Heels and Bowties

First let me give you a glimpse of my last couple of weeks where I seem to have dropped off the face of the earth or at least the blogging part of it as I just have not written anything in quite some time. It has been quite a strenuous couple of weeks of tests for me with the last one culminating to five tests in one week and I know to the adult world a test is just some joke that doesn’t stand up to actual jobs and paying bills and all those tiring things you keep warning us of but for a tired and emotionally strained 18 year old it can end up being quite stressful and time consuming. Something I battled with was focussing and I didn’t want to even give myself the temptation of writing a blog when I was so far away from completing my studies. Along with this I also went through some (more) personal and emotional issues which rocked me a little more than expected and for the most part I became an empty unenthusiastic and stressed shell of a person and I threw aside my personality not willing to deal with myself and how I felt for the most part.

But after giving myself a weekend to sleep, recuperate and improve my happiness I have finally felt the enthusiasm to once again blog. How exciting!

Before the test season we, my fellow engineering-wannabes and I, had one last bash. It was hosted by the Capetonian in our midst at his house (when your life revolves around residence rooms, their rules and tiny size an actual House is a rare and exciting phenomenon). The theme was formal which posed a slight challenge for me as I had not bought a mass supply on fancy clothing down to Cape Town with me. Plus it was cold. I only had black stockings which didn’t go with my dresses or my shoes so that was a no go. I wanted to wear pants and a smart shirt to almost mimic a man’s typical formal outfit as a joke to my mainly male dominated engineering friends but sadly the fanciest pants I have are jeans and that seemed a bit of a let-down and I wouldn’t have been able to look better than the suit-clad-bowtie-wearing boys, so it would have pointless. So after a frantic call to my friend, and fellow fashionista, I managed to score myself her black midi skirt which comes more to knee length than midi on me as she is tiny but none the less I felt retro and classy. I paired it with a loose formal white button-up shirt leaving my outfit vaguely reminiscent of my previous idea. I wore (the only high heels I had in cape town – so not much of a choice but I love them regardless so it didn’t matter too much) my turquoise wedges which are still my favourite pair of heels and have seen me through many a fancy event. I threw over my new black coat. I bought it at the end of last winter choosing, on a meagre student budget, to look in the end-of-season-sale for the new item in my coat collection. It is a large structured black coat with striking zip detail and a dramatic collar and I always feel like I could walk into my job as a head of a Highstreet clothing brand wearing the thing. I matched my turquoise clutch with the shoes. The clutch never disappoints with its silver hardware and pleather feel and I am always looking for an opportunity to use it. I then added my classic Jemma twist. This time it was adding my favourite necklace. The traditional orange beaded accessory clashed both in colour and style yet bought the outfit together and made it stand out.

Closer view of the coat detail

Close up of my favourite beads (better then any bowtie)

Background part is in full swing

Fifi (the skirt-loaning friend) fittingly and unknowingly also wore black and white with her added piece of African ‘bling’. Her outfit was classy and simple with a straight black dress and classic white heels but with an oversized denim jacket to add some character to the look. You can check out her thought provoking discussion of it and its connections to her role and being as a black woman in fashion and South Africa at http://www.allzuri.blogspot.com/ .

It was a fun evening filled with Champaign (for my friends) and orange juice (for sober me) and the classic formal feast of pizza (the biggest pizza’s I’ve ever seen). Vinyl’s were played (briefly) then other less retro sounds, alcohol infused board games were competed in and for a brief moment we all pretended we didn’t have engineering homework due on the Monday.

I liked having an excuse to dress up and can’t wait for round two.

Mom’s Closet

Hi all,

I know it has been far too long but here I am, back with a short fashion post as usual.

This one is a bit of a throwback from when I had my mid-semester vac in Johannesburg and I had left basically all of my clothes in Cape Town (for optimum bag space) and I delved into my mother’s collection of clothes.

You will probably recognize the jeans as being my own ripped, black, much-loved Mr Price pair and the blue clutch being a bright accessory that yes does belong to me but the rest of the outfit is not mine.

(Okay the sunglasses are mine but I am not mentioning those as they broke during this shoot at the tender age of two months – tut tut Woolworths I am unimpressed)

The top, oh the glorious top that I came very close to smuggling back to Cape Town, is my mothers. I don’t know where she found it but I think its obvious that a good fashion sense is something I inherited from the mama-bear. It is a light and over-sized white cotton shirt which elegantly bridges the gap between formal and casual. I think in the week I was home I wore the shirt three times (yes it is that versatile – perfect for university- wink wink mother).

The shoes, an item which has also been seen before on this blog, are also my mom’s and the only pair of her shoes that I can squeeze my feet into. I paired them with some cute frilly white socks and a confident walk and felt like I could step into the business world there and then and I would have fit in, or I could have been comfortable at a lunch with friends, or a fancy date… and really the list goes on.

It’s about time my mom’s closet got the spotlight as really she is where I got my initial inspiration from… maybe when I get back to Joburg you’ll have to have a whole shoot to yourself Mom!

x J

(oh and how cool is my cover, it is a strong cover for my iPhone 5 – needed as I am always dropping it – but the best part is it has my name on it. It is from a cute little shop called Macaroon in Joburg and is one of the best buys I have ever made http://www.macaroon.co/macaroon/content/en/macaroon/home)

Black and gold

A new look. Don’t worry I am working on a blog post that isn’t about fashion but for the moment bare with me. I just got a new playsuit. After the misfortune of having my black jumpsuit shrunk in the wash I have been looking for a new one and although I have not found an affordable one yet, my eye did move to the short version while wondering through the Cotton On store. I like this because it is simple and so can be easily styled with loads of accessories. I also love the fact that you can dress this down with a pair of sandals and a cardigan or dress it up like I have with a nice chunky chain and a pair of killer (and sadly these are also feet killer) heels. I like the way this shows off my waist but is also loose and comfortable although I must admit that I don’t know how comfortable I am with the strapless shape as I am slightly self-conscious about my arms but I reckon one has to take the occasional risk.

I haven’t had an opportunity to wear it out dressed up like this but I have been wearing it a lot. Of course it is probably obvious that I am still following the black on black trend. Over all I think this gets a successful tick in the ‘staples’ box (I think a little black playsuit is just as good as a little black dress) and I think I will be wearing this for a while still.

My hair, I am always playing with my hair

I like to throw in that splash of orange

Here you can see the pockets put to use

Grunge?

So I love jeans. I don’t know when the love started but it exists. I find jeans comfortable and when in doubt I can always turn to my trusty pair of jeans (correction – one of my trusty pairs). I did have a pair of black jeans but they have always been too big for me and are not solid black and so tend to end up looking grey and baggy. So I decided that I would start the year on a search for a new pair of black, and I mean black, skin tight jeans and after, I must admit, a rather short search I found them. They were a distressed pair that fit me well and make my legs look and feel amazing and they didn’t break the bank at all coming to a total of only R160 from, what is quickly becoming one of my favourite shops for stunning single buys, Mr Price Clothing. They are easy to move in yet they pull me in at all the right places and also I can finally go for that grunge look that is inspiring me at the moment (possibly influenced by the rocker-wannabe-style my sister is into).

Note how these jeans make my legs look… hence I am in love

There is just something about that shirt.

I may be a little too attached to that bag

Also I am obsessed with that purple lipstick… and doesn’t it go so well!

I was feeling Vogue

I feel like this is a tumblr post

The distressed look

Me trying to be creative

Today I styled them with my purple plaid shirt for tea with my friend. I got this shirt a few years ago in a sale and on a whim and I wasn’t sure it was the best decision for a long time but now I am thanking my past self. I am a lover of the buttoned up look with collared shirts. Yes it may be stereotypical and look like I am trying to hard to be a hipster but honestly I think it just looks classy and cool. I added my black bag from Woolworths which I call my adult bag because I feel like it is far more serious and mature than my usual handbags. I wore my black ankle boots because I have basically no other black shoes (I am on the look out for others… that aren’t the over worn fully black All Stars). I also added my hoop earrings because I haven’t worn them in forever and I am always looking for an excuse plus it gave that unexpected twist that I am always looking for. An added note: I am also enjoying wearing layers of black. I used to be against black as I was scared that it would wash me out as I am so pale but now I think that is actually quite sexy…

Flower Power

I am going to continue riding this fashion wave I am on and write another post. I must admit that I find my fashion posts the easiest to write. I do enjoy writing about other topics but the require more brain power and my brain needs some recharging after the exam period so I am going to stick to fashion for now.

I have always been a fan of maxi skirts but my collection of the item is rather dismal with it being a grand size of three. One is a black one (now to big for me) which has been a staple in my wardrobe for quite some time. The second is a bright orange and purple one which has shrunk so it now irritated my ankles and restricts my breathing. I recently invested in the third. This one is far louder and over the top than any of my others. It is covered in bright yellow flowers. I wear it high wasted because that is what I like although I don’t know if that was the intention. It has a slit in the one side which goes to about my knee, this was a bit out of my comfort zone but I have come to really like it. I find it quite difficult to wear maxi skirts and dresses in summer because they trap heat and make my legs overheat but this one doesn’t do that because of the slit. I really like styling it with a simple crop top and a statement hat. On an added note there is something about an oversized sun hat that I cannot resist although I have noticed mine becomes particularly hard to wear on a windy day hence why I have such a firm grip on it in all the pictures.