"A lot of designers are not inspired by the real China," Andrew Bolton, curator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute, explained in a past interview. Instead, designers are inspired by a "fantasy of China," one that, more critical experts would claim, is often created and manipulated for mostly Western audiences.

As a student of fashion, photographer Nadine Ijewere was often exposed to this kind of fantasy -- "where the 'cultural elements' of a fashion editorial always had a specific look." She cites the wild animals included in shots meant to evoke African cultures, or the deliberate positioning of models when a series attempted to portray Asian cultures. The imagery that came out of design seemed to perpetuate the unreal aspects of cultures outside of the West, instead of the real.

"I was curious to know where this came from," she explained to The Huffington Post. "Many of us don't give it a second thought, but looking through fashion archives from 1950 all the way to today, they all had a similar output. Labelling others in order to differentiate the West from 'everyone else,' everyone different, basically non-white. Even in 2016 there is still that element."

For her own series, titled "The Misrepresentation of Representation," Ijewere decided to shine a light on the concept of Orientalism in fashion. To do so, she cast a variety of friends as models -- women of color -- and shot them against ornate backdrops that took up to three months to design. She sought to produce images that were "staged but not staged," and as a result, elements of her studio creep into her frames. "It was done on purpose," she added, "to portray this idea that the whole concept of Orientalism and representation is a staged concept created by the Western world during colonialism."

Ijewere explained further that she wanted to challenge the stereotypes perpetuated in fashion editorials -- the kinds of "boxing" that segregate people into different types -- without placing her own ideas of representation on other people. "There is a very fine line, because you can end up doing what has been done in the past and categorize," she noted. "That's what the project was about -- it was showing that nowadays, anyone can be from anywhere. We can't necessarily place a label on individuals especially in places like London, full of diversity, mixed heritage, etc."

Ijewere was born and raised in South East London, where she is still based. She started experimenting with photography during her A levels. "I'd always loved the concept of photography telling a story through images," she explained.

When it comes to artists beyond herself, who tell stories through images and attempt to confront the ways we represent and misrepresent people in art and fashion, she says it's important for people to be able to speak freely about how they feel. "I don't want to state exactly how [others should] go about doing something, because at the end of the day, who am I to tell others," she concluded. "Myself, I just base my art on the way I feel and the way I have been treated in my life and how I see things from my perspective, without the influence of others."

See more from Ijewere's Instagram below:

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In 2008, Michelle Obama made history not only by becoming the first black First Lady, but also by becoming the youngest person to hold that title since Jackie Kennedy.

But getting older is clearly not something that bothers the 52-year-old mother of two.

At this week's SXSW Music Conference in Austin, Texas, Obama revealed her thoughts on aging: "You talk about your 30s being good? Your 50s -- wooo! Phenomenal. I plan to go into my 60s blazing. Blazing! And trying to be as fly and as healthy as I can. Remember that 106-year-old woman, Ms. McLaurin, who was dancing with us? I told her, 'I want to be just like you! 106 and movin’ and groovin’!'”

Obama has talked about embracing her age before. While some women may dread the midcentury milestone, Obama told Parade magazine in 2013 that she'd never felt more confident as a woman when asked about approaching the big 5-0. "I want to be this really fly 80-, 90-year-old," she said at the time.

But her relaxed attitude on aging didn't stop her from going through a bit of a midlife crisis, which took the form of a dramatic new haircut about a year before she turned 50 on Jan. 17, 2014.

"I can't buy a sports car. I can't bungee jump. Can't skydive, so might as well cut your bangs, right?" she joked in an interview with Rachael Ray in 2013.

That's the kind of midlife crisis we'd all love to have. Here's to hoping the First Lady inspires us for at least another few decades. 

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Postureis an online and print magazine publication that explores identity, fashion and queerness through profiles of and essays by up-and-coming influencers in various creative industries.

The brainchild of Winter Mendelson, Posture recently released its second print edition called The Ornamentation Issue. The publication features many arists and designers featured in previous Huffington Post Queer Voices series, like Vincent Tiley, Chromat and BCALLA from "FABRICATIONS" and Untitled Queen, Switch N' Play and Merrie Cherry from "Queer New World."

In the words of Mendelson, The Ornamentation Issue was inspired by the "notion of ornamenting oneself or one's environment is a form of self-ownership and reclamation." In order to better understand this, The Huffington Post chatted with Mendelson this week about this second print edition of Posture, the history of the publication and why it's important to highlight queer people working in creative fields in this way. Check out the interview, as well as some photos from this most recent incarnation of Posture, below.

What is Posture? What's the history and vision behind this publication?

Posture is an online and print magazine dedicated to the exploration of identity through fashion and artistic practice. Identity for us is an umbrella term that includes not only queerness and sexual orientation, but also concepts such as gender, race, ethnicity, feminism, diaspora and the ultimate journey towards empowerment and progress. 

I launched Posture online officially in Aug. 2013 as a blog with original content and editorial published weekly by rotating freelance contributors. At the time of the launch it was actually solely focused on female-identified creatives, but I shortly after made the decision to become focused on subject matter versus gender and become inclusive to all identities. We were able to release our first print edition last summer for Pride 2015, and just released our second print issue this month and are now on a biannual Spring/Fall printing schedule. 

I conceptualized the project in the winter of 2012 shortly after I moved to NYC after graduating from the University of Georgia with a B.A. in Art History. I hit the ground running and got a day job -- an internship at a Chelsea art gallery -- and started taking a night class at SVA for graphic design. To be honest I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do in life, but I knew I wanted to make a difference, so creating a media platform gave me huge opportunities for learning and growth. And as someone new to the city who could not find an active queer-minded arts and fashion publication it became clear that this project was calling my name. 

You mentioned that through this work you are "claiming ornamentation as a uniquely queer aesthetic" -- can speak more about what that means?

The notion of ornamenting oneself or one's environment is a form of self-ownership and reclamation.

How did you decide who to showcase in the magazine? Who is featured and what can people expect?

I read and dig a lot and make a continually growing "database" of potential features. In addition to deciding who I felt would be a great fit for the latest issue due to the ornamentation theme such as Rashaad Newsome, Lorna Simpson, Vincent Tiley, Raisa Kabir and Femke de Vries, I'm lucky to have such a talented team of contributors who all bring in their own unique ideas and concepts. The 164-page issue contains a solid variety of content in the form of interviews, editorials and essays, but notably I think this issue is much more fashion-heavy than the first one as I had the opportunity to collaborate with talented people such as the Art Director Giancarlo Corbacho of LACTIC and Stylist Phil Gomez of Alt Space. 

Why is it so important to you to showcase so many queer artists, creatives and influencers in Posture?

It is very important to me to provide this platform because too often ideas and aesthetics are taken from the underprivileged and the queer underground without credit. I feel it's time for there to be a place that honors the origin of so much revolutionary expression and allows for a community-driven space with the mission to inspire consciousness, relatability and freedom. 

Too often ideas and aesthetics are taken from the underprivileged and the queer underground without credit.

What do you want people to take away from this issue?

For more information please visit posturemag.com. You can also follow Posture on Instagram at @posturemagazine. 

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If Rihanna isn't already having a great year, what with the release of her new album "Anti," the debut of her majorly successful music videos for "Work" and her international tour, she can now add another major accomplishment to the list -- a fourth Vogue cover. 

The Bajan singer looks hot as ever on the April cover, wearing a sultry sequin Tom Ford dress. Inside the mag, she works it in a Givenchy gown, which complements her flawless skin and hazel eyes.

In the feature on Vogue.com, penned by Abby Aguirre, Rihanna opens up about flirting with Drake, her alleged feud with Beyoncé and her love life. She also gets real about her biggest life regret (which may or may not have something to do with the infamous sheer dress she wore to the 2014 CFDAs.)

“I just liked it better without the lines underneath," Rihanna told Vogue. "Could you imagine the CFDA dress with a bra? I would slice my throat. I already wanted to, for wearing a thong that wasn’t bedazzled. That’s the only regret I have in my life.” If that's your only regret RiRi, you're doing something right. 

Pick up the April issue of Vogue on national newsstands March 29 and read Rihanna's entire interview on Vogue.com. 

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"My struggles could be yours, or your son's or daughter's -- tragedies and mental health conditions affect everyone, anytime, anywhere."

"When I confronted the director about what had happened, I was shot down and made to feel as though I was insane. "

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Rihanna put in her work for her latest Vogue cover, gracing the magazine's April issue in a sexy Tom Ford dress. 

The 28-year-old singer has been busy, to say the least. She recently released her eighth studio album, "Anti," inked a rumored million-dollar deal to collaborate with Puma and launched a massive world tour in March. Somehow, amid the chaos, she found time to talk to Vogue about working with Drake and Paul McCartney and shut down rumors about her rumored feud with Beyoncé. 

"Here the deal," Rihanna said, "They just get so excited to feast on something that’s negative. Something that's competitive. Something that’s, you know, a rivalry. And that’s just not what I wake up to. Because I can only do me. And nobody else is going to be able to do that." 

Fans started grumbling about Bey attempting to steal Rih's thunder after "Anti" came out. Just one week after the release, Beyoncé released "Formation," a surprise single and video that she performed one day later at the Super Bowl.  

The two singers were pitted against each other as soon as Rihanna stepped on the music scene. Rumors circulated that the young singer was cheating with Beyoncé's husband, Jay Z, and are still prevalent today. Recently, Rihanna's onetime publicist, Jonathan Hay, confessed that he started those rumors during a difficult time. 

"The PR stunt that I did was out of desperation to help break 'Pon de Replay,'" Hay said on Inside Edition. "It was reckless and I didn't think it was going to work. I was just throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what would stick." 

Rihanna also spoke to Vogue about others in the industry she's been linked to, including her oft-rumored boyfriend, Drake. The rapper appears on Rihanna's hit single, "Work," and the subsequent video shows the two dancing and grinding on each other. 

"Everything he does is so amazing," Rih said of Drake, before dishing on another music genius, her "FourFiveSeconds" collaborator Paul McCartney. "It's almost like no one ever told him about his success. It’s like, Aren't you busy being a Beatle?" 

To read more of Rihanna's interview with Vogue, head here, or look for it on newsstands March 29.  

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When designer Isabel Marant sent her spring/summer 2015 "Étoile" collection down the runway last year, she had no idea that the designs--which she later claimed were "inspired by" Mexico's indigenous Mixe community--would spur that community to action against her for plagiarism. After a year that included social media outcry, protests at Marant's New York store and a press conference held by the Mixe people, the group is finally getting some semblance of justice.

This month, Oaxaca’s congress declared the Mixe community's traditional designs and language as Intangible Cultural Heritage per UNESCO guidelines. The protected status is not legally binding, but it recognizes that the designs are unique to, and originate in, Mixe culture.

Residents of Santa Maria Tlahuitoltepec, in the southwestern state of Oaxaca, claimed that Marant ripped off the traditional red-and-white embroidery of the Mixe people. To Marant's credit, she admitted that the design was originally theirs and pulled the blouse from sale last year. But did so only after artisans, community members and entertainers voiced outrage that Marant, and fellow French label Antik Batik, failed to acknowledge the design's origins.

The shirt, known as a "huipil," is a 600-year-old traditional design of several indigenous communities in Mexico and Central America. Marant's version retailed for as much as $365. Last year, the indigenous rights nonprofit Impacto invited her to visit the Mixe and learn how the blouse was important to their history, according to the Guardian. 

But separately, Antik Batik tried to lay its own copyright claims to the design, and accused Marant of copying them. In December 2015, a French court ruled that neither Isabel Marant nor Antik Batik could copyright huipil shirts because they were a cultural artifact of the Mixe people.

Oaxaca's recent cultural heritage declaration explicitly cites Marant's design from July 2015 as an impetus for action. It states that "she presented, as her own, a traditional blouse of the community of Santa Maria Tlahuitoltepec... and the trial was initiated to protect the garment against a company that wanted to infringe the patent of a traditional design and exploit it for commercial purposes."

This isn't the first time the fashion world has confronted cultural appropriation in recent years. There were last year's "Africa-inspired" Valentino show featuring a mostly-white model cast, and Victoria's Secret's infamous outfitting of model Karlie Kloss in a string bikini and a Native American headdress. On the opposing end, Brazilian designer Oskar Metsavaht showed an innovative solution to the issue when he paid royalties to the Amazonian tribe who inspired designs for his Osklen line.

Cultural appropriation is a perennial hot-button issue in the fashion industry, and while it's true that inspiration from various sources is part of any design process, cultural appropriation is specifically about a power imbalance. "There is always an inherent power imbalance — it is the dominant group taking from a marginalized group," Dr. Adrienne Keene, of the blog Native Appropriations, tells Refinery 29. 

Oaxaca's decision to recognize Mixe embroidery as cultural heritage is an important symbolic step, but since it is not legally binding, its impact will depend on its enforcement. 

"The UNESCO definition largely has no teeth," Dr. Jane Anderson an anthropology professor at NYU, told the Huffington Post. "While the Oaxaca congress made this declaration, that does not make it legally binding, because Mexico a) is not a signatory to UNESCO's 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage and b) Mexico has not submitted the Mixe's 'intangible heritage' to the Convention Committee for approval to list."

This doesn't mean it's useless: protection is not as good as a law, but it's better than nothing. It may be enough to deter people from copying the design again, said Anderson. 

Thus, the impact of Oaxaca's declaration will depend on the ongoing engagement of the Mixe community with the fashion world -- a big, potentially exhausting task. The Mixe's unique designs are their intellectual property, and in an ideal world, they should have the right to economically benefit from them. But Anderson said Marant's case was somewhat unique because of the outsize media outcry. "The media attention made it a liability and not a lucrative venture," she said.

What's the way forward from here?

"What would be nice, given that the fashion industry is full of appropriation of indigenous designs, would be the development of some kind of industry standard," suggested Anderson. "It is possible to get change, it just takes a while."

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• I'm unhappy with the quality of matches.


• I think all guys want to hook up.


• Online dating and mobile dating feels like too much work.


• No one responds to my emails.


• Guys have too many options and are looking for the next great swipe.


• All he wants to do is text.


• I don't want to be online for too long.


• The same people are online that were online last year.

• Every girl's profile looks the same.


• Every girl wants a sugar daddy or someone to pay her bills.


• Women have too many choices and they never write back.


• We want to sleep with her eventually, but we need to have chemistry.


• Women are looking for free meals.


• Women complain about bad dates, ex's, work, and money.


• She's a serial dater and not looking for something serious.


• The same people are online that were online last year.

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Everyone loves Adele.

She sold close to half a million records just 24 hours after her album dropped and continued to smash sales records across the board. No matter where you turn, Adele seems to be there. But what if the extent of her presence has not even been realized ... until now?  

Adele is actually the emojis that you know, love and use on the daily. Don’t believe us? Here’s the evidence.

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A waitress in Des Moines, Iowa, was stiffed on a tip by a customer who had a beef with her pink hair.

Taelor May Beeck was working at Zombie Burger on Tuesday when one of her customers came to settle a $17.26 tab.

But the customer didn't leave a gratuity -- just a gratuitous insult, according to the Des Moines Register.

The receipt read: "Tips are only for normal looking people." 

The pink-haired waitress saw red.

“At first, I felt really upset, I felt attacked, I almost felt like I was back in middle school all over again, like being bullied," she told WHO-TV. "I felt like a burning anger inside of me."

Beeck didn't confront the customer because she decided it's not worth it.

"When someone puts hate out there, you know to respond in a hateful way will do no good," she told the station.

Still, she did post the receipt on Facebook, although it's since been removed.

Beeck has worked at Zombie Burger for five years, and her employers have nothing but good things to say about her.

Orchestrate Hospitality, which owns Zombie Burger, issued a statement singing her praises, according to the Associated Press.

"We believe that zombie burger is a place that celebrates individuality. We are in 100% support of our staff and we're confident that our customers will be as well. She is an example of a great team member and we are standing by her."

Beeck is going public with her experience in hopes of turning it into a teachable moment.

"I would tell them to not judge someone based on what they look like," she told KWWL TV. "I mean, I may look like a weirdo but I'm actually a very nice, decent person. It's the way that I can express myself artistically and it's really important for me that I'm allowed to do that, and it's OK if people don't understand it because it's just who I am."

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Is it just us, or is Michelle Obama's style even more on point than usual these days? Last week, FLOTUS wowed at the state dinner and this week, she stormed SXSW in one of her best looks yet.

And she wasn't the only star who served style this week. Naomi Watts shone in a sparkly Derek Lam ensemble, Kerry Washington was the perfect mix of sugar and spice and Emma Roberts took casual dressing to a new level. 

Check out the best-dressed stars of the week and let us know which one is your favorite. 

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The Duchess of Cambridge is the queen of outfit repeating. So her latest duty, helping to officially open a charity consignment shop, is especially fitting.  

The "thrifty" royal -- you may remember her as Kate Middleton -- marked the opening of East Anglia's Children's Hospices' newest shop in Norfolk Friday wearing a blue Missoni coat she's worn three times before since debuting it in 2012 for, you guessed it, a visit to another store.

Paired with a blue dress that fan sites identified as Zara, the duchess, who is royal patron of the charity, participated in a ribbon cutting ceremony. In true girl-after-our-own-hearts form, she made the store's very first purchase. 

The EACH charity shops, which have locations across east England, benefit children facing life-threatening issues and their families. 

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The name may sound silly, but Booby Trap Bra could help you -- and your chest -- feel seriously confident during your next run. 

The sports bras have special pockets to hold either a small knife or pepper spray close to your bosom for self-defense: 

Jennifer Cutrona, a mother of two, said she invented the Booby Trap bras after she was assaulted during a trail run near her Texas home. The bras come in editions that hold either pepper spray or a knife, storing the self-defense tools for quick responses should anything happen on the road. 

And with soft nylon neoprene material, they're bound to make your boobies feel safe, too. 

The Just In Case Pepper Spray Bra retails for $49.99, and the Just In Case Knife Bra is $54.99. Pepper spray and small rescue knives are sold separately on the Booby Trap Bras website. 

Stay safe, stylish ones!

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OK, we need to talk about this photoshoot for Harper's Bazaar Spain featuring Bella Hadid, the mag's April 2016 cover star.

It's news to no one that Gigi's little sis, who has emerged as a top model in her own right, is stunning. Yet it becomes more clear with each photoshoot she does or runway she walks that she has the star power to match that of her sister (and her supermodel mom, for that matter, too).

Just look at this photo of Hadid wearing nothing but jewelry and slicked-back hair:

Who looks that good with wet hair?

There was some major underboob:

Not to mention that face:

Seriously. Look. At. That. Face.

To quote our beloved Rihanna, work, work, work, work, work. 

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