SOLANGE x PUMA GIRLS OF BLAZE DISC COLLECTION (DOOOOOOOPE!!!)

Please note that this collection will not be made available in South Africa, but I thought why the phuck not share it anyway? It was, after all, designed under the creative eye of my fantasy BFF, Miss Solange Knowles. She also styled and directed the shoot for the images you see. Also, if you listened to her last EP TRUE and can't wait for new music, this is what the beautiful and fuckin' talented Miss Knowles tells Puma:

I’m wrapping up the writing on my album which is my heart and soul right now, as well as focusing on Saint Records, my label and first release respectively while building saintheron.com in the process.

On being called a "style icon":

First off, I’m very careful at owning that title. I really am just as influenced by the everyday girls on the street as much as I am the glamazons, or singers, artists, and performers...I simply am a fan of anyone who really identifies with themselves in that moment and own it! SO with that said - Feel it. Own it. Work it.

I love her *sigh*

MENSWEAR TREND: THE JOGGER

Cuffed joggers are a hot street style trend at the moment. Everywhere I look lately, especially in Johannesburg, men are wearing joggers. This comfortable basic is no longer just for, well… joggers… it's for everyone and the trend underscores what I think is a positive thing. Men who love casual wear- hoodies, high tops, etc- are increasingly dressing just as well as those who choose a more formal style of dress. So, along with Mr Price's new campaign, where joggers (print joggers, nogal) feature prominently as part of their offering for winter, here I am wearing one of the print joggers you can expect to find in stores for winter 2014…

PIC: MALIBONGWE TYILO

And now, the pretty models in the Mr Price campaign… Damn their hot selves (I hate them. Looking so young and fresh, making me look and feel old!!!) 

BEE DIAMONDHEAD x KOPE FIGGINS x CRAIG PORT

I remember this wonderful collection by South African menswear designer Craig Port at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Cape Town last year. Now, my talented stylist Yonce friend- that's the new word for 'Diva'- Bee Diamondhead and the super talented photographic duo Kope Figgins have shot this kick-ass campaign for it.

How gorge?

SHARPENING THAT EYE @ WHAT IF THE WORLD

Golly! I kind of feel like a bit of a train wreck, really. Don't get me wrong; last night was fun. I can't remember much of the detail about what happened. I know I went to Marie Claire Magazine's Naked Issue launch, which was super fabulous (always a party with Marie Claire)! I also know that I ended up at the Waiting Room on Long Street jamming hard to some kick ass tunes. This is a total guess, I really don't know what the DJ was th'wow'in' down, but hey, I do know where the day started. It started at What if the World gallery in Woodstock where we went to the opening of artist Cameron Platter's exhibition. Read about it here

The few pictures posted here were taken there. I'm still trying to sharpen my photographic eye and it helps to have places to go where I can kind of do this. Please note that the beautiful flower man figure is not by Platter, but Athi Patra Ruga, whose works are also still up at the gallery.

DAVID TLALE: I CAN IMAGINE A HOLLYWOOD STARLET IN THIS...

By now you will have most probably read about South African designer David Tlale's show at  Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in New York. The show was a slight departure from what we are used to seeing from one of the country's top designers but it was perhaps one of the best collections I have certainly seen from him. As I live streamed the show on Sunday afternoon, I could not help going "wow" over and over and over again. The one thing I kept saying was that this is by far his most mature collection. I absolutely loved it and I can most certainly see a Hollywood starlet rocking something out of this one. The two images I chose above are the two looks I picked from the bunch as what I can imagine setting the red carpet alight with clicks from the paparazzi as a starlet sashays! I also loved this one- the showstopper, modelled by the gorgeous Tatum Keshwar.

Well done, Tlale!

TAKING LEAVE FROM LIFE, AND ACTUALLY LIVING

Sometimes all you need in life is a little trip outside of your busy city life. This past weekend was one filled with a lot of activity for me; lots of fun times with friends I had not seen in a while. My friend Emanuel and I landed in Cape Town last week Thursday. I am here to see through a project I am working on with my other friend Mali and Emma was here just for the weekend. After a few days of the usual type of fun- lots of partying, alcohol, peeking at and flirting with pretty boys and all that- we set out on a trip around the Cape Peninsula with Mali. It is truly one of my favourite things to do when in Cape Town, just taking in the beauty of Africa. Sometimes we get so preoccupied with what it is we do; work, relationships and all that and we forget that life is for living. For me, living is about appreciating beauty and the simple things. This is what this trip reminded me. There is nothing simple about life in the city, but a step back from it all is sometimes what one needs to get excited about it all all over again.

DELAYED POST: COSMO SEXIEST MAN 2014

So, Top Billing's Jonathan Boynton-Lee was named this year's Cosmopolitan Magazine Sexiest Man at an event held at Room 5 in Rivonia, Johannesburg, last week Thursday. He beat the likes of rapper AKA and Selimathunzi's Lunga Shabalala for the title previously held by Maps Maponyane.The whole time I stood there sipping on Brutal Fruit's Mango-Goji I couldn't help thinking to myself; "Wow, this is like the real Mr South Africa, not that other little contest they call by that title." As I thought that, host Miss Bonang Matheba actually said it on stage, so I guess I'm not the only one who thinks this is the ultimate contest for the country's most… what's the word to use… "coveted" men? I don't know what you think, but in my books that's what it is. Thank you so much to Brutal Fruit for inviting me. I had such a great time. Since it took place on my last day at my previous job, it couldn't have come at a better time as I celebrated opening up a new chapter in my professional life. 

BONANG'S WOOLWORTHS LINGERIE LINE IN STORES TODAY

In case you are still unaware... Your girl B* has a new lingerie line which she designed in collaboration with Woolworths and it is in stores today. This is yet another stunning achievement from one of the country's brightest stars following closely on her deal to be the face of Revlon in South Africa, the first ever outside of the US. Says Queen B: "Anyone that knows me understands that I love looking good, and that process for me begins with picking the right lingerie. Walking into the partnership, I knew I wanted to put my heart and soul into the collection. I had very specific ideas I wanted to explore and a clear direction. I am truly grateful to Woolworths for granting me the freedom to tap into my creativity and the guidance throughout the process."
Well, I don't have boobies, hips or ass, but if you do, you'd best get down to your nearest Woolies and get yourself into one of her creations. For the guys out there; this comes just in time for you to surprise your loved one with new lingerie for Valentine's Day. If your girlfriend thinks you are obsessed with Bonang for doing so, well, maybe that's because you are. Maybe you can calm her down by saying; "Baby, you look even better than Queen B in this." ;)
PICTURES: SUPPLIED

LUPITA NYONG'O: REAL DEAL OR WESTERN OBSESSION WITH "AFRICAN BEAUTY"

I have nothing against the success of an African model like Alek Wek but, without discounting that she is a hard worker and very smart woman (I've interviewed her, I know this for a fact), I can't shake the idea that some of her success is due to a romanticised and very Western ideal of what should look African. It should be dark, really dark. I could go as far as calling this the Tin-Tin syndrome. As disturbing a thought as this is we cannot sit and blindly believe that all is well with the fashion and entertainment industries (or life in general for that matter) when it comes to the issue of race and the  portrayal of beauty. Try being me- light skinned- and dare try to be a model. Good luck to you finding work. Your look would not be deemed African enough. Typing this out is highly discomforting but this is the reality of a world that has been through centuries of racial segregation as a direct result of which the victims (read: black people) are still trying to finding their own definition of beauty that is not prescribed by the very romanticisation perpetuated by Western media. 

This is why I worry about the current obsession with Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong'o who, I must say, is not only gorgeous and super stylish but also supremely talented. I had the opportunity to watch "12 Years A Slave" the other day and I was blown away by her performance in this Golden Globe winning film about slavery. Co-incidentally she plays a character who is the subject of the vile rape of black slaves by disgusting, horny slave masters. It is my hope that her career as an actress prospers, that she isn't a flavour of the month just because she is the latest dark skinned beauty. That, in other words, she isn't simply a subject of awe and curiosity a la Saartjie Baartman just because she is a dark skinned beauty from the "dark continent". It would be such a shame. I was so impressed with her performance that I thought even Jennifer Lawrence will have to sit her ass down as this Kenyan beauty walks up to that Golden Globes stage to accept her accolade for her role in the movie. In my books; she most definitely IS the real deal!

IMAGES: Dazed Digital 

CHOOSE HAPPINESS

I’ve been thinking about what my first blog post for 2014 should be and, while there’s plenty pictures to post from the holidays, for some reason I just haven’t got round to even transferring all the images from my camera to my computer. I guess work just took over and I’ve been delaying the things that make me happy as a result. Blogging is one of these things but more often than not, there’s very little time in our busy lives to dedicate to the things we truly care about. I’ve decided that 2014 is going to be that year where I put me first. The plan, which I can happily report is in motion as we speak, is to start dedicating more time to the things that make me smile and less time to the things that piss me off and make me feel like I’m delaying my own dreams and aspirations in favour of keeping those around me feeling happy and secure. It's a slow process but one that will surely bring me great reward in the long run. I'm confident it will. So, yes… While this post is overly delayed, I just wanted to put this out there. Maybe you, too, should think about making this your “ME” year. Discard your fears, take the plunge. Choose happiness.

PICTURES: (Blogger's own) Me in Zimbabwe, just about to board the train for the Jameson Victoria Falls Festival party that took place in the middle of a nature/game reserve. Such fun! I will be posting pictures from that trip soon. (Gotta edit... Duh!!!)

BTW. I do not know the gentleman in the hat. He was just a jolly dude who photo bombed me. Not that I mind. Happy people is what we're all about!