What’s hot : Sophisticated 70's

Lately we have seen  a lot of vintage  fashion trends come and go, trends from the 20s, 30s and 80s have been reinterpreted in several ways and we are about to see another great trend come back, this time it’s the jazzy 1970s!!!!

70’s trend is hot right now and predicted to continue into 2012 fashion trend, but with some variant, the particular one I tend to favour is the more sophisticated 70's look.

Kate Moss in a recent Vogue campaign

What to look out for to get your 70s sophisticated wardrobe going

• Plunging necklines with a deep V paired with a maxi skirt. mid to high waisted wide-leg pants or flares in light flowy fabrics, smartly belted in with a waist-cinching belt.                       

• Bow-blouses,  with billowing or bishop sleeves in silk and satin fabrics.
•  Layering beaded necklaces on a vest or high neck blouse
• Printed jumpsuits , hotpants are  the ultimate 70’s item for the brave
• Long or maxi pleated dresses and skirts in  light weight fabrics                    

• A ruffled neckline under a  blazer or tuxedo jacket
• Long, slinky gowns with draping, low necklines or high slits are the ultimate in ’70s night time glamour.

The wide-legs pant styles may work better for taller frames, so a good alternative is the slim-cut cropped pants or ones with a subtle flare paired with heels.

Tiffany Amber

Love this look by Tiffany Amber

Gwen Stafani just works this printed jumpsuit

Accessorizing 7o's Style 

• Think high quality bag like a leather satchel or a small bag with  long straps.
• Wear lots of jewelry – but keep it a little cleaner than for a boho look. Try lots of rings with bold stones, neat piles of bangles, and long pendant necklaces and strings of beads.
• And for hairstyles  sexy long bobs, masses of bouncy curls, or long, flowing hair.

What 70’s trends are you spotting or planning to at the moment?

Photo credit Glamour, Bella Naija, Fashionising

The halfway scarf

Outfit: Scarf Anne Klein. Dress M&S. shoes Dune. Ring and Earrings available @ dressed

I attend a conservative church, the type where if you entered with your hair uncovered the women would look at you like you were the worse sinner. Last Sunday I didn't know what to do with my scarf so I decided to do this little 'Alice band like number', that way at least from the front it looked like I was wearing a scarf and behind......pow!!! No scarf  but I'm not there to hear the remarks!

Outfit: Scarf Anne Klein.Top dillards . Denim Rock and Republic. Shoes Jessica Simpson. Purse Newlook. Earrings available @ dressed

Was loving my halfway scarf so much decided to carry on the theme for my friends hubby's 40th birthday later in the day.

what creative things do you do with your scarves?

To Fake or Not?

Lately I was wondering why we all want to buy clothes and bags that are covered in the same labels. Why do most people prefer luxury goods where the brands insignia is very obvious and glaring in some cases? Everyone does it whether they do it on purpose or not.

Sometimes there are actually more reserved versions of a product from the designer but often times you find that we want a t-shirt that screams the Ralph Lauren from a mile or the bag that roars the Gucci from ten thousand miles.

I remember first becoming aware of this trend from secondary school, you were not cool if your designer labels could not be seen, your Ralph Lauren and Chaps shirts had to have obvious insignia. 

At uni, it was the Tommy Hilfigers, Dkny and Versace made popular by P Diddy and Biggy, your brands had to be out there for everyone to see.

Aliyah wearing Tommy in the 90's

For the most part I think we all went through these stages in our lives.  While in the university, I wanted certain labels just as much as everyone else for probably the same reason. The polo insignia, yes! An embarrassing reason but that was it for most people back then.

Dkny ad campaign in the 90's

Now years after, I am, older and wiser and I find myself with the same kind of inclination, but this time to higher end brands, but for very different reasons, this time for the quality of the product and the longevity I get with these items. 

Though I am not a designer junky, I'm still drawn to certain labels, and I see this love for labels replicated around me, the problem is the price tag for these luxury brands are way above what most people can afford as a result there is a flood of fakes amongst the few genuine.

It’s no surprise that the faux fashion industry is booming……some of these fakes are so well duplicated it would take a trained eye to tell the difference, unless of course you are standing next to someone with the real deal,...... *shame face*

This got me thinking…….. Why the rage for luxury Labels?  Are we doing it to get a nod of approval from our contemporaries or for a certain fulfillment we get from wearing these labels? Is buying fake goods really worth the reduced price tag? 

Lets have your view in the comment box.

Xoxo

Girls Don't Live In 5 Inches baby!

 

It's amazing how what you see read and hear affects what you think about and consequently what you probably write about.  I recently saw an interview of Kimora Lee Simmons where she made a comment about how one needs to suffer for beauty and how she wears heels constantly and there I was thinking not today darling! 

Sometimes the simplistic approach just works best, especially if you are going to be trudging down the streets of Lagos, you might as well do it in comfort and style.

dress and bag kohls, loafers Gap, chain bracelet Kenneth cole

Tess, takes it a notch higher in her 'chic in flats' look for work. I want those green ballet.

skirt and jacket topshop

bag primark

Shoes H&M

 

 

Victoria Beckham was spotted wearing flats en route  Heathrow Airport, You may recall she once said she never wears flats. Never say never baby. You still look cute to me sweetie, in navy sheath dress, black tights, signature sunnies, and black Birkin

 

Beyonce rarely seen looking girly, wearing a white and  pink dress by Pencey and  Topshop Victoria flats nice rest for her feet I tell ya.

Rihanna wearing a patterned form-fitting spandex tank-dress, a fab pair of Chanel Diamante Jelly Sandals.

Carla, first lady of France, always stylish wearing an origami folded neck skirt suit, Tod’s  flats, and a little Dior bag. Carla proves you can still look buttoned-up and sophisticated in flats. This is a great work  look so pay attention to this first lady.

Rihanna

Kelly Rowland

Keep it stylish and fun!

Xoxo

Food I Love - Designer stew

Hey guys hope you are all having a great week? I realize this blog is supposed to be about fashion, food and music but in as much as I love music I still haven’t found my mojo on the kind of content I would like to post. So while I am still trying to figure out the approach to take with respect to the music bit, I would just go with the flow and write on whatever captures my attention for now.

Being the eternal foodie that I am, I would constantly research and try out new recipes, on one such search I came across this recipe for Peppered stew “street style” popularly known as “Designer stew” in Lagos.

This stew is so worth trying, for me it’s a double 5* because you get that mama put special taste and aroma.  I have experimented with the recipe since I found it, I tried it without the green pepper trust me didn’t get that mama put twang. Tried it without bleaching and burning down the house *coughs* the onion sorry :), didn't work too. So based on my experiments so far this is the perfect combo to achieve the best results for now.

Designer Stew

Ingredients

8- 10  Large Green Peppers ( Jalapeno, but you can use green pepper used for salad if you are not too keen on the heat or a mix of both)

6 large red ball pepper (ata rodo) or  according to heat level needed

4 medium sized Tomato

2 Large Onions

Beef as required

Shaki as required

Pomo as required

½ cup Palm oil

1 Knorr cubes

Iru ( Locust beans)

Salt to taste

Directions

• Cut beef, pomo and shaki  into cubed size, season with thyme, salt, knorr cubes ginger, onion and cook until tender
• Make a seedy blended paste of your green pepper, red pepper, onion and tomato...the green pepper should be more because the stew is meant to be green.
• Heat up palm oil, and brown the soft boiled meat for a while then remove from the heated oil
•  Add some sliced onion and heat it until the onion gets burnt, and the palm oil turns brown( Take extra caution when doing this because palm oil is highly flammable)
• Take the pot of oil off the cooker and allow to cool
• Sieve the burnt onions out of the oil and put the pot of oil back on the cooker
• Add freshly sliced onion, and blended mixture, cook for about 10mins and add iru
• Allow to cook until dry, then add knorr cubes, salt to taste
• Add stock of boiled assorted last and fry until cooked

        

Serve with boiled white rice and fried plantain. Yum!

Tried it?  let me know what you did differently and how it came out.

Bon Appetit!

Wedding Saturday - Obong and Dami

Blocked INC dress from Macy's. Shoes are Mojo Moxy. accessories are my LPM finds and sunnies are Ferragamo

I wore this outfit for my friends wedding on Saturday. Just before we set out I decided to take a couple of pictures while I was still looking fresh faced, you know with Nij (Nigerian) weddings its rocking galore so wanted the picture out of the way before the sweat and shine that comes with dancing.

love a good shoe with some detailing, these are are above 4inches but very comfy. got from bakers

It was a beautiful event all in all, we had  Psquare and Sunny Ade to entertain at the after party.

Psquare on stage. love their blazers

 They totally rocked the house, I love my niaja weddings!

My friend TuniO in the bright printed sheath dress looking glam as usual  with her cousin

The beautiful Couple Obong and Dami

With their huge cake

In Calabar attire

In Yoruba attire

With the couple

TuniO

Was also a day I tried one of this seasons hottest trend, "Colour Blocking". I am not  one to follow trends hook line and sinker, because I believe in following trends one should always consider what works best for their figure as well as what they are most comfortable wearing.  Comfort would give confidence and your confidence would radiate through,  for me that is style.

Enough of the grammar already, bearing in mind that this was dangerous territory, For both outfits  I kept it to two bright blocks of color and a neural for my accessories, this is usually the safest route to take.
Earlier in the day I paired my Pink linen pants and orange tees  with neutrals of beige and browns.

Outfit: Primark Linen pants, Lacoste Tee, Ferragamo bag, slippers from Payless

I had a fun day, hope yours was equally good?  to colour block Yay Or Yuck? lol!

Xoxo