I’m so sick and tired of winter already, I’m not a winter person, I HATEi it, it has to be the most depressing season ever, why is it so dark at 4 pm?? It’s really not okay. And do you wanna know the most annoying thing about everyone’s ‘favourite season’ – I can’t even wear all of my cute outfits anymore because I don’t have a coat to go with every single outfit in my wardrobe. The other day I literally had to risk it and I went out wearing my cropped denim jacket despite it being 6 degrees outside. Everyone had to see that outfit, there was no way I was wearing a coat over it, it was WAAYY too cute be hidden by a big ass coat.
Saying that though, I have to say my favourite part of winter is 100% picking out my winter coat, the one that will walk me through the entirety of the season! But of course, you can never just have one, especially if you’re an avid fashion buyer like myself and I think I’ve found a solution to my problem, I have found the 3 essential coats that will go with absolutely everything in your wardrobe – with these 3 you’ll not have a bad outfit day, I can promise you that!
Nothing has really changed that much since last winter when it comes to jacket trends, puffer jackets and aviator jackets are still in and probably more popular than they were last year. But at the end of the day trends always die out so just pick a jacket that you love and know you’ll love in years to come whether it’s in trend or not.
The Aviator
I love the aviator because it’s like a biker jacket but 10 tomes warmer and just like a biker jacket it goes with everything and anything especially dresses and skirts!
The Puffer
If you didn’t already know I have been obsessed with puffer jackets since last year – I own 3 and my bank account wants to kill me. They remind me so much of the 90s so whenever I’m wearing a casual outfit it really makes the outfit.
The Longline Wool Coat
If you’re gonna buy any of these three coats it has to be this one! This is the coat that makes you look like you put effort and lots of thought into your outfit when in reality you didn’t. I always pear this with joggers – it makes it look that little more stylish.
I feel like at this point you’re all tired of me starting almost every post with “I don’t know what it is but I am freaking obsessed with *******” so let me rephrase it a little – I don’t know why, but I am living for suits at the moment. They are so BOSS! After High School, I swore to myself that after 5 years of wearing a blazer almost every day of my life you would never see me in one again unless absolutely necessary but the world just didn’t want that for me.
This season it seems like every shop I walk into whether that be Topshop, Gucci, New look, Vivienne Westwood etc. they ALL sell suits, EVERY SINGLE one of them! It is so incredibly weird to me how 4 years ago or even last year you would literally struggle to find a nice suit that wasn’t designer and didn’t make you look like a complete and utter square. I don’t know if its just me but does anyone else ever get annoyed at the level of choice men have when it comes to things like suits and tracksuits? Whatever happened to equality? it’s 2018 for god sake! However, with more women taking inspiration from men’s fashion you could say there was a demand for suits. And I am so so happy because office wear was way to dull for this generation, every time I had an interview or meeting I just didn’t look like me, fashion is meant to be expressive and I just didn’t think suits/ the officewear did that. Everything was the same, there was so little variation so we thank god that more brands and designers decided to vamp up their suit game because if they hadn’t I would have!
So Where did it all start?
Inspired by the personal style of French artist Niki de Saint Phall, who would often wear a black-tie trouser suit with heels. ‘Le smoking’, the first tuxedo for women was designed half a century ago non-other than by the legendary Yves Saint Laurent. The name comes from 19th Century men’s smoking jackets, which were made out of silk lapels designed to allow any ash falling from cigars or cigarettes to slide off, keeping the jacket clean. The invention of the suit was somewhat deemed as scandalous at the time because it came decades before trousers became socially accepted as a fashion item for women.
Everyone is officially back at school/college/ uni and I’m already counting down the days until summer, that is how deep it is. I say this now but I know for a fact that I will miss 6th form. As much as I hate it, I love it, this past year I have had some of the greatest and funniest moments of my life, I have made lifetime friends and I’ll miss not seeing them 5 days a week.
The transition from high school to 6th form was not as hard as everyone said it would be (well for me personally), the only thing that was stressful for me was finding a new outfit to wear every single day and I can proudly say that I did not repeat a single outfit last year, only God knows how I managed to do that because as of right now, I feel like I have nothing to wear, I have ran out of outfit ideas and I have spent all my money on clothes for my work experience ;(
The key to dressing for education is comfort, you don’t want to be doing too much for the sake of fashion, so my advice is to stick to basics. I learnt this the hard way, NEVER EVER waste a good outfit for school, it is not worth it!
Vogue is the holy grail when it comes to fashion magazines, it is known as the bible of fashion, it is every fashion lovers go to and I guarantee you for a fact that there is no one in this world that has never heard of vogue. I remember buying my first ever issue at the age of 12 and this was when I first discovered my passion – I literally remember skipping lunch at school one day just to pay for it and it was the best decision I ever made! From then onwards I have been addicted, my collection of Vogue magazines got so big to the point that my mother threw most of them away because she thinks I’m a hoarder (I’m not btw). However little does she know Vogue is the main source of my inspiration when it comes to writing blog posts. So my question to you guys is, should there be a Vogue Africa? When it comes to this debate I am so conflicted, if you asked me the same question a few days ago I would have said YES, Most definitely but now after reading up on it I really don’t know.
If you didn’t know this already, Vogue started off in America as a weekly newspaper in 1892 and then later became a monthly publication. It is known as the worlds biggest fashion and lifestyle magazine covering every single topic you can think of. Topics of which can all be covered from the African perspective. It’s first international edition, British Vogue, was launched in 1916 and it has since expanded to include 23 more international editions, among which are Vogue China, Arabia and India and recently Vogue Poland. Vogue launched 125 years ago and it’s only now that they are considering a Vogue Africa? Why now? Is it too little too late?
Speaking to Reuters, Campbell said “We just had Vogue Arabia – it is the next progression… Africa has never had the opportunity to be out there and their fabrics and their materials and their designs be accepted on the global platform… it shouldn’t be that way, people have come to realise it is not about the colour of your skin to define if you can do the job or not.”
I agree with this 110% there are so many talented Visual creators in Africa and the continent has so much history and culture to share with the rest of the world, people have their own perspectives of Africa and they are so incredibly outdated – there are people that still think we live in huts? How ignorant can one be? The world deserves to get to know just how wonderful my continent is, it deserves to see the beautiful people that belong to it, the fact that we don’t place negative stereotypes upon each other instead we celebrate each other and they deserve to see what true diversity it!
What I have come to understand is that the apparent hesitation with launching vogue in Africa is the idea that Africa lacks an adequate luxury market which is a very big misconception, according to a 2015 report by Bloomberg, at the time, Africa’s luxury retail sales represented the second fastest growth rate globally. This can largely be attributed to the presence of new luxury retail locations in South Africa, as well as Nigeria’s increased craving for luxury goods. I feel like in a way Vogue Africa will help to shut down all the misconceptions people have when it comes to Africa but if it does happen I want it to represent every single country on the continent. It needs to be inclusive and I want it to showcase AFRICAN BRANDS because there are so many incredibly talented African designers that just don’t have the funds or the means to become ‘mainstream’ and it is so frustrating when the western world try and essentially copy from us and take credit, for example, earlier this year when Maxhosa by Laduma sued Zara for copying their sock design. I guess what I’m trying to say is that the magazine needs to be 100% authentically African.
Nigerian-born fashion designer Ikire Jones tweeted, “We gotta stop asking folks to let us into their parties when we can throw better ones.
And then there’s this statement! I feel like the world is so focused on becoming westernised that in the process we are forgetting who we really are to the point that we’re constantly looking for approval from these countries. Instead of living up to our own standards we try to live up to theirs – especially when it comes to beauty. It’s so sad seeing African girls lose self-confidence because they don’t fit the norms of western society! We don’t need Vogue, It’s time for us to claim our rightful place as innovators! Why should we wait to be accepted by these institutions? Why should we allow someone else to represent Africa when we ourselves know it best? No one else is going to put in the same passion and love like us. It’s time for us to take charge and create something AMAZING to showcase to the rest of society because Africa is most definitely a force be reckoned with! One day it is going to take over the world and I cannot wait!
So what is your opnion? Should Vogue have the blessing of branching out into Africa?
I literally feel like crying, summer is sadly over and soon we’ll be going back to our cosy knitwear and huge winter jackets. I feel like 2018 is going by way too fast, before I know it I’ll be going to university! Like WTAF!!!!! That’s so crazy to me. People are not lying when they say that time flies!
Anyways as my last goodbye/ tribute to the summer of 2018, I thought why not reminisce on the hottest trends of the season. In all honesty, I don’t know how I felt about the trends that dominated summer, I feel like I wasn’t really surprised because most of the trends we saw this summer had been on the rise for the last couple of years, they just weren’t mainstream yet. It was just an “Oh people are now wearing this?” type of moment.
In this new generation and era of social media it’s so easy to follow trends, it has never been easier than it is now for people to be inspired especially by “influencers” who are giving us none stop fashion inspo all day every day. We have everything right at the tip of our fingertips – there is no need for us to buy magazines anymore because all the inspiration we could ever need is online in so many different styles on so many different types of people. And that’s what I love most about social media – It’s diverse and no matter what you look like you can find the perfect person to inspire you!
CO- ORDS
Topshop was ahead of the game when it came to co-ords! They sold the best denim co-ords and my biggest regret this summer was not getting my hands on one ;(
Bum Bags
What many people need to learn for future reference is that as fashionable as they are bum bags DO NOT go with EVERYTHING. In all honesty, people really overdid it this year with the bum bags to the point that I got sick of seeing them however if it’s designer I’m not hating x
Sliders
who would have ever thought that there would come a day where it was acceptable to wear house shoes outside of the house? Certainly, not me but I mean sliders go with literally anything and everything and they are comfy af so why tf not!
Bandeau Tops
This was my obsession this summer! God only knows how many bandeaus I bought this summer, they’re just so freaking cute and it was free the nipple season so …….
Cropped Jackets
I have loved cropped jackets for the longest time! I don’t know why it has taken this long for people to realise how great they are, they are so flattering for my curvy ladies!
Layered Necklaces
I mean do I really need to comment on this trend, it speaks for itself
Cycling Shorts
I think we have to thank Kanye for the rise of this trend with everyone wanting to cop the yeezy style. Cycling shorts are one of the best things to happen to fashion to be honest, they are perfect for t-shirt dresses that are a little too short and they loook great with everything from bandeaus, crop tops to my personal favourites – mens jumpers
I feel like I start almost every single one of my blog posts by saying how much I used to hate the trend that I’m writing about but then how over time I learned to love it blah blah blah but that’s the reality that is my life – I feel like little me would always proclaim how much I loved fashion but I never really appreciated it as much as I do now! Getting older, reading more on fashion and having my blog has taught me so many things, the most important thing for me was learning to accept that fashion is an art and certain trends are not going to be everyone’s cup of tea but we have to look at the bigger picture and how we can make those trends fit our personal ‘style’.
Today I’m not really talking about a certain trend because tracksuits have been around for TIME, instead, I’m talking about my new found love for them and how in recent years through the ‘streetwear’ hype they have become more and more popular and no longer just something that you wear to the track or to workout but almost a must-have in your wardrobe.
Not even going to lie when I say baby Ivis was way ahead of her time when it came to fashion (with the help of my mother of course aka the woman who bought all my clothes), I had so many tracksuits that I NEVER wore because I thought that they were “chavy” and disgusting because at this point in time I was a girls girl and tracksuits were most definitely not my thing but my mother kept buying them regardless. What was going through my head? Tracksuits are warm, comfy af, effortless and not to forget stylish!
Over the last couple of months, I have been saving tracksuit after tracksuit to my wishlist getting ready for this coming season and considering how cold the UK is going to be this year I need at least 5 to help me through the winter! I’m not over exaggerating here. Here are some of my favourites;
Can I please just have Kylie Jenner’s life already, she’s really out here living the AMERICAN DREAM that most of us could only ever dream of! She’s the ultimate Bad Bitch! She has a whole closet just for her purses which can I add are worth more than a $1 million – that’s an entire mortgage and more! Does it really get more Bad Ass than that? I don’t think so!
I never thought I needed a purse closet until I saw Kylies, I literally used to think all I needed in life was a walk in wardrobe and I’d be complete but no now I need the whole trio – a shoe closet, a purse closet AND a walk-in wardrobe, especially considering my obsession with fashion, it’s a must.
The Classics every girl needs in their Purse Closet
I couldn’t do this blog post without giving you a little inspiration to kick off your purse closet mood board, that would just be cruel.
So every fashion lover knows that every season and every year there are new trends and this is with everything – bags, shoes and of course clothing but what we also know is that there are the timeless classics that will never go out of style. I mean if you ever decide to build your very own purse closet and don’t include these classical bags then we will need to have a serious talk and reevaluate your life because these are the bags that every woman needs to own before their 50th Birthday!
I have to admit that when Dad Sneakers first surfaced I HATED them with a passion, I just could not understand why anyone would ever think to design and then approve the production of such ugly trainers and think it was okay. Fashion is meant to be nice and these were ugly so I was confused af. Like literally, I thought all sorts of crimes of fashion were being committed and never did I ever think that I would wear them or be writing a blog post about how much I love them but here we are. Isn’t the world just full of surprises? I feel like they are the sort of thing that you have to see a million times, styled in a million different ways in order to learn to love them because for me the more I see something the more I learn to like it. There’s just something about ugly shoes that make you love them and I really wish I knew what it was because maybe It would help me come to my senses.
“I think these [luxury] houses took a long look in the mirror and realised that they were doing some things wrong and that culture was moving against them,” says Trunzo. “The tides were turning and they have to embrace what is going on, on a street level.”
This statement is so powerful in explaining how times are changing and how streetwear is taking over fashion and that if luxury brands aren’t up to date with this new generation they will eventually become irrelevant. This is why they are making these ‘ugly’ trainers – because they want to remain mainstream, trainers are no longer just sold by sports brands, anyone who is anyone sells sneakers in this era.
I personally think Dad Sneakers are fun, vibrant and so 90s. If you know me you know I am OBSESSED with 90s fashion! What is there not to love about the 90s? To me, it was the foundation of young peoples style and a turning point for fashion in so many ways, I could literally go on and on about it. The revival of this trend only goes to further prove my point that trends keep coming back better than ever and people are loving it, so forget the classic trainers, don’t be boring, go crazy with your style, be bold and get yourself a pair of ‘ugly’ trainers. Big soles, bright colours, bold logos and bulbous shapes are the only way to go this year when it comes to your sneaker choices!
I don’t know what it is but this year I am freaking obsessed with camo! It has been EVERYWHERE recently, everyone is wearing it! And yet again it’s a trend that’s come back into the fashion scene – it’s another that was very popular in the 90s aka my favourite fashion era – like I keep saying trends are constantly evolving and coming back better than ever. Also thanks to this new wave of streetwear, trends like these are more popular than ever!
If you could see my Missguided and pretty little thing Wish List oh my gosh you would scream at how much camo there is on there. From dresses to skirts to tops to bodysuits to mesh tops to trousers and jackets! Every clothing item that you could ever possibly think of is on my Wish List and it’s in camo. When I tell you I’m obsessed with this trend, I’m not joking, I am OBSESSED on another level! If I could only choose one trend to wear this summer it would be this one without a doubt! It brings edge to every outfit and represents my style in so many ways. It is literally me in a trend! It is the trend that is here to stay, the trend that will never go out of fashion and one of the easiest trends to wear. It can be worn casually but once you add a pair of booties or strapy heels you instantly become a boss ass bitch! There are a million different ways to wear camo, it is so versatile and today I am going to select my favourite camo pieces and show you what I would pair them with! (click on the pictures for direct access to the products)
premium orange camo cargo chain trousers
What I would pair them with;
Khaki Camo Long Sleeve Shirt Dress
What I would pair it with;
CAMO SHEER TULLE OVERSIZED T-SHIRT
What I would pair it with;
MOTO Camouflage Denim Skirt
What I would pair it with;
PIA MIA NUDE CAMO LONG SLEEVE CROPPED JACKET
What I would pair it with;
Anything plain and simple, no crazy patterns!The statement piece is the jacket therefore everything else needs to be clean so that your outfit doesn’t clash.
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