Prints from Africa

In conversation with friends who are not only South African but belong to other parts of the continent, a sense of patriotism arises. Society, media has some how planted ideas in our heads to have the desire to celebrate cultures, ideologies, art, music and heritage that is not ours. We are quickly influenced to jump ship and be Eurocentric as opposed to being Afrocentric (which seems to have connotative meaning).

I have been reading a lot of Hugh Aldersley-Williams on globalisation, nationalism and design, one thing that stood out for me is that he says it is important for countries to have a national identity within the global context. It’s important to be patriotic about food, way of life, textiles, traditional song and dance. Lets just celebrate our NESS…

I was browsing the inter web when I found this beautiful, elegant dress from RAMatudio and fell in love with it. Its reminds me of a shirt my sister had with the Big Five sewn on the front. This dress is simple and shouts “I love Africa” the print on the dress also remind me of the illustrations done by Nicola Heindl for the Putamayo World Music compilations. I love how the illustrations look so puerile in a grown up way. Just have a look-see, and let me stop rambling…

Backyard Style

The weather is a bit undecided these days, the winter chill is not yet out our system, but we have warm afternoons and chilly evenings. For a morning/afternoon like todays, what you wear can really be simple but still warm. So when my sister asked me to to dress her today, this is my choice for her, she doesn’t like extravagant apparel (like me), she wants her look to be minimalist (not too much colour), girl-like yet grown up. This was obviously an opportunity for me to play stylist and photographer for the day (yay yay yay). The garden would be the perfect place to do this.

You have got to love that vintage belt, nothing like real leather, with a beautiful silver clasp detail. Its simple, its her and its comfortable.

 

What to wear today…. mmm

Okay so the poison of choice today is a lilac dress that I got from my dear mother, it has a beautiful neckline and the cut suits my frame just right. This is those kind of dresses that don’t need heavy accessorising, because you don’t want to take away from its simple design. I wear a brown belt as an accessory, and pair it with light brown button earrings, for that elegant finish.

Noni Gasa

I remember the first t-shirt I bought from Noni (the Legit line) back in the day, It was green and I always wore it all the time, it had the Noni signature and swoosh line with a star at the end.

That was my introduction to this lovely lady and her work. Noni Gasa is defined as a style icon, her praises are sung by students at Lisof and within the fashion industry at large. Her smile radiates my tiny world, I love her look, very classy and sophisticated, yet simple. With or without hair. this lady is beautiful… She is also featured on this months issue of Voila Magazine (previous post).

my sweet VOILA

If you havent heard of it, you’re not in the loop for sure… it’s a style magazine meets eco-friendly design, meets beauty, meets design meets ALL THINGS LOVELY. South African design has surely taken on a growth that is both authentically South African and challenges international brands as well. Voila magazine is epitomizes that and more, the featured musicians, designers, writers are people of an inspirational nature. From the cover design, to the layout to the content…

It’s all too lovely I’m proud of you Voila…

 

SUNO

SUNO is a New York based womenswear label, using vintage Kenyan textiles. The textiles mixed with a modern flair in fashion design brings a richness, a type of authenticity, a newness. Combining styles and materials in fashion is not something new it has been done, and when I take a look at SUNO design, it is something refreshing to look at something this well done.

It is not easy to wear prints and patterns, most people would have you believe that you need to be someone with a big personality, extroverted and/or outspoken to handle some fashion trends especially prints and patterns. But I beg to differ, I believe that dressing up has nothing to do with how big a personality you may have, and has everything to do with your sense of style, how you choose to carry yourself, how comfortable you feel with your choice of apparel. Its a form of expression. So whatever the blogs/fashion magz/style critics say wear it your way.

Remember you’re the one who has to be in it the whole day, make sure your comfortable.

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going ROUND MIDNIGHT

Woke up in the middle of the night with this song playing in my head. I have added two renditions of the same song, Ella Fitzgerald and Amy Winehouse , the legendary and the new school.

Oh how I love thee :-)

Yes I really love tea, really though, fond memories in grandma’s kitchen with the green cupboards. Had tea with a friend yesterday afternoon, so you know I was inspired to find tea goodies, and then I stumbled upon Amanda Luke Designs, she is an illustrator and pattern maker based in the UK. Her work just reminds of the kitchen and goodies that were reserved for visitors in my grandma’s house, back when I was a young girl.

I love the loose-ness of these illustrations, the overlapping design, and the feeling that tea is like a well-taken off garden, its pretty, healthy, relaxing and intimate.

Enjoy

4 Posters, 1 Movie

Keeping in the spirit of ballet, acting and passion, I would like you to choose which illustrated poster rendition of Swan Lake (the movie) is your favourite? There are 4 choices,  with the same colour scheme, using 2Dimensional shapes and different fonts. Now which one appeals to you more, with one says, deep, dark, mysterious, drama, ambition more than the other.

commitment/passion/life

It’s amazing how the strangest thing could be the one to teach you about the fundamentals of life. To my surprise I didn’t think those lessons would come from watching Ballet, yes that’s right, I said Ballet. This was just dance, it was entertainment, never did I think that to some it’s what could define their lives, their passion their desire. Dont get me wrong I’m not saying that I want to do ballet (I think it’s a bit late for that), I love being a designer,  but I also love to learn and right now, COMMITMENT/PASSION/LIFE is teaching me how to look at how someone approaches their craft, their desires, how much they are willing to work at it. In the pictures I post below (from Kanye West’s Runaway video) I would like you to see how these ladies embody commitment/passion/life within their dance routine. The discipline is amazing, now that’s not something you acquire over night.

This might be a message to self, but one I would like to share with you. My LIGHT BULB MOMENT.

P.S. just look at that arm turn, this is the stuff dreams are made off.