Out and About

It feels so good to post again and wipe off the virtual dust that had settled on this blog. I am excited to share the wonderful, beautiful things I've managed to find over the past couple of months. You will notice that many of these posts revolve around African art, culture and African-inspired fashion which is something that I have taken to recently.

As both a sign of maturation (I turned a year older since the last time I blogged by the by *flicks hair* ) and as a growing interest I am starting to find that I am less intrigued by the 'whats-what' of popular (read: Western) fashion houses, music or literature. Instead I have become more invested in discovering and sharing content with a home-grown, African aesthetic. It's all very exciting and new for me.
I'm also going to try my hand at an opinion piece, why? I'm not entirely sure - I'm simply keen to try it and see what the response is. But also maybe because I just like things.

These are a few pictures that were taken while my dear friend (whom you all know very well by now) Dudu came for a visit and we were loitering around town - as dear friends do.
Stellenbosch does this weird thing where it's pleasantly warm one moment and uncomfortably nippy the next so my outfit is slightly eclectic so as to accommodate equally eclectic weather patterns. Ha!

xx

   

Oroma's Therapy

LTH favourite Oroma Elewa  recently added Shop Owner to her never ending fantastic list of 'things I happen to do really well'. What I love about these items is that they're sourced from her various travels around the world which makes every piece powerfully personal.

In other news I'll be on a bit of a blogging hiatus for the next couple of weeks (the psychology degree...she beckons) but stay tuned as I will return with a fun outfit post captured by none other than the photo-aficionado herself Dudu Luthuli

Nomia SS '14

There's a power and a purity in simplicity; New York based fashion label Nomia  is a testament to that. It caters to the woman with a proclivity for minimalist clothing with masculine influences and urban edge. Their items are understated but interesting, even arresting. I want all if these items. All of them. Just saying.

The Kings of Sartor | Art Comes First

Personally, menswear (especially smart wear) has always been about two things: co-ordination and fit. If you can thoughtfully co-ordinate your outfit and make it seem like tiny tailoring-fairies immaculately sowed it on your body then you've done well, chap.

I have recently learned however that my rule of two is, if not flawed, then slightly lacking. This week I was schooled by the kings of social sartorialism Art Comes First who released their recent project titled, "The Discplines of Dressing". These short films teach men (and women) about the subtle intricacies of menswear and although the premise of these films is to show others the various rules of style this collective adheres to, I  believe that they are also disclosing a few golden secrets about the well-dressed-gentleman. They call them the "Disciplines of Dressing" and I call them "How To Go From 'Nice' to 'Daaaammmnnn' ".  Its a fitting title.

Check out part one and two of the six-part film below (and for more click here ).

Chelsea Bravo x Kojey Radical

You know when something is so beautiful you're sort of beside yourself with excitement? That was me a few nights ago when I discovered Chelsea Bravo - a London based men's wear fashion house. The label's namesake and founder, Chelsea Bravo, is a woman who aims to make clothes that challenge the conventions of contemporary menswear.
The collection I'm blogging about today (the one I'm going slightly manic over) is her recent capsule collection called 'The Gardener' on which she collaborated with artist/poet Kojey Radical. According to Chelsea this is an experimental collection "based on painter, canvas and garden utilitarian work wear"; uhm... how garden utilitarian work wear could inspire such a wonderful collection and beautiful lookbook, I will never know. But thank God I'm not in the business of knowing how these things come about, my job is to simply show you the pretty things when they are made...I'm sort of an aesthetic harbinger like that.

Also take a listen to Kojey Radical spit some of his lyrical wordsmith-isms on a track from his recent EP 'Dear Daisy: Opium' (which coincided wonderfully with the release of Chelsea's capsule collection). 

Grace Mahary x Lurve Magazine

Photography:  Elle Muliarchyk

Stying: Peju Famojure 

Clothes: Rodarte Spring '13

FASHION GONE ROGUE

Lookout | 2Many Siblings

I'm a recent and unashamed groupie of Kenyan based blogging duo Velma Rossa and Papa Petit. These two are the co-founders of the blog 2many siblings, an online herald of fashion, art and culture - which I guess is easy to come by nowadays but the one thing I love about them is that everything they do is executed beautifully. Not only are they just taking beautiful photos but, in doing so, they are enriching the African fashion and artistic narrative. Also their level of cool makes me feel A. a bit jealous-down and B. like my siblings and I need to be more serious about our swagg (or lack thereof). Ha.