Rihanna says fashion has helped her personal ‘rediscovery’ after having children

The singer revealed she got “too comfortable” wearing pyjamas and sweats after having her second son last year.After having children, fashion becomes “the least important” thing, she said.

But, speaking at the launch party of her latest collaboration with Puma in London, she said dressing up “does something for you as a woman”.The multi-Grammy Award winner has two sons with rapper A$AP Rocky – RZA Athelaston Mayers, born in 2022, and Riot Rose Mayers, born in 2023.
“With the first pregnancy, I feel like I was able to wear heels all the way through,” she said.”But then with the second pregnancy, you have a toddler, a belly, it’s winter, you have a coat, a baby bag. You’re like, heels? Hmm, maybe not. That’s why I got a little bit more creative with my comfortable style.”And then I got too comfortable after I had my second kid and I just was in robes, PJs, sweats.”And now I’m playing again. Now I’m having fun with my clothes.”

The star attended the London launch on Wednesday, days after being spotted at the Coachella festival in California.Returning to the spotlight and thinking about fashion again has given her “a rediscovery” and the licence “to even allow myself that space mentally to approach my closet and create stuff”, she said.”After a while when you have kids, you think, this is the dumbest [stuff], the least important. It really is the least important thing.

“But it does something for you as a woman, and as a mum that’s important for us.”
The star was praised for rewriting the rules for fashion when she was pregnant, refusing to wear conventional maternity clothes.”I approached it like everything else I approach in fashion,” she told BBC News. “I just want to do things my way. I just want to always stitch it up and put my own twist on it.”But I just refused to buy maternity clothes, really and truly. I was like, whatever fits was what’s going to work. And that made me challenge myself to get clever with style.”Writing about Rihanna’s maternity style, Vanessa Friedman said in The New York Times that she “has a history of consciously using her own physicality and profile to force reconsideration of old prejudices and social conventions about female agency and beauty”.Many of her looks, both during and post pregnancy, have given a nod to high fashion, but have been described in Glamour as “accessible” due to the use of everyday outfits.

source:bbc

Dolly Parton reacts to Beyoncé’s ‘Jolene’ cover on ‘Cowboy Carter’

Dolly Parton is giving Beyoncé’s “Jolene” cover her seal of approval.The country music legend took to Instagram on Friday, the day Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” album dropped, to weigh in on the singer’s cover of her iconic 1973 song.”Wow, I just heard Jolene,” she shared in a statement. “Beyoncé is giving that girl some trouble and she deserves it! Love, Dolly P.”Parton — who previously praised Beyoncé when her “Cowboy Carter” track “Texas Hold ‘Em” debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart — signed the statement as “Dolly P,” a playful reference to the interlude on “Cowboy Carter” of the same name in which Parton introduces Beyoncé’s “Jolene” cover.”Hey, Miss Honeybee, it’s Dolly P. You know that hussy with the good hair you sing about?” Parton says in the interlude, referencing Beyoncé’s song “Sorry” off her 2016 album “Lemonade,” in which she sings, “He only want me when I’m not there/ He better call Becky with the good hair.””Reminded me of someone I knew back when,” Parton continues. “Except she has flaming locks of auburn hair. Bless her heart. Just a hair of a different color, but it hurts just the same.”There are a lot of similarities between the two versions, but Beyoncé adds her own flare to her cover — and it’s evident from the very beginning. Parton’s version begins, “Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene/ I’m beggin’ of you, please don’t take my man/ Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene/ Please don’t take him just because you can.”Beyoncé’s version, meanwhile, begins, “Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene/ I’m warning you, don’t come for my man/ Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene/ Don’t take the chance because you think you can.”The tone is different as well. While Parton’s version is pleading with Jolene not to take her man, Beyoncé’s version reminds Jolene “you don’t want no heat with me.”The rest of Beyoncé’s “Jolene” cover continues this trend, taking Parton’s iconic tune and fully reinventing and modernizing the song to fit her own story through to the very end.Ahead of the release of her highly anticipated album, Beyoncé shared a post on Instagram that revealed the tracklist for “Cowboy Carter.” Among the names and titles listed in the artwork was “Dolly P” and “Jolene.”Parton even teased her involvement on “Cowboy Carter,” sharing an Instagram post in which she said, “Just call me Dolly P.”The new album also includes collaborations with Miley Cyrus, Post Malone and Beyoncé’s daughter, Rumi Carter. She even covers The Beatles’ “Blackbird” — titled “Blackbiird” — with four Black female country artists, including Brittney Spencer, Reyna Roberts, Tanner Adell and Tiera Kennedy. Willie Nelson is also featured on two interludes and Linda Martell appears on “Spaghettii.”

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