Check out episode 5 below.

A few days ago, I found myself gorging on Google, looking up fun facts and corny pick-up lines (which I do all the time, because I’m random). My noble search led me to gems such as – “Hey baby! I’m Burger King and you’re McDonalds. I’ll have it my way and you’ll be lovin’ it”

Get it – my way…luvin it! Ha!

No?

Ok.

*insert awkward pause*

So anyways…

In the midst of all this, somehow I stumbled across the bio of a dope lady named Radclyffe Hall (born Marguerite Radclyffe-Hall 1880 – 1943). She was an English poet and author, best known for the lesbian classic: The Well of Loneliness.

In addition to her writing, she’s also known for being one of the first openly gay women to wear men’s clothing during a time when that practice didn’t even have a name. It goes without saying that Radclyffe was ahead of her time. And after reading excerpts from her novel – I decided to take a deeper look into the history of Androgynous style.

The first thing I learned was that “women in menswear” jumped to the height of its popularity in the 1940s – when women had to dress for survival.

This was a time when many of our granddads and dads were being sent off to fight in the war, while leaving their women and children at home. As a result, the mothers and daughters left behind started taking on more masculine roles – which required them to adjust the way they dressed.

Learning so much about the evolution if female androgyny was an eye-opener and caused me to examine my own relationship with menswear.

One of my friends teasingly calls me a Dandy because on any given day, you’ll probably catch me wearing a blazer and tie. While I notice the looks I get from people – the truth is, I’m passionate about refined clothing and make no attempt to hide that fact. I love the cleanliness of a crisp oxford shirt paired with an Avant-Garde bowtie and slightly worn leather brogues. And when I go to a newsstand or bookstore, I always make a beeline towards the latest issue of GQ.

Let’s be clear: even though my external presentation celebrates the male aesthetic – energetically, I feel unconditionally like a woman; a personal truth which shatters the myth that ALL women who dress masculine want to “be men”.

Reading about Radclyyfe made me realize that I’m in good company. Through history, there has been a long line of us who embrace our womanhood in spite of having on the best wingtips in the room.

Below is a quick photo gallery of Radclyyfe and some other dapper kindred spirits.

Photo Gallery Highlight:

• Radclyffe Hall, english poet and author best known for the lesbian classic, The Well of Loneliness.
• Gabrielle Chanel, later nicknamed Coco, is most famous for revolutionizing women’s fashion by incorporating fabric and styles that were reserved for men.
• Marlene Dietrich, Femme Fatale German-American actress and singer, known for her glamour and exotic looks.
• Louise “LuLu” Brooks, stunning taste-maker of the ’20s & ’30s, who made women everywhere chop their hair, and created the bold and wildly popular “flapper girl” movement.
• Josephine Baker, American born French dancer, singer and actress who was the first African-American female to star in a major motion picture, Zouzou (1934)
• Janelle Monae, American R&B and soul musician, composer and record producer.

“France is the world’s second-largest hip-hop market and the fifth largest global music market, with 7 percent of the world’s music sales…” (Source)

I was even more excited a few days ago when I found out that Karo was being featured in a new video by Gyptian. I love music and I love supporting my friends, especially when they’re passionate about their craft.

I’m proud of this kid, so check out my boy Senor Karo in the video below.

Where do I begin?

In 2012 I was awarded the opportunity of a lifetime; I’d signed a contract to play semi-pro basketball overseas, and was excited to start my new life – surrounded by exotic people and experiences. If all had gone well – right now I’d be swathed in a Hermès scarf, and sipping on a latte (while posting pictures of the Champs-Élysées on my Instagram).

But instead, I’m here – in a crowded coffee shop in Northwest DC, writing this blog post on an old laptop that’s seen better days. I tend to keep a low profile; so most who know me are probably wondering, “What happened? Why is Katrina back already?” And I can understand their confusion; to some extent I’m still processing everything that’s happened over the past year myself. But before I get into all of that – let me take you back a little…

Growing up in DC…

I was a pretty ok athlete. Won a few awards, went to a decent college and managed to get a good education while dodging the common slip-ups that many of today’s youth stumble into. After college, I took a few years away from basketball to experience what life would be like living as a “normal” human-being. So, I packed a bag and moved to New York.

Moving to the Big Apple was like riding a motorcycle with no helmet; I was clear that it would be an awesome joy-ride, but also aware I’d probably be reckless in the process. Being from DC, I’d heard all of the stories about NYC – shopping on 5th Avenue, parties all night long, Reggaeton music playing in the local bodegas; but nothing compared to actually living here. I learned a lot from the experience. It taught me some essential life lessons about choosing (and not choosing) healthy relationships. And I even made a few good friends.

On a typical day, I worked at the Sports Club in White Plains, while constantly overhearing people murmur: “Who’s the tall black chick with the blazer and tie?”

I was a walking spectacle entrenched in a sea of well-off, upper-class folks whose daily stresses boiled down to: “Damn, I just got a flat tire on the Ferrari! I hope I have a spare one in the Lambo.”

Ok so maybe I’m exaggerating a bit here. But the gist is – there was a huge perception gap between their reality and mine. I was a fish out of water. And while most young 20-somethings would’ve seen this as an obstacle, I saw it as an opportunity and basically brown nosed with as many yuppies as I possibly could.

That worked for a while. But after a year, I’d seen all I needed to see and headed back to DC to regroup. While working at a local bar I started brainstorming on what other ventures I could take on. I’ve always been deeply rooted in fitness so much of my soul searching happened late night at the gym. During one of those workouts, I noticed I was still in pretty good shape, and decided to go out on a limb and try this basketball thing again. I mean, why not? I’d been playing since I was 8 and my six-pack was still in tact. It seemed like a no brainer.

After an exhausting process (I’ll spare you the details), I was introduced to an agent from Germany who was willing to take me on as a client. But there was just one catch – since I had taken two years away from the sport, she was concerned that many teams would be hesitant to pick me up no matter what my resume looked like. To offset this concern, I was invited to a basketball camp in Bonn Germany, where several hundred players would be competing in front of top coaches for contracts.

At that moment – I felt like I was starting my entire career over from scratch. Nevertheless, this would be my one and only opportunity to get back on the court and prove myself. Everything sounded great, except for the fact that the total trip would cost me about $1500 and I was broke. Undeterred, I picked up a few more shifts, had a few friends pitch in and bought my first (of many) plane tickets to Europe.

The flight to Bonn, Germany was amazing!

Sitting in business class with a glass of bubbly in my hand all that was going through my mind was, “If this is what playing overseas is like…Hell, IM ALL IN!!!”

I arrived in Bonn and met up with a few other girls who were attending the camp while in the airport. We all took a shuttle over to the gym and conversed briefly in the car about our experiences and what we were looking to get out of it. Everyone had on sneakers and sweat pants with gym bags across their shoulders. At first I couldn’t figure out why they were all looking at me strange – then it clicked; I was wearing a blazer with a shirt and tie and my version of a gym bag was my Yves Saint Laurent duffle.

That awkward moment when you realize that you over-dressed – yet again.

I should’ve taken that as a sign of what was to come.

To be continued……

About The Author

Katrina S. Wheeler is a modern day renaissance woman and entrepreneur based in the D.C Metropolitan area. She likes to drink tea and read fashion magazines while plotting world domination.

As the lead stylist and creative director on the series Skye’s The Limit, she gets to explore the role that fashion and gender identity play in not only in film but also in life. She embraces a style of androgynous attire that was popularized in the 1920′s when women had to dress for survival.

She seeks to create a platform where others are not only inspired but encouraged to express themselves and their personal style with elegance and ease.

As an imaginative depiction of William and Sadie’s decades-long relationship, “Mirrors” features three separate couples in different stages of love—the whirlwind courtship, the difficulties of marriage, and the later years of togetherness. In fact, Timberlake is nowhere to be seen until the final two minutes, when he catches a falling ring from the woman playing his grandmother and performs a solo dance in a funhouse hall of mirrors.

When I previewed his album a couple days ago – this was the first song that stuck out in my mind. I’m not surprised he chose to make it his next single.

Check it out below.

Taylor is having a dinner party, Bryn is debuting her new open mic venture and Skye is trying her best to play things cool with Jay. But by the end of the night, one of them will make an admission that changes everything.

Check out Episode 4 of ‘Skye’s The Limit’ below.

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1. Are you and your character anything alike? Why or why not?

Yes we are similar as far as pride and ego. I used to feel like my girl should be just as attractive as I am. I’m doing better with that. It’s not all about looks, but I think that maturuity comes with age. Back in my teens I was really on that tip but feelings and personality are more important than the external. It’s something I had to learn and it took some deep dives, but I’m here now.

We are different in a lot of ways. My character DJ Got Damn is a scorpio and I’m a virgo, so we handle things a bit differently so it’s definitely a challenge because in some of the scenes I have to find a little bit more anger and she’s a little more hot headed than I usually am.

2. What is your favorite thing about working on Skye’s The Limit?

There is a lot of team work and I’ve always been an athlete so I love being on a team and this is definitely a great team to be apart of so that’s the best thing.

3. What would you like the audience to know about Gina DJ Got Damn this season?

I’m not a complete asshole, I’m really not. All you see from me is complete asshole-ery.

As the second season comes along you get to see that I have a heart. I’m not just as much of an asshole. Everything I do has meaning behind it. There is something deeper than what it looks on the outside , but I do love the ladies.

4. How does being a rapper in real life affect your character?

Sometimes I have to separate them and remember Dephyne and DJ Got Damn are two different people. They are parallel, its almost the same kind of life. From the ladies, and the different scenes to performing and coming from shows. The different love you get from the promoters and the audience is very similar and it’s definitely relatable.