My Style Find is a Beer

So, off I went to the Food Wine and Design Fair at Hyde Park Shopping Centre this past weekend. I started off- naturally- at the Marie Claire South Africa pop-up store to see what they were up to. I found the lovely Aspasia Karras (editor) conversing with some readers over a glass of champers and joined in. As I earlier reported, behind the scenes footage on Marie Claire fashion shoots was on the screen and Nokia provided a facility whereby one could listen to music selected by the editors of the magazine whilst Black Coffee and LoveJozi displayed their clothes for sale at the stand.
There were many other stands, from wineries to various food stands. There was even a stand where traditional African beer was sold I found a beer! It was a beer of another kind that I found interesting, however.
It's a lovely tasting lager (like Castle on steroids) called Brewers and Union. Upon asking about it I was told it is sold exclusively at Norman Goodfellows or, alternatively, by direct order from &Union Beer Salon/Charcuterie (pigandbeer@andunion.com or 021 442 2770). I am definitely getting me more of this good stuff.

Rethinking Men and Floral Shirts

Pic from Telegraph.co.uk

I haven't been to Durban in a while now, but last I checked the boys down there had a floral print shirt addiction that made me want to puke. On every street corner, you would be lucky not to spot a bloke looking like a bunch of roses. I'm evidently not a floral print shirt fan, but maybe that's because I am put off by how men I've seen wear the damn thing. They all tend to look like they go to the same, unqualified stylist with a BEE-style kind of outlook on fashion.
Well, today I was convinced otherwise. I mean, look at how the dude in the pic above is rocking floral so stylishly. Well, he may be a model, but be that as it may, forthe first time, I am convinced that floral shirts can work for me. This is a Liberty Of London offering. Maybe you, too, can be convinced that floral is not so appauling after all. "Liberty Prints, for Pretty Boys" on Telegraph.co.uk sure did convince me!

How Does A Magazine Come to Life? Ask Marie Claire!

Picture this; you flip through your favourite magazine and on the editor's letter page... BAM! The editor pops out of it and tells you exactly what she would have otherwise written there. You turn to the fashion spread and instead of still pictures, the fashion director is taking you through the shoot and where she sourced the clothes on her models!
Well, technology is not that advanced just yet, but this experience here comes close, I guess. Marie Claire Magazine will this weekend host a pop-up store at Hyde Park shopping centre during the Food, Wine and Design Fair, where readers will be given the opportunity to interact with the magazine editors, fashion designers (including Ole Ledimo, David Tlale and Black Coffee amongst others) in addition to shopping and watching behind-the-scenes footage of Marie Claire fashion shoots whilst sipping wine in the company of true fashionistas.
I don't know about you, but this blogger is definitely going there. It is at least a step towards making what I think is South Africa's best magazine this year that tad more interactive. Interactivity is the future of publishing anyways.
Now, stop picturing and experience!

And the Breakout Man of the Year 2010 According to US GQ is...

It's Drizzy Drake!

Who'd you think it would be?

That boy with a fringe whose name I've forgotten?

Anticipating an evening of style with Simphiwe Dana

Image Courtesy Gallo Record Company

I'm anticipating an evening of great style and good music in the form of Simphiwe Dana on the 1st of December, when she rocks the Lyric Theatre at Gold Reef City. I'm a huge fan of this exceptional South African songstress and can't wait to hear classics like "Zandisile" and new music like my current favourite "Mayine". According to the press release Dana will "take audiences on a thrilling musical odyssey" in a "musical extravaganza" that will be a "theatrical presentation". If that doesn't say expect a performance you can't miss, I don't know what does. 22 piece orchestra, they say! I cannot wait. Computicket here I come!

The Art of the Magazine Cover



i-D Magazine Cover (frillr.com)


How important is the cover of a magazine? Well, anyone can tell you that it’s the cover that sells the mag, ain’t it? Maybe. But the magazine cover also has another important function, one that only a truly creative editor and photographer knows; it’s not just about selling the magazine, the cover also documents time and it is an art (think Annie Leibovitz, a naked John Lennon curled around his fully clothed wife Yoko Ono). It’s a “marker in time” says Terry Jones, founder and creative director at i-D Magazine, which has some of history’s edgiest magazine covers (stars always have to wink). I-D Magazine celebrates 30 years this year and a book is being published with all 308 covers they’ve had since they were born in 1980. Read about it on Financial Times.

Google a Look

Just bought an item and not sure how to wear it? Worry not, Google's new online store Boutiques.com has you sorted. That's if you bought the item in one of the many boutiques that exist on the portal.
Launched on Wednesday, Boutiques.com is Google's new baby, where one can buy clothes based on looks as worn by various celebrities or bloggers or even ordinary folk who have created their own boutiques; something the website allows everyone to do at the click of a button. It is online shopping, blogging and social networking all in one!

The Scent of Tom Ford

Today I smell better than I possibly ever have. I'm wearing Tom Ford's "Black Orchid" fragrance! After yesterday's opening of the first ever Tom Ford Private Blend counter at Sandton City Stuttafords, I was given a little bottle of the luxurious scent; something I'd have to go hungry for a month for should I buy from my own pocket. Not that I would mind paying close to two grand. The confidence boost in knowing you smell like a million bucks is worth it. The various scents that form the private blend collection are to die for and I'd advise that the next time you visit Sandton City you try them out. If you're rich enough, the collection would make for a wonderful Christmas gift for a loved one... or me, of course. It's love in a bottle!

If it is fame that you seek...

The past couple of years have really redefined what it means to be a celebrity. Paris Hilton stands out as one example of someone who crept into our lives almost overnight and got us asking “who is she? What does she do? Why is she famous?”

Besides being an heiress to the Hilton Hotel empire, Paris’s fame is largely credited to her sex tape, something Kim Kardashian, who is now the pin-up girl of the “non-celebrity celebrity cult” can also claim in her "fame portfolio". Who is she? A reality TV star, of course, but why should we care? I think this is a somewhat irrelevant question because the fact is that Kim attracts attention and sells products. In the age of democratization that spans the cyber-universe, fame itself is something everyone and anyone can have. Our very own Mika Stefano did it. The trend is traceable right back to the early years of the decade when one celebrity gossip rambler Perez Hilton shot to fame by virtue of being a blogger. Today, many a “celebrity” claims their fame, in one way or another, through some kind of online venture. If not, all you need to do is to make sure you’re seen at the right gigs, with the right people and viola! You could soon be a magazine cover star! Oh, and do lick some entertainment journalist arse. It will get you miles ahead of others like yourself, if fame is what you covet. Read about Kim Kardashian Inc here.

Normal is soooo Overrated!

Me and My "Faux-Hawk do"!

Remember the scene in American Beauty where Mina Suvari's character gets hysterically mad over being called "normal"? I think it is funny how she strives to be different that even the thought that she may not be is daunting.
Personally, I can't claim to be the most unique of characters, but I am often reminded- especially at work- that, dude, there are people out there that find you quite weird! This was never as clear to me as it was when a couple of weeks ago I decided to get rid of my dreadlocks in favour of a faux-hawkish hairstyle (not cut). Every morning I comb my hair up and brush it up on the sides as well to achieve the look. The first time I walked into the office (which is an open-plan space) rocking the do, a bunch of girls were in stitches. Unaware of what it is they were laughing about I went ahead and asked; "Share the joke". Apparently, I was the joke.
"What on earth is going on on your head?" they asked. As you'd probably expect, methinks my hairstyle quite stylish, if I have to say so myself, so the laughter sounded no less than silly to me- especially coming from one of the girls who was wearing a purple sequins top in broad daylight.
The conclusion I came to in my head is that I'd rather be laughed at for being brave and doing whatever I feel necessary with my own hair and style than fall into the category of these girls' chosen box of normal. Why? I find "normal" and her friends (the said girls) to be spectacularly boring and overrated. I do not know what it constitutes; maybe those who find me "funny" are better placed to define what it is.

Do You Love Yourself?

I love me and it's a good thing. Everyone should love themselves! After much contemplation about how I'm going to manage two blogs without boring people with the same content over and over (I am one person after all), I've decided that The Frock Report will be about reportage of fashion and style- which I did on this blog to a certain extent- and Trends Beyond Threads will continue another one of it's functions; being a platform for my opinions on events on the fashion calendar and beyond. What will change from here onwards, however, is that I'll be injecting a bit more of my personality into Trends Beyond Threads (read: you'll be seeing a lot more pictures of this blogger). I hope not to nauseate you with vanity, but simply to share exciting events in the life of this fashion scribe, fashion lover, lover of life and collector of memories. Stay with me. I love me and you, too, might just love me. I hope you love yourself, too.

Trendy Babies, The McCartney Way

Years from now some trendy teenaged girl(or boy) will sit with her friends sharing fashion and style tips. She'll dominate the discussion and with an air of arrogance, proclaim; "I should know. I've been wearing Stella McCartney since I was born!"
Not too sure how I feel about that, but hey... The economic meltdown, in my view, has done very little by way of countering our consumerist mentality as a race. So, so be it! We want, we want, we want and courtesy of Stella McCartney, parents who "want" on behalf of their kids can now get! Mother, you must know, though; I am not trying to go from wearing Stella to wearing some or other department store chain item.
Stella McCartney's long awaited kiddies' collection is out and it is looking very pretty and I am quite sure my sister will "want" for my one year old niece, too.
(pics: publicity shots from Stella McCartney)

Would CHOC Not Just Be Perfect for the GQ Cover?

I think "Yes" and he would be a fresh addition to that Best Dressed List!

Anyways. I know I haven't been posting for a long time now (a week is very long on the blogosphere, people can forget you almost immediately). The reason for this is that I have started blogging for The Frock Report on TimesLIVE, as I previously announced. Please do check it out and don't stop dropping by. Stay with me! Trends Beyond Threads ain't going nowhere!