Clothing designer and stylist extraordinaire Tina Knowles has taken the meaning of “stage mother” to a whole new level by creating flamboyant, one-of-a-kind costumes for her songbird daughters, Beyoncé and Solange. Miss Tina, as she’s known industry-wide, has parlayed her flair for fashion into two clothing lines, the ready-to-wear House of Deréon and a junior collection of jeans, tees, and accessories called Deréon. While the 55-year-old Galveston native still dresses both entertainers—she recently returned from tweaking outfits for Beyoncé’s European leg of her I Am … Sasha Fierce tour—she also makes biweekly trips from her home in Houston to showrooms in New York to work on her labels. Her luggage stands at the ready, with a constant rotation of handbags that hold her in-flight must-haves. “This one is my favorite,” says Knowles of her House of Deréon Cage Purse. “I’m very into studs right now.” Upon touchdown, the first things she reaches for are her oversized sunglasses and her omnipresent BlackBerry.
• My Book of Prayer is the most important thing I carry. If I’m tense about something or need to pray for protection for my kids, it always helps.
• I don’t have a fancy key chain, just a plain key ring.
• I just got this BlackBerry a few months ago. I finally got one because my girls like to text. I’m on it all the time.
• I always have Trident gum with me because I talk to people all the time.
• Yves Saint Laurent mascara is the best I’ve ever tried.
• Beyoncé gave a bunch of us these custom Flip cams from her tour. I like to make videos of my grandson.
• I always have a Chanel wallet. This one was a Christmas gift from my friend Lorraine Schwartz.
• Red is my signature color. I’ve been wearing it for thirty years. This shade is MAC Lasting Lust. My girls try to talk me out of it.
• I switch sunglasses a lot. I wear Chanels because they’re big and they cover a lot if I’m not wearing makeup.
• There’s nothing discreet about the signature gold packaging of Yves Saint Laurent Beauty. View the entire line of products at Yslbeautyus.com, where you can buy cult-favorite Touche Éclat, a magical highlighting pen, or Tina’s favorite mascara. If you want to try before you buy, the store locator lists every boutique in the country that carries YSL.
• Swoon over a moody video montage of Karl Lagerfeld cavorting with supermodels before you eye the newest leather goods and accessories at Chanel.com. Also find information about Chanel’s iPhone application, which updates subscribers on the latest Chanel news.
• At theflip.com, you can personalize your own Flip camera by uploading images and creating a picture to wrap around your cam.
• Visit the Artistry page at Maccosmetics.com for how-to videos with nationally recognized makeup artists. Then shop for the tools and cosmetics to create your new look.
• Never be confused about texting acronyms again. Look them up on netlingo.com, a comprehensive site that lists abbreviations and their meanings.
