Cosmically Chic

Vanessa L. Williams

The birthday girl for March 18 is Vanessa L. Williams.

While I was scrolling through a list of today’s celebrity birthdays, I noticed that Williams shares her birthday with another renowned multitasker: Queen Latifah.

While multitasking isn’t something I’d normally associate with the sign of Pisces (I suppose that doing a million things and doing them well would be a Virgo-like trait), I would associate the lack of a single title to describe either of these women with their zodiac sign.  Sure, they could be called “performers” or “entertainers,” but even those titles don’t do them justice.

Pisces represents the undefinable.  It figures that many famous people born under this sign can’t be defined by a single label.

Kathy Hilton

The birthday girl for March 13 is Kathy Hilton.

While I often point out that many Pisces individuals have succumbed to substance addictions, Hilton has apparently kept her nose clean.  It’s another story with her sister,  Kim Richards of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.“  On that show, Richards often points out that she’s a Virgo, claiming that her various neuroses have something to do with her zodiac sign.

Virgo individuals are neurotic; it’s the reason that they turn to drugs and alcohol.  They voice every possible scenario in their heads over and over until it consumes them and they can no longer function.  If Pisces natives abuse drugs and alcohol it’s usually to shut down voices in their heads other than their own.

I don’t know if Hilton has ever had any problems similar to her sister’s issues, but if she has, it doesn’t show.  She seems to be remarkably well-grounded for a Pisces native — even moreso than her earthy Capricorn sister, Kyle Richards.  Perhaps Hilton’s sun sign doesn’t make her want to assume control of every situation (like her sister Kyle does), and that quality endows her with a more easygoing nature.  I wish that Hilton was also on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” so that I could know for sure.  The three of them would make a great astrological case study.

Tina Knowles

The birthday girl for January 4 is Tina Knowles.

Knowles is the designer for House of Deréon, a line founded by her and her daughter, Beyoncé Knowles.  In some respects, the line does represent signature Capricorn style: it’s body conscious and it includes a lot of black.  However, it’s a little too revealing to genuinely represent another cornerstone of Capricorn style: appropriateness.

Capricorns know time like no one else does.  They also possess an innate understanding of appropriateness, and they understand that there’s a right time and a wrong time to wear a particular outfit.  For that reason, I personally cited “24/7 Cocktail Dressing” as the worst trend of the previous decade on my other blog.  Unless you’re a hooker in Las Vegas, wearing a short, sparkly bandage dress every moment of every day is entirely inappropriate.

Knowles has turned House of Deréon into a second-rate bebe, even while her daughter is knocking the socks off her critics in outfits like this one.  Between the two women — a Capricorn and a Virgo — a more tasteful collaboration shouldn’t be such a stretch of the imagination.  It’s in the stars!

Liya Kebede

Today’s birthday girl is Liya Kebede.

I’ve made a few allusions on this blog to the way in which Virgos individuals find themselves attracted to Capricorns.  When I went to Wikipedia just a moment ago to confirm Kebede’s birthdate, I came across the following quote: “Kebede’s big break came when Tom Ford asked her for an exclusive contract for his Gucci Fall/Winter 2000 fashion show. Her popularity in the fashion industry sky-rocketed when she appeared on the cover of the May 2002 edition of Paris Vogue, which dedicated the entire issue to her.“

Not only is Tom Ford a Virgo, but so is Carine Roitfeld, the editor-in-chief of “Paris Vogue” at the time of Kebede’s cover.

Sometimes I’m so perceptive, I scare myself!

Karina Smirnoff

The birthday girl for January 2 is Karina Smirnoff.

I was far more excited for Karina Smirnoff than I was for her partner when she won this past season of “Dancing with the Stars.”  My favorite two professional dancers on the show both happen to be Capricorns: Karina and Maksim Chmerkovskiy.  Carrie Ann Inaba is also a Capricorn.

I also get along very well with Taurus natives, and there are plenty of those on DWTS, too.  Tom Bergeron, Len Goodman, Cheryl Burke and Edyta Śliwińska share that sign.  The other people I like the most on the show are either born under the sign of  Cancer (Louis van Amstel and Dmitry Chaplin), Virgo (Brooke Burke Charvet) or Scorpio (Bruno Tonioli).

Just like in real life, I’ve found myself unintentionally rallying around the earth signs and the water signs on this show.  I guess I can’t fight it — the universe made me this way!

Daphne Groeneveld

The birthday girl for December 24 is Daphne Groeneveld.

I’ve made plenty of allusions to designer Tom Ford’s fascination with Capricorns.  I made him the Capricorn designer in my book while he was still working for Gucci because I saw all the elements of Capricorn style in his clothes.  They were body-conscious and status-conscious, yet with a tongue-in-cheek hint of camp.

Ford’s work under his own label still strikes me as the sort of stuff a Capricorn would like, but what interests me even more is how much Ford himself likes Capricorn models, including Daphne Groeneveld.  He uses a lot of Capricorns to promote his work, and he has for years.  As a Virgo, it makes sense.  We usually are attracted to the sign that rules our solar fifth house.  For that reason, I expect to see more of this collaboration.  Groeneveld is only seventeen, so using her in the sort of ads that Ford has been producing would be in poor taste.  Maybe next year, Daphne!

Jennifer Connelly

The birthday girl for December 12 is Jennifer Connelly.

Connelly has long been associated with the label Balenciaga, but I’ve always had a difficult time accepting the actress as the face of the brand.  To me, Connelly looks like a Sagittarius.  I can see her putting on a backpack and traveling to southeast Asia just as easily as I can see her walking on a red carpet in a dress by John Galliano, inspired by the designer’s vacation to southeast Asia.  Balenciaga, on the other hand, seems to be so cerebral.  I guess I get a Virgo vibe from the designs of Balenciaga’s creative director, Nicolas Ghesquière.

His birthday is difficult to confirm.  Some sources cite May 9, which would make him a Taurus, like Miuccia Prada — another designer whose work gives me a Virgo vibe.

Whatever the case, I just don’t buy Connelly in Balenciaga.  I never have; I never will.  It just doesn’t fit.

Jay-Z

The birthday boy for December 4 is Jay-Z.

So much of what makes a couple work goes beyond sun-sign compatibility.  Nevertheless, it’s an important factor in a relationship.  For that reason, I don’t expect Jay-Z and Beyoncé to be together forever.

Beyoncé is a Virgo.  Of the four mutable signs, Virgo has the least in common with Sagittarius.  While a Sagittarius like Jay-Z is likely to embrace the mutability of his sign throughout his life, his Virgo spouse will attempt to control him, fighting change all the way.  A Sagittarius will try to defend his desire to change with passion, while a Virgo will demand that he presents his argument to change with logic.  They lend credence to the saying “same planet; different worlds.”

I glanced at the charts of both of these celebrities, but without accurate birthtimes, I really can’t offer any more insight.  From what I was able to ascertain, however, I still don’t believe that this was a match made in heaven.

Chad Kroeger

The birthday boy for November 15 is Chad Kroeger.

I once had the idea of writing an astrology book called “Virgos Are Prudes: Scorpios Are Sluts.”  The title would have been sarcastic, however, because I believe that in both cases the opposite is true.  I’ve know a lot of slutty Virgos and a lot of prudish Scorpios.

There are misconceptions surrounding every zodiac sign.  Yet no sign suffers more unfair criticism than Scorpio.  For that reason, I’m not surprised that Chad Kroeger is a Scorpio.  I don’t usually listen to the sort of music that has made his band Nickelback famous, but I know that he has become one of the most-reviled artists in popular music because it has become fashionable to hate him.

I don’t know what it is about Scorpios that makes other people resent them when they become successful, but it happens all the time.  Is it a misconception that Chad Kroeger is the worst thing ever to happen to popular music?  I don’t really know the answer to that question, but I do know that he’s sold millions of records.  He can’t be that bad . . .

Jason Alexander

The birthday boy for September 23 is Jason Alexander.

There was nothing about George Costanza to remind me that Jason Alexander was a Libra.  His character on “Seinfeld” had to have something more manic about him, so I expected to find either a strong irrational Pisces influence in his chart or a stellium in neurotic Virgo, because there aren’t a lot of sitcom actors who can make a living playing characters so unlike themselves.

Looking at his natal chart, I didn’t find any planets in Virgo besides Pluto.  However, I did discover that Alexander has a Pisces rising.  He also has a Gemini moon which can explain a few more things about the mercurial George Costanza.

In person, Alexander seems calm and rather dignified — just like a Libra native.  Yet he didn’t have to go very far within himself to access the parts of his chart that helped to make him a star.