All The Rage

Teresa Shadrix
02-07-2008

Sometimes, the world of fashion is not all fun. As proven in Lipstick Jungle, a new television series on NBC. On the onset, you might think there is nothing you could relate to in an one-hour long television program revolving around three women in New York City. But, when I hosted a Lipstick Jungle premiere party at The Anniston Star last week, the 40 women who attended all seemed to agree the heart of the story is the friendship of women and the vulnerability of life. In Lipstick Jungle, Victory Ford (Lindsay Price) is a fashion designer with a new line of clothes no one else seems to appreciate, except a dashing billionaire who courts her in anything but an old-fashioned manner. Nico Reilly (Kim Raver) is an editor-in-chief of a fashion magazine who not only sees the tip of the knife a male co-worker is sharpening, but she also feels the blind eye of her husband and falls into temptation with a younger man. Wendy Healy (Brooke Shields) is a mom balancing home, a career as a movie executive and the ego realities of her stay-at-home husband. Although each woman wore fabulous shoes and a great shade of lipstick in the pilot, it is evident the main tool for surviving the jungle is friendship. So, whether you wear Prada or Payless, you can relate to being vulnerable with your friends. I admit, being vulnerable alarms me. Vulnerability in friendship is like a remote island that I would like to visit but the surrounding waters fill me with fear. Alone in my boat, I fear there are sharks waiting to devour me, so I dare not seek the retreat on the island. In our sisterhood of the female bond, why is there a fear to being vulnerable? Furthermore, am I alone in my boat? I mean, am I the only one who sees women wearing great outfits pass other women without offering a smile? Am I the only one who is tired of women not supporting each other in the workplace and at home? Am I the only women bored with gossip? If I took one thing away from the show, it is that fear has no place in friendship. Being vulnerable in a friendship means opening yourself up for a need for understanding, for prayer, or maybe just validation of a new hairstyle. Vulnerability offers imperfections with no regrets of judgment. I hope the three women trying to survive their lipstick jungle - Nico, Wendy and Victory - continue to wrap their well-toned arms around their friendship. Even if we can’t relate to their New York life, I can relate to being vulnerable and the importance of true friends. Lipstick Jungle premiers on Thursday, February 7 at 9 p.m. on NBC. Contact Theresa Shadrix at tshadrix@annistonstar.com. View her blog at www.alltheragecolumn.com.

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