I will donate $15 dollars to Yele, Wyclef Jean’s Haiti Charity, on behalf of the every person who buys my book “Zheng He and the Treasure Fleet”.

Just email me at paul.rozario@gmail.com. Message from Kelly Diels follows below.

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How To Join the Help Haiti Blog Challenge. What You Can DO.

Remember Gwen Bell’s Best of 2009 Blog Challenge? It brought a LOT (700+) of people together. Which got me thinking…a blog challenge is a way to rally together and have a big impact through a lot of little actions.

Hence: The Help Haiti Blog Challenge. Let’s do it.

Here’s how we can share, together, so we can give, together, to our people who need and deserve help in Haiti.

1. Sign up for the Help Haiti Blog Challenge here.
2. . Write about it on your blog and tag it “Help Haiti Blog Challenge“. Ask your people to join you and do the same.
3. Add the Help Haiti Blog Challenge badge to your blog.
4. Make your offer: I will donate ________ dollars to _________ on behalf of the next person who buys _________ from me.
5. Make your donation and tell us how much you donated.
6. Tweet about it using the hashtag #haitiblogchallenge. Update your facebook status with a request to pass on the message and the call to action. Send e-mails. Everywhere you are, online, talk about the Help Haiti Blog Challenge, tag it, and call your friends, family, colleagues – your people –  to action.

Let’s gather our online people to help our real-life people.

You can do this. We can do this. And it will be bigger than anything we could have done alone.

Pass it on.

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Please feel free to check out Kelly Diels’ blog to join the challenge.

The beauty of Fashion Week in New York is that the “scene” is no longer limited to a group of famous designers showing in Bryant Park. Indeed, this Fall’s NYC Fashion week saw shows and events catering to independent designers, retailers, and consumers. I was privileged to attend one such fashion offering: Nolcha Fashion Week. The organizers of Nolcha have put together a very handy and inspiring website for up-and-coming designers, as well as opportunities to discover these new designers. Enter Nolcha New York Fashion Week.

Held at the Bohemian National Hall (the Embassy of the Czech Republic in New York), this year’s Nolcha Fashion Week featured 7 designers. The press release can be found here. Here’s a video of designs by MinnaK.

Three seasons ago, Farah Angsana’s couture collections hit New York in a sea of soft ruffles, dazzling rusching, and exquisite embroidery. Fall 2009 saw her showing in Bryant Park for the first time, and all her signature trademarks – draping, rushing, beading, and embroidery -  were present in full force.

Cocktail dresses in cream, antique gold and sage silk gave way to silk chiffon evening gowns and a stunning gunmetal silk jersey draped evening gown. Simple silhouettes paired with detailed bead work presented the viewer with rich contrasts. A cocktail dress is transformed with Gazar tiers and Swarovski crystal beading, while the designer re-invents simple capes with jet beading and embroidery to create texture and a feeling of luxury. I particularly liked the Jacquard coats with beautifully beaded hems and cuffs and trimmed collars. They added a new shape to the dresses and gowns which with to play.

And Farah Angsana did indeed play with this collection, the backdrop of which was Shanghai in 1939. She spun a story about the kiss of a dragon that transforms the Farah Angsana Woman into a phoenix. This theme was evident in the use of many accents, including ostrich feathers and mandarin collars and culminated in a dramatic final piece – a black and red silk chiffon draped evening gown with embroidered and beaded black and gold dragon scales. I can’t wait to see which Hollywood starlet has the chutzpah to carry off this absolutely stunning dress!

The classic Farah Angsana Couture trademarks were all there – the lovely rusching, the fabulous embroidery and drapery, the ethereal fabrics used, and that je-ne sais-quoi of her Asian heritage and European sensibility . Silhouettes were very modern, with only a couple of pieces that accented traditional wedding gowns. And even those were subtley executed: with more flattering shapes, and sleeker trains and veils. Another cohesive and beautifull presented collection. Well done, Farah!

This was a super retrospective of her work and so well executed. I particularly liked the wall of framed prints, along with framed quotes from desginers like Vera Wang, Carolina Herrera, and Michael Kors about Lilly’s timeless style. I am such a fan now!