OBEAH WOMAN, COME INTO THE ROOM! A Prologue. I’d been invited to remix a room in the #metcostumeinstitute #americanwing for their #inamerica exhibit. I integrated the dress of designer Maria Hollander, a White woman abolitionist. But when I asked who made the dress and her politically charged quilt seen in the exhibit, the seamstress remained unknown. This was chance to take #metgala invitation from a red carpet moment to a truth telling one. I would create a visual prologue to my #wegoodthx! installation. (More on the actual exhibit in the next post! I see you @hairbysusy @africancreature 😘) I would rep a woman who could have made Hollander’s dress- an Obeah Woman who by day used her hands to sew, cook, wash White folk clothes & tend to their chirren and by night used her hands to conjure spells for our survival using ancestral African spiritual practices not meant to survive the middle passage. This would be my homage to Marie Laveau but also The Condomble Woman, The Santeria Priestess, The Ifa Woman, The Yoruba Priestess. The Voodoo Vixen and all women practitioners of ancestral arts from Africa. This woman would represent the unseen Black women who have sewn the fabric of this country but she would also be my armor as faces and bodies like mine aren’t usually seen or celebrated in these spaces. Because I was invited a lil late to the party, I had less than five weeks to make something happen. The first person I called was the amazing @bevysmith, fashion and cultural writer & warrior who encouraged me to take my vision all the way. Knowing I needed a Black designer, Bevy suggested I reach out to @brandicedaniel founder of @harlemsfashionrow. Brandice being brilliant and knowing most Black designers were booked, suggested I reach out to dressmaker Jennifer McFarlane aka @jennycouture, a Jamaican American master craftswoman. When I mentioned “Obeah Woman” to Jenny, she hummed deep and I could feel her lips curling through the phone! And so with a design I co-created with my very best friend of thirty plus years @denise.trotman …. Caption finished in post below…. (Special shout out to me & Peters assistant Chris Reyes @crey_j for putting in that WORK!)
OBEAH WOMAN, COME INTO THE ROOM! A Prologue. I’d been invited to remix a room in the #metcostumeinstitute #americanwing for their #inamerica exhibit. I integrated the dress of designer Maria Hollander, a White woman abolitionist. But when I asked who made the dress and her politically charged quilt seen in the exhibit, the seamstress remained unknown. This was chance to take #metgala invitation from a red carpet moment to a truth telling one. I would create a visual prologue to my #wegoodthx! installation. (More on the actual exhibit in the next post! I see you @hairbysusy @africancreature 😘) I would rep a woman who could have made Hollander’s dress- an Obeah Woman who by day used her hands to sew, cook, wash White folk clothes & tend to their chirren and by night used her hands to conjure spells for our survival using ancestral African spiritual practices not meant to survive the middle passage. This would be my homage to Marie Laveau but also The Condomble Woman, The Santeria Priestess, The Ifa Woman, The Yoruba Priestess. The Voodoo Vixen and all women practitioners of ancestral arts from Africa. This woman would represent the unseen Black women who have sewn the fabric of this country but she would also be my armor as faces and bodies like mine aren’t usually seen or celebrated in these spaces. Because I was invited a lil late to the party, I had less than five weeks to make something happen. The first person I called was the amazing @bevysmith, fashion and cultural writer & warrior who encouraged me to take my vision all the way. Knowing I needed a Black designer, Bevy suggested I reach out to @brandicedaniel founder of @harlemsfashionrow. Brandice being brilliant and knowing most Black designers were booked, suggested I reach out to dressmaker Jennifer McFarlane aka @jennycouture, a Jamaican American master craftswoman. When I mentioned “Obeah Woman” to Jenny, she hummed deep and I could feel her lips curling through the phone! And so with a design I co-created with my very best friend of thirty plus years @denise.trotman …. Caption finished in post below…. (Special shout out to me & Peters assistant Chris Reyes @crey_j for putting in that WORK!)
OBEAH WOMAN, COME INTO THE ROOM! A Prologue. I’d been invited to remix a room in the #metcostumeinstitute #americanwing for their #inamerica exhibit. I integrated the dress of designer Maria Hollander, a White woman abolitionist. But when I asked who made the dress and her politically charged quilt seen in the exhibit, the seamstress remained unknown. This was chance to take #metgala invitation from a red carpet moment to a truth telling one. I would create a visual prologue to my #wegoodthx! installation. (More on the actual exhibit in the next post! I see you @hairbysusy @africancreature 😘) I would rep a woman who could have made Hollander’s dress- an Obeah Woman who by day used her hands to sew, cook, wash White folk clothes & tend to their chirren and by night used her hands to conjure spells for our survival using ancestral African spiritual practices not meant to survive the middle passage. This would be my homage to Marie Laveau but also The Condomble Woman, The Santeria Priestess, The Ifa Woman, The Yoruba Priestess. The Voodoo Vixen and all women practitioners of ancestral arts from Africa. This woman would represent the unseen Black women who have sewn the fabric of this country but she would also be my armor as faces and bodies like mine aren’t usually seen or celebrated in these spaces. Because I was invited a lil late to the party, I had less than five weeks to make something happen. The first person I called was the amazing @bevysmith, fashion and cultural writer & warrior who encouraged me to take my vision all the way. Knowing I needed a Black designer, Bevy suggested I reach out to @brandicedaniel founder of @harlemsfashionrow. Brandice being brilliant and knowing most Black designers were booked, suggested I reach out to dressmaker Jennifer McFarlane aka @jennycouture, a Jamaican American master craftswoman. When I mentioned “Obeah Woman” to Jenny, she hummed deep and I could feel her lips curling through the phone! And so with a design I co-created with my very best friend of thirty plus years @denise.trotman …. Caption finished in post below…. (Special shout out to me & Peters assistant Chris Reyes @crey_j for putting in that WORK!)
OBEAH WOMAN, COME INTO THE ROOM! A Prologue. I’d been invited to remix a room in the #metcostumeinstitute #americanwing for their #inamerica exhibit. I integrated the dress of designer Maria Hollander, a White woman abolitionist. But when I asked who made the dress and her politically charged quilt seen in the exhibit, the seamstress remained unknown. This was chance to take #metgala invitation from a red carpet moment to a truth telling one. I would create a visual prologue to my #wegoodthx! installation. (More on the actual exhibit in the next post! I see you @hairbysusy @africancreature 😘) I would rep a woman who could have made Hollander’s dress- an Obeah Woman who by day used her hands to sew, cook, wash White folk clothes & tend to their chirren and by night used her hands to conjure spells for our survival using ancestral African spiritual practices not meant to survive the middle passage. This would be my homage to Marie Laveau but also The Condomble Woman, The Santeria Priestess, The Ifa Woman, The Yoruba Priestess. The Voodoo Vixen and all women practitioners of ancestral arts from Africa. This woman would represent the unseen Black women who have sewn the fabric of this country but she would also be my armor as faces and bodies like mine aren’t usually seen or celebrated in these spaces. Because I was invited a lil late to the party, I had less than five weeks to make something happen. The first person I called was the amazing @bevysmith, fashion and cultural writer & warrior who encouraged me to take my vision all the way. Knowing I needed a Black designer, Bevy suggested I reach out to @brandicedaniel founder of @harlemsfashionrow. Brandice being brilliant and knowing most Black designers were booked, suggested I reach out to dressmaker Jennifer McFarlane aka @jennycouture, a Jamaican American master craftswoman. When I mentioned “Obeah Woman” to Jenny, she hummed deep and I could feel her lips curling through the phone! And so with a design I co-created with my very best friend of thirty plus years @denise.trotman …. Caption finished in post below…. (Special shout out to me & Peters assistant Chris Reyes @crey_j for putting in that WORK!)
OBEAH WOMAN, COME INTO THE ROOM! A Prologue. I’d been invited to remix a room in the #metcostumeinstitute #americanwing for their #inamerica exhibit. I integrated the dress of designer Maria Hollander, a White woman abolitionist. But when I asked who made the dress and her politically charged quilt seen in the exhibit, the seamstress remained unknown. This was chance to take #metgala invitation from a red carpet moment to a truth telling one. I would create a visual prologue to my #wegoodthx! installation. (More on the actual exhibit in the next post! I see you @hairbysusy @africancreature 😘) I would rep a woman who could have made Hollander’s dress- an Obeah Woman who by day used her hands to sew, cook, wash White folk clothes & tend to their chirren and by night used her hands to conjure spells for our survival using ancestral African spiritual practices not meant to survive the middle passage. This would be my homage to Marie Laveau but also The Condomble Woman, The Santeria Priestess, The Ifa Woman, The Yoruba Priestess. The Voodoo Vixen and all women practitioners of ancestral arts from Africa. This woman would represent the unseen Black women who have sewn the fabric of this country but she would also be my armor as faces and bodies like mine aren’t usually seen or celebrated in these spaces. Because I was invited a lil late to the party, I had less than five weeks to make something happen. The first person I called was the amazing @bevysmith, fashion and cultural writer & warrior who encouraged me to take my vision all the way. Knowing I needed a Black designer, Bevy suggested I reach out to @brandicedaniel founder of @harlemsfashionrow. Brandice being brilliant and knowing most Black designers were booked, suggested I reach out to dressmaker Jennifer McFarlane aka @jennycouture, a Jamaican American master craftswoman. When I mentioned “Obeah Woman” to Jenny, she hummed deep and I could feel her lips curling through the phone! And so with a design I co-created with my very best friend of thirty plus years @denise.trotman …. Caption finished in post below…. (Special shout out to me & Peters assistant Chris Reyes @crey_j for putting in that WORK!)
OBEAH WOMAN, COME INTO THE ROOM! A Prologue. I’d been invited to remix a room in the #metcostumeinstitute #americanwing for their #inamerica exhibit. I integrated the dress of designer Maria Hollander, a White woman abolitionist. But when I asked who made the dress and her politically charged quilt seen in the exhibit, the seamstress remained unknown. This was chance to take #metgala invitation from a red carpet moment to a truth telling one. I would create a visual prologue to my #wegoodthx! installation. (More on the actual exhibit in the next post! I see you @hairbysusy @africancreature 😘) I would rep a woman who could have made Hollander’s dress- an Obeah Woman who by day used her hands to sew, cook, wash White folk clothes & tend to their chirren and by night used her hands to conjure spells for our survival using ancestral African spiritual practices not meant to survive the middle passage. This would be my homage to Marie Laveau but also The Condomble Woman, The Santeria Priestess, The Ifa Woman, The Yoruba Priestess. The Voodoo Vixen and all women practitioners of ancestral arts from Africa. This woman would represent the unseen Black women who have sewn the fabric of this country but she would also be my armor as faces and bodies like mine aren’t usually seen or celebrated in these spaces. Because I was invited a lil late to the party, I had less than five weeks to make something happen. The first person I called was the amazing @bevysmith, fashion and cultural writer & warrior who encouraged me to take my vision all the way. Knowing I needed a Black designer, Bevy suggested I reach out to @brandicedaniel founder of @harlemsfashionrow. Brandice being brilliant and knowing most Black designers were booked, suggested I reach out to dressmaker Jennifer McFarlane aka @jennycouture, a Jamaican American master craftswoman. When I mentioned “Obeah Woman” to Jenny, she hummed deep and I could feel her lips curling through the phone! And so with a design I co-created with my very best friend of thirty plus years @denise.trotman …. Caption finished in post below…. (Special shout out to me & Peters assistant Chris Reyes @crey_j for putting in that WORK!)
OBEAH WOMAN, COME INTO THE ROOM! A Prologue. I’d been invited to remix a room in the #metcostumeinstitute #americanwing for their #inamerica exhibit. I integrated the dress of designer Maria Hollander, a White woman abolitionist. But when I asked who made the dress and her politically charged quilt seen in the exhibit, the seamstress remained unknown. This was chance to take #metgala invitation from a red carpet moment to a truth telling one. I would create a visual prologue to my #wegoodthx! installation. (More on the actual exhibit in the next post! I see you @hairbysusy @africancreature 😘) I would rep a woman who could have made Hollander’s dress- an Obeah Woman who by day used her hands to sew, cook, wash White folk clothes & tend to their chirren and by night used her hands to conjure spells for our survival using ancestral African spiritual practices not meant to survive the middle passage. This would be my homage to Marie Laveau but also The Condomble Woman, The Santeria Priestess, The Ifa Woman, The Yoruba Priestess. The Voodoo Vixen and all women practitioners of ancestral arts from Africa. This woman would represent the unseen Black women who have sewn the fabric of this country but she would also be my armor as faces and bodies like mine aren’t usually seen or celebrated in these spaces. Because I was invited a lil late to the party, I had less than five weeks to make something happen. The first person I called was the amazing @bevysmith, fashion and cultural writer & warrior who encouraged me to take my vision all the way. Knowing I needed a Black designer, Bevy suggested I reach out to @brandicedaniel founder of @harlemsfashionrow. Brandice being brilliant and knowing most Black designers were booked, suggested I reach out to dressmaker Jennifer McFarlane aka @jennycouture, a Jamaican American master craftswoman. When I mentioned “Obeah Woman” to Jenny, she hummed deep and I could feel her lips curling through the phone! And so with a design I co-created with my very best friend of thirty plus years @denise.trotman …. Caption finished in post below…. (Special shout out to me & Peters assistant Chris Reyes @crey_j for putting in that WORK!)
OBEAH WOMAN, COME INTO THE ROOM! A Prologue. I’d been invited to remix a room in the #metcostumeinstitute #americanwing for their #inamerica exhibit. I integrated the dress of designer Maria Hollander, a White woman abolitionist. But when I asked who made the dress and her politically charged quilt seen in the exhibit, the seamstress remained unknown. This was chance to take #metgala invitation from a red carpet moment to a truth telling one. I would create a visual prologue to my #wegoodthx! installation. (More on the actual exhibit in the next post! I see you @hairbysusy @africancreature 😘) I would rep a woman who could have made Hollander’s dress- an Obeah Woman who by day used her hands to sew, cook, wash White folk clothes & tend to their chirren and by night used her hands to conjure spells for our survival using ancestral African spiritual practices not meant to survive the middle passage. This would be my homage to Marie Laveau but also The Condomble Woman, The Santeria Priestess, The Ifa Woman, The Yoruba Priestess. The Voodoo Vixen and all women practitioners of ancestral arts from Africa. This woman would represent the unseen Black women who have sewn the fabric of this country but she would also be my armor as faces and bodies like mine aren’t usually seen or celebrated in these spaces. Because I was invited a lil late to the party, I had less than five weeks to make something happen. The first person I called was the amazing @bevysmith, fashion and cultural writer & warrior who encouraged me to take my vision all the way. Knowing I needed a Black designer, Bevy suggested I reach out to @brandicedaniel founder of @harlemsfashionrow. Brandice being brilliant and knowing most Black designers were booked, suggested I reach out to dressmaker Jennifer McFarlane aka @jennycouture, a Jamaican American master craftswoman. When I mentioned “Obeah Woman” to Jenny, she hummed deep and I could feel her lips curling through the phone! And so with a design I co-created with my very best friend of thirty plus years @denise.trotman …. Caption finished in post below…. (Special shout out to me & Peters assistant Chris Reyes @crey_j for putting in that WORK!)
OBEAH WOMAN, COME INTO THE ROOM! A Prologue. I’d been invited to remix a room in the #metcostumeinstitute #americanwing for their #inamerica exhibit. I integrated the dress of designer Maria Hollander, a White woman abolitionist. But when I asked who made the dress and her politically charged quilt seen in the exhibit, the seamstress remained unknown. This was chance to take #metgala invitation from a red carpet moment to a truth telling one. I would create a visual prologue to my #wegoodthx! installation. (More on the actual exhibit in the next post! I see you @hairbysusy @africancreature 😘) I would rep a woman who could have made Hollander’s dress- an Obeah Woman who by day used her hands to sew, cook, wash White folk clothes & tend to their chirren and by night used her hands to conjure spells for our survival using ancestral African spiritual practices not meant to survive the middle passage. This would be my homage to Marie Laveau but also The Condomble Woman, The Santeria Priestess, The Ifa Woman, The Yoruba Priestess. The Voodoo Vixen and all women practitioners of ancestral arts from Africa. This woman would represent the unseen Black women who have sewn the fabric of this country but she would also be my armor as faces and bodies like mine aren’t usually seen or celebrated in these spaces. Because I was invited a lil late to the party, I had less than five weeks to make something happen. The first person I called was the amazing @bevysmith, fashion and cultural writer & warrior who encouraged me to take my vision all the way. Knowing I needed a Black designer, Bevy suggested I reach out to @brandicedaniel founder of @harlemsfashionrow. Brandice being brilliant and knowing most Black designers were booked, suggested I reach out to dressmaker Jennifer McFarlane aka @jennycouture, a Jamaican American master craftswoman. When I mentioned “Obeah Woman” to Jenny, she hummed deep and I could feel her lips curling through the phone! And so with a design I co-created with my very best friend of thirty plus years @denise.trotman …. Caption finished in post below…. (Special shout out to me & Peters assistant Chris Reyes @crey_j for putting in that WORK!)
OBEAH WOMAN, COME INTO THE ROOM! A Prologue. I’d been invited to remix a room in the #metcostumeinstitute #americanwing for their #inamerica exhibit. I integrated the dress of designer Maria Hollander, a White woman abolitionist. But when I asked who made the dress and her politically charged quilt seen in the exhibit, the seamstress remained unknown. This was chance to take #metgala invitation from a red carpet moment to a truth telling one. I would create a visual prologue to my #wegoodthx! installation. (More on the actual exhibit in the next post! I see you @hairbysusy @africancreature 😘) I would rep a woman who could have made Hollander’s dress- an Obeah Woman who by day used her hands to sew, cook, wash White folk clothes & tend to their chirren and by night used her hands to conjure spells for our survival using ancestral African spiritual practices not meant to survive the middle passage. This would be my homage to Marie Laveau but also The Condomble Woman, The Santeria Priestess, The Ifa Woman, The Yoruba Priestess. The Voodoo Vixen and all women practitioners of ancestral arts from Africa. This woman would represent the unseen Black women who have sewn the fabric of this country but she would also be my armor as faces and bodies like mine aren’t usually seen or celebrated in these spaces. Because I was invited a lil late to the party, I had less than five weeks to make something happen. The first person I called was the amazing @bevysmith, fashion and cultural writer & warrior who encouraged me to take my vision all the way. Knowing I needed a Black designer, Bevy suggested I reach out to @brandicedaniel founder of @harlemsfashionrow. Brandice being brilliant and knowing most Black designers were booked, suggested I reach out to dressmaker Jennifer McFarlane aka @jennycouture, a Jamaican American master craftswoman. When I mentioned “Obeah Woman” to Jenny, she hummed deep and I could feel her lips curling through the phone! And so with a design I co-created with my very best friend of thirty plus years @denise.trotman …. Caption finished in post below…. (Special shout out to me & Peters assistant Chris Reyes @crey_j for putting in that WORK!)
Oh. Obeah Woman. Condomble Queen. Ifa Lady. Voodoo Vixen. Santeria sistren. Clearer of space. Purifier of elements. Protector of souls. COME. INTO. THE. ROOM. #wegoodthx! #radhablank #MetGala #MetInAmerica #metmusem #metcostumeinstitute #metamericanwing
Oh. Obeah Woman. Condomble Queen. Ifa Lady. Voodoo Vixen. Santeria sistren. Clearer of space. Purifier of elements. Protector of souls. COME. INTO. THE. ROOM. #wegoodthx! #radhablank #MetGala #MetInAmerica #metmusem #metcostumeinstitute #metamericanwing
Oh. Obeah Woman. Condomble Queen. Ifa Lady. Voodoo Vixen. Santeria sistren. Clearer of space. Purifier of elements. Protector of souls. COME. INTO. THE. ROOM. #wegoodthx! #radhablank #MetGala #MetInAmerica #metmusem #metcostumeinstitute #metamericanwing
WE OUTCHERE! #metinamerica #wegoodthx! #radhablank #metmuseum #metcostumeinstitutep #metgala #caroldawta
WE OUTCHERE! #metinamerica #wegoodthx! #radhablank #metmuseum #metcostumeinstitutep #metgala #caroldawta
WE OUTCHERE! #metinamerica #wegoodthx! #radhablank #metmuseum #metcostumeinstitutep #metgala #caroldawta
WE OUTCHERE! #metinamerica #wegoodthx! #radhablank #metmuseum #metcostumeinstitutep #metgala #caroldawta
WE OUTCHERE! #metinamerica #wegoodthx! #radhablank #metmuseum #metcostumeinstitutep #metgala #caroldawta
WE OUTCHERE! #metinamerica #wegoodthx! #radhablank #metmuseum #metcostumeinstitutep #metgala #caroldawta
WE OUTCHERE! #metinamerica #wegoodthx! #radhablank #metmuseum #metcostumeinstitutep #metgala #caroldawta
WE OUTCHERE! #metinamerica #wegoodthx! #radhablank #metmuseum #metcostumeinstitutep #metgala #caroldawta
WE OUTCHERE! #metinamerica #wegoodthx! #radhablank #metmuseum #metcostumeinstitutep #metgala #caroldawta
WE OUTCHERE! #metinamerica #wegoodthx! #radhablank #metmuseum #metcostumeinstitutep #metgala #caroldawta
I just needed to use this space to celebrate the QUEENS behind this dynamic dress design. I knew what I wanted but cannot draw to save my life. Denise Trotman, my best friend of over 30 years, lent her amazing talent in sketching our design but added details I could have never imagined. Denise there is no way I could have done this without you. That day we went to pick out the fabrics is proof! We found just what we needed because you are my good luck charm! God blessed me with your friendship but he blessed us all with your gift as an artist! And then Jenny. Lord. Where do I begin? Not sure you remember but when you first came to my house to take my measurements I freaked out when I saw your hands. They looked like my mothers hands! She also wore turquoise nail color! I took a picture knowing this meant my mom was in the room and this was meant to be! This powerhouse Jenny has been making clothes, reconstructing and remixing garments for decades and how blessed am I that she was able to complete this look IN JUST THREE WEEKS!!! When I showed up to look at muslin she damn near had a whole dress completed! Grateful @brandicedaniel put me in touch with you and your mastery Jenny. The design was evolving…long coat to short coat…layered denim to bustle effect but what never wavered was each of your beautiful Black women’s determination to get the final garment for the Obeah Woman DOWN! Denise my Trini queen and Jenny my Jamaican queen. Thank you ladies!! 🇹🇹❤️🇯🇲 #blackwomen #madebyblackwomen #obeahwomancomeintotheroom #wegoodthx! #metgala #metinamerica #metcostumeinstitute Special out to @kellyaugustine for her keen eye and input and pulling the other elements in! Next post is yours ma!
