Wendy Brandes Jewelry Blog

Never Is the Next New Thing

Be Yo Self … Then Buy Rings for Yo Self

by

I missed yesterday’s Independent Fashion Bloggers conference for the first time since gorgeous blogger Jennine of The Coveted launched it in September 2009. Luckily, I was able to follow the action on Twitter for a while, and I noticed a lot of people were tweeting this advice from the speakers: “Be authentic.” Sigh. “Authenticity” has become THE buzzword in both the blog and fashion worlds — and probably many other worlds that I don’t visit — so I tweeted, “The word ‘authentic’ is used so often it sounds fake to me.”

Gorgeous Vahni of Grit & Glamour agreed, but wondered, “What else can we say? BE YO SELF?” Yes! I love it. Conveniently, the hashtag is already in use: #BeYoSelf. And it’s really a shorter version of my “Wear What You Want” blog motto. Hmmm … it might look nice in my header.

Elizabeth Coyne created a new blog header for me, just in case.

Anyway, if you’re ever tempted to tell me to be authentic, don’t. Say something like: “Don’t swagger jack, bitch; be yo self!” I’ll be much more responsive.

While you’re working on ways to #BeYoSelf, you should also #BuyYoSelf (or buy the hoe in your life) a set of the Yea Hoe rings I originally made for gorgeous rapper Lola “Gangsta Boo” Mitchell. The ring set is my pick for Day 9 of my Valentine’s Day Countdown.

Click to pre-order.

These rings are the same size as my sterling silver OMG and WTF rings, and you wear YEA on one hand and HOE on the other, just like my model Tina J is wearing the OMG and WTF rings in this picture.

Tina J gets wild. Click for original post.

I did the first “Yea Hoe” rings as a custom job for Boo. “Yea Hoe” is her signature rap thang. You can hear it in “Throw It Up,” her song with Yelawolf and Eminem. I’m addicted to this song. I’m always singing Boo’s part to myself: “I see you bitches talkin’ loud, but you ain’t sayin’ shit/ Get the fuck from round’ here, you don’t rep my shit/ You ain’t from my city, you don’t know about this/ You don’t want that drama, you ain’t ready for it, bitch!”

Boo’s rings were made in sterling silver, but now I’m doing them in brass to make them more affordable for her fans. (It’s my first costume jewelry.) All six rings, in brass, will sell for $115. If you read my Huffington Post piece on manufacturing, you’ll know that I’m placing a large order so that I can produce the rings overseas where production is less expensive. As a result, I’m going to be drowning in brass rings, but I couldn’t disappoint Boo’s fans. Or Boo herself. You know how the (non-Yelawolf) song goes: “Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets.” So join Boo’s #YeaHoe team. Pre-order the Yea Hoe rings now and save me from being up to my ass in brass.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. LOL..u r so funny! BTW, I feel stupid now to believe for a second on twitter (scatterbrained mommy mind to blame)that you really were gonna change the header!!
    And yes, the word authentic needs to be googled before its is used! Be authentic with respect to what??
    But I’ll get down with BeYoSelf!

  3. The whole conference was interesting to watch because the questions the audience was asking was sometimes on the border of how to be like the panelists! No one wants to be themselves anymore!

  4. WendyB, darling, I’m joining you in #BeYoSelf mode, something I’ve pretty much been doing for over 64 years now. Thanks for the good wishes!

  5. Those rings are very tempting if only for the shits and giggles I would get wearing them. I’m just picturing grocery shopping, girl scout meetings, and family dinners with my grandparents. Priceless, and I’m pretty sure my mom would freak out if I wore them around her, but I’d say “Chill Mom, Wendy B. just told me to #BeYoSelf!”:)

  11. You have done the world a favour, by providing an excellent alternative to “authentic”. As your peeps, we will spread the word!

    And buying your own jewelry, especially WendyB, is the best. Every woman should buy her own.

  12. LMAO!!! Yeah “authenticity” or talking about it is overrated. Be Yo Self or my personal fav “Do You” is much more succinct and real (pun intended)

    This is my new anthem!

  14. Hilarious!

    It’s somewhat dismaying to see that, despite all the proclamations of “authenticity” floating around, there are still bloggers who go out of their way to cop ideas for posts, layouts, photos, etc. from high-profile bloggers.

  16. If one had enough of those rings, one could spell out “hooey.” or, “hoo-ah,” that equally high-larious derivative of “whore.”

    But “throw it up?” I have way too many jokes about that one.

    I really would love that <3 ring right about now.

  17. I guess if you have to be told to be authentic, it’s kind of pointless, isn’t it?

    This reminds me of this doctor I had and every time he left the room he looked at me all gingerly and said ‘And remember, be yourself.’ I was 30 at the time and he wasn’t much older, so I got the feeling he thought I was 12.

  18. I agree with you, ‘authentic’ sounds fake now. I like be yo self, better, but somehow it’s too close to “be yourself.” My Grandma used to tell me “Suzie, just be yourself” by which she meant I ought to quiet down and help her with the chores.