RETURN OF THE MILITANT: TOP 10 LOOKS OF 2022 (PT.2)

To bring in the NEW and IMPROVED “Mommy’s Lil Militant” blog, I decided to make a list of my 10 favorite looks from 2022. 

No specific order.

 Just vibes.

I split it into two parts, so make sure you read the first part too! 

JUNETEENTH

When I was in San Antonio for the summer for an internship program, I was determined to celebrate Juneteenth whether there were events in the city or not! I ended up finding a Juneteenth celebration at a local park and went with some of my friends from the program. We got to hear some live music and see the local Black-owned businesses. 

Before the day, I planned this outfit specifically for Juneteenth. I wanted to make my look as BLACK and TEXAN as possible, incorporating pieces from my favorite Black-owned brands. 

I cropped my Juneteenth shirt from It’s Neccessidy, with the saying “Every N*gga is a Star” and a big star colored like the Pan-African flag on the back.

I had my knee-high rattlesnake cowboy boots and a denim maxi skirt with the Aaliyah split from Shein. My favorite part of the look was my layered gold necklaces, including some from Shayla Ansah Collection and Brownie Points for You.

Fun fact: It’s Necessidy, Shayla Ansah Collection, and Brownie Points for You are all Black-women-owned businesses from and/or based in Houston, Tx. 

San Antonio was scorchin’ on this day. My phone was overheating and acting up while taking photos. Chile, I only had the energy for a couple of shots. I got a few good ones though and it cooled down by the time I went to the park.

I loved this day because I was happy that I was able to find a way to be immersed in my culture and history for Juneteenth despite being in a different city where there isn’t a large Black community. I got to bond with the other interns and had a really fun time! Good music, good people, a good day, and a supa fly look.

*INSERT SEA LION EMOJI*

The reason why this look is on the list is simply that I looked f*ckin phenomenal. I got this dress from SHEIN a couple of months before this. The way the dress is set up, your boobs are held together by some cloth, string, and the grace of God. Me, As a woman with bigger breasts, I’m automatically thinking “this ain’t gone work out for me”. 

I decided to keep it because I wanted to figure out a way to wear it without my boobs goin willy-nilly. Even if I couldn’t wear the dress in the way that SHEIN intended, I could turn it around and wear the back as the front instead. 

I was thinking about the dress a few days before I wore it and posted a photo of me in it on my close friends, talking about how it was cute but I ain’t got no titty security. 

I ended up wearing it to a friend of a friend’s birthday party at a local club called Paradise Palace. It was during sagittarius season, so I was feeling rebellious and adventurous. 

A simple, yet effective look; I wore it with my white space cadet combat boots and my FUBU windbreaker—in case my boobs chose to break free. 

The skin was skinning. The body was bodying. The face was facing. Like, I just looked so good. It was another moment where I was overcoming insecurity or a look I felt like I couldn’t pull off in the past. I did it and I felt good doing it!

Ima always stick by stepping out of your comfort zone, especially with personal style. This was me practicing what I preach! I’m proud that I took the chance to try it out and didn’t let self-doubt get in the way. 

I’d love to wear this again and make it more dressy the next time around. S/o to the big titty shorties! Where there’s a will, there’s a way. 

HALLOWEEN

Interesting factoid: Pokemon was one of my favorite shows growing up. I used to randomly burst into character, pretend that I was Ash Ketchum, and assign my family different roles from the show (peak Leo sun child). 

So when I came across this costume on Fashion Nova??? I just haaaaad to get it. It’s in the Janaya costume hall of fame now.

My thought process for choosing this costume was:

If this was Halloweentown 2: Kalabar’s revenge and I was turned into whatever my costume was for the rest of the night, would I be okay with turning into it? 

The answer was “of course!” cause that’s my dream. Probably one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever made.

I styled my costume with white go-go boots and white fishnets. The costume complimented my rainbow braids soooooo good.

I went to Nights Like This, a recurring DJ set in Houston, with DJs like Lonny Sounds and Morgan Morgan. Baby, I had a time that night. The drinks did what needed to be done and the music was elite per usual…I just love going to DJ sets in the city. 

The moral of the story is…my childhood self was very pleased. I felt like a big kid with my lil Poke ball. Definitely did my big one.

GENDER SWAP

TSU’s Underground Fashion Society hosted a UFS week with themed outfit days. The first day of the week was Gender Swap day; I was super excited because I’ve been wanting TSU to do this theme for the longest.

Of course I was gonna participate! I took it as an opportunity to pretend like I’ve been a dude this whole time—the gworlies call it method acting. Thus, Javion a.k.a. JB was born!

I put on a baggy Black denim pant set, Air force 1s, an oversized southpole jersey, and a trucker hat. I drew a goatee stache combo on my face—I even learned how to braid my hair in plaits for this. 

That’s how excited and committed I was to this role. 

Unfortunately, not too many people got the memo about gender swap day, but I did not care. If I serve a look, I’m stickin’ beside it. 

I went to my first class of the day as Javion. I concocted a guy voice and pretended like I was a dude this whole semester, as if there was never a Janaya. I had a whole conversation with my professor and classmates like…it was that serious.

The rest of the day I let the guy voice go, but I still kept my look, goatee, and my bootlegged boy walk. It was fun to play around with my masculine energy and to tap back into something that I loved doing as a kid—being a comedian/improv gworl and an actor. I was living my SNL cast dreams! 

Did the role stop after I left campus? No, I went to Ross with a full-on goatee while walkin wit a dip.

I kept it up until my mom told me we couldn’t go to the Chinese buffet unless I wiped my goatee off, which was valid cause it was drawn on terribly and was melting away.

 I’ll choose all-you-can-eat food over a raggedy goatee anyday.

8-BALL

I’m a proud member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. I became a member in Spring 2020, so my line sisters and I joined during the very beginning of the social media neo presentation era. 

This look was from the Spring 22 neophyte presentation at TSU. Alpha Lambda (the undergraduate chapter I joined) had a big ‘ol line that year, so I had to show out for the new babies and my chapter! Plus, this was my first time seeing a neo presentation where it wasn’t just one Divine 9 org, but several Divine 9 orgs on campus revealing their new members in one big show. 

It’s just something about Rhoyal blue on my skin that eats down every time, ya know? I decided to serve a blue buss-down moment with a blue 2pc pant set (Amazon), Blue open toed boots (Shu Deal), Yellow telephone purse (Amazon), a red mullet, and a grill. 

Long story short, the girls did AMAZING! I was so proud of them and it felt good to see them have their moment. They did what needed to be done. Period.