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

Hot Lagos Nights!

Hello Dearies!!!!! Hope everyone had a great weekend.  I did and wish I could rewind my life back to Friday.  Went out with the girls on Friday and Saturday night! It was awesome. So sad the next weekend is five days away. Anyway I decided to wear my silk floral back slit top from Select for the Friday outing.  Wore that pretty baby with navy blue shorts and a red velvet belt.

 Our first stop was the Polo Club Ikoyi for a friend's BF's party and from there we stormed La Casa for a spell and ended up at Movida.  It was fun and dancing all the way except for a minor incident where a friend had an asthmatic attack! We managed to sort her out and continued our outing.  Saturday night met us at Likwid.  Love Likwid cos of the hip crowd and nice music.  I left Likwid early cos I was tired. Anyway there's always next week!

 Ohhhh I forgot to dish about my shoes! I ab-so-lute-ly love em! I'll post a close-up picture of them on another post. I got them from New Look (surprising). Anyway they're real leather and tan brown. Very comfortable and of course the heels are sensible (Friends say I walk like a duck in high heels, its not my fault that I can't walk in them, they're just so uncomfortable!).

p.s. Sorry about the quality of the pictures, my Rebel T3i is still trying to find its way to real life from my dreams. lol

xxx


Credits
Top: Select

Shorts: River Island

Shoes: New Look

Bag: Gucci

Belt: Dorothy Perkins

Earrings: Select

Walking on the wild side: Leopard Print

Lets be real, we all have an item (or items in my case) in our closet we do not have a clue why we bought it (them).  In my case I have a boxful of cringe-worthy items from my constant retail therapy trips (picture me cruising down the sales aisles at my local high-street shops cooing at pieces I know I don't need but reeling at how much they've been marked down).  After months of deliberation, I've decided to do something about these items. I've decided to find a way to wear these outfits.  To kick off this resolve, I picked a leopard print dress from Zara I'd bought last year and decided to wear it as a top since I didn't like the length.  Below is a picture of me wearing the dress a day after my birthday last year.

Check out the length of the dress! leaves a little to the imagination right? Anyway, that was the last time I wore the dress till last weekend. Since I was wearing it to church, I picked a grey pencil skirt for modesty and my sensible trusty mid heels.  The reason why I decided to wear a skirt below the knee was because I wanted only the leopard print to do the talking. Below is a picture of me trying to look fierce. LOL.

To accessorize,  I picked this lovely necklace from Forever 21. I'm not a fan of '21 but I think they stock really, really nice accessories (and maybe skinnies). I love the hot pink colour of the necklace and thought it would go nicely with the top (dress).  It was a risk but I think it kinda worked!

Overall, I think the ensemble came together well.

BTW, I didn't cut the dress to make it a top, I just wore my skirt over it! In the picture below, you can see the hem of the dress peeking out from the skirt slit.  I think it gave the outfit a little ooomph! So I still have a short leopard print dress that I can wear when I'm feeling brave! Talk about getting more bang for your buck!

Can't wait to give another piece of clothing a new lease of life! Do you have pictures of pieces you 'resurrected'? send them to me (ijawgal@yahoo.com) follow me on twitter on bexlearns2dress (Am new to twitter ooo)



xxx


Dress: Zara

Skirt: Zara

Necklace: Forever 21

Bag: Gucci

Shoes: Aldo

Watch: Moschino

Sunglasses:  DKNY