The Jacket That Gives Me Wings

I fell for Diane Von Furstenberg's Christianna Jacket the very day it was uploaded on Netaporter nearly a year ago but I, being a bargain hunter, decided to wait for it to go on sale. I tend not to follow trends and am not fussed if a designer or a print is deemed to be 'out' by the time I snap it up usually on sale. However, if a garment or accessory item shouts rather than speaks to me and I know the likelyhood of ever finding it is slim then I'll do the plunge. So while many of my friends discuss their man troubles, car leases, developments in wind energy and if Obama will see a second term - I sit there thinking So glad I no longer have a car as I stalk my timeless-with-a-twist pieces. After all, these are the purchases that still make sense years later.

I fell more in love with the jacket after seeing Chrisette Michelle, who I suspect had been styled by The Great June Ambrose, wearing it on Fashion Bomb Daily. Funny how an artist or personality (I loathe the term celebrity) can inspire a look, reaffirm the uniqueness of a product or completely destroy whatever love you had for that item or brand. Nene Leakes and a good number of Nollywood actresses have butchered brands I'd coveted season after season.

Woke up this morning ready to roll with my new foundation and new lippie. This is what I wore today.

 Jacket - Diane Von Furstenberg

Tank top - Supre

Jeans - AG Adriano Goldschmeid

Shoes - Celine

Sunglasses - Prada

Jewellery - EA Drew ring + Forever New earrings +

Georg Jensen watch + BVLGARI bracelets

Makeup

MAC Matchmaster Fluid Foundation

MAC Loose Powder

MAC Eyeshadows (Plum Dressing)

MAC Ruby Woo lipstick

MAC Russian Red Lipglass

Maybelline Great Lash Mascara

Illamasqua Blush

Dedicating this photo to everyone whose family members used to do poses like this back in the day.
I've seen several photos of my dad and his friends doing such. He cringes. I laugh. Little does he know I think he looks what I call 'hood handsome' and had the swagger men of today only dream of. 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! Don't forget to follow me @HarareMbama on Twitter.

xxx

The Ol' Faithful Shift



I love colour but I find myself wearing more and more black the longer I live in Melbourne, a city whose inhabitants wear darker tones even in high summer. Thought I'd wear a silk shift that's proven to be one of my best buys yet. This is what I wore yesterday, a day before Zimbabwe's Independence Day.

 

 Dress - DKNY

Bag - Prada

Shoes - Casadei
Sunglasses - Alain Mikli

Jewellery - all BVLGARI

Then a few hours later...

So I overdosed on a little Mavado and began singing Money Changer at the tram stop

Someone who came across Sunday's That I-Rep-263-For-Life DVF Dress post emailed me to congratulate me on my new blog and asked what my mantra is. I have to admit that I don't have just one mantra. However, I do live by:

I only have this one life. I must live to the fullest each day in good shoes.

So, if Mary J's words touch my soul as I'm sitting on the tram best believe I'm not ashamed to boogie in my seat as I sing her words ever so softly to myself. This January, I got to see Movado in concert in Harare and now he's got me whining up on these streets busting moves I never knew I had. If I had one year to live - I'd spend a good part of that year eating at only the best restaurants, travellling with my family, wearing the craziest eyewear a la Iris Apfel (my muse) and trying to track down Mavado The Gully God.

I'm off to solo dinner and a movie. What to wear?  

xxx

Mad Busy Monday

Its been one hell of a hectic Monday and I'm so glad its nearly over. Feel like I ran around like a headless chicken for much of the day. Headless chicken in four inches! So a walk in the park was in order. There's nothing quite like walking out your surface issues then whipping up a light dinner, having a little wine and putting on some heavy house. Lord and The Ancestors know I love me some old school R n' B and reggae but there's something about those Durban (Dhebheni) beats. Hela!

This is what I wore today.

  Shirt - Uniqlo

Parka - Vanessa Bruno

Jeans - AG Adriano Goldschmeid

Shoes - Miu Miu

Bag - cheap and cheerful from a Bali market

Belt - Edgars

Jewellery - Hikari pearl studs + Victoria Mason for Maker's Mark necklace

EA Drew ring + BVLGARI watch

Big shoutout to these Twitter loyalists ----> Shona Vixen @shonavixen, Aphro @Phroetic, The King (crown here) @LOCHnation, Zanele @glamgirlZ, Diasporan Darlings @DiasporanD, Chira @KairaB, Anisia Michael @NiseyMiyake, Lisa Folawiyo @lisafolawiyo and the best brother anyone could wish for @SirNige. I am so thankful to all for your support and words of encouragement. Handife ndakazvikanganwa izvi:)

xxx

That I-Rep-263-For-Life DVF Dress

I stayed up all night participating in a fashion-related discussion on Twitter with some of my fellow Zimbabweans. I had chatted to Shona Vixen for close to three hours on the phone earlier in the night so I was already on a high. It had been so long since I'd had a good chat about life in general, fashion blogging and on a number of dicey individuals who call themselves fashion designers. I guess it had been ages since I voiced my opinions fearing no judgement. ['Ooooosa' moment] By the time Shona and I said our goodbyes I was haaaaaa-eye on laughter, sheer happiness and copious amounts of the finest Earl Grey my money these days can buy. I felt so good after our girly chat. Felt good in my core and just had to put on some old school jams from the 90s that made my knees weak and danced. There was absolutely no way I was going to go to bed and miss out on the first Twitter discussion about the development of Zimbabwe's fashion industry. No way.

The discussion was really uplifting. It was the first time a number of Twimbos had ever 'talked' so the discussion flowed and felt like although everyone was coming from different industries but we had the same passion - for there to be great change. I excused myself as things were winding down just after 6am Melbourne time. After all, I had brunch with friends at 11am.

I slept through all the calls, texts and irritating Whatsapp alerts from the girls. I woke up well after 1pm feeling rather foolish about the Twitter all-nighter and switched off my phone for the rest of the afternoon. Didn't need the panic stricken calls from one girlfriend in particular asking if I was still homesick and thats why I didn't turn up to brunch. Didn't need a text from another who would want to come round and hang out till dinner. So, I just put on my favourite dress, known as The Zimbabwe Leaf Dress, and took myself to late lunch. This is what I wore today.

A few years ago, I spotted the dress in the Nottinghill DVF store but I didn't have the money to buy it. I declined to put it on hold for a few days because I knew there was no way I could afford it. It also come in red but had quickly sold out. I walked away gutted. A couple of weeks later, I got a call from the shop confirming my size. Mr Man had managed to track down the last one which happened to be in my size. That Mr Man was (or is) a bloody good man.

 Dress - Diane Von Furstenberg's Zimbabwe Leaf Dress
Flats - Country Road
Bag - Hermes

Scarf - Hermes

Sunglasses - Alain Mikli

Jewellery - EA Drew and BVLGARI

 

xxx

Weekend Special Part 2

Sunday was spectacular! *fireworks here*

I caught up with my super high-maintenance friend whose bizarre mannerisms I'd actually missed. She's 'that' woman I never thought I could befriend. That polished, not-a-hair-out-of-place, far -too-clever, push-up-only-wearing and painfully honest woman who keeps an entire gathering of people waiting only to melt hearts with the sweetest apology. That woman kept me waiting for over one and a half hours but when she rolled up I squealed with glee and completely forgot about telling her off.

I decided to wear a Phillip Lim sweater dress I hadn't worn for ages paranoid that I was too chunky to pull the look off. Since coming back from Zimbabwe, I've found myself saying things like "I'm just right. I'm best served with these thighs." Funny what a trip home does to one's confidence and one's ego.

 

 

Dress - 3.1 Phillip Lim

Scarf - gifted

Bag - Chanel

Shoes - Chanel

Sunglasses - Ray Ban

Jewellery - Alexis Bittar earrings

BVLGARI watch + ring and Georg Jensen ring

xxx

Weekend Special Part 1

This sounds a little nutty but I could've sworn that I came down with a cold on Friday which hung around Saturday then it disappeared over a boozy Sunday brunch-come-lunch. I spent all day Saturday indoors feeling quite sorry myself reading all my favourite publications and merely skimming through my not-so-favourite ones.

I'm still yet to find a fashion magazine that I can relate to as an African woman who hasn't been raised in The Diaspora. Still haven't found one that I simply can't live without. For those of you who read my second post on Cocamoda, I'm still dreaming of a Vogue Africa with a beauty editor who is knowledgeable about products for women of colour and who dares to touch on the notion of beauty. Still dreaming of well-researched and well-written articles on my continent's quiet achievers. Still dreaming of not overly photoshopped images of lesser known fresh-faced models. I'm so tired of seeing the same unhealthy looking 'it models' with gaunt faces and scraggly weaves. Where is that publication that has a cover glossier than New African Woman's? Where is that fashion guru that celebrates my ample bosom and childbearing hips in a Jewel By Lisa ankara piece? Where is the list of shops in Johannesburg, Harare and Nairobi that stock Babatunde products? Lord knows I need a magazine that discusses issues like infertility and the challenges that women in our societites who can't bear children face? When someone finds the magazine that I am still dreaming of - do tell.

So back to Saturday------> Come 5pm-ish my tummy started telling me all sorts of things so decided to head out to Moo's salon for a whinge then cheap + cheerful dinner in Chinatown. This is what I wore.

 Dress - Country Road
Tights - Ambra
Boots - ZARA
Bag - Louis Vuitton

Jewellery - Chanel vintage earrings,
BVLGARI watch and Georg Jensen ring

The face of a hungry woman who's trying to stop a cab

 

xxx

Friday Easy Chic

First Friday back in Melbourne so it called for coffee at my new haunt, The Mess Hall, and then lunch with one of my closest friends, Moo (real name Mervin). He's a hairdresser slash makeup artist with an unbelievable sense of style so I was dying to chit chat about good-for-budget pieces that caught my eye at both Club Monaco and Lane Crawford in Hong Kong last week. This is what I wore.

Tunic - Issey Miyake Pleats Please

Jeans - AG Adriano Goldschmied

Shoes - Pierre Hardy

Bag - Bottega Veneta

Sunglasses - Prada

Jewellery - BVLGARI

I snapped up these pumps within a few minutes of walking into Marais, a store ahead of its time here in Melbourne, nearly five years ago. I remember immediately putting on them after paying for them to ease my guilt about my random purchase and strutting my stuff back to work repping for my continent.

Yes - there aren't very many black butterflies in Australia repping for Mama Africa so that's where I come in!

 Makeup

MAC Studio Fix Fluid Foundation

MAC Loose Powder

MAC Eyeshadows (Plum Dressing, Sketch, Orb and Bronze)

MAC Spiked Eye Brow Pencil

DuWop Cream Liner

Maybelline Great Lash Mascara

Illamasqua Blush

Rosy Lips Vaseline *this is a must-have

xxx