The Bumps, Bulges & Bootylicious Bodies of the BET Awards

I’m so glad the BET Awards are over! I’m physically exhausted after endless days and nights of beauty suites, special events, and parties. Most of all, I’m tired of holding my stomach muscles in, as I posed for the cameras and worked side-by-side with my glamorous clients. Case in point:  the lovely Brandi Maxiell of VH1’s “Basketball Wives LA.” With model good looks and built like an Amazon, she towers over me at 5’ 10” flatfooted!

After a week of festivities, I feel I can finally breathe again, because my stomach area isn’t all bandaged up with some type of shapewear, albeit Spanx or the new line, Shaped by An Angel, designed by my friend  and celebrity fashion designer Angela Dean. Every day, I’d  spanxed (is that even a word?) myself up to give the illusion of a very flat stomach! Once upon a time, I had the flattest stomach of them all. But, I was also in the gym five days a week, running at least 15 miles on a treadmill. Those were the days, when I lived for the gym. I was a regular gym rat!

Luckily, I’ve always been physically fit and athletic. I really never had to watch my weight. And yes, it’s a wonderful luxury. My freshman year in college, I weighed 100 pounds, and some of my friends would call me “Slim” on the yard because I was well … slim! Of course, I didn’t appreciate my body back then because I had other issues to worry about  – like being skinny with no curves and flat chested. Oh lord, I can only laugh now when I think about of ALL OF THE AGONY I put myself through over a bra size! Shoot, I wish I’d known back then that I could just buy some boobs as big as I wanted to my heart’s content. I would have saved up some cash! LOL Oh well, I’m over it now. I’ve accepted myself as I am.

Well, if you’re a woman of a certain age, gravity will eventually take its course. My metabolism has slowed down, and I’m trying to break a few bad eating habits – like, I just can’t eat ice cream and cupcakes every day.  Oh, and if the Krispy Kreme light is blinking, “Hot Doughnuts Now,” I will do a U-turn to savor all that sweetness that takes me back to memories of home. Sweets are my weakness!

But, after hanging out at the BET Awards this weekend, I’m motivated to hit the gym hard! Yes, indeed. These twentysomething girls in their bootylicious, bodycon dress (body conscious, that is), gave a sistah a run for her money! I found myself every night, looking in the mirror, taking stock of my imperfections, and mentally circling my “problem areas,” with a pen like I was a plastic surgeon. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I don’t think I’m “tore up from the floor up,” but I’m going to make a few adjustments – that is, tomorrow, tomorrow, there’s always tomorrow.

The big 5-0 is nine months away, and my goal is to be fit and fine! I’m not trying to compete with the youngins, but I like the idea of growing old gracefully. Plus, I have plenty of women around my age as inspiration, like  Oscar-nominated actresses Angela Bassett and  Sharon Stone. Stone gave me the best diet advice last year when I had the pleasure of being in her company: “No more sandwiches!”  LOL Well, the pressure is on! It’s going to take some dietary discipline  for me to get back to my fighting shape, but I know I can do it. For the BET weekend, I faked the funk with the help of shapewear, but now I gotta do my part.

Oh, and speaking of shapewear, I’m begging all women of a certain age to please invest in a wardrobe of shapewear. Unless you are in the prime of your life, physically-fit, or look like, say Rihanna, you just can’t rock a dress solo without it! One of the best things about the whole BET Experience weekend was the spectacle of people watching.  From hairstyles to wardrobe styling, people put on quite a show! Lord, I saw way too many bumps, bulges and pantylines of women of all shapes and sizes, wearing bodycon dresses this past weekend. I’m just saying! Don’t leave home without it! No, I’m not taking about the Mastercard, I’m talking about some type of shapewear to give you a polished look in a dress OR a pair of leggings.  Spanx. Shaped by an Angel. Yummie Tummie. Pick one. *Sigh*

And speaking of Rihanna, I loved the “naked dress” she rocked at Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards, picking up a Fashion Icon Award along the way. But I knew, it was going to be a matter of days before somebody was going to try to top her. I knew it was going to be a woman of a certain age, trying to compete with a youngin, and I knew she was going to fail at it. Cue: reality star, Jackie Christie, of “Basketball Wives LA.”

When topless photos of Jackie Christie “accidentally” surfaced on the Internet last week, all I could do was shake my head. See, as a publicist, I can see a publicity stunt coming a mile away. And remember, I believe all publicity is good publicity. Certainly, Christie’s “geriatric thirst” for publicity made headlines, but what left me scratching my head was the fact that she didn’t capitalize on her extra 15 minutes of fame.

Christie was scheduled to appear on the webshow, “Etc. Etc. Etc.” which is hosted by my friend Tanya Young Williams on Spreecast.com, but she bailed. My thoughts: Honey, don’t do the crime if you can’t do the face time! *Sigh*

I just hate to see a good publicity opportunity go to waste, don’t you?