings Director: @felicitybwebb Writer: @jonathanvanmeter

A post shared by A S H L E Y G R A H A M (@ashleygraham) on

Readers in New York City and Los Angeles, California can nab a copy of the January 2020 issue today and nationwide on Dec. 17. To see more photos from Graham’s photo shoot, styled by fashion editor Tonne Goodman, and to read her full interview, visit Vogue.com.

My fave part is about Williams who parrots everything chronicled on this blog. Woot! Yes sis!:

“Serena Williams wonders if it all started with Demi Moore on the cover of Vanity Fair in 1991, naked and pregnant, shocking all the squeamish prudes and church ladies. “I was only 10 at the time,” says Williams, “but I remember thinking that was cool.” Ten years later, when Us Weekly focused its attention on questionable gossip and paparazzi shots of actresses pumping gas in Beverly Hills, the whole bizarro obsession with the “baby bump” took off. Tabloid copycats escalated their pursuit of the possibly pregnant, raising it to the level of stalking. One afternoon of bloat while leaving The Ivy and suddenly: IS JENNIFER PREGNANT? And then social media came along and women began to own their narrative by curating the journey of getting and being pregnant and giving birth and bouncing back—or not.

“I think it’s a good thing,” says Williams, “but it also puts a lot of pressure on women. For me, the whole lie about ‘the snap back’ was what bothered me. I had a little problem with the lies of girls on Instagram—like, coming out of the hospital holding the baby and . . . you know . . . looking thinner than before. That’s not happening to me! That’s one thing I’ve learned, and the thing I tell Ashley: Everybody—literally every body—is different. You might jump back in an hour. I didn’t.”

Slick Woods: Rihanna Spanked Her Into Labor; Doula Erykah Badu Delivered Baby

slick woods erykah badu and rihanna

Model Slick Woods was told after suffering two miscarriages in her youth that she would never have children, naturally, so she didn’t think she was pregnant when an agent told her she was looking chubby in her bikini at Coachella last year.

It turns out she was well into her third trimester!

In a feature for Vogue back in February, Woods wrote about her surprise pregnancy, and shared that after that exchange with her agent, she visited the doctor and learned the news.

“A few appointments later, a nurse was doing a sonogram,” she continued. “There he was: my son. I started crying tears of joy. I had life in me, and felt like I understood the true power of my body for the first time. If I could bring another human being into this world, nothing was out of reach.”

She eventually decided to get a doula and in and interview with Elle UK said why she picked singer Erykah Badu for the job. She had always loved the “Baduizm” singer’s profile as a mother.

“She’s a mommy role model. A mother I look up to, who kills her shit and is a boss-ass bitch,” Woods said of Badu.

A lot of people are now learning that Badu has brought a lot of babies in teh world. The neo soul queen talked about her doula life in a 2015 interview with Pitchfork.

“I became a doula by default,” Badu said at the time before opening up her own practice. “A home birth is about being able to create exactly what you want, because it’s such a violent moment inside of the body that you want everything else to be as beautiful as it can be. So I started studying to be a doula and got my certification in 2011 and now I’m in training to become a midwife. I’m almost there and before I know it I’ll be able to open my own practice, if that’s what I desire.”

And if that isn’t enough, singer, business mogul and actress Rihanna unknowingly helped usher Woods into labor.

By the time Woods was ready to give birth, she had already made news by walking in NYFW shows while pregnant.

She was walking for the Fenty X Puma collection and eventually had to be rushed to the hospital room to deliver her baby boy.

As Hip Hop Hollywood writes, it was in September 2018 when Woods was at the end of her pregnancy when she was modeling in one of Rihanna’s shows wearing what she describes as “pasties, thigh-highs, stilettos, and not much else,” when then 22-year-old went into labor.

“My last memory before going into the hospital is of Rihanna spanking me with a whip,” Woods recalled. “I was already 2cm dilated when I left the show, and I was in labor for another 18 hours.”

In that Vogue piece, Woods wrote about FaceTiming Badu during the birth, the only person there along with the father of her child and her agent.

Badu convinced her to return to the hospital after Woods had talked herself out of having an emergency hospital birth.

“Every day since, my son has healed me, invigorated me – and helped me come to terms with my past,” Woods says. “I never had a normal family. Now I’ve created my own. Who knew you could miss someone your whole damn life without ever having met them?”

h/t hip hop hollywood

Ciara Covers Vogue, Talks Being Pregnant While Recording Latest Project

Believe it or not the very fashionable and gorgeous Ciara has never graced the cover of Vogue before landing her first in Vogue Arabia.

The “Level Up” singer goes into her new upcoming album and talks motherhood and its inspiration for her productivity in the inside story.

“I’m super excited and my vision for this project is to inject love into the world with dance,” she shared about the project that was mainly completed while she was 8-months pregnant with her second child, daughter Sienna with husband NFL quarterback Russell Wilsonof the Seattle Seahawks.

“There was something really special about that,” the fashion muse explains in the issue. “Being a mother of two made me feel even more confident, inspired, and fearless,” she shares, when asked if motherhood reshaped her as an artist.”

Ciara is also mom to 4-year old Future Zuhir with ex fiance R&B recording artist Future.

The magazine is on stands now.

Beyonce Vogue Cover Takeover: Talks Twins’ Labor, Delivery, Motherhood (PHOTOS)

In an unprecedented move, Vogue permitted Beyoncé to have editorial control over its popular September issue and not only did Queen Bey make history by hiring the magazine’s first Black photographer, Travis Wright, in its 126 history to shoot a cover, but she also gave us unprecedented insight into her pregnancy, labor, delivery and her perspective motherhood in her own in-person first person narrative!

It is a glorious issue! On Newsstands now. Here are some of the nuggets she shared with us all:

About the evolution of the magazine and fashion industry towards black people and people of color:

“When I first started, 21 years ago, I was told that it was hard for me to get onto covers of magazines because black people did not sell,” Beyonce told the magazine. “Clearly that has been proven a myth. Not only is an African-American on the cover of the most important month for Vogue, this is the first-ever Vogue cover shot by an African-American photographer.”

About the delivery of her twins who were born via C-section due to Preeclampsia:

“I was 218 pounds the day I gave birth to Rumi and Sir,” she wrote. “I was swollen from toxemia and had been on bed rest for over a month. My health and my babies’ health were in danger, so I had an emergency C-section. We spent many weeks in the NICU.”

It was a shocking experience that she credits her husband, Jay Z for helping her deal with:

“My husband was a soldier and such a strong support system for me,” she continues. “I was in survival mode and did not grasp it all until months later.”

About realizing that C-Section recovery takes a lot longer and is harder than vaginal birth recovery:

“After the C-section, my core felt different,” she stated. “It had been major surgery. Some of your organs are shifted temporarily, and in rare cases, removed temporarily during delivery. I am not sure everyone understands that. I needed time to heal, to recover.”

About embracing her new extra set of curves that have come compliments of being a mom to three:

After giving birth, “my core felt different,” she shared, and  added that he “embraced being curvier” and as she was preparing for her Coachella headlining shows.  And thought she went vegan temporarily, gave up coffee, alcohol and fruit drinks while getting in shame for that performance, she is cool with her different, more full and rounder body.

“To this day my arms, shoulders, breasts, and thighs are fuller,” she wrote. “I have a little mommy pouch, and I’m in no rush to get rid of it. I think it’s real. Whenever I’m ready to get a six-pack, I will go into beast zone and work my (butt) off until I have it. But right now, my (bigger bikini area) and I feel like we are meant to be.”

About lessons from succumbing to societal pressures for celeb women to peel off baby weight shortly after giving birth:

“I believed in the things society said about how my body should look,” she wrote. “I put pressure on myself to lose all the baby weight in three months, and scheduled a small tour to assure I would do it. Looking back, that was crazy.”

About the different way she is approaching recovering from twin delivery:

“During my recovery, I gave myself self-love and self-care, and I embraced being curvier,” the “Apesh*it” singer pens.  “I accepted what my body wanted to be… was patient with myself and enjoyed my fuller curves.”

Going back to Natural for the Vogue shoot

She purposefully went with the bare stripped away, back to nature, theme and for the Vogue shoot avoided “the wigs and hair extensions” and wore scant makeup in an attempt to inspire other women to embrace their natural bodies.

On growth from her 20s to today:

“I look at the woman I was in my 20s and I see a young lady growing into confidence but intent on pleasing everyone around her,” the multi-platinum global artist revealed. “I now feel so much more beautiful, so much sexier, so much more interesting. And so much more powerful.”

About connection to her slave and African ancestry:

“I researched my ancestry recently and learned that I come from a slave owner who fell in love with and married a slave,” she shared. “I questioned what it meant and tried to put it into perspective. I now believe it’s why God blessed me with my twins. Male and female energy was able to coexist and grow in my blood for the first time,” adding,  “I pray that I am able to break the generational curses in my family and that my children will have less complicated lives.”

On exposing her heritage and roots and culture to larger audience during Coachella:

“I had a clear vision for Coachella. I was so specific because I’d seen it, I’d heard it, and it was already written inside of me,” she writes about singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” known as the black national anthem, during her performance and quoting Malcolm X in between songs.

“I know that most of the young people on the stage and in the audience did not know the history of the black national anthem before Coachella. But they understood the feeling it gave them,” she explained. “It was a celebration of all the people who sacrificed more than we could ever imagine, who moved the world forward so that it could welcome a woman of color to headline such a festival.”

About what she wishes for her daughters and son:

As the mother of two girls, Beyonce says she wants her daughters to know that they can be anything, “CEOs, as bosses, and that they know they can write the script for their own lives.”

“They don’t have to be a certain type or fit into a specific category. They don’t have to be politically correct, as long as they’re authentic, respectful, compassionate, and empathetic,” she writes. “I want the same things for my son. I want him to know that he can be strong and brave but that he can also be sensitive and kind. I want my son to have a high emotional IQ where he is free to be caring, truthful, and honest. It’s everything a woman wants in a man, and yet we don’t teach it to our boys.”

Beyonce is currently embarking on the On The Run II tour with Jay-Z, which concludes on Oct. 4 in Seattle.

Awesome!

Serena Williams’ Post-Delivery Trauma: Lessons for Future Moms

Oh My! Serena Williams candid and public recent reveal of her post-birthing experience in a recent Vogue magazine cover story shows why it is important to know your body, your medical history and be your own advocate.

In the feature article , the 23-time Grand Slam Tennis champ and first-time mom relayed her experience of having to coach the medical staff at the hospital she delivered her daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian, Jr. .

 

From Miami Herald reporting:

The next day, Williams, who has a history of blood clots, felt short of breath.

The tennis star, 36, informed docs that she thought she was having another pulmonary embolism, a blockage in an artery of the lung.

The doctor soon performed an ultrasound on her legs, which revealed nothing.

At her insistence, Serena was soon sent for a CT scan, which did reveal several blood clots in her lungs. As she had predicted, they put her on a heparin (anticoagulant) drip.

“I was like, listen to Dr. Williams!” the Palm Beach Gardens resident told the fashion mag.

That wasn’t enough.

Soon after the clot drama, her C-section wound popped open from coughing from the pulmonary embolism. In surgery, doctors found that a hematoma, a pooling of blood outside of a blood vessel, had flooded her abdomen (the blood thinner caused the hemorrhaging).

A filter was inserted into a major vein, in order to prevent more clots from traveling to her lungs.

She was home a week later and stayed in bed her “first six weeks of motherhood.”

The lesson here: stick to your guns and insist if you feel off or if something is not right. Don’t be afraid to speak up or to empower your spouse, partner or a close family member to demand answers and appropriate care when you think you need it. Good for Williams for sticking to her guns and knowing herself and her body.

Williams later in the Vogue piece relayed having the Baby Blues and fluctuating emotions. She looks stunning on the cover in a crimson Versace dress. Jennifer Meyer earrings. Eva Fehren bracelet.


Editor’s note: I am traumatized for her and am amazed she even made an attempt to return to championship tournament tennis so soon after welcoming baby. She is a true champion!

Inside Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian’s Wedding (PHOTOS and LINK)

Tennis Champ Serena Williams wed Reddit Co-Founder Alexis Ohanian in a Beauty and the Beast-themed wedding at the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans on Thursday. The photos to the elegant affair were released today,  Friday.

The event, held at the, featured an A-List of celebrity guests including her sister Venus Williams, singers Beyonce, Kelly Rowland and Ciara with their husbands , Kim Kardashian-West, actress Eva Longoria, Anna Wintour and more.

The reception started outdoors and spilled into the exposed brick wall lined gallery. The bridal party walked down a runway during their entrance. The bride wore a stunning Alexander McQueen princess gown and changed into another shorter and longer feathered Versace dress with blinged out custom Nikes.

Her daughter Olympia with her new husband was featured prominently at the event in a cute little flower girl dress, walked in being carried by  Serena’s mom Oracene Price. The couple said their personal vows over a floral arch.

Revived R&B 90s boy band group New Edition performed and Tony Award winner Cynthia Erivo did an impromptu performance of “A Natural Woman.” Serena and Alexis performing their choreographed first dance to “Tale As Old As Time.”

Guests walked home with party favors that were tiny tennis trophies with the names of famous tennis greats emblazoned on them. An antique carousel was featured prominently inside the gallery.

The reception included several banquet style tables with the bride and groom sitting in throne-like golden chairs.

Williams took to Instagram on Friday to share a stunning shot of herself in her Alexander McQueen princess gown and the Groom wore Giorgio Armani. You can see the beautiful photos over at Vogue which assembled a lovely slideshow! 

Celebrity Bump Watch: The Round Up This Week

We stalk track your fave expectant celebrity so you don’t have to, so here is a quick roundup of some of the pregnant stars and what they and their baby bumps are up to..,.

Mindy Kaling‘s costume designer is putting out all the stops to hide the star’s pregnancy for the last season of her show, The Mindy Project. (Belfast Telegraph)

Little People, Big World star Audrey Roloff  clapped back at baby bump shamers  (US Magazine)

Brooklyn Decker Mindy Kaling cradled her bump at a Women’s Equality event. (InStyle)

Serena Williams Audrey Roloff  showed off her glamorous Vogue maternity shoot photo (Instagram)

Serena Williams is Unapologetically Team Epidural

Serena Williams is honest AF about pregnancy, labor and delivery and becoming a mother for the first time.

During her infamous Vogue interview this month, the tennis champ also came out and let it be known that she is “Team Epidural“.

“I’m nervous about childbirth. I’m not a spring chicken,” she told the magazine. “The one thing I really want is an epidural, which I know a lot of people are against, but I’ve had surgeries galore, and I don’t need to experience any more pain if I can avoid it.”

Here here!!

If anyone follows you the “Mommy Wars” they’d know that there is a whole community and culture of natural child birth proponents that argue fervently against the use of medicine like local anesthesia to relive the excruciating pain of child birth.

It is so extreme that some women actually feel ashamed to express publicly and openly that they intend to get an epidural, which is local anesthesia injected in the spine to numb the feeling in one’s legs and torso.

The Natural Childbirth movement has been described as a cult in the past but it is really just women (and a community) that are passionate about childbirth being as close to nature intended it to be as possiblez

It isn’t for everyone and that should be okay.

Go ahead Serena and be a G about it!

The business woman and first-time mom-to-be  with  fiancé Alexis Ohanian has taken a lot of heat in that same Vogue interview for expressing that being a mother will classify as a woman.

She is unapologetic about her feelings as a hormonal pregnant woman should be!

Stay true, mama!

 

Tribute: My Fave George Michael Songs and Videos and Why I love Them

3000_george_michael_04_1024x768

Today, I, like many around the world, am saddened by the news of the passing of singer/songwriter George Michael on Christmas, December 25th. I was a huge fan of this late 80s/90s pop star especially in my teens and early adulthood. The Greek-Brit, full name Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, was extremely attractive, had a seductive dance and a voice that was big, unique and carried every melodic hit that he performed.

I agree with those who say that the overwhelming memory of his legacy will surely be the musical genius that encompassed both his time in UK pop duo Wham! and as one of the great solo artists of all time. With over 100 million records sold worldwide, eight Billboard #1 hits, and a bevy of awards

His look back then was a five o’clock shadow, leather jacket, rugged denims and guitar with one dangling earrings with dark shades. Very sexy!

 

 

 

I played this song to death in college my first year. It’s so jazzy and melodic. Love!

One of my fave albums of his was his second studio album “Listen Without Prejudice Vol 1” (volume 2 was never released) which was very controversial and almost didn’t get put out by Sony Music.

I love that it was full of ballads and showcased his lyrics and voice moreso than the upbeat dance songs on Faith.  It sold 8M copies but was considered a flop for such a big artist given that “Faith” had sold 25M copies. But it was a hit in the UK where it won Best British Album that year in their version of the Grammy‘s, the BRIT Awards.

 “Praying for Time” was an ode to times we live in where there is copious and overindulgence and greed abound with a message of warning to mankind. It is one of my favorite tunes from this album. Love this song.  Given ongoing battles with his record label at the time, Sony, he refused to appear in the videos for the songs on this album so the video is just lyrics on a black screen which is actually ahead of its time, given that lyrical videos are such a big trend nowadays.

“At some point in your career, the situation between yourself and the camera reverses. For a certain number of years, you court it and you need it, but ultimately, it needs you more and it’s a bit like a relationship. The minute that happens, it turns you off … and it does feel like it is taking something from you.”  he told the Los Angeles Times in 1990 about deciding not to do photo shoots or music videos any longer. “I would like to never step in front of a camera again.”

I think Freedom 90!  is one of the sexiest videos of all times and it featured super models at the time in a video directed by the same person who directed Madonna‘s “Express Yourself” video, David Fincher.  It included Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista and Tatjana Patitz and was inspired by Peter Lindbergh‘s now-iconic portrait of the five models for the January 1990 cover of the British edition of Vogue. Instead of playing someone’s girlfriend, as is common for models in music videos, they each lip synced the song. Brilliant!

More models werking the catwalk can be seen in the video for “Too Funky“.

This remake of Stevie Wonder‘s song is prolific given Wonder sang it recently in tribute to Michael Jackson and it could aptly apply to George Michael today.

His career started off as part of the two member pop music band, Wham! The preeminent 1980s big band sound was loud and apparent in this song and it peaked in the era of music television when MTV just launched. The video for it surely sold the song even more than the appeal it already had as a really awesome song:

 This song, “I’m Your Man” also takes me back to a carefree and less stressful time of my life, my late teen years.

 Another great hit from Wham!

My son loves “Last Christmas” and it has played almost twice an hour this past month on our local radio station that plays Christmas songs from Thanksgiving to Christmas non-stop. Even my 11-year old was shocked and upset to know one of the guys who sings a fave song has passed.




The biggest song from this album was “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go 

As a solo artist, George Michael performed some awesome duos like this one with Aretha Franklin, another fave of mine:

With Elton John, this song just makes me feel good every time I listen to it

And Queen (at a tribute concert for the late great Freddie Mercury)

And finally with the late great Whitney Houston, “If I told you that” 

Thanks for the music, George Michael.  You will be missed but your legacy will live on!

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