Month: October 2018

Hip-hop artists have always worn seriously cool designer shades. These days, we’ve got Offset rocking Bugatti, Drake and Wiz Khalifa favoring Saint Laurent and Future flossing with Temple and Bridges, just to name a few. 

But no one showed more loyalty to his favorite sunglasses than ’90s rap icon Notorious B.I.G. did with his beloved Versace Medusas. 

Biggie’s signature frames, complete with bright gold Medusa heads on the temples, can be seen in the videos for “One More Chance” and “Hypnotize” and were worn at the Brooklyn rapper’s concerts, interviews and public appearances. Basically, he never seemed to take them off. 

And while they played an integral role in creating Biggie’s high-living hustler persona, the flashy Medusas are definitely not for everyone. 

But if you’ve got the swagger to pull them off, there’s good news: Versace is bringing back Biggie’s favorite shades for the month of October at Barney’s stores and Barneys.com for $295.

Biggie first wore Medusas onscreen in the video for 1994’s “One More Chance”, in which he advises, “I’m clocking ya/Versace shades watching ya” while kicking back at a Brooklyn house party.

Later, in the considerably more over-the-top video for “Hypnotize” in 1997, Biggie flees the law on a luxury speedboat in the Florida Keys with Medusas on, and and helpfully raps, “Miami, DC prefer Versace.” 

Current hip-hop artists including 2 Chainz and Tyga have recently revived Medusas, but they’ll always be associated most with Biggie, who often attended Versace fashion shows and was credited with championing the brand by Donatella Versace herself. 

Ready to Die for a pair? Check out Barneys.com. 

Ariel Winter just made the cover of something called Composure magazine, and unsurprisingly, she looks as stunning as ever.

The Modern Family star and social media bombshell donned a number of “cleavage-baring” outfits posted to her and the mag’s Instagram feeds. 

Nearly 350,000 have already liked Winter’s post, which was captioned, “Never been timid.” 

But all it takes is a cursory scroll through the comments section to find the exact type of nasty remarks that the 20-year-old actress has spoken out against so many times before. 

Winter talked at length about how these relentless internet trolls have affected her over the years in an accompanying interview. 

“Social media and I have had a very tumultuous relationship. I appreciate the platform social media gives me to express my views or help people through tough times,” she said. 

“However, social media has become a huge platform to either tell us how we should live or bully others. These platforms have given us a way to say whatever we want, no matter how hurtful or damaging they are, from the safety of anonymity.”

Sometimes the best thing Winter can do is simply step away. 

“I take breaks from social media periodically because I think it is healthy to walk away and focus on the life that’s in front of you instead of the life happening on your screen.” 

“I receive horrible comments regardless of what I post, and it gets hard not to let them affect you sometimes,” she added. “People forget that EVERYONE has feelings, regardless of their career choice.”

Still, Winter sees value in being able to communicate with fans on Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and other platforms. 

“I’d like people to look at social media as a way to connect with friends and express yourself instead of using it as a sounding board for your anger or as a standard of what life should be,” she said. 

“Be your own person and don’t listen to anyone who says differently. We are all unique!”

To Winter’s haters: Kindly fuck off while the rest of us admire more stunning photos from her Instagram feed: 

Deep Ellum, Texas, is a neighborhood in East Dallas that you’ve probably never heard of, much less know as a hotbed of horology. However it’s home to Jack Mason, one of our favorite up-and-coming affordable watch brands, started a few years back by two friends working out of a 1971 Airstream. 

Like their makeshift office, Jack Mason watches are well-designed, rugged and innately American, even when their look is derived from vintage – and increasingly unaffordable – Swiss pieces.

Among their offerings the Racing Collection appeals to us most, and we like their latest design, the JM-R402-003, the best. 

Like the rest of the collection it’s inspired by the dashboard gauges of vintage race cars, but the sporty new quartz-powered chronograph also features a red, white and blue sub-dial, which of course echoes the colors of both the Texas and American flags but also references some very cool vintage sailing watches like the Heuer Autavia Skipper and the recently reissued 1960s Yema Yachtingraf.

The back of the 40mm stainless steel case, which is water resistant to 100 meters (328 ft.), is engraved with a classic grand prix race car, a spiffy touch, while the dial displays a tachymeter used for measuring speed like the ones found on iconic timepieces such as the Omega Speedmaster. 

The “rally” style strap is also nicely done in perforated black leather echoing the upholstery on vintage sports cars. Like all Jack Mason straps it features a quick-change pin system so you can easily swap it out and give the watch a new look.

If you’ve been adding all this up in your head you’re probably thinking this watch runs at least $500 and maybe more like $1,500, but the price is only $275. 

Which is why we feel it’s safe to say you can’t afford not to buy one.