A club whose mission is to improve the status of women around the world will celebrate its 85th anniversary with a spring fundraiser, brunch and fashion show April 9.
Zonta Club of Westchester will hold the event at Beckwith Pointe, 200 Davenport Rd. in New Rochelle from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Organizers said this is the 17th edition of the show, at which the club has distributed more than 25 scholarships to Westchester women who are beginning college or returning to school after raising families.
Alice Massa will be honored with the Zontian of the Year Award, presented by state Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson.
Zonta’s local and international projects include Young Women in Public Affairs Scholarship for Westchester High School Students; Aiding victims of trafficking; Prevention of Mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Rwanda; Voices against Violence in Vietnam, and many other advocacy efforts on behalf of women.
Kerisha married Theolan Nair at Arutpa hall on 5 December 2015.
Kerisha is the daughter of Saunders and Cheryl Govindarajulu, while Theolan is the son of Sadha and Queenie Nair.
The couple have settled in Yellowwood Park.
How to Enter
CALLING all blushing brides – the Southlands Sun’s bridal competition is just the place to showcase your solo wedding day photos, and stand to win great prizes while you do so.
Enter the competition by emailing your good quality solo wedding day photo to elsiew@dbn.caxton.co.za.
Note that all brides who enter the competition must reside in the Southlands Sun distribution areas, viz Bluff, Wentworth, Clairwood, Woodlands, Montclair, Seaview, Woodhaven, Yellowwood Park and Merebank.
A few months ago, Heather Riley wasn’t exactly brimming with self-confidence.
She hadn’t lost all the baby weight after giving birth to her daughter, Riley, in June 2014. The 31-year-old Pleasantville mom was down. “I felt horrible about myself,” she said.
Wanting to feel attractive, she turned to her boyfriend’s friend, Beau Ridge, for help.
She set up a boudoir photo shoot at the Beau Ridge Photography studio in Absecon. Boudoir photography gets its name from a woman’s private dressing or bathing room. Women — mostly women, although there’s a true-life, no-foolin’ male equivalent known as “dudeoir” — evening dresses and pose to evoke sensuality and intimacy. It’s not selling sex as much as it is showing an intimate moment.
Riley brought three sets of lingerie, a sweater, and not much else. Ridge made her laugh and shot several poses in an hour-and-a-half session at the studio.
In a week, she had her book of photographs.
When she received the book, she glanced at it before letting her boyfriend, Rob English, see it.
“I thought, ‘Wow, I look like that? That’s me?’ I am still that attractive person even if I didn’t lose all that baby weight,” she said. “As cheesy and cliche as that sounds, it made me feel better about myself and the way I see myself.”
The subjects in boudoir photo shoots aren’t just evoking intimacy. Ridge said an intimate, familiar feeling runs through the entire photo shoot process.
“When you should be your most vulnerable, it’s the most genuine. When you can get someone to be happy, genuinely happy in that moment, you’ve broken through the hardest barrier to break through, which is self-image,” Ridge said. “I want boudoir photography to be the new watch that brides give their husbands.”
Ridge and the others who work with him in his South Jersey studio have been shooting more and more boudoir sessions in the past few months.
Although this type of photography has been around for decades, Ridge said he has an idea of why it is becoming more popular now. He calls it the purest form of photography.
“The media is focusing on people being themselves, and there’s the hashtag ‘NoFilter’ on social media,” he said, of the popular tag on Instagram and Twitter that indicates no touch-ups have been done to a photo. “To look at yourself and go, ‘Wow, that’s me, that’s amazing, I’m beautiful,’ there’s no feeling like it.”
The Absecon studio is a clean space, with a white comforter-covered bed in one corner and several background options. Clients have their makeup and hair done by Brittney Noguez. Music plays in the background. Ridge said he tries to make the clients laugh.
It’s about getting the client comfortable, he said. Not only for the client to feel at ease, but also for a photographer to keep the energy flowing so there are no awkward pauses.
“I flow through the shoot trying to do it quickly and efficiently,” he said. “But we also find that people will find their groove.
“They’ll find their moment and you just, boom boom boom boom boom,” he said, mimicking a camera shutter.
The reward of boudoir photography is in helping someone feel beautiful, Ridge said, and that has nothing to do with having a perfect model’s body. He said mothers, older women, curvy girls and women with other body styles can all have successful boudoir shoots.
“There was one woman who was having intermarital issues a little bit. She had had three kids; she’s a very curvy girl,” he said. “She called two days later (after receiving her book), crying. She said she hadn’t felt beautiful in 20 years.”
Gina Jost is used to having eyes on her. The Margate resident is choreographer, singer and dancer for the Almost Angels, an entertainment cover band based in Atlantic City.
On stage, she dances, often in costume, for her audiences. When the curtain falls, Jost said, she’s much more shy.
She decided to go to Ridge — someone Jost said she’s known since grade school — for a boudoir photo shoot as a semi-surprise gift to her husband, Dan.
“I guess I wanted to do something where I felt very beautiful and give it as a special gift to him,” she said. “I mean, you never know, we could look at this in a few years when I might not look the way I do now. Let me get those shots in now.”
Having perused Ridge’s other photo shoots, Jost said she was less anxious about being photographed in lingerie. Instead, she was excited to try something different.
“I would absolutely recommend doing it. I think it’s empowering and freeing,” she said. “I think it really makes you feel beautiful about yourself. It’s nice to have that kind of attention.”
Kim Kardashian has parted ways with her longtime event planner — a family friend who staged both her weddings — in favor of one of the planner’s own employees.
Confidenti@l is told that Kardashian (photo inset) “no longer works” with super-planner Sharon Sacks and is now using Corrie Mendes — who was a senior manager for Sacks Productions.
Mendes has already planned two blockbuster events for the reality superstar. She put together a baby shower for Kardashian herself back in September — a “Troop Beverly Hills”-themed pajama party to celebrate her pregnancy with son Saint — and is now working on a baby shower that Kardashian is hosting for Sports Illustrated model Chrissy Teigen.
Sacks put together Khloé Kardashian’s wedding to Lamar Odom in one month and conjured up Kim’s bonkers wedding to Kanye West in Paris in May 2014. She has also worked on their mom Kris Jenner’s annual Christmas party for years.
Sacks even appeared on “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” while she was helping Kim and NBA player Kris Humphries plan their ill-fated nuptials.
But now source tells us, “Kim doesn’t work with Sharon any longer. She works with Corrie Mendes.”
The website for C Event Studio, the company that Mendes recently founded, proudly features a quote from Kardashian on its homepage.
“Corrie’s attention to detail and creativity have helped produce some of our most beautiful events,” it quotes her as saying.
As is so often the case, the surprise split may have Kanye West’s finger prints on it.
After a media report said that West was so disgusted by a bar at his wedding that he “started sawing it in half” 30 minutes before the ceremony began, the rapper laid the blame squarely on Sacks.
“The bar was terrible, and the wedding planner didn’t approve it with me,” he told GQ, “I was having issues with this wedding planner the entire time on approvals.”
Lots of companies have formal dresses codes that state employees should dress in business casual. But what exactly does business casual mean nowadays?
The definition of business casual has changed quite a bit in recent years, at least in some workplaces. Where employees once had casual Fridays that just consisted of skipping the tie, some professionals now make a habit of going to work in denim jeans, cotton hoodies and knit tossle caps.
In general, business casual dress codes or guidelines are meant to make the company appear professional. So, even employees who work for businesses with more relaxed dress codes could benefit from getting a little dressier on those occasions where you have to actually meet with clients or give presentations.
However, for younger companies or those in particular industries, offering a more laid back atmosphere can be seen as an asset. And a more casual dress code can contribute to creating that type of environment.
The tech industry, for instance, has seemingly embraced a more casual wardrobe than many more traditional industries. And some arts based or creative industries have done the same.
Embracing this more laid back approach to business casual can make a company seem more modern or approachable, depending on the types of clients and/or employees the company is trying to attract.
However, just because some young tech employees can head into work wearing jeans and baseball caps on a daily basis doesn’t mean you should assume that you can do the same.
If your company has a business casual dress code, it’s likely that your attire should fall somewhere between jeans and full business suits. However, things like climate, office culture, age of employees and interaction between clients or customers can also impact a company’s definition of business casual. Below are some general guidelines for what might be considered business casual in various workplaces.
Men’s Business Casual
Although the definition of business casual can still vary, it’s a bit more straightforward for male employees. No longer does every industry require their male employees to wear suits on a daily basis. But there are still some instances where that type of attire might be necessary or encouraged.
For example, if you’re in a customer facing position or one where you have to meet with clients or give presentations on a regular basis, your idea of business casual could be a bit more formal. In many of these circumstances, your employee dress code may be more specific, rather than just stating employees should dress business casual.
But in other office environments, a business casual wardrobe for male employees may consist only of dress slacks or khakis and a button-up or collared shirt, sweater, or sports coat. Casual dress shoes like loafers or nice boots are usually acceptable with these types of outfits.
Things like sportswear, shorts, T-shirts, tennis shoes and hooded sweatshirts don’t usually fall under the category of business casual, even in many of today’s more relaxed business environments. Though some of them might be appropriate for casual Fridays or similar laid-back instances.
Women’s Business Casual
Women often have a lot more options when it comes to dressing for a business casual environment, meaning that nailing down a definition can be a bit more complicated. These days, most women in professional environments don’t necessarily have to wear full skirt or pants suits to work on a daily basis.
Instead, you might choose to go with some combination of dress pants or a skirt around knee length with a blouse, sweater, cardigan, vest or blazer. Dress shoes like pumps, flats or even open-toed shoes can work with most of these outfits.
Like their male counterparts, women professionals in business casual environments should usually steer clear of things like sportswear, T-shirts, tennis shoes and hooded sweatshirts.
Many offices will have a wide range of business casual attire on any given day. So it’s possible for you to figure out a system that’s both appropriate for work and comfortable for you.
To get a more specific idea of what business casual means in your office, you should start by finding out if your company has an official dress code. You can also take a look at what others generally wear to work, and also consider the climate and industry you work in.
Keep an eye out for clues, as well. If a boss asks why you are so formal dresses for women up or makes a comment about how casual your outfit looks, it might be an indication that you are missing the mark a bit. But overall, strive for a balance between comfortable and professional with your business casual attire.
And appreciate that business casual has loosened up a bit in recent years, allowing you to really find that perfect mix.
