Work Chic: Chartreuse

A lot of times I'm schlepping into work looking like a Dementor; pulled back hair, no eyebrows, thick cover-up because the weather in my office is arctic.......counting the minutes till 5pm when I can schlep back home.

Some times I'm like.....

Hello world, Daks Knowles-Carter here :)

ASOS pencil dress with fold sleeve detail; Franco Sarto leopard print pumps, Louis Vuitton 'Ascot'

Love & Light xx

Wedding Saturdays: Black & Gold

For the first time in I don't know, many many years, I attended a wedding where I didn't personally know the couple.

Weddings are very stressful and unless the couple are personal friends or I'm on the bridal train I don't attend.

This one though, my friend made a great case for it, I had a nice outfit so I thought "why not", and I'm glad I went because it was one hell of a party. Typical Lagos, I happened to know over 70% of the room so I felt very welcome.

The story of this outfit get as e be. It was initially a boubou type dress and I'd had it for over a year but never wore it. Then sometime this year I thought it could stand to be transformed in some way and took it to my intrepid designer, Jen of Esosa Stores who cut and stitched her way to perfection.

Frockit Rockit fabric; Esosa Stores bustier crop top & maxi skirt; Le Reve pieces bracelets; Louis Vuitton 'Louise' clutch; Kenneth Jay Lane earrings 

Love and light beautiful people xx

Lady Danger

That's the name of the jumpsuit.....before you think I was implying something about myself.  Nothing dangerous here, I'm the biggest softie I know.

Shimmied into this TNL 'Lady Danger' jumpsuit this weekend and I promise you my stock has never been higher, not sure thought if it was because everybody just had their beer goggles on or it was the combination of Lady Danger, Ruby Woo and mild inebriation.

Pulled a trifecta with my friends Ify and Audrey

TNL 'Lady Danger' Jumpsuit; ASOS Obi belt; Louis Vuitton clasp purse; Valentino 'Rockstud Noir' patent leather sling backs.

Oh yeah, and the jumpsuit is just N9,000...see how happy I am about it?

Lots of love and light xx

Hey Shala

Who can forget this fashion fantastic photo from Fashion Week in 2011?

All the ladies were fly AF but top honours went to Shala Monroque in her chambray shirt and mustard skirt.

 For months after that her look was re-created by fashionistas worldwide, I swear I saw someone pull a Shala at least once a week. Strangely enough I never got into it, I mean I had a denim shirt, I had  a mustard skirt but the look was so overdone I let that bandwagon pass me by.

Two years later I hadn't seen anyone do the Shala in a bit so I figured it was safe and rocked it to work last Friday.

Zara denim shirt; Miss Selfridge mustard pleated skirt; Dorothy Perkins mixed coral neckpiece; ASOS gold & leather cuff; Prada baroque sunglasses; Louis Vuitton Alma GM in Monogram Vernis (another bandwagon fashion look I steered clear of till now); Salvatore Feragammo patent 'Varina' flats

Shout-out to my boo Archie for taking my pictures.

Love and light xx

Random

Wore this out initially for a 2 year old birthday party but after consulting with Himself and endless self-examination, decided to respect myself and went back to change into a pair of jeans.

I didn't want to be that girl at a kids party that all the mothers were side-eyeing.

Oh and btw, new huuurrrr

Zara blazer; H&M tank and boyfriend shorts; H&M neckpiece; Louis Vuitton Brea MM; Salvatore Ferragamo Varina bow flats; Dolce & Gabbana aviators

This hair makes me want to wear a dashiki, listen to India Arie and eat tofu :)

Love and light xx

Work Chic: Peplum

Wore this to work a couple weeks ago......

Dorothy Perkins peplum dress, Louis Vuitton Alma MM

Consider this a tip (I really hate to say this, I hate this phrase but it seems so apt here) of life.

Dorothy Perkins does the best work dresses ever.

I ransacked DP when I was moving back for work dresses and it gave me everything I needed and more. Dorothy Perkins can look a bit mumsy on the surface but it conceals some fly AF corporate clothes. Dresses that are business like but still dope and fit like a glove. That store is a gem.

Stole my mums Alma off her because I love the bag to death, I'm still mad that I never bought one myself, but its understandable. For about 2 years, between 2008 to 2010, the LV Alma was like the Zara tote of 2011. Errrrbody and their mama, grandma and nanny had one in descending order from real to so fake you want to slap the person carrying it.

It wasn't till I drove past Ikeja market and saw "Alma's" in varying size and colour that I knew we had a problem. Luckily the stampede seems to have died down so I think its safe to bring yours out (real ones for the love of God) and glory in its shiny, cavernous beauty.

The Prada Saffiano and the Celine Boston bag have the tendency to go down that route, the differentiating factor being that counterfeiters don't seem too keen on them, thank God. Majority of the Saffiano's and Boston bags you see around are more than likely original. So they might be plentiful but I doubt they can be abused unlike poor Louis Vuitton Alma.

We...um...outchea?

Another phrase I absolutely abhor.

Love and light xx

Colours & Prints

Wore this out last weekend to an auction

Zara Blazer
River Island zebra print shirt-dress worn as shirt
Topshop ribbed bandage skirt
Topshop 'monkey' necklace worn as bracelet
Prada baroque sunglasses get it HERE
Louis Vuiton Brea MM
Tory Burch Aaaden ballet flats get it HERE


I'd never been to an auction before and I was looking forward to the high octane energy I'd seen in auctions on tv. It was pretty much the same, except the auctioneer didn't talk as fast as I expected but the energy was the same, heart pounding when the lot you want is up, bidding and winning your lot.....

Would definitely do it again. I kept tweeting my amazement at the fantastic stuff available; paintings, diamonds, Rolexes, flat screen tvs; and the prices being called, I kept hearing 30,000 pounds, 50,000 pounds, mind = seriously blown.

People were bidding for luxury items and I was there to get an iPad 3

*RIP to my iPad 2, the screen mysteriously cracked a couple weeks ago, I am desolate*

Sadly I didn't get my iPad

Oh yeah and Persian rugs, statues, clocks and stuff were being auctioned off too. I'd definitely go again, very exciting.

Back to au naturel hair again as you can see. Thanks to everyone who gave me advice on how to keep my hair from breaking, I think I'm slowly seeing results.

Love and light xx

Graduation

*Warning, photo overload*

I think I'm back in my blogging stride, finally done with my move, completely done with school and now counting down till I can go home.

So graduation was last week, the 6th graduation ceremony in my life so far, I've become quite blase about these things :),  scratch that it was an awesome day. Mrs. U was representing, my friends and loved ones came from everywhere to celebrate with me, I had soooo much fun. The only downside was that I had to move away from Aberdeen a couple days after which was kinda sad. I'd been looking forward to leaving for yonks and when I finally did, I actually missed its grey, granite buildings.

Anyhoo deuces to the past and on to bigger and better things.

With all the hoopla that day I completely forgot to take off my gown and get a proper picture of my dress. This one was taken when we were prepping to go into the auditorium, hope it suffices.

H&M sheer neckline dress
ASOS spiked bar belt
ASOS double gold cuffs
Zara ankle strap pumps


Later that night at dinner, I'd intended to wear something else entirely but after a long day of being squeezed into a tight dress and painful shoes, I needed to breathe and did a complete outfit 360.

Zara sheer white shirt
Zara silk pajama pants
Zara neon necklace
ASOS neon laser clutch

*is it obvious I went HAM at the Zara sale?*

Mummy!!!

Probably the bit about Aberdeen I'm going to miss the most, my ride or die, partner in crime, child of two cultures, my gorgeous hybrid AdanneTiti :(

Officially LLB, BL, LLM, ACIArb.

Love and light xx

Watching The Throne

My ears are still ringing, my voice is gone, my joints ache.......this tells me two things; I'm way to old to be up and about past 10pm and I had an unbelievably epic night.

Best. Concert. Ever.

The Watch The Throne concert was an experience.

Thanks to Thisday I've seen loads of awesome artistes; Jay Z, Ciara, SWV, Beyonce, Snoop Dogg, Missy Elliot, Rihanna, John Legend, Shakira, Kelly Rowland, P. Diddy, R. Kelly, T-Pain etc (oh and I saw Nelly, Nas and Murphy Lee at the Transcorp one time) but due to overpriced tickets, late starts and terrible seating I've never really felt like I was having the the full concert experience.

WTT changed all that.

It literally blew my mind, I'm not even kidding. I'm already a massive Jay Z and Kanye West stan and watching the two of them tear up the stage at the O2 was insane.

First off, I got into London yesterday on what had to be the hottest day of the year, like it was boiling. Dropped my stuff off at my friend Mia's and we decided to head into Central so we could eat and go to the concert from there.

 In my mind its already summer, you can't tell me nothing.

 Miss Selfridge mullet top
H&M boyfriend shorts
Gucci hi-top trainers
Louis Vuitton Brea MM




I LOVE how long this top is, from the back it almost looks like an extra long t-shirt dress.

I already knew the show was going to be epic, my friend Nwabugo went on Saturday and she's not even a hip-hop head like that but she came out raving at how awesome it was. Some people aka Dami had been tweeting and instagramming about it non-stop so I knew it was going to be an experience but still nothing prepared me for the greatness I was about to see. It can't even be captured fully in words and pictures, you had to have being there.

And yeah Kanye West is really nuts, the man has a serious god complex, I love it but he needs some sort of leash to reign him in from time to time.

I tweeted about how if Kanye and Jay Z were really in the Illuminati they had def initiated everyone in the room that night. There were so many instances when we all threw up the Roc diamond in unison, some times without even being told to and I'd just look round the immense venue and every single person had their hands up, fervour in their eyes, sometimes completely silent. I don't believe in the whole Illuminati conspiracy theories but I can't lie it was a little eerie at times, like we were all in one big cult and Jay and Kanye were kinda like leaders. Even Mia who is one big vat of level headedness had to admit that the whole thing seemed not quite kosher.

It didn't help that they were beaming all these weird symbols about and had these bestial images on the screen, I repeat,; I do not believe in the existence of a celebrity Illuminati but I think Jay Z and Kanye probably think the whole thing is a big joke and tend to play to the gallery a bit.

In the interest of my old bones I had a seat even though I love a good mosh pit but I needn't even have bothered because I was on my feet all night and there was such a great atmosphere in the room that by the end of the night I was best friends with all the people around me; hugging, dancing and taking pictures. It reminded me of when I went to see The Hangover, by the time I left the cinema I had made like 20 new friends, all from laughing over how hilarious the movie was.,

The girl on the left was probably the nuttiest person in the entire arena, she had to be occasionally restrained to stop her from getting to the stage. Love her.

I never saw a chair or a table I couldn't climb when I was hyped up on good music and by the time Jay Z did 'Big Pimpin' (which is my all time favourite Jay Z song) I was on my chair, top wrapped around my waist because it was blazing in that arena and trying to dougie and keep my balance at the same time.

Best bits of the night; Izzo, Big Pimpin, Stronger, All Of The Lights and the baba..........Niggas In Paris which they performed EIGHT times, 8!!!!!!!!!!!

Lord I damn near lost my mind.

Best. Night. Ever

Love and light xx