White Story

My Easter was so chill, I'm wondering how on earth I'm going to be able to get back in the swing of things on Tuesday.

Spent most of Good Friday in church and observed sacred silence till Easter Sunday so my weekend was spent mostly at home reading and refereeing my younger siblings who were home for the holidays.

Popped out for a bit to have dinner and decided to go super casual in a white button down and jeans, giving them Audrey and Jackie simultaneously, then last minute knotted the shirt a la Brooke Shields.

Charles Tyrwhitt mens shirt; Topshop jeans; Prada Saffiano bag; ASOS ankle strap pumps

Oh yeah and I had my hair streaked with golden brown highlights, every time I let it down I feel like a Girl of the Playboy Mansion. I've wanted to do it for so long and whenever I catch a glimpse of my hair in the mirror I do a little jig.

Hope you all had an awesome holiday!

Love and light x

Jailhouse Rock

I think we all know by now that black and white is in and not just regular old black and white separates but colour blocked, graphic prints, stripes etcetera etcetera etcetera.

This is nothing new, they were in last year, Spring 2012 to be exact, I remember River Island resplendent in a sea of minimalism. Fashion cheats, fashion repeats, don't stress yourself buying new things, its a conspiracy!!!

Anyhoo :)

I'm not a big fan of black and white seeing as I was forced to wear it everyday for about 7 years while studying and practicing law but even though I love to hate it I can't help but appreciate the sartorial figure one cuts when donning a super fash black and white look. Plus its a staple of some of my favourite designers; Celine, Jil Sander, Chanel.....classic shit.

I recently sent out a Fashion Newsletter for the Women's Network in my office where I trumpeted the resurgence (again) of this super sharp monochromatic palette. So yah, I'm here for black and white *face palm* in a big way.

On Sunday, I had a super busy day and as a result of the fact that Lagos is roasting slowly on Jehovah's barbecue pit I had to wear something that ensured I won't be reduced to a puddle once I stepped outside, plus I was feening for some black and white...therefore....ta-daaaa!!

See why the post is titled Jailhouse Rock??? Felon couture is center stage, orange jumpsuits coming up next.

H&M striped shirt; H&M shorts; Topshop Gladiator sandals, ASOS neon laser-cut oversize clutch; Zara neon necklace; Dolce & Gabbana sunnies


So yah, dressed in my best "I belong behind bars" finery, with the AC of my trusty Toyota cranked way up I was ready to hit the town.

Headed to the Minku A/W 2013 bag launch first of all after a rousing lunch at Ocean Basket. Photos from the launch coming up in another post.

Stella-Maris of Stella's Addiction; Kunmi Otitoju of Minku and Wana Sambo of Wana Sambo 

Then I headed out to my aunts surprise birthday do which was a blast as all the Okpaleke bashes are.

Uju Offiah of Meena


After all that waka, I ended the night at the Muson Centre where I went to see a play starring Yaw and Funke Akindele titled 'The Bar'.

It was terribly interesting.

Apparently its an annual event but this was the first I'd heard of it. The basic premise is a cast of characters, sometimes one person but never more than two cast a satirical look on everything that's happened in Nigeria over the past year; political scandals, financial misappropriation, nepotism, bombings, election rigging, money laundering.......basically a day in the life of the average Nigerian. These characters tell the story of these happenings without mentioning any names just with a few clues enough that the audience are able to guess who is being lampooned. From time to time you'd hear the names being mumbled by the audience, it was great fun.

This year's play starred Yaw and Funke Akindele and I don't mean to be offensive or anything but I'd  only ever heard Funke Akindele speak in her "Jenifa" accent, not like I thought that was how she spoke 24/7 but I thought it might be very close. Surprisingly (to me anyway) she had a very normal accent, she sounded like the next person, I was really shocked. She even spoke phoneh from time to time, it completely blew my mind. She would lapse occasionally into her Jenifa tongue which the audience loved but for the most part she spoke in a regular Lagos accent which I and a lot of people that grew up in Lagos have.

*sidebar* This Lagos accent consists of pronouncing words properly so it almost sounds like phoneh but not quite and its partly tribe neutral, no-one can tell what part of the country you're from, but then some specific infrequent words give your mother tongue away as a result of  parents who grew up in the East or North or West.  It also has a trace of Valley Girl gained from watching countless American tv from the time you learn how to speak, and finally its peppered liberally with slang and pidgin. Unless you escaped from Lagos just after secondary school and even after moving back tenaciously held on to whatever foreign accent you acquired abroad, ten to one, you most likely sound like this.

Anyhoo Funke Akindele's regular voice is just well....regular. Now I know so I don't think the girl is really a Suliat from Aiyetoro.

You see why I said my day was mental? Good fun though.

Love and light xx

Wedding Saturdays

So I've had a wedding every Saturday this month so far, more to come before the end of 2012, I'm exhausted just at the thought of it. If these were not all close, personal friends I'd be hibernating at home, phones off so I don't have to spend the day getting dressed and battling bridal traffic.

So my friend Deke got hitched this past Saturday. Anohter oooold friend I've known for almost 2 decades. We met at Vivian Fowler, transferred at the same time to New Jack City aka Queen's College and met up again in Law School so I definitely couldn't miss this one. 

I arrived a bit late though because Lekki Expressway is the 7th circle of hell and I missed being able to get a photo of her in her wedding dress but I caught up with her when she changed into her 2nd dress. This was the first time I'd seen a bride wear a coloured reception dress. They usually all stick to white, cream, gold or silver but Deke did purple and it was glorious.

Love it!!!!

My humble self went for tried and tested in Virgos Lounge.

I am very conflicted with the photo below. It was the only picture I had that showed the slit in the dress, but I wasn't very comfortable with the way I looked in it. Sort of what Daisy-Mak would call a "douchebag photo", taking oneself waayyyy too serious.

I really need to fashion blogger up and take pictures where I'm mean mugging like Rumi Neely or looking dreamingly into the distance or accidentally on purpose rifling through my conveniently placed designer bag...or just happening to check the time on my huge man watch....

You know...what serious "bloggers" do.

But maaann, no time...no time at all.

Please, cast your eyes on this baby oku......

 Virgos Lounge dress; Topshop 'golden orb' purse; River Island studded sandals


Ahh here's a photo of the couple. Nothing quite like a good looking couple, there don't seem to be a lot of those these days, but these two will definitely contribute equally to a future beautiful baby's gene pool.

No fear of an unfortunate looking spouse mudding these conception waters.

No sirree.

As usual, with every event in Lagos, babes were out to do damage. I looooove the fashion in Lagos, I love that people are always dressed up and take care with their appearance and always look banging. Nothing wrong with being ambivalent to fashion but secretly, I'd love you a little bit more if you gave me life on a daily.

Beautiful People

Until next Saturday gorgeous people, I'll be reporting live from my QC bff, Bukky B's wedding.

Love and light xx

Shirt Dress - Two Ways

I received this Wana Sambo Modern Bishop shirt dress a while ago and instantly fell in love with its versatility. 

The material is light and breathes easily and I totally heart the bishop collar and the length.

I wore it to work in the look on the left and to a casual drinks do in the look on the right.

LOOK 1

Top: Wana Sambo Modern Bishop shirt dress. Skirt: Topshop leopard print tube skirt. Belt: River Island  belt. Shoes: Guess by Marciano gladiator sandals. Jewelery: Marc Jacobs twin bracelets

LOOK 2

Top: Wana Sambo Modern Bishop shirt dress. Trousers: Topshop supersoft 'Leigh' jeans. Shoes: Zara ankle strap pumps


The peek-a-boo opening at the back is a definite plus too.

The material is so sheer and light and easy to breathe that I'm even considering wearing it as a beach cover-up in the future. That photo will definitely not make it on here because I'm not sure I fancy photos of myself in all my half naked glory floating around the interwebs thanks very much.

And yes I cut my hair (my weave actually but my hair still), the heat has been on steroids in Lagos recently and all the hair I had hanging in my face was literally cooking my skin, damn near drove me nuts and one day out of frustration I took a pair of scissors to my hair.

Yup, I cut it myself.

Chopped off about 6 inches of prime Remy Saga. It was either that or cut off my face and since my money-maker isn't going anywhere, the hair had to go.

I might have a future as a hair stylist if this whole oil & gas law thing decides to go left.

Love and light xx

Black & Gold

Went to a bridal shower last weekend (aaaaaalllll of my friends are jumping the broom) and we had to wear black dresses and statement jewelery. So I wore my fall-back black dress and a gold body harness.

Dress: H&M. Jewelery: Topshop Body Harness. Shoes: Zara Suede Loafers. Sunnies: Dolce & Gabbana Aviators



I call it my fall back dress because its my token LBD and is whipped out for nearly every occasion that requires a black dress. The poor thing will soon start giving away at the seams, I'm really regretting not buying at least 3 of them.

It was hosted by Shally and Segi of ForStyleSake.

The bride-to-be, another old friend from QC, Tolu

*random*

I've never used picstitch before so I decided to launch it with this hilarious collage of me dancing to Chuddy K's 'Gaga Crazy'

sugarcane no be bambooooo

Another fun day out with my QCOGs.

Love and light xx

OOTD - Black Velvet

Wore this out last week to my friend Nnekas bachelorette party. The theme of the bridal shower had been an English tea party and the plan was to ditch the shift dresses and hats and transform to playboy bunnies/ladies of the night for the hen do. We all had to wear bunny ears for that, I put mine on later.

Dress: Virgos Lounge. Shoes: Topshop ankle strap sandals with perspex heel

This dress is from a Virgos Lounge collection from about 2 years ago I think, can't really remember but the VL aesthetic of sequins and embellishment had already started emerging. I still have a bunch of VL dresses from collections from way back and I love whipping them out now and then because then VL hadn't really flooded the market like it has now and spotting these dresses are like a game of Where's Wally as opposed to now that the fear of wearing aso-ebi with 25 other girls grips me when I'm wearing new VL.

I still love them though and I'll remain a faithful customer but the fear is real.

LOVE this dress.

Love and light xx

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Wide-Leg Trousers: Two Ways

"I told you, gimme a minute and I'll be right back"

Hellloooo lovaaiirrrsss, who missed me :)

So I'm officially back in the swing of things in Lagos and due to the fact that I'm doing 20 things a day I have to be dressed in an outfit that can easily transition from day to night.

Wide leg trousers are a favourite of mine and being as tall as I am, finding ones long enough are a serious chore; for example I've had the black trousers on the right for 5 years now, luckily they still fit, but since I got them I haven't found another suitable pair of high waist wide-leg trousers until I discovered Aqua By Aqua.

 

Like honestly if you know anywhere I can get 38 inch flared trousers please let me know, its a personal mission I've undertaken.

 

 

Shirt: Primark. Trousers: Aqua By Aqua 'Travolta' pants in Stone. Bag: Ralph Lauren tote in Epi leather. Shoes: River Island block heeled loafers

 

 

 

Shirt: Primark. Trousers: Topshop. Bag: Bill Blass 'Oliver' lamb bag. Shoes: Tory Burch 'Aaden' ballet flats. Sunglasses: Prada Baroque. Watch: Gucci

Dark lips = hot for the season by the way. I've got Revlon lipstick in Black Cherry on.





I'm currently loving these chiffon pants by Nigerian label, Grey.

Amazing print too.

Love and light xx


photo credit: begrey.com

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