On Wednesday, some of your favorite celebs are giving up digital communication. That means no cell phones, no Twitter, no Facebook — some of the things we can barely go a waking hour without — for a whole day or until we the people donate $1 million for World AIDS Day.

The Digital Death Campaign is put on by the Keep a Child Alive charity, an organization founded by Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Alicia Keys has founded. The give provide medical care and financing for people who are infected with HIV/AIDS in Africa and India.

Kim and Khloe Kardashian, Jennifer Hudson, Ryan Seacrest, Serena Williams, and Lady Gaga, Janelle Monae, among others are among the celebrities who are participating for the cause.

The concept is that these celebs are dead, so by giving donations, you’re not only saving their “digital” life, but you’re saving the lives of so many others.

To donate, check out buylife.org, and if you see anyone wearing a “Buy Life” T-shirt (above), you can scan their barcode and donate. You can always text “Buy Life” to 90999 for a $10 donation.

As told to the New York Times, Keys said, “You’re always texting your friends,” she says. “Now, you’re going to text to Buy Life.”

Whose life will you buy?

PICS: keepachildalive.org

Shimmy shimmy ya, shimmy yeah, shimmy yeah! Sparkle is in for the holiday season, which is great, but the trick is to be tasteful and not look like an overgrown disco ball. (Above, sequin dress, Aryn K., $98, piperline.com)

Sequins and shimmer are all over the racks, but which to choose? There are tons of options, so if a whole outfit of glitterati is too much, you can always jazz up an outfit with accessories!



Skirt, J. Crew, $128, jcrew.com

Sequin beret, Forever 21, $5.80, forever21.com

Highlights, $8.95, blinghighlights.com

Nail Polish, Sephora by OPI, $9, sephora.com

Solid perfume ring, Juicy Couture, $42, sephora.com (This is 2-in-1!)

When was the last time you went out with your friends just to enjoy the night? You took your time to put on your make up, do your hair, and slid on the baddest pair of heels you own, just  because you can. Has it been a while? Why?

There has been plenty of times when ladies I know have been in a rut, a single rut for that matter. Then when a suggestion is made to just “change something up” or “put on something special” their replies are “Who am I getting dressed up for?”

YOURSELF!

It’s time to pull your confidence out the little box you stored in the back of you closet, next to your little black dress and pictures of you and ex-boyfriend. There’s no need for a boyfriend in to make you feel good. In fact, no one is going to appreciate you more than you appreciate yourself.  Drake said it best, “you don’t do it for the man, men never notice, you just do it for yourself you’re the f*cking coldest.”

So ladies, let’s pull it together and do it for yourself.

The week she put on her first fashion show, Michelle Otero knew she had to be on her grind. When she was approached with the idea by friend Tika Jones she was down, but it only gave her one week to create eight different looks and introduce her line of leggings and jewelry, Radical Luxury, to everyone.

As her designs hit the stage, Otero, 27, her heart pounded through her chest with excitement. “It was an adreneline rush to see my own stuff,” she said.

With her first show down (and with major success), Otero has her game plan but first…

ARMOIRE CHIC: What is Radical Luxury?

MICHELLE OTERO: I don’t even know, just one day, one night, I was in my room watching The Golden Girls and the name came out of nowhere. It’s radical, and it’s luxurious.

AC: But why leggings and jewelry?

MO: People don’t think it [the leggings trend] was going to last when they came back a couple of years ago. For the most part they look good, and they’re flattering on everyone. As far as jewelry goes, I need at least one showstopper piece. With the jewelry line it’s going to get you noticed. Even if it’s one piece, you will definitely get noticed.

Otero attends the Art Institute of Boston and takes classes online to fulfill her fashion design and retail management major. She said her course load and work regime are “very disciplined,” but a lot of what she’s done is self-taught. Designing and school wasn’t always her first choice. It was something she thought about in recent years. Back in the day, school was the furthest thing from her mind.

“After high school I went to community college,” she said. “I got financial aid, and I thought I was the shit.” She didn’t take her work seriously, and she quit. Otero said she will be done with the Art Institute when she graduates next year.

AC: What made you want to start designing?

MO: I’ve always kind of done it but never did anything with it. As far as going to the extent that I am now, I had a full time job that paid well and [had] benefits, but I woke up everyday and it wasn’t for me. I always designed. I’m not the best artist, it’s not my forte, but I have ideas and I put it in my mental vault and save it for later. I’ve been making clothes ever since I was a kid. I made clothes for my dolls. It wasn’t the best, but it always served it’s purpose.

From there she made prom dresses and outfits for her friends. Otero said she can make anything out of anythng and remembers a time when she made a dress out of a hotel bed sheet by folding and knotting and twisting so much “you would have thought it was couture.”

Otero grew up in a house with three older sisters and three very different personalities, so maybe it was inevitable that she would be a designer to set herself apart from her siblings.

“I have three older sisters and my mom,” she said. “You have five personalities and five different styles.” She gets her obsession of clothes from her mother. “My mother is a clothes hoarder. [She has] shoes for days, clothes for days.”

AC: What inspires you?

MO: I’m a freak. I think clothing just shouldn’t be about clothes, it should speak to you as a person… I like to show skin. I like to show sex. I mean, not to say I’m going to show it all of the time, but my leggings are meant to be dressed with a tunic and blazer, just freak it, you know what I mean?

AC: What designers influence you?

MO: Diane von Furstenberg. She really styles for a woman. She’s iconic for her wrap dresses. Her silhouette  is for a woman. I still have my first Diane von Furstenberg dress that I paid an arm and a leg for, but when I wear it, it kind of like my power dress.

Otero came up with a pair based on an old candy cane she found in her mom’s attic. She also named her leggings after each of her friends based on their personality.

First fashion show is down, so what is next for Radical Luxury?

“If popularity increases I would like to start selling,” Otero said. Next spring, she may be able to launch her line in the Guess stores in Newberry and Cambridge, Mass.

“If it pops and sells, who knows what will happen from there? I hope for it to be extremely successful. I want my style to change and evolve. I want it to be a name you recognize and know. Pretty fades, fly is forever, man. That’s radical luxury.”

Last night, BET aired Black Girls Rock, an awards show which celebrated the accomplishments of Black women around the globe who inspire us through motivation, entertainment, and good deeds, such as Ruby Dee, Raven-Symone, Reverend Dr. Iyanla Vanzant, and more.

Black Girls Rock was not just an awards show, but it is a nonprofit organization that started in 2006 by Beverly Bond to build the self esteem of young black women, ages 12-17, ages where growth in self-worth and esteem is most important.

Sounds great, right? Well, not to everyone. On Twitter when most of my timeline seemed to praise the efforts made by Black Girls Rock, there were a few naysayers. I’m not saying that everyone has to agree or feel praise as well, but come on, why the need to criticize?

Specifically, there was one tweet that hit a nerve with me. It said (and it’s unedited),

“Hope tht “black girls rock” shit dsnt give u black broads a false sense of empowerment.White grls dnt need a show 2kno they rock.”

Absolutely right. White women do not need a show to let them know they rock. There are a million outlets to let them know they do. There’s countless magazines, TV shows, shrines, you name it, to let them know they rock every single day.

Are we not allowed to feel empowered? What kind of statement is that? If we aren’t proud of our achievements and accomplishments, then who will be?

Imagine, if someone White or otherwise were watching Black Girls Rock they might have learned something new. Maybe they never heard of Teresa Clarke who founded Africa.com to show the world that Africa isn’t all about despair and poverty.

As Black women, everyone already knows, we’re told that we’re not good enough, we can’t play with the boys, or that we simply cannot. We hear about it in songs and with randoms on the street that we’re bitches or we’re this or that.

We need to believe that we are special in every single way, and if it takes an awards show to recognize that feat, then so be it. That comment was proof enough why we need to let the world know why Black girls rock, and that we will always continue to do so.

I rock because I won’t let anyone tell me that I don’t.