Roman Kidds Clothing is a street wear company started in 2002, back then I had no sense of direction.. no certain look or immediate goals. All I knew, I wasn't trying to be broke forever. We now specialize in just about anything that's considered street wear, esp. clothes and jewelry. We also do tons of custom work for our customers and guest design work for other clothing companies, helping others get out their dreams. We stay creative, and always ahead of what everybody else is trying to do.

Be Confident

The first ideal of fashion citizenship is "Be Confident". You have to have confidence above anything else in order to carry off any look, whether it be luxe or low budget. Many things go into the concept of confidence, but in regards to fashion citizenship it means believing in yourself, knowing who you are and loving who you are. No one is perfect...let me say that again, No. One. Is. Perfect. These models that we see covering our favorite magazines are airbrushed and primped to create an image, most of them look completely different when they're "off" and the same goes for celebs. Love yourself and your imperfections, chances are they make you unique. In the case of Tilda Swinton, who's picture I used for this ideal, she tends toward the more editorial pieces on the red carpet and she rarely ever has a miss. Tilda's simplistic beauty regime always allows the pieces that she wears to speak volumes, she gives the fashion crowds just what we want. Much like Tilda, you can find your niche' and play it up to the hilt...just make sure you feel great in it !

Take Risks

The second ideal is one that I've come to appreciate in recent years, Take Risks ! Part of fashion citizenship is expanding your horizons and seeing what's really out there to wear. Whether you like going to open air markets, thrift shops, vintage boutiques or raiding a relatives closet for interesting pieces, you have to step out of your comfort zone ! As I near 30, I thought for a while that I had to start to calm my wardrobe down and make sure I was doing well with the government color scheme (blue, black, gray). This all changed when I started to get hip to a man named Nickelson Wooster. Mr. Wooster has impeccable style that isn't dependent on his age but it's fresh, it's hip and most of all it's risky. Risky pieces work so well on Nick, who's tattooed like a rocker but dresses just as dapper as a proper gent. Risks in fashion are the most fun because they bring out different sides of our personality and make us feel unique and alive. I challenge you to step out of what you're comfortable wearing and take a few risks, within reason of course and see how awesome you feel.

Be Sure

The last ideal and possibly the greatest is "Be Sure". Being confident and risk taking fall right in line with this last ideal. Being sure means to be solid in your fashion decisions. Don't be swayed by the thoughts or words of others, in regards to your own personal style. Now when it comes to fit and appropriateness, it's always good to have a few trusted folks who will tell you when you need to retire a piece or maybe try it another way. I like this ideal especially for my full figured fashion citizens because size does NOT dictate sexy ! At any size, you can be the confident, risk taking fashionista you want to be. One such woman is the proprietor of the blog Gabi Fresh, I implore you to check her out and get familiar with her stylish swag. Sofia Vergara is my "Be Sure" maven because Sofia tends to wear similar silhouettes on the red carpet and she's often blasted for it. However, Sofia knows what works for her and she stays in her lane. Like Sofia, be sure of what works for you and work it as many ways as you can. Even with taking risks, make sure they work and aren't just something you're doing for attention. Last but most important, Be confident...your fashion citizenship is at hand !

Sam Edelman's Blue Lorissa Pump in Aqua

These Sam Edelman pumps are spiked and snake print all at the same time. Sam Edelman has become known for these spiked back pumps and to add this bright reptile print in our color o' the day makes them even better. You could pair these stunners with a sleek pair of slacks or the trendy hi-lo maxi skirt.

Michael Antonio's Tochi Sandal in Aqua Satin Reptile

With all the ladies planning summer get a ways these sandals are perfect to add to your South Beach-Cancun-Tahiti-Tropical vacay plans. These sandals have a lot going on with textures, colors and patterns, so your outfit wouldn't need to do a lot at all. A flirty white dress or a pair of boyfriend jeans and a white tank would set them off quite nicely.

Luichiny's More of It Pump in Aqua Leopard

Luichiny is a favorite of many of my readers and this pump I'm sure will continue the love. The More of It pump is a throw back to the 70's with a strong platform and a block heel and it's just as relevant today with this mash up of leopard and vibrant aqua fabric. These would be a great party shoe or something to pull out for a date night. I know I'd love to see a woman coming to greet me in these for a night out on the town.

Jessica Simpson's Blue Waleo in Aquadisiac

Jessica Simpson is another favorite of the fashion citizen women, she's affordable and produces great designs are just some of the compliments I've heard from you, the readers. The Waleo pump is a hot design, very smooth with a great heel and in this color that Jessica is calling "Aquadisiac" it's perfect for a vacation shopping stroll or a day at the office when you want to add some punch to your outfit.

Chinese Laundry's Moving On Pump in Aqua Suede

This Chinese Laundry pump is reminiscent of a YSL design from not to many seasons ago and I love when shoe designers reinterpret designs for the masses. I won't get into that here but let's just say this is a great pump in a vibrant color. I like the block heel and platform, this pump is most definitely good for work or play. A true fashion citizen knows that her shoedrobe should be as multi purpose as possible.

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I've got another jam for my fashion citizen ladies from Brianna Perry. I heard her when I was jammin' this weekend riding around on a track from SWV's new release "I Missed Us" and the track is called Do Ya. Brianna rode the beat like a seasoned pro, so I had to find out more about this girl. As I was searching I found her mixtape Face Off and the track I'm showing off today, Marilyn Monroe. The video is above and I know my ladies will love it. You can download the track on iTunes and you can get Face Off here.

Personally I think that a fashion citizen is one who is true to themselves and confident with their individual style. Effortless fashion always seems to catch my eye most. Keeping up with trends and the "Jones's" is long gone, it's all about what makes you comfortable. Labels don't matter if you can't put your clothing together properly. Everyone should invest in timeless pieces that can paired with anything no matter the price tag. What's impressive about real fashion citizens is that they can make a thrifted $10 dress or shirt look like it cost $1,000. To me, that's style. Remember who is wearing the clothes, it's all about working with what you have!

You can find Alex's jewelry at www.shop-ALS.com and find her blog at http://www.thegoodhairblog.com/

I had to put this video up on the site from one of the dopest lyricists I know, PRO'Verb.  I met this guy a lil while back and I have to say he's indeed a grinder and very much on point with his skills on the mic. This song is one of my favorites from him and the video is sure to be a classic. I wish PRO'Verb much success !

Be sure to download While You're Waiting on iTunes. You can also follow PRO'Verb on Twitter at @ALLPROALLDAY and check his site out as well www.allproallday.com

Fashion Citizen : The Shaolin Jazz project has virtually blown up, recognition has come both nationally and globally, what is the genesis of the project?

Gerald: It started as an extension of an album cover art exhibition I was doing called “The Classics”. With the classics, I’d do a quarterly show highlighting different types of music I was into. Hip Hop, Soul, Jazz, Reggae, etc…for each genre I was highlighting album covers from each genre. The exhibition served as a visual educational tool to educate folks about each genre. Also, with each exhibition I’d conduct a series of cultural projects that would give a deeper look into each genre from interviewing graphic designers of the time or leaders in instrumentation for that particular type of music. Jazz was the last one and I really wanted to hype it because it’s very close to my heart. One particular interview was with Logan Mills Walters, who created a series of jazz inspired Wutang album covers and he based them off of the Blue Note album covers. Interviewing him with that, I had a light bulb moment. Let me back up and say that 2 Tone created a mix tape to accompany every exhibition that I put on and he also dj’ed each exhibition as well. I’d never heard of a jazz & Wu-Tang mix and speaking with Logan, I wanted him to create the album cover to it. I also wanted 2 Tone to be on board with this and he was ready for the challenge.

Fashion Citizen : I can really appreciate the organic nature behind the project and the fact that you’re exposing people to something that you’re passionate about, which leads me to my next question. Jazz is almost a forgotten genre among the younger set, how do you feel that this project can expose newbies to the genre?

DJ 2 Tone : With this project, in two ways it reaches to younger audiences. We treat jazz as an older, forgotten genre and it’s almost accepted as a bygone era in music. I don’t think it’s the case for hip hop but it’s not far off either. This project being put out there with jazz and Wu Tang, hopefully will draw the younger set in and allow them to get the intent of the project. We’ve noticed with some of our visits to our college campuses that there are people who are interested in jazz that are definitely younger than us, but the hip hop element also speaks to them just the same. Older folks, our own age or older have gravitated to the project as well, listening to the jazz samples that were used and recognizing them. Its two fold in that the music and the presentation appeals to older and younger generations.

Fashion Citizen: Speaking of exposing the masses to new things, can you tell us about the spin-off of the Shaolin Jazz tees from the original project?

Gerald: All of the offshoots from the project have been to further expand the reach of Shaolin Jazz. After doing the Shaolin Jazz album design cover contest, all these covers were pouring in and there was so much good content. We took the winner, Shamona Stokes and five others who were the strongest designs and set about putting the designs on redbubble to allow the public to purchase the shirts. We went with redbubble because they produce shirts on demand and we didn’t have to worry about stocking and all that, just the art. Even selecting a winner was a process; it took us about a week because we had so many great designs to go through. The t-shirt idea came about because of so many great designs and us wanting a tangible form of participation in the project.

Fashion Citizen: I've recently seen the Dream Girls of Shaolin Jazz, bringing women out of supporting roles to the forefront. How important do you feel the contribution of women in hip hop is?

DJ 2 Tone : I've actually been, for years,  big fan of female contributions to hip hop, especially female emcee’s. Whenever discussions come up about favorite artists or top album, you’ll always hear me throw Queen Latifah’s name out there. I’ve had several conversations with men and women about the double standard that exists in hip hop with men and women and even to dj’ing, since that is what I do. One thing that people can take a little comfort in is that it’s a numbers game. It’s always going to seem like there’s a lack of female participants in hip hop, but there is a good bit of female participation. It’s just when you look at numbers and stats, with dj’s for instance, there could be 100,000 djs and of them only 2,000 are women. That’s a small percentage but there’s participation. There’s not a 50/50 breakdown. There are dope female dj’s from Jazzy Joyce to Princess Cut down in ATL, but because there numbers are small, it may appear they’re not represented at all. I don’t even think we should labels these women as dope female dj’s or dope female emcee’s, they should just be dope dj’s or emcees. That was kind of my impression of Lauryn Hill before Miseducation dropped. Across the board people were waiting for Lauryn Hill to drop a solo album, in the Fugees she was the best one on the mic. She was one of the dopest emcees out at the time. I was disappointed when Miseducation dropped because I wanted to hear her spit, I didn't want R&B from her. When you hear a dope female emcee, there’s nothing like it. It’s just sad at this point, there aren’t a lot of females in the game that rap and are on the radio except for Nicki Minaj. I hate that it’s gotten to that point where the female emcees that are really spittin’ are relegated to underground.

Gerald: When we were growing up, there were a lot of women, that didn’t rhyme per say, but they were into the hip hop culture and they understood it. They were knowledgeable, good looking and they liked De La Soul and Mobb Deep. They were able to articulate on the history of the music and the hip hop movement. There are young women that are like that now as well and we wanted to highlight that type of woman in this shoot. We wanted to respect the culture and display the tees as well as interviewing these women and having them talk about style, their musical tastes and inspirations. We wanted to highlight women’s contribution to the culture in a positive way. Women have a large contribution in the industry behind the scenes, signing some of the biggest artists of our time as is the case with Sylvia Rhone, for instance. Some of these women ok’ed the money for these great hip hop artists to get signed.

DJ 2 Tone: In a sense, the Dreamgirls piece was for hip hop heads in a historical way. Back in the hip hop heyday, the fashions that are exhibited in the photo shoot was what the hip hop head fella saw his chick in. We could’ve shown the woman in the heels and tight skirt looking like she came out of the Poison video but that wasn't realistic. The woman in the baggy jeans, rocking Boot Camp Clik out of her stereo was ideal.  Hip hop heads wanted a girl who was fly and who knew the music. It was a hand in hand type of thing.

Fashion Citizen: Hip Hop seems so many places right now, what defines the true hip hop sound to the creators of Shaolin Jazz?

DJ 2 Tone: I would say anything with the hip hop aesthetic to it, from lyrics to beats to emceeing. Somewhere beyond the aesthetic, I’d say genuineness and authenticity. That’s true hip hop, it sounds like it’s coming from you, not something that you’re putting out because it’s hot. Rhyme schemes and slang borrowing would be unheard of in the early days of hip hop because people were authentic to themselves and where they were from.

Gerald: I echo the same things. The things that stick out to me are lyrics, originality, a raw beat and honesty. Without any of those things, for any genre really, what do you have? There’s a lack of reverence in music sometimes for the process of putting out a quality piece of music. Even down to respecting the beats made on the lunch room table, those were some of the rawest beats out. It becomes respecting the beats made on the lunch room table or the studio, the organic nature of music. We got lucky with our project, people liking our creative effort.

Fashion Citizen: Lastly, you all have put out the Gil Scott Suite as well as Shaolin Jazz, what stamp do you all wish to leave on the ear gates of this generation?

DJ 2 Tone: The impression I’d like to leave is to remind folks or expose them to the fact that jazz is one of the greatest musical art forms ever created. Period. That and Wu Tang Clan is one of the greatest hip hop groups of our time. Most of my jazz selections were very intentional for this project; I wanted to use Grover Washington, Jr., Miles Davis and Bobby Humphries. With the Gil Scott project, we really wanted to do something special with that especially with DC being one of the places identified with him. I wanted a testament to how great this music is. I crafted this music together from all this greatness and fit them together to present.

Gerald: In terms of what we’d like to leave behind, basically being able to expand our culture. People who didn’t know about hip hop music or jazz music, helping to inform them musically of these great areas of music. My uncle and my dad are very cognizant of the hip hop x jazz fusions and when the project dropped I got a call from my uncle and he was wow’ed by it. That was big to be appreciated like that. We want to bridge the gap between the young and old with respect to jazz and hip hop music. Our premise with the college tours is to show the similarities between jazz and hip hop, beyond the music. We discuss socio economic issues, criticisms and things of that nature that both genres share and people begin to understand the relationship between the two. We want to inspire people to research and really delve into these genres and become knowledgeable on them.

The Iconic sandal is 6 inches and sits on a 2 inch platform, apply your heel math and you realize you're only standing on 4 inches of actual  heel. The color blocking of yellows and pinks is perfect for the spring/summer season, so schedule a pedicure and step into these ! Get your pair here from heels.com.

In my opinion, fashion is the art of displaying originality. A fashion citizen displays originality with an individual flare that separates them from others. They embody creativity as well as diversity. An emphasis on appearance that is less than self centered but greater than care free. I am a fashion citizen.