Maxi Skirt: MaxiFest (Day 1 & 2)

I love maxis! Maxi dresses and maxi skirts just do it me.  At the risk of looking like a prairie chick I have paired floor grazing maxi skirts with buttoned up shirts, maxi dresses with western styled denim jackets etc.  I like my maxi's extra long and if it's long enough to have a train trailing behind me even better! With the rains fast approaching, I figured it would be a good time to wear the life out of my maxis before the floods around Lagos make it unreasonable to wear (to be honest flood and muddy puddles have never stopped me in the past).

In honour of the maxi, I decided to wear maxis for a whole week.  This post is about my week long 'maxifest'.  Day 1 was kinda easy, I wore my fave maxi skirt that I got it from a sample sale so there's no brand name on it.  It's floral patterned and has a shiny champagne coloured background which I like.

 I decided to wear a belt with the skirt because I never get pants or skirts that fit the hip and waist so most times I have to get the waist of most outfits taken in to get the fit I want (My tailor mysteriously moved away without leaving a forwarding address, I'm sure I'm the only customer that didn't get a text message containing his new address.  Dude got tired of doing just amendments and having me yell at him to take an extra inch off my skirt. Ahmed if you ever read this? I'm sorry I stomped off the last time, I know you hardly speak English and I don't speak French but whats so hard understanding "three inches off?").

I wore a cowl neck cream neck with a rather distracting neckline (wink) and to draw away attention from my twins, I wore a statement necklace pictured below (I know it's missing a gemstone somewhere but you all don't expect me to bin if because of that!)

I held the waist together with a red belt and further accessorized with a straw tribly, brown weave flat sandals and a brown messenger bag. 



Following the success of the floral skirt the day before, I decided to give it another spin in day 2.  This time I paired it with a black chiffon sleeveless collared shirt (they seem to be sooooo in these days. Next time I go shopping, I'll buy one of those contrast ones that have a different coloured collar from the rest of the shirt. Click to check out this cute one here).

 I accessorized with my fave Niger Delta bowler hat (Ha Izon!) and the shoes I wore the day before.  The pièce de résistance for me was the detachable collar I wore with the top.  Below is a close up of it.

I decided to do a 2-part post so I'll be posting the second part of my maxi-week in a couple of hours.

Thanks for reading, please take time to comment and follow this site!

P.S. If there's anything here you like and would love to buy, lemme know. I can hook a sista up, no problem!


xxx
Bex



Fashion Credits:


First Outfit

Skirt:  Unknown


Cream Blouse:  River Island


Belt:  Dorothy Perkins

Hat: Matalan

Necklace:  Accessorize

Sandals:  Next


Second Outfit


Blouse:  Select


Hat:  Next


Necklace:  Can't remember (maybe Dorothy Perkins)


Ring:  Accessorize

Bowler Hat and Cobalt Jeans

Hats are a good way to accessorize and give character to an outfit.   I've always loved hats and own a few. I went through the Kangol and fisherman hat phase with blinking (don't judge me! Thankfully I don't have pictures of me rocking them. In my defense, they seemed so cool then and everyone was wearing them). Nowadays you can catch me wearing fedoras, trilbys or a bowler hat. I suppose in a couple of years I'll look at these pictures and cringe but for now.....

Anyway, I was having a lazy afternoon a couple of days ago and instead of sitting at home watching Ancient Aliens of the History channel (very riveting programme I kid you not and yes I believe in aliens, UFOs and that there are flying saucer hidden in Area 51!), I decided to go visit friends. I didn't feel like wearing anything fancy so I wore my cobalt blue skinny jeans and a star print purple top (so last year I know but who cares).  The colour contrast between both items is lovely. These days with the whole colour clashing trend thing you never know what you'll get when you mix two seemingly different colours together.

I accessorized with a black bowler hat, a necklace with gold leaves and feather, a stack of bangles and a cute pair of ballerina shoes with a cute bow. I love wearing my bowler hat with loads of outfits. I don't know if it's because I'm Ijaw. Its not breaking news that we south south folks love our hats! 

Colour pop jeans seem to be everywhere, the thought of wearing a pastel coloured jeans or horror of horrors a pair of yellow or pink jeans scares the sh*t out of me (I can just imagine how lumpy my bum would look, seriously light coloured jeans should be left to chicks with pert behinds. Another thing, emm fashionistas have no business wearing leggings as trousers. I've seen babes wearing very short tops with leggings and some even tuck their tops into leggings and displaying huge camel toes. Maybe it's just me but it looks sooo wrong)

Not one to be shy of following a (sensible) trend, I decided to get my colour pop on by buying these cobalt blue skinnies.

Below is a picture of me on holiday wearing my trilby hat. I got it on sale from Tie Rack for a fiver and love it to death!

 

 

 Wearing the trilby again (talk about getting bang for your buck!)

Thanks for the comments and emails.  I appreciate the criticisms but the constructive ones are best! Please don't forget to follow this blog by clicking on 'JOIN THIS SITE' on the right hand side of this blog.

xxx

Bex

Fashion Credit

Main Picture:

Top:  Next

Skinny Jeans:  Oasis

Hat:  Next

Flats:  Zara

Holiday Picture:

Shirt:  Zara

Jeans:  Forever 21

Satchel:  Barratts

Hat:  Tie Rack

Sandals:  Zara

Last Picture:

Hat:  Tie Rack

T-Shirt:  Zara

Blazer:  Zara

Jeans: Forever 21

Whats in my handbag?

I guess every female blogger worth her salt has to one time or the other do the obligatory whats-in-my-handbag blog post.  The thought of showing the contents of my bag has been giving me mini nightmares. I'm one of those people who throw everything into their handbags. 'Everything' include things like wadded up tissues, chewing gum wrappers, year-old receipts and grubby handkerchiefs. Well to do this post I had to carry out a mini sanitation day on my handbag and minutes later I was able to separate the useful and regular stuff from the thrash I had been lugging about for a while now.  I can tell you for free that my handbag felt lighter afterwards.

 

 I guess the next step is listing and possibly describing all the stuff stashed in the bag.  To make it easier, I'm going to start clockwise:

* Barrel brush: To brush my hair (obvs). I'm rocking pin-straight locks at the moment and I find it easier to brush my hair with the barrel brush than a paddle one.

* Powder Brush

* Strepsils: currently nursing a sore throat at the moment

* Check Book: Every business person has to walk around with theirs right?

* Bodyshop passion fruit body butter: Smells great and the best moisturizer when you're on the go  and your skin feels dry.  

* Glasses case

* Lip and Eye pencils

* Sleek Blush in a shade I can't remember

* Hands-free:  Can't begin to say how important it is to not talk directly into your mobile phone while driving.  Get one if you don't have one! Its cheap.

* Mac Powder Studio Fix: Best powder out there and you can take that to the bank!

* Wallet: This Guess wallet has served me for 3 years now. It's got most of my cards and complimentary cards (ahem!) in it.

* Mascara: Its from L'Oreal and its one of those two-step affairs where you use a primer first and then the mascara proper afterwards.  Its the best because the mascara wand is like a little comb instead of a brush and believe me it picks up every lash strand.

* L'Oreal nude lipstick

* Sleek and Vaseline cocoa-butter lip-balm

* Lipsticks: The Mac lipstick shade is called 'Girl around Town' I feel flirty when I wear it. The other one is a bright red affair from Seven.

* Coin/loose change bag

* Next Diary: I promised myself I was going to keep a diary for 2012 and of course I am yet to make a single entry. Tsk tsk.

* Makeup bag: Contains all the goodies.  It's got everything in there but the kitchen sink

* Contact Lens: I am really short-sided and wear contacts most of the time.  If you wear prescription contacts please keep a spare pair and your glasses handy.  I remember this one time that I was driving at night and I had this sudden itch in my eye and in the process of scratching it, my contacts came off! Good thing I had my glasses in my bag!

* Hand sanitizer: Need I say more?

* Car keys: My keyholder is a cute race-car driver in an orange overall and helmet.  I got it from Playmobil in Malta.  It reminds me of happier times.....*sniff*sniff*

* Sunglasses case: My fave pair of sunnies.

 

I guess the final bit in the show-whats-in-your-bag post is talking about the bag itself.  My bag du jour is the Louis Vuitton GM Neverfull, after months of saving, I decided to get it for myself as a present early this year.  The Neverfull is actually never full, as it manages to house my mags, ipad and whatever book I'm reading at the moment without any problems.  Money well spent if you ask me.

Well there you go.  Glad to have this post over and done with.

xxx

Bex

Louboutin Bollywood meets Herve Leger

I remember when I first saw the Bollywood shoes by Christian Louboutin from the Spring/Summer 2012 collection online, I mentally swooned! Damn! The eye candy is a towering six inches. Beyonce and Evelyn Lozada (of basketball wives) have been snapped wearing the embroidery and bling creation. Since yours sincerely doesn't have the kinda dosh Mrs Beyonce Carter has, I had to rush to Polyvore to visually put together a look. If I had the shoes I'd wear it with a colourful Herve Leger bandage dress, a McQueen or Chanel Clutch and a bodyguard!  Thank God for Poyvore o! Anyway I know what I'll be buying once I win the lottery.......

Androgyny Twister

I was watching a video of Janelle Monae a couple of days ago and was reminded of my little girl-crush (I’m straighter than an arrow, no homo).  I’ve always been a fan of the Gender Bender look and if there's one person who does androgynous well it's Ms Monae.  She makes it look effortless.  Being a bit curvy I have come to the (not so shocking) realization that I cannot do androgynous like Monae or Stella Tennant (who is so rake thin that at times her sex is indistinguishable when she dresses up in men’s clothing). Fortunately, being curvy has not stopped me from trying to adapt certain elements of certain trends to suit my body type.

 

Being a girly girl at heart, I decided to soften the look by adding certain feminine elements.  Since the look is kinda austere and minimal I decided to stick to monochrome. To take severity off the black and white ensemble, I decided to wear my brightest red lipstick and a whole lotta blush than I usually wear. Instead of wearing tailored trousers with my crispy white shirt, I opted for a lace skirt and accesorized with a lacy bowtie (which is actually hairpiece! Nothing wrong with a little improvisation) to give the look some dose of femininity.

Instead of wearing oxfords or brogues I decided to wear a pair of black high heel lace-up shoes (and yes I tottered around like I was walking on stilts for most of the day but it was well worth it!). 

I figured wearing a hat with my outfit would have being an overkill….too bad I don’t have a bouffant hairdo like Janelle Monae *Insert dreamy look emoticon*

Thanks for all the comments and emails.  For further enquires feel free to email me on ijawgal@yahoo.com

xxx

Bex (with the sore ankle)

Fashion Credits

Shirt:  Marks and Spencer

Bowtie (Hairpiece):  Topshop

Skirt:  Marina Kaneva

Shoes:  Aldo

Metallics, Sequins and all that Glitter!

Seems like the shine shine trend is gonna be all the rage this year. Fashion forward fashionistas and celebs have started putting their best shiny foot forward by rocking outfits that are all bright and sparkly.  I personally don't think much of Kimora's personal style (hope she never reads this o. That women scares me) but this picture of her wearing a sequin frock with pointy toe Loubies and a simple clutch was so good I just had to share.  Its elegant, simple and classy. Sans frou frou!

 if there's one person I abso-lute-ly admire is Solange. Solange...where do I start? Aside from being uber stylish and avant garde in her fashion choices she is absolutely gorgeous. I love her personal style and how she effortlessly owns every look she puts together. Having a gorgeous head of hair with curls helps as well.  I think Beyonce should ask Solange if she can spare her stylist.  Big sis could take a leaf from her younger sibling.  Below Solange is Gucci'd up from head to toe.  I love her metallic animal print jacket, silk top and the white, black and bronze mini skirt is to die for. She finished her Gucciness with the Ophelie T-strap sandal. Wish I had a bucked-up older sister (Solange works for her own money I heard. hmmmm)

In the spirit of clashing everything from patterns, colours, texture etc, Rihanna has proven again that she is fearless, fierce and not afraid to break all the rules by clashing two metals together. Her top is gold with the cute red ribbon and her pants are silver.  I like the way she downplayed the otherwise contrasting metals by wearing a black coat, black shoes and carrying a black bag! It kinda pulls everything together so its not overbearing on the senses.  She gets top marks from me for this look.  Unfortunately, I can't same say same about her new hairdo.  The Do is very trendy but from someone who's saving every strand of hair on her head (ME) it's a defo no! no! Nobody is touching the small strands that have managed to sprout from my head after years of pampering and treatments!  Can't wait to see RiRi's new movie Battleship. Heard she did her own stunts (ITK).

Kim K led the pack last year by wearing a sequin blazer.  This is my fave picture of her.  Wonder who she was BB'ing while her stylist was busy trying to find a fitting earring. I'll wager she was either bb'ing Kanye or updating her status message (which I think would have been something like 'Mr. West just left my building *wink**wink*').

Thanks for all the comments and emails. Appreciate your time. Click on 'JOIN THIS SITE' on the right side of this page to follow my blog, it'll take less than five minutes.

Namaste

xxxx

Bex

Teal Weekend (2)

 Remember Teal weekend no.1?  Well I remembered that all part 1's have to have part 2.  Luckily for me this past weekend I decided to break out an old faithful. My teal coloured blouse from Next.  On its own the blouse is kinda funny and unstructured.  I bought it 'cos of the colour.  I remember staring at it on the rack and wondering how lumpy I was going to look.  It didn't look like it had a lot of prospect till I bought it and took it home and cinched it all in with a belt. Voila! I think it's not bad at all. Above is a picture of me wearing it in January.

I decided to accessorize with this bib-necklace thingy to make the blouse seem more interesting and used a thin gold belt to cinch my waist in. I love bib-necklaces because they can make an otherwise simple (or boring) top or dress look interesting.  An 'just-there' T-shirt or tank top would look amazing with one. I'm glad I invested in one! Pictured below are some nice ones!

 Wish I could have them all!

I threw on a pair of comfy skinny jeans

 Wore a beige coloured pair of heels and I was ready to go! 

P.s. Sorry if I don't seem my perky self.  It's 4.35am.  Nobody is funny or amusing (I'm assuming I am o) at this ungodly hour.   Please feel free to follow this blog. Comments are appreciated and emails work a treat just as well.


xxx
Bex


Fashion Credit

Blouse:  Next

Jeans:  Select

Shoes:  Barrats

Bib-Necklace:  Dorothy Perkins

Belt: River Island (it came with a jumpsuit)