Going monochromatic

Hello 2017. Yes, in October, I know.

So you may have noticed that I haven’t posted a single thing on this here blog this whole year. There are at least three reasons for that; firstly, in between relocating, graduating and starting a new job which entails writing daily, I reached a point where all I wanted to do with my spare time was rest and not ‘hustle’. While I obviously love writing, I feel that writing for a living can sometimes stunt my creativity outside of the 9-5 space. 

Secondly, being in Cape Town has meant that my camera roll is no longer short of aesthetics and looks. However, as someone who actually values bogging as a craft, I think merely posting those pictures on here would just undermine blogging, so instead I just post those (not all) on Instagram. 

Lastly, I also channelled some of my bigger ideas for fashion columns into the work I do for SA Fashion Handbook, so I had to ask myself countless times; “what else could I possibly offer to my blog audience?” Videos? But those require shooting and hours of editing (which I no longer have).

So after not being able to answer this question, I figured that perhaps that I should just do this for myself. It’s my blog after all and if the content I put on here helps you understand my love for fashion & beauty better, then that’s good enough for me.

I will therefore make an effort to post twice a month on here. I say two because I like to work on research-heavy content, as it helps me learn while I share with others too. After all, a critical analysis of anything cannot be written in one sitting. 

I have also left my old posts on here; not only as a means of tracking my own growth, but because I have also addressed things which I think may still be somewhat relevant in the industry. 

And finally, thank you to the 4 ladies who encouraged me to keep working on A-cups and saw potential in it. I hope you enjoy the fortnightly scoops.

Images: Authoric (for their Beauty series)

DIY Styling.

 I love how traditional weddings have now given us scope to play around with African prints in a way we never have before. Whether Xhosa, Zulu, Mosotho or Vhenda, we're all starting to embrace African fashion unapologetically.

But as a Xhosa girl, I must say I am ashamed to admit that I do not own umbhaco (Xhosa traditional attire). I unfortunately did not manage to make time to go and get umbhaco made for me for the traditional wedding last weekend. However, I'm a woman with a plan. I just felt that I had worn my other traditional ensembles one too many times - you can't repeat distinct prints such as those of my traditional outfits more than once for big events. 

So on the morning of the traditional wedding (can you believe it? I went to bed having no idea what I am going to wear to an entire wedding the next day) I went to a boutique in East London that stocks an array of South African designers' clothing and looked for a doek with the most vibrant print. I found a doek from the PlusFab range, which does not cater clothing for people my size, so I bought a doek. I got home and started playing around with the fabric, wrapping it around my a-cups in various styles until a stroke of genius in me created the off-shoulder crop top you see here, held together by safety pins for the day. I complemented the new creation with this Miss Port (Craig Port) ruffle tulle skirt and Ronald Sassoon platforms. I must say it was quite a crowd pleaser even on my instagram. 

And that, fellow stylistas, is part 3 of my 3 part wedding review posts. Hope you enjoyed them as much as I enjoyed the wedding festivities.

Let me know if you would be interested in a tutorial on how to make this crop top or one like it.

Summer (I) Do's.

The thing about garden weddings is that wearing a pair of 6-inch heels comes with constantly having to drag a foot of the grass every 2 minutes. I call it compromised slayage. If you really can't stand it, though (see what I did there), you can always opt for a pair of block heels or if block heels are not to your taste, you can get yourself a set of tip protectors, which are little plastic stoppers you attach to the tip of your heels and they offer better support for grassy or sandy situations.

Cav the zip details.

Sidebar: I was dressed in Forever New from head to toe (well not toe exactly - shoes are from Luella). 

Anyway, my other point is that you can wear a touch of white to a wedding as long as it is done tastefully and respectfully to the bride. And that's exactly what I did by wearing ink navy and white. I love my nautical colours and I always complement them with a red lippie. 

I also chose to show skin in all the right places - a little peek of my midriff and a whooole lot of coconut oiled up legs when I sit.

 Summer weddings also demand a good pair of sunnies - you have to pull out your best pair. Here, I'm wearing my DA Infinity Projects mirror sunglasses and my sister is doing the most in her Miu Miu cat eyes.

 Another Forever New stunner below paired with baby pink Christian Louboutins because a monochrome do never disappoints.

All pictures taken on my iPhone; hence the unfortunate shadows.

Marriage Material.

I absolutely love weddings! Anyone who follows me on social media knows this. I don't subscribe to the hopeless romantic title, but signing the rest of your life away to someone you don't see yourself unloving ever and throwing a bit of a party to let your friends, family and crusty exes know is my kind of lavish romance...well at least just the wedding day/s. 

Besides the cute cupcakes, the rose petal confetti and the wedding singers who cover John Legend hits, what I love about weddings is, of course, the opportunity to dress up in the day time (Lord knows those have been rare for a student in Grahamstown) and my excitement over any bride's dream wedding gown. 

So when I headline this post "Marriage material", best believe it has nothing to do with the patriarchal standards imposed on women for the benefit of overgrown mommy's boys, but everything to do with the material used to make a well-designed, well-tailored bridal gown that graced the white carpet recently.

So I just thought I should share my favourite style moments (in this post and the next 2 to follow) from the wedding I attended at the East London Golf Club about a week ago. 

Let me tell ya'll - I was star struck by the bride's flawlessly designed wedding gown. It was a mermaid, off-shoulder dress, gracefully sprinkled with pearls and sequins. The pearl details were quite reminiscent of icicles, but beautifully so.

After all the jovial chatter and photo op hustle of the day I managed to find out that the designer of the dress is Orapeleng Modutle, who has dressed the likes of Nomzamo Mbatha and Bonang Matheba.

Photos courtesy of Full Circle Photography. 

Fashion Without a Face

The confident, ever dressed up Afika the streets know now was not always so sure of herself. 

In a world that praises light skin, straight hair, a slender frame and good brains, you would think I, possessing all the aforementioned, would have been the most confident and even arrogant girl you could ever come across, but somewhere between girls’ schools and a magazine collection, I became cripplingly unsure of myself. 

Fashion, which is often deemed as shallow and elitist, became my saving grace. I used it as a distraction away from what I thought was my ugly face and as a means to draw in compliments somehow. 

I nurtured this habit through magazines, regular visits to the mall as well as fashion blogs. This mini fashion film therefore takes you through the journey of choosing an outfit daily, confronting the fear of your own face and ultimately leaving to go about your daily business. 

This is called “Fashion without a Face” because in the piece, you barely see Afika’s face – a symbol for how I previously used to hide behind my high vogue proficiency. 

When you do momentarily see her face in the video, it’s hidden behind sunglasses and various shades of paint – a symbol for the contradiction of shyness and colourful humour that I have. 

At the beginning of the piece, there is the hook of the Little Dragon song, Pretty Girls, quoted in cursive. This is sort of a daily note-to-self for me, as someone who battled with confidence even though she had/has dreams of one day being a household name for whatever reason. 

Now confident, self-loving/affirming and wiser, I am still crazy about fashion in all its colour, exclusivity and expensive character.