From her global activism to her awe-inspiring fashion to her game-changing roles, Yara Shahidi has already left an innovative mark on the world. Growing up in a multicultural home taught her eons about showing up and embracing self-confidence. Yara had to be reminded of that confidence while growing up. In an interview with Harper's Bazaar Arabia, she shared, "I think this is a universal experience for many people, regardless of your intersection of identity. Oftentimes you're not in the majority and therefore it feels like, are you really supposed to be here? It doesn't matter how qualified you are, or how many things you've done to get there. It's something that I need to be reminded of daily!"
Since her Hollywood debut, she has not let up, especially in the style department. If "can do no wrong on the red carpet" was a person, it would be Yara Sayeh Shahidi.
"Fashion is one of those places in which, when you're wearing something that feels like a representation of you, it does create, in a matter of speaking, a space for you to exist," the Minneapolis native once told Harper's Bazaar. "Even if it's just in a two-inch radius of where you are. It's a walking, personalized area in which you can live."
Let's run up some of our favorite looks featuring this powerhouse. Like wine, she is only getting better with time.
2009 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards
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Over a decade ago, the young star lit up the red carpet just before her breakout film, Imagine That, with Eddie Murphy. Name a cuter actress wearing silk at such a tender age!
2011 AFI Fest
Kevin Winter/Getty Images for AFI
Even young Yara was one to watch. During the special screening of Butter at AFI Fest, she wore a bright yellow dress with an adorable hair accessory and wedge heels.
2015 BET Awards
Earl Gibson/BET/Getty Images for BET
Watching Yara grow up right before our eyes has been such a joy. Take this red carpet look from the BET Awards. You see her starting to find her personal style in this preppy two-piece number.
2017 MTV Video Music Awards
Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images
Another memorable red carpet moment was when the Grown-ish star served up a sophisticated and sexy look at the MTV VMAs. Wearing a gold Zimmerman dress, Yara shifts her style journey by exploring more risky pieces.
2018 Screen Actors Guild Awards
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic via Getty Images
This all-black getup was on the top of every best-dressed list back in 2018. I mean, look at the material. The classic yet bold jumpsuit designed by Ralph Lauren featured a larger-than-life bow and dramatic train. Now that's how you slay a carpet.
2019 LACMA Art + Film Gala Presented By Gucci
Steve Granitz/WireImage via Getty Images
How dare Yara show up to one of the biggest fashion events in Los Angeles looking like a goddess? It was only right that she rocked Gucci from head to toe, so she did just that. From the Gucci Cruise 2020 dress to the Gucci sandals to the Gucci clutch bag, earrings, and ring, the style icon solidified her title as a red carpet killer.
2020 Trumpet Awards
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Yara received the Trailblazer Award at Bounce's Trumpet Awards in 2020, and it's clear to see that she is more than deserving. Just like this queen deserves to be celebrated, this brilliantly structured J.W. Anderson suit from the Spring 2021 runways deserves just as much love. The volume and design of it all speak to her style evolution. At this point in the game, she is owning her divine femininity and uses her wardrobe to make a statement.
2021 Met Gala
Arturo Holmes/MG21/Getty Images
Who better to execute a Josephine Baker tribute than this womanist? During this year's Met Gala, Yara wore a custom strapless Christian Dior gown for the "In America: A Lexicon of Fashion" theme. The elbow-length gloves, diamond necklace, and headpiece perfectly paired with the gown dedicated to fashion and activism, Yara's two favorite things.
To get your fashion fix and to stay up to date with the latest trends, check out the xoNecole Style section here.
Featured image by Arturo Holmes/MG21/Getty Images
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Chalk it up to naivety or simply the hopeful romantic in me, but love never seemed like a distant concept to me. Sure there were tough lessons I had to learn and breakups that I needed healing from, but the hope of finding that special someone still remained. Yet, in my reflections, I couldn’t help but wonder why I kept meeting men who seemed good enough for the moment but would be better had we met at another time.
That is, until I considered one fated component of my dating life that was simply out of my control: and that was time.
When you can’t make sense of things on your own, the TikTok algorithm has a way of leading you to the answers you’re seeking. And during a recent scroll, I stumbled upon a thread of women echoing the sentiment that “men marry the woman in front of them, at the time they are ready to be married” — but could this be the root of my dilemma?
This notion, known as the "Cab Light Theory" is a concept that was introduced in the hit TV series Sex and the City. In the scene, lawyer Miranda Hobbes suggested that men are like taxis - when they're available, their "cab light" is on, and when they're not, it's off. “When they’re available, their light goes on. They wake up one day and decide they’re ready to settle down, have babies, whatever, and they turn their light on. The next woman they pick up — boom! That’s the woman they marry. It’s not fate. It’s dumb luck,” she tells her group of friends in the ladies' room.
GiphyThe theory is that men are ready and willing to pursue a romantic relationship when they're emotionally available and interested (light on), and if they’re not, well, it’s on to the next pick-up they go (light off). While men are not modes of transportation, there is a point to be made about how a passing notion in a TV series from the start of the millennium could still hold some truth today.
In the original video shared by creator Tay Talks, her take on the “Cab Light Theory” implied that men aren’t necessarily marrying their soulmate or even the love of their life, instead, “it was just the girl he was dating at the time he was ready to get married and settle down.” The “dumb luck” that Miranda Hobbes was referring to in the show is the chance encounter that a woman would find a man who is both financially sound and emotionally available enough to stop his dating pursuits and commit to one woman forever.
But as dating trends shift with new social and economic factors at play, how could it be that more “lights” aren’t going off for men?
In an illuminating piece by Psychology Today, men are more lonely than they’ve been in decades and their soil for choice isn’t helping. The article shared that dating apps drive new connections but have a gender imbalance, with 62% of users being men. And with women becoming increasingly more selective in preferring emotionally available men who share their values, men are now facing a relationship skills gap that can lead to fewer opportunities for long-term partnership if growth, healing, and deeper emotional intelligence are not achieved.
While it’s easy to oversimplify the headaches and frustrations that come with modern dating, we can’t forget that while timing does play a factor in us finding “the one,” we also have the power of choice within our grasp. Men and women both need time to heal, grow, and discover themselves on a deeper level — so would we really want to “jump in the cab” of someone who hasn’t gone through that process already?
Since love is one of those forces that we can’t just make happen a the snap of our fingers, it can be easy to fix a blanket theory into the reason behind our singleness, but it’s important to remember that we can choose to pursue other candidates who date with openness and desire for commitment rather than waiting until someone’s light hastily cuts on.
While love can be sublime it shouldn’t be random. And when love finds us, we shouldn’t have the question in the back of our mind whether we were the best our man could do at the time. We deserve to be sure.
So yes, the “cab light theory” is a cheeky concept that prompts us to appreciate the timing of our love life, but it should also remind us that alignment is everything.
Because the real question is: was his light not on, or was he simply not the one?
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