Shopping for Fashion Week

When I say shopping, what I mean is calling up favourite local designers and chatting about what I want and then miraculously it appears, dropped off at work two days before I fly up to Joburg. Or not.
One small, unavoidable hiccup necessitated a trip to the Waterfront on the weekend. Let me tell you the results of this shopping...
On the four nights of fashion week, I will be dressed as follows:
1. Gorgeous black velvet studded dress and leggings by August (with Jimmy Choo ballet pumps) - see pic above from Africhic.com
2. Old faithful black dress by David West (with brogues by Kate&Allie)
3. Sumptuous black velvet dress from Trenery (with tights and pumps)
4. Woolies peg leg trousers (2 years old), brogues (as above), Gap long sleeve tee (ancient) and the most wonderfully flirtatious black silk cape from Twist that I bought at the weekend. Love it. Oh, and I may add a neck piece to this.
During the day I will wear khaki roll-up trousers or black skinny jeans with the checked shirt tunic from August - which I also had made in denim and it is AWESOME.

Rebecca's World: Denim Shirt

When Rebecca emailed this pic to me, taken on Kloof Street, she mentioned in her email that it was an interesting execution of the season's must have item - the denim shirt. I agree on all levels. Everyone needs a denim shirt, but not everyone has worked out how to wear it, as wearing it like a Texas Tuxedo (Denim on Denim) breeds discomfort. Let me say this: the DD look is actually ok this seaon if you wear it with confidence and different washes of denim. Let me also say that navy blue cotton is a great alternative option that looks edgy without going DD. But my favourite ways of wearing a denim shirt is either with khaki trousers or with a pair of white skinny jeans. Don't snort. You will be doing it yourself soon.

Rebecca's World: Stephanie

This is the lovely Stephanie from Stefania Morland. Which of course she is wearing. It's classic and fantstically quirky. And both Rebecca and I love the brogues obviously.

Fit Mukluk: Who'da Thought

I am really not a devotee of the Fit Flop for stylistic reasons. And no amount of sequin can persuade me otherwise. However, I find myself swayed by the sheepskin bootie version. Kind of a Mukluk. With the benefits of fitness. And warmth.
Who would have thought? Well played.

England Style

It is a do or die match for England in the World Cup today so I thought that I would share some interpretations of England Style from the game at the Cape Town Stadium last week.
You all know Janet of course and then the other guy is my neighbour who lives most of the year in Wimbledon, who I bumped into at the game as he was seated in the chair directly behind mine. Seriously. The rest are reandom strangers who I took some pictures of. Naturally.
Come on En-ger-land.
(Obviously only because Bafana Bafana are out.)

Black Is The New, Um, Black

I get a lot of press releases. They say lots of blah, blah, rhubarb...
I also get invited to lots of launches and openings. I would always prefer to be sitting on my sofa with my PVR remote in hand. And so I decline most.
But every so often I attend something to support a friend or a designer that I like. And so it was with the launch of Black, the new coffee-shop-slash-boutique at 15 on Orange. It is co-owned by old favourite Grant Blackbeard so I thought that I would pop in. I also heard it had collections from Gav-to-the-Rajah, Nazir and Terence Bray - all certainly worth a browse.
And, blow me down with a feather, it was actually pretty cool. You should go and check it out for yourself. I know I will be back.

Welcome Rebecca

Let me introduce you to a new friend of this blog. Her name is Rebecca and she has just compeleted an internship at Elle SA. Being rather enthusiastic and passionate about fashion, she wanted to keep growing and developing in the industry, so I invited her to contribute for a while to this blog.
Rebecca will be sending me photos of cool outfits she comes across. She will be refining her eye for fashion and letting us all see what she comes across. The ones I like I will post and label "Rebecca's World". I look forward to sharing these with you.
Let me hear you all say, "Welcome Rebecca!"

One Way or Another

Photographers eh?! One camera is never enough. And then they have to go and get a new one.

Watch Out! Here Comes The Colour...

You had better get your head around it now. Come the summer, we are going to be wearing dresses in bold, bright colours. Quite a lot of them are going to be maxi in length. Just giving you all a heads up.

The Long and the Short of It

The natural dimensions of a good model are somewhat 'longer' than the normal people who have to dress, coif and plaster on the make up. Luciano has an innovative way around these hurdles. Deploy the ladder.
PS: Bit busy with shoots and such this week but promise to update when I can...

Calvin Klein Underwear

Isn't this a cute little summer jammies set? I got it at the launch of Calvin Klein Underwear a couple of weeks ago. Lovely and soft and pretty.
They are retailing through Edgars stores. Interesting choice, I thought. Unexpected.

It's That Kind of Day Today - Ayoba

This is what the fashion team are wearing in the office today. The glasses are mine from the Sunglasses Hut Totally Wired charity event the other night. For a brighter future.
As a South African of British parents, I am supporting SA with a side line in England - hence the glasses.

Sitting Down

The job of a stylist, especially the stylist's assistant, involves a lot of running. Sometimes, yes, it is even running in heels. Just ask Luisa. It also involves a great deal of standing around. A generous helping of holding on, propping up and being the balance. Sometimes your back is killing you more than your feet. But mostly it is your feet.
And then there are the few jobs that require sitting down. I thought that I would show you that there are a tiny selection of those. It doesn't happen often, so you take advantage. Today we celebrate the sitting down of it all.

Gorgeous Shoes

When you are a little flat, there is nothing like the vision of some gorgeous heels to give you a lift. All available from Aldo.
(please excuse the multi-layers of bad puns)

Team Shot

Often when the day has gone really well on a shoot we do a team shot at the end, just for shits and giggles. When we shot O mag's Editor's pics of Samantha (that is she, in the magnificent chartreuse Alberta Ferretti in the front) the day went superbly so we all did a leap of joy (or something) at the end.
Just so you know, that is Luciano in front (hair & make-up), Anthony who jumped the highest (photographer), me on the far left, Luisa looking grumpy in the middle and Matt and Natasha (Anthony's peeps) trying to hide at the back.

Behind the Scenes: Terry Pheto, Face of L'Oreal

The gorgeous Terry Pheto getting hair, face and tweeting done behind the scenes on our shoot with SA designers. (Red dress is G-to-the-Rajah and the b&w ensemble is Stefania Morland). To see the full story you need to buy the August issue of O Mag, on shelves in six weeks time. Don't worry, I will remind you.

Terry and Akona Doing the O Hug

We had a blast with Terry Pheto - the incredible actress from Tsotsi and face of L'Oreal Paris - when we shot her for O Mag's real people story for August. Our favourite intern, Akona, is a tiny bit of a fan we snapped some photos of the two of them doing the O hug. Loves it.

Tucked-In Sylvie

No matter how hard I try, I just can't pull this look off but I love it so. The slim fit trousers tucked into the patent ankle boots - it's what some of my dreams are made of. You always want what you can't have.

Thank You Alex

This is gorgeous Alex who is an Aussie based in Cape Town at the moment. She loves fashion, loves to help people and is generally as lovely as you get. So we let her help us out when ever she can. We are nice like that.