Harare Mbama: Anyone For Pheasants?

It's been one of those weeks where so much has gone pear-shaped on so many levels and where I've found myself reciting Maya Angelou's Still I Rise for strength. This is my favourite part of the poem:

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I riseI rise

I decided to catch up with friends for Friday drinks before strutting my stuff home to freshen up for dinner and a movie. I'd been dying to watch Delicacy, a French film starring Audrey Tautou and was determined to watch it tonight! Tonight in leather shorts and cramp inducing heels. The thing is - one wee wine later, I was in a department store sussing out Mary Katrantzou's Spring 2012 Ready-To-Wear Collection rethinking my grand plan.

I didn't strut anything home. I didn't make it to dinner. I didn't wear the leather shorts or the heels. I did however, watch Delicacy and I highly recommend it to lovers of beautifully shot foreign films.

This is what I wore today.

The pants were from Ralph Lauren's men's section and the minute I saw the pheasant embroidery, I wasted no time in trying them on. I'd been flirting with the idea of an androgynous look but had only gone as far as buying masculine-style loafers and brogues. Both Adewale and I love these pants dearly.