Outside is open for much of the world, and we can all celebrate in our masked glories! And although there are some countries that aren't with the tourism at this time, Italy seems to be welcoming any and everybody with arms wide open. Mainly the celebs of the world, who have been taking advantage of their open borders and living it up, Italian-style.
Famously, celebs such as Serena Williams and hubby, and Ciara and Russell Wilson took the trek over to the land of pasta, for their full-on flex baecations.
Now, a few of the ladies are back, all in the name of fashion.
In fact, this past weekend was the Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda fashion show in Venice, Italy and the stars now only showed up and showed out, but it seems that some new friendships were formed in the process. And listen, the gworls came to play, mkay?! Stars such as Ciara, Vanessa Bryant, Megan Thee Stallion, Queen Normani, Doja Cat, and so many more came to represent in their best dressed and it was everything we didn't know we needed.
In a video captioned, "It's Party Time! @dolcegabbana Venice," Ciara can be seen teaching the ladies Italian en route to the show, singing a few jams, and hanging with A-listers alllllll over the place. And because Ciara is the friend we all need in our lives, of course there was full on footage of her supporting her bestie, Vanessa Bryant, as Kobe's birthday passed a few days prior.
Diddy a.k.a. 'LOVE' was all love as his three daughters showed that they get it from mama, Kim.
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The Combs twins and Chance all walkedslayed the runway as dad looked and cheered his babies on.
"LOVE LOVE LOVE!! Live from Venice"
The rapper, who currently goes by Sean "Love" Combs, took to Instagram to share a few flicks from Venice, Italy, where 14-year-old D'Lila and Jessie walked the runway for Dolce & Gabbana. Diddy shares both children with his late ex, Kim Porter, who died nearly three years ago. D'Lila and Jessie's half-sister, 15-year-old Chance Combs, also made an appearance in he best dressed, which she thanked her dad on IG saying:
"Venice has been AMAZING with my family! Thank you daddy for everything and I'm honored to have been a part of Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda show. Thank you @dolcegabbana for having us!!! Grazie! #moarmagic."
Queen Normani shut shit down with a hand-painted number that screamed 'Disney Princess'
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The pop star donned a full ball gown from Dolce & Gabbana's spring 2008 ready-to-wear collection, which she flaunted in a series of photos posted to Instagram by her hairstylist, Ashanti Lation. Sis channeled her inner princess in a green gown and full black tulle skirt that sent the people gagging.
She enjoyed the show alongside Megan Thee Stallion, with whom she previously collaborated on the song "Diamonds" from the Birds of Prey soundtrack, and they each shared videos of themselves seated next to each other on their Instagram Stories, with Normani captioning the clip, "My seester."
Saweetie wore hotel slippers and made us love her even more!
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Saweetie mixed high-fashion with the hotel slipper trend yesterday during her time in Italy after her appearance at the Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda runway show. The rapper was seen at the Excelsior Hotel in Venice with an emerald off-the-shoulder satin dress, which she paired with a jewel-encrusted clutch, crystal hairpins, a silver anklet, a custom necklace with her name and the most comfortable footwear—hotel slippers. It's giving, 'high-fashion, but make it comfortable.'
Sis knows how to keep the people talking. Here for it!
Other celebs such as Aldis Hodge, Doja Cat, PJ Tucker, Vin Diesel, Zoe Saldana, and more made the weekend a star-studded one for the books. Dolce, himself, topped it all off by saying:
"I've worked in fashion for 43 years and I've never known anything like that. I can't take the emotion."
Us either, Mr. Dolce. Us either.
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Since it’s Stress Awareness Month, we caught up with Keanne Owens, LCSW, founder of Journey To Harmony Therapy Center, to talk about these triggers and what Black women can do to manage and cope.
Owens is an experienced South Florida-based counselor and social worker who offers her services via Grow Therapy, a therapy and medication management platform. She has worked with Black women professionals to unpack issues related to workplace stressors. “One is the pressure to perform–having to meet deadlines and deliverables. And a lot of times, these subtle stressors from performance are put upon ourselves as Black women. We want to make sure we’re doing our best. We don’t want to be critiqued in certain ways.”
Excessive micromanagement leading to fear of overly critical bosses is another subtle trigger that can negatively impact Black women in the workplace.
“Whenever something is done wrong, or we experience some type of injustice and have to report it, it’s the fear of retaliation–[fear that] we won’t be taken seriously or [our words] will be taken out of context because of being deemed as the ‘angry Black woman,’” she said.
Black Women And Workplace Stress Triggers
Her sentiments are backed by research. A recent report by Coqual found that 28% of Black women (compared to 17% of White men) say their supervisor uses “excessive control or attention to detail” when managing them. There’s more: A survey by the National Employment Law Project found that Black workers were “more likely to have concerns (80 percent) and twice as likely as white workers (18 percent) to have unresolved concerns at work, with 39 percent reporting they were “not satisfied with the employer’s response or did not raise concerns for fear of retaliation.”
The survey also found that 14 percent of Black respondents said they “avoided raising concerns to their employer for fear of retaliation—more than twice the average rate of 6 percent for all survey respondents.”
Owens pointed to the fact that these subtle stress triggers can negatively impact our physical health and our career advancement. “A lot of time it’ll affect our productivity,” Owens added. “We start to have negative thoughts of ourselves. The stressors can also cause fatigue. We’re no longer meeting or working up to our desired potential.” Other challenges as a result include insomnia and increased insolation, withdrawal, and lack of motivation to apply for jobs or promotions even when qualified.
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How To Manage Subtle Stress Triggers
While there are systemic issues at play for Black women at work that has less to do with us and more to do with major overhauls that must be addressed by the powers that be, there are steps we can take for the betterment of ourselves and our mental health. Owens offered the following tips:
Tap into a support system, whether it’s a coworker you trust, a family member, an organization, or an outlet like a hobby.
Create a good work-life balance before burnout even starts. “Having certain boundaries [is the goal] such as, for example, if you get off at 5, you get off at 5. If your job description is this, you don’t go above and beyond because that brings you to a lot of burnout,” Owens said.
Prioritize self-care, whatever that means for you. “If you don’t have a routine, create one. Practice mindfulness and even some meditation,” she added.
Create structure in your life outside of work. “Even if you have a family, applying some structure in your routine helps relieve stress,” she said.
Get into grounding techniques. “Do a real quick square breathing exercise, that’s literally 30 seconds, or you can do a grounding technique that’s less than two minutes, right there where you are. You don’t need any other materials. That’s something you can do with just yourself and your body.”
Ask for help. “As Black women, we don’t ask for help enough,” she said. “Find where you need to ask for help. A lot of times, people think that’s indicative of weakness, but we need to rewrite that narrative. It’s okay to ask for help where you see fit. [If] you’re a mom, [it could be] every Wednesday from 5 to 6, your children are with the dad. You have to carve out that time.”
For more information on Grow Therapy, visit their website. You can also find out more about Keanne Owens, LCSW, via BeginYourJourneyToHarmony.com.
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