A DAY IN "THE LIFE OF RILEY"

In the "TESTIFY" section of "The Life of Riley", I talk about the unprecedented move of taking a boyfriend home to meet the folks. On the fashion tip, I found myself inside of something new as well. I sported OMAR, my first, custom-made tux (READ: couture). He is now selling his hot and sophisticated brand of bespoke, tailored menswear out of my favorite new boutique N, deliciously nestled across from soul food eatery Amy Ruth (one of President Clinton's favorites) on 116th Street near Lenox Avenue in Harlem. [N is a phonetic play on words for "N Harlem" (it's location), "N Crowd" (its demo), "N Style" (its mantra)]. The fabulous, new women's and men's store (nharlemnewyork.com) was featured in the New York Times STYLE section a couple of Thursdays ago and I am a client and continue to sing N's praises for great customer service and high-end, but approachable, fashions - from Tracy Reese to Hugo Boss. My OMAR tux was soft debuted in Savannah to resounding applause as I had OMAR include rust-colored detailing in the jacket's lining and on the cuffs of the band-collar'd shirt -- in sync with the wedding colors. But the debut of the ensemble that will make THE IMPRESSION is the premiere of "DREAMGIRLS" in December at New York City's Ziegfeld Theater. And I know it will be as much a showstopper as I'm expecting the movie to be. (To this point, I've only seen a 30-minute sneak peek of the highly anticipated big-screen feature after which I had a chance to interview breakout star Jennifer Hudson, who plays Effie in the movie musical. She and I chatted about all things "DREAMGIRLS" before a packed house of 500 + attendees at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Indianapolis back in August). That interview got a mention and picture in "JET" Magazine. Guess who is arriving, huh?