goddesses – Style Coven

According to Haitian lifestyle expert, Harold Courlander, a noted American novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist, “Properly used [the word ‘voodoo’] specifies the black magic, witchcraft, mojos, greegrees, love potions, hate potions, etc. that once existed (and possibly to some extent still do) in the American South among blacks and whites alike.” As Mambo Asogwe LaReina explained it to me, Vodou (also spelled Vodoun, Vodun, or Vodu) refers to a type of spirituality practiced today in Haiti, parts of the U.S and throughout the world. It is not a derogatory word, whereas, the word “voodoo” has been overused in the media and has negative connotations. Moving forward, I am now going to use “Vodou” in order to show respect for the practitioners and the spirits. Modern day Vodou Style combines traditional Vodou images connected with the worship of the spirits or loas with current fashion and artistry to celebrate a spirituality and a lifestyle in which the spirits, worship, music, dance and induced trances connect the ordinary human being to the divine. The resulting street style is vibrant, colorful, spiritual, sexy and not exclusive to Vodou devotees. It should be noted that now that vodou is an integral part of the HBO original series, “True Blood” there are increasing numbers of ordinary people who think that Vodou Style is cool. Meanwhile, the authentic Vodoun Community boasts a population of talented artists, designers and craftsmen who should be represented and respected.

In 2011 the award winning Studio City Tattoo sponsored a tattoo t-shirt contest in connection with Tattoo Magazine. Tattoo artists from all over the world submitted designs in the competition and the result was an amazing collection of graphic t-shirts that have become popular among tattoo aficionados worldwide.
Style Coven selected 4 shirts from this collection to be reviewed by Mambo Asogwe LaReina – Yvette Smith ,Vodou Priest, Artist,Seer, Reiki Master – Radio Show Host by Paranormal Investigator (Team Psychic); our resident Vodou Style Expert for the trend we have named “Vodou Gaga” – a street style sported by haute vodouns and voodou fans everywhere.
Here are Mambo Asogwe LaReina’s reviews for this week’s round-up of Vodou Gaga Glam and our own feedback in a girl-to-girl chat about style. We had so much fun that we are definitely going to do it again… and maybe next time she’ll have time to give me a reading!

Mambo: (Skull and Roses) “This design has the best Vodou vibe. It definitely has a “Baron” feel to it. The roses around the skull give homage to Baron’s wife Madam Brigit, Ashe! Love this one! Can I have it in an extra small so it’s real tight on me? 🙂 XXX 666 XXX.
Style Coven: “I knew you’d love this shirt! Clay, do we have an extra small left or have they all sold out? This design is sooooooo popular! Wait a minute,Yvette… I’m checking! You’ve got to send us a picture of you rocking this if we have one in stock. Seriously…”

4 eyed fortune teller — 4 Eyed Fortune Teller

Mambo: (Four-Eyed Fortune Teller) “Vodoulicious! I love this fortune teller with her all seeing eyes everywhere and the skull and snake like wrapping. This one I’d wear out in public with big o’ sunglasses and lots of bracelets!”
Style Coven: “My thoughts EXACTLY. I like your style. I have this one in a small and I’m thinking of blinging it out with Swarovski crystals to make it more magick. What do you think?”

Mambo: (Dead Girl) “This reminds me of a sexy pin-up girl in the style of “Day of the Dead,” but it needs some text like “Dead Girls need love too” to make it pop. In terms of the “cool factor” ranging from 1-5 I’d give it a firm 3, but the style has potential.”
Style Coven: “I have this shirt and I’ve made it more style friendly by having it razored. I cut out the neck and slit up the back so I could tie if from behind and make it sexier. It’s one of my fave shirts to wear with skinny jeans. I guess I could write in the slogan in fabric paint pen if I really wanted to. Hmmmm…”

Mambo: (Unicorpse) “You know, I guess I am just not into unicorns… dead or alive. While I’m told that this was one of the most popular shirts, this design is the least “Vodou” cool in my opinion, because there are no unicorn symbols in traditional Vodou.”
Style Coven: “I had an assistant who literally begged for this shirt to wear to an event. Granted, she was NOT a Vodoun, but a cute little blonde who was into rock ‘n roll and Boho Chic and she just thought it was so pretty.”

SPECIAL PURCHASE REBATE
Style Coven: Tell you what, your fans can purchase these shirts in men’s and women’s sizes along with the rest of the entire collection by clicking HERE.

Studio City Tattoo will mail them a guaranteed $5.00 dollar rebate after they email their confirmed order number with their mailing address along with the Code: MAMBO by clicking HERE.

About Studio City Tattoo: Winner of Citysearch best of Los Angeles 5 times in a row 2005-2010, winner of Fox LA’s best of LA . Studio City Tattoo has been tattooing stars in Hollywood for 20 years. Many of Hollywood’s top names have come through our doors, Pat Benatar, Miley & Billy Ray Cyrus, Will I am, Kirstie Alley, Cher, Tommy Lee, Slash and Lenny Kravits to mention a few. To go to their website please click HERE.