Do it like a Brotha, Do it like a dude!

If there's one trend I ab-soooo-lute-ly adore this season, its androgyny. Male tailoring. Lady like a dude. Bow-ties, Oxford shoes, bowler hats etc. I mean what’s not to like? The clean cuts, structured tailoring, minimalism.....need I say more? Normally I'm a girly kinda girl who likes patterns, flowers, lace, dresses et al, but there's a side of me that sometimes...em...does it like a dude (IT here means DRESS UP ooo).  My love for this trend was amped to the max after I saw models strutting down Paul Smith’s runway wearing luxe tailoring, severe cuts etc. I was literally salivating when I went through Karl Lagerfeld’s collection. Strict monochrome. High collars and so forth. 

  After stumbling onto this picture of my girl crush - Janelle Monae and Karl Lagerfeld, I wanted in!

I got the shirt from Next in January (a not white, but not cream affair with black cuffs and a long black neck-tie that can be tied as a cute bow-tie) and it had being sitting in my closet gathering dust, the reason for this was because I was waiting for the emmmmm...'right combo/moment/place' to wear it. In my minds eye, I'd seen myself pairing the shirt with black high-waist tailored trousers, a fedora hat and some seriously sexy shoes.  I wanted the right moment/place to be a dark, jazzy and smoky bar (naturally) where I'll be perched cross legged on a bar stool (elegantly of course!), the fedora hat casting a shadow on my face blocking my left eye, red lipstick, blood red dagger nails, a French accent and holding a long cigarette holder a la Audrey Hepburn (ok scratch the French accent avec cigarette holder bit, I don't speak French and I don't smoke!)

After two months of waiting for the perfect situation to arrive, I finally gave in to the shirts plea of  'wear me..me..me' every time I opened my closet (that coupled with the mounting realization that the jazzy bar thingy wasn't gonna happen any time soon). Last Tuesday, I finally decided to wear it out for drinks with my friend Tayo at Picolo Mondo.  I wanted to look simple so I just paired it with my fave black skinnies and ballerina flats (would have worn my black brogues but couldn't find it).  How simple can a chick be? I thought about wearing a bowler hat but changed my mind at the last minute (in hindsight I should have... Oh well, next time maybe) and there would have not been need for a blazer 'cause it was a warm, balmy evening.

In the picture above I'm wearing my glasses (I'm very short-sighted, like a -4.75 or so). It kinda gave the look a geeky feel right? lol. 

Anyway, after hours manipulating a Photo Editor app I downloaded from the App shop (free of course), I finally got the dark bar thingy I wanted (sans smoke and jazz music).  Pity about black left hand but nobody's perfect jare!

Check out my other blog bexlearns2dress.wordpress.com for tips on how to wear trends and fashion gists.  I've been working on a rather large piece on Androgyny so forgive me if the blog hasn't been updated in a loooooong while.  Blogging is hard work!

Last week was the Arise Magazine Fashion Week. Unfortunately yours sincerely did not attend any of the shows so no pictures to post on the event. For pictures of Collections and street styles, check out blogs like Miss Wokie, Neks2U, Bombchell and BellaNaija.

xxx

Fashion Credits

Shirt:  Next

Skinny Jeans: J Brand

Ballerina Shoes:  Aldo

Bracelet:  Juicy Couture

Glasses:  Chanel

Watch:  Next