We all know the fashion industry is one of the most underrepresented areas around. The lack of diversity in gender and race has heavily influenced the success stories we've seen, both in front of and behind the lens. The significance of black culture in the fashion industry is non-negotiable. You can't go very far without seeing reminiscences of its influence, from the athleisure and 90's nostalgia. Throughout history, black people are the muse behind many of fashion's most notable trends, and the reason for the meteoric rise of our favorite trends today. And we're not just talking social media clout or simply selling out the newest TopShop collaboration.
According to a report, Black purchasing power was $1.3 trillion in 2019 and is projected to grow to $1.8 trillion by 2024 - a rate that will surpass white purchasing power. As racial inequalities in the workplace subside, the black dollar becomes more powerful. For decades, the fashion industry hasn't spoken to black people but, finally, designers can no longer afford to negate the black audience.
During a time where many brands are taking the first step of an overdue process towards more diversity and inclusion, there's also a growing desire to understand the history of black impact. American fashion historians like Shelby Ivey Christie use social platforms to reiterate the importance of preserving the trendsetters of our culture and keeping their impact alive.
To keep the momentum moving forward, here are 10 books on the decades-long impact of black culture on fashion.
The Birth of Cool: Style Narratives of the African Diaspora by Carol Tulloch
A perfect place to start, this book historically depicts the style narratives of black culture in the twentieth century.
NAOMI by Naomi Campbell
A beautifully curated book centered around the career of the incomparable Naomi Campell, this book features photographs from the likes of Steve Miesel and Bruce Weber. This collection also features text from Naomi to accompany her most iconic magazine covers, editorials, videos, and more.
Supreme Models: Iconic Black Women Who Revolutionized Fashion by Marcellas Reynolds
Amazon
Supreme Models: Iconic Black Women Who Revolutionized Fashion is an archive of historic and iconic black supermodels that failed to make the mainstream history books.
EBONY: Covering Black America by Lavaille Lavette
Amazon
You can't say much about the black influence on fashion without a thorough discussion of EBONY magazine. This collection of essays, photographs, and exclusive contributions paints a vivid picture of the cultural significance of the legendary magazine.
The Threads of Time, The Fabric of History: Profiles Of African American Dressmakers And Designers From 1850 To The Present by Rosemary E. Reed Miller
Amazon
If you're a true student of fashion, The Threads of Time profiles 38 Afro-American designers from the 1850's - an era that holistically tends to negate the social contributions of black Americans.
Dapper Dan: Made in Harlem: A Memoir by Daniel R. Day and Mikael Awake
Amazon
Fashion aficionados and the black community know about Harlem's infamous Dapper Dan, but mainstream fashion circles are just learning of his craft. In his 2019 memoir, Dapper Dan details his struggles and challenges within the problematic fashion industry for the first time.
Stylin’: African-American Expressive Culture, from Its Beginnings to the Zoot Suit by Shane White and Graham White
Amazon
Spanning over two centuries, the authors of Stylin' explore the deep-rooted meaning behind the style choices of Afro-American communities in the 50s and 60s.
Vintage Black Glamour by Nichelle Gainer
Vintage Black Glamour
Vintage Black Glamour is a beautiful collection of portraits and profiles of world-renowned and lesser-known important black artists. The features range from entertainment icons like Diana Ross to pioneering model Ophelia De Vore, and many more.
Andre Leon Talley, ALT: A Memoir by Andre Leon Talley
Much has been speculated of Vogue Editor-At-Large Andre Leon Talley over the decades, but this self-penned collection of stories breaks down every prior wall. The style icon dives deep into his early VOGUE days, the challenges of being 'the only', and the continued inequality that still faces the industry.
Liberated Threads: Black Women, Style, and the Global Politics of Soul by Tanisha C. Ford
Amazon
If the intersection of politics and fashion is an interest of yours, Liberated Threads needs to be your next purchase. Subtitled 'Black Women, Style, and the Global Politics of Soul', this thought-provoking book explores black women through the 60s and 80s incorporated activism into their style.
Featured image by Shutterstock
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Whatever the case, TikTok is making sure we have everything we need to "lock in" for the rest of the year. Heralded as "The Great Lock In," TikTok's latest wellness trend is the collective reset designed to transform your life by December.
If you've been seeing the phrase pop up on your FYP, here's a quick breakdown of The Great Lock-In and how you can make the rising wellness trend work for you.
What Is The Great Lock In?
The Great Lock In Wellness Trend, Explained.
TikTok creators define "The Great Lock In" as a 17-week journey, taking place from September 1 to December 31. Think of it as a not-so-distant relative to the wellness trend concepts of 75 Hard/75 Soft or last year's viral Winter Arc. The Great Lock In is all about re-programming your mind to reprogram your life.
As one TikTok creator, @_tatianaforbes explained in her TikTok, "It's all programming your mind to go hard for a sprint of time. It's not meant to be forever. But it's meant to be this time where you put forth immense effort in some area of your life."
That area could be your finances, fitness, sleep habits, or even your personal style. And while The Great Lock In is framed as a "sprint," the true W is establishing the powerful habits you build along the way, the ones that shift your mindset, setting the tone for your physical or mental transformation. The name of the game is focus. And what you focus on, you magnify, creating space for radical change that feels bigger than your average glow-up.
@_tatianaforbes/TikTok
The Great Lock In Rules
The Rules of Engagement
So how does one lock in to The Great Lock In? The concept itself might sound intense, but the rules of engagement are more straightforward than you'd think. If you're ready to commit, here are some of the most common "rules" TikTok creators like @silkx.co are swearing by during this end of the year sprint:
- 90 days of pure discipline
- Wake up by 5 a.m.
- Go to bed by 9 p.m.
- Work out 5-6 times a week
- Take 10,000 steps daily
- Read 10 pages of a book daily
- Drink 3 liters of water daily
- Max protein intake goals daily
- Write 3 things you're grateful for
- No fast food
- No sugar
- No alcohol
- No excuses
- Eliminate distractions
- Focus on yourself
@silkx.co/TikTok
How To Make The Great Lock In Work For You
You don't have to do all of the rules of The Great Lock In to see results by December 31. We want to level up and thrive, not burnout in survival mode. Yes, this is a 17-week sprint to transformation, but it doesn't mean you have to box yourself in self-improvement hell. Like author James Clear reminds us in the ultimate self-development book, Atomic Habits, "All big things come from small beginnings. The seed of every habit is a single, tiny decision. But as that decision is repeated, a habit sprouts and grows stronger."
TikTok creator @cloudsjoo echoes this approach to transformation, encouraging small, sustainable shifts versus a complete life overhaul from day one. Maybe you build toward 10,000 steps a day by starting off with a 30-minute walk per day. Or if you're rule is no fast food (physical) or no eating out (financial), a small step could look like cooking more meals at home each week and leaning more on meal prep.
The beauty of The Great Lock In lies in its flexibility. It's a framework for building systems that actually fit into your life long-term. Locking in doesn't mean perfection, it means commitment. It's choosing yourself through consistency and trusting that those small steps will lead to the glow-up you've been envisioning for your life.
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So, what can you do on the lower-than-you-would-like days? I’ve actually got a few hacks that I’ve relied on throughout the years that have made me feel better — almost instantly so. In fact, I’ve depended on them so much that I’d be shocked if at least one of them didn’t manifest some level of positivity in your own world.
An author by the name of Hiral Nagda once said, “Bigger the turbulence, greater the opportunity to evolve and transform.” Please keep this in mind as I share three tips to make life better…no matter what may be happening to you (which, more times than not, is ultimately happening for you).
1. Always “Default” to Your Purpose
GiphyI’m telling y’all — if there is one thing that irks me to the nth degree, it’s people who worship the idol of happiness. And although that might sound crazy on the surface, hear me out. Think about what the definitions of happy are: “delighted, pleased, or glad, as over a particular thing” and “characterized by or indicative of pleasure, contentment, or joy.” Okay, now think about every aspect of your life — are you happy ALL of the time…in any of them? Of course, not. Happiness is an emotion and a pretty circumstantial and borderline fleeting and fickle one, at that.
That’s why, whenever my clients say things to me like their partner should “make them happy” or they are going to break their promises/vows because they aren’t “happy anymore,” they all will tell you that, one of the first things to come out of my mouth is gonna be, “You may not be happy right now yet is the relationship healthy overall?”
You see, children are individuals who think that they should be happy 24/7 and that it’s other people’s responsibility to ensure that they are. Meanwhile, it’s wisdom and maturity which teach you that healthy should trump happy at every hand — and that’s why I adore the quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson that says, “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well” because y’all, when you really let this way of thinking settle into your spirit, it really can make a bad day better.
Why? Because when you stop trying to be happy all of the time and instead, you opt to get your mind, body and spirit into being useful, doing things in an honorable way, extending compassion to those around you and really making a difference — that puts you into a state of knowing that you are contributing greatness into the world and how can that not elevate your being? How can that not make you a healthier/better person?
And what if there are times when you don’t know how to do that? My two cents would be to default to your original settings by relying on your purpose. What I mean by that is, I have said, multiple times on this platform, that NOTHING should come before your purpose other than God himself because your purpose is “the reason for which something exists or is done, made, used, etc.”
For me, this summer has been GEEZE…and yet, whenever I find myself feeling stressed, I remind myself of what my purpose is (mine personally is to teach on the covenant principles of marriage, sex and the biblical Sabbath) and I put my focus and energy into that — and you know what? It instantly reminds me of my value and relevance, for such a time as this, on the earth. It also tends to inspire and motivate me to come up with new ideas for how to progress in those areas.
Not too long ago, I was talking to a male friend of mine who, although he is hella successful (especially to not even be 50 yet), there is a void within him, because although he makes money, he still hasn’t “scratched the itch” of what his purpose in life is. I’m telling you, no matter what is going on in or around you, when you know that you know that you know why you are here, you can get through just about anything.
So, if you can relate to my friend and you still need some help figuring out what your purpose is, check out “Still Don't Know Your Purpose? Answer These 7 Questions.” It may help you to connect a few dots — so that this hack can end up being a reliable one for you.
2. Remember Your Name’s Meaning
GiphyIt’s no secret that, historically, people of Hebrew and African culture believe that a child’s name speaks to their purpose (which is why, as a doula, I encourage parents to not choose names that just “sound good”; it’s best to select ones that they have put a lot of thought into) — and y’all, if there is one thing that my mother did absolutely right, it was give me my name. As “legend” would have it, although my name was supposed to have been Ryan (whether I was a boy or a girl; Ryan means “little leader”, by the way), according to her, when I was born, “You looked like a little Indian and God told me to name you ‘Shellie.’”
For years, that never made much sense to me. That is until I was walking in a local mall one day, I ran into an Israeli named Le-Tal and, when she told me that I was pretty and asked for my name, she immediately said, “Oh, you have a Hebrew name. It means ‘Mine; Belonging to Me.’ It means that you belong to God.” Since then, so many dots have connected; especially once I was led to the “anchor text” for my name which is Ezekiel 16 which talks about God making a love covenant.
Anyway, since I know that my entire purpose is about the three covenant principles that I just mentioned, Shellie (in Hebrew, it’s Sheli) makes a whole lot of sense. Also, since I know that my middle name Reneé means “reborn” and Warren means “loyal protector” — listen here…whenever I’m feeling low or even just overwhelmed, I think about the power that is within my name and it instantly empowers me. I am here to teach covenant, I transition often in my growth because my middle name calls me to do so, and I am a chihuahua/pit bull blend about my friends because my last name calls me to be.
You know, it’s wild, how many people I talk to on a weekly basis, who have absolutely no clue what their name means. That said, if you’re looking for a pick-me-up, Google your own (all of your names) sometime — you might be surprised by what you discover about yourself or what your name encourages you to do at any given moment and time.
And speaking of time…one more “get through it” tip.
3. Let Timing Do Its Thing
GiphyI’ll be honest with y’all — there ain’t too many modern-day evangelical pastors that I get down with (honestly, ain’t too many pastors, period, who move me; folks seem to be getting further and further away from I Timothy 3, if you ask me.
Folks also need to read Pagan Christianity sometime). However, one who, based on what I know/have heard about him, I do respect is a man by the name of John Piper. One of my favorite quotes from him is, “God is always doing 10,000 things in your life and you may be aware of three of them.” Boy, ain’t THAT the truth.
When you’re going through a test or trial; when you’ve recently received some not-so-great news; when someone has hurt or disappointed you; when you are waiting for something that seems to be taking forever to come to pass, and/or when you’re just wondering when the season you’re in is going to shift into something different — you’ve always got to remember that, like John Piper implied via his pearls of wisdom, there are puzzle pieces in play (to create an overall picture) that your finite insight knows absolutely nothing about AND that that timing needs to be granted the space to handle.
I’ve been writing for this platform for almost eight years at this point and so, I’m pretty sure that, in one of these articles, I’ve referenced that one of my favorite analogies is comparing doing your best to making homemade chocolate chip cookies. You know, no matter what the ingredients of the cookies are, you can never do the job of the oven and the time that it takes for them to heat up inside of one. And when it comes to your life?
I don’t care if it’s a new job (or a promotion), a relationship, reaching a specific personal goal — whatever it may be, sometimes you have to surrender to the fact that after you’ve done all that you can possible do…it’s time to fully surrender and allow timing to take over: to simply tell yourself, almost like a mantra, “It’s just not time yet and time is looking out for me.”
This is actually why I find so much peace in the Scripture “Timing is the Father’s business.” (Acts 1:7-Message) It’s a reminder that I don’t have to have “it” all figured out. So long as I do my best and commit to being consistent in that, I’ve got to allow God and timing to do whatever else needs to be done. And yes, resting in that reality (Ecclesiastes 7:18 — Message) is an ultimate life hack. TRUST ME.
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When something is better, that simply means that, on some level, it has improved. Try these out. If “better” is what transpires, then you are just a hop, skip and jump away from good and then…GREAT!
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