Scary Spice Lives Up to Her Name

I'm always perplexed when celebs swagger-jack each other.

There's always some element of dipping into the same styling pool (stylists invariably pull from the same designer racks), but you expect oft-photographed entertainers to align first and foremost with the cult of individuality.

Not only is scary spice girl Mel B sporting Cassie's look, but the style just feels so dated now. Any edge or shock value it was supposed to evoke is nil. Moreover, I think the utter lack of fuzz on the shaved side gives Mel B a bald eagle quality.

Tired.

Gentlemen Prefer Heels

It's no secret that when it comes to footwear, men almost to a head prefer heels on a woman. I think in the male fantasy, we'd step off the stoop always looking like Cassie and Lauren in a Sean John ad.

And most of us willingly indulge this preference: We do feel sexier when we're strapped (to heels!), after all, and we (for the most part) appreciate the extra love we get in the streets for making the effort.

But in New York, a pedestrian city that sits on killer sidewalks, running around in killer heels can be taxing, even injurious. Some of us resort to the Superman-in-the-booth quick change from flats to heels.

Though there's something inelegant about ramming your bare feet into a pair of peep-toes on a subway platform as you balance latte, oversize clutch, and mag.



So give the arches a break! To be shod in sole-ful shoes can be appealing...right? [Laughs] I nominate Christian Louboutin's dazzling Fred Flat Lace-Ups as a counterpoint to your most flirty frocks. (Above, variations on the dance shoe by Louboutin and Repetto.)

Cassie's Been a Bad, Bad Girl

So pop&B starlet Cassie recently took clippers to her tresses, leaving a patch of exposed scalp above one ear. Reportedly, as she explained on her Twitter feed, she was looking to entrench her "Rock Star" status and try out her nascent I-don't-give-a-fuck attitude. Well, this gave me pause because I can think of few other singers who embody rock star status less than the lightweight songbird. For starters, being an "official" jumpoff to your label's chief executive officer is not a good look, nor is joining in on what I imagine was a session with The Clutch, assembled for a writer's circle, and presumably lamenting how you're tired/ tired/ tired of being his unofficial girl. Moreover, while Cassie's a gorgeous girl with a few hits behind her, she has hardly built what I can even generously refer to as a catalog. A few radio-ready hits, Ryan Leslie bangers, but nothing sturdy enough for a fan to structure a playlist around. In short, being signed to Bad Boy doesn't make you a Bad Girl, regardless of how much strappy leather Louis Vuitton and Balmain you loop around your ankles.