Forcast of the Day: Winter is Coming

Forcast of the Day: Winter is Coming. Its Monday. You need something subtle, something that says pay ah-tention to get through the week. You remember the steal of a dress you picked up a month ago that you’ve forgotten about. It sucks everything in and has cut outs in all the work-appropriate places. Its figure-hugging but not so tight you can’t skip up the stairs if need be. You slip on the court heels that you’ve been wearing all week (no breaking in needed! haven’t had any blisters so that gets a huge tick!), shrug on a coat in this season’s it colour and you’re done.

Recreate my Look:

Sydney Double Breasted Coat / Sophia Exposed Dart Dress / Adelle Contrast Court Heels (all c/o Forcast)

Advertisement

Forcast: Balmy Autumn Weekend

Forcast of the Day: A Balmy Autumn Weekend. You wake up and it’s 7am, Saturday, last weekend of the season. Far too early for a weekend for sure. Its chillier than usual but you haven’t taken the thickest duvet out of your storage cabinet yet. Just another monotonous item to add to your things-to-catch-up-on list.

You consider staying under the covers to scroll through Instagram but then you decide that you need caffeine to power through the day: local markets, spin class, brunch, grocery run, late lunch …. You crave a Trenta, no foam, five-shot half-caf, no foam pumpkin spice latte with no foam at 210 degrees. Then you realise you don’t have a designer name nor a trust fund so you roll out of bed and get dressed.

You pull on the turtleneck you’ve been wearing everyday this past week – the one that can be unbuttoned at the neck to be a cowl neck and the one that looks good over a tulle skirt, under overalls and with a blazer. You slide into some jeans and moccasins, both varying shades of autumn and nod to yourself, Jobs had the right idea.

Then its 5pm and somehow your things-t0-catch-up-on list has grown longer and you’ve done nothing all day. You have to start getting ready for dinner, you need to be out the door five minutes ago. Its too late to change so you start trying on the heels stashed under your bed. You start with a patent block heel Mary Jane then you lace on some suede oxfords but nothing seems to work. At the last minute, you see your half patent, half suede court heels, buckle yourself in and troop out the door.

Recreate my look:

Violet Button Turtle Neck Knit / Sydney Double Breasted Coat / Kerise Skinny Jeans / Adelle Contrast Court Heels (all c/o Forcast)

Man Child

Fundamentally, there’s nothing more man child than a grown adult in a pair of overalls.

Conclusively, they are so comfortable and hide the stomach with just a silver of skin so you can put it over all your cropped tees. Transition it for the colder months with a chunky sweater and make it exam time appropriate with a collegiate jersey lazily thrown on top.

Basically, they’re my new go to denim and these patched ones from Cotton On’s 91 denim range are exactly what I was looking for at $10! Same price as a pressed juice people. Loose, bronzed, brushed buttons and pockets for days.

Overall, go get yourself a pair of overalls.

Thanks for putting up with all my synonyms and I hope you have a lovely easter long weekend (if you’re lucky enough to get one!).

Recreate my look here:

Shirt / Overealls / Flats

The Kimono, Backwards.

It’s pretty safe to say that kimonos and pineapples are being washed away from the shores that are our warm weather wardrobes. Before you put yours away into storage, let me show you how you can extend its life a little longer by tying it back to front and chucking on some classic black pieces to keep it relevant. Let’s call this a pathetic attempt at ‘sustainable fashion‘.

Recreate my look:

Kimono / Dress / Shoes / Hat / Purse

Perrie

As you all know by now, Style Smorgasbord is a paradoxical blend of high and low, girly and masculine, tight and loose. Today, I decided to shake up the common denominator and went with boxy, structured everything.

Its the monochromatic equivalent of silhouettes.

When I build a look in my head, there’s always the hero piece that magnetises everything else together. This look centred around my new work bag from Paul’s Boutique SS16 collection. I worked with Paul’s Boutique last season so I was delighted to see their line sheet for the new season. There are so many beautiful pieces in seasonal neons but my personal favourites are those in tonal shades of stone, off white, navy and black. They are slowly releasing their lines and the ‘Perrie’ is from the Trinity Collection which is available in navy, blush and silver. The ‘Perrie’ is almost the perfect bag but I wish it could fit my 13 inch macbook air – it just falls short by about 2 cm 😦 ! I also love the classic silhouettes of the ‘Amber‘ and ‘Hunter‘.

Recreate my Look:

Shirt / Pants / Heels / Purse (c/o)

Bottle / Phone Case (c/o) / NARS Products / Watch / Purse 

SS Brunch with Uzuri

I have returned from my holiday with plenty of beautiful things to share with you including the first SS Brunch of 2016. I want to introduce to you Magdel and Emre who are the founders of Uzuri, a newly launched brand that hails from the beautiful and graceful country that is Africa. They have a wonderful vision to clothe the inner dreamer, seeker and scholar and their SS16 Capsule Collection consists of timeless and elegant staples including The Moja which is a 100% leather sandal that has been locally sourced and crafted in Africa. I hope you enjoy this SS Brunch and feel inspired to tread lightly and kindly.

What makes Uzuri African?

Our leather and fabric are sourced locally and the craftsmen with whom we partner are all South African. We aim to design first and foremost for the women of Africa. Women of different ages, races and cultures – all embracing their heritage, inspiring generations to come, seeking beauty, living boldly but also seeking qualify and functionality.

Uzuri means beauty and grace. Do you have any muses that embody these two words?

We were both raised by strong and independent women, we have the privilege of being surrounded by incredible sisters and friends who are passionate about life, who are true to themselves, who pursue their dreams fearlessly. Ladies who live their lives with intent + walk in truth, in grace, in beauty. These are the women that inspire us, the women we want to dress.

What are some of the steps implemented so that your final product is ethical and fair?

We believe in buying local, even if the result is a slight increase in prices, and in  partnering with our South African craftsmen and ladies. We are involved in every single detail. Sourcing, meeting with our craftsmen / ladies, designing + the final quality control – we ensure that all the people in the production chain is honored and fairly compensated for their contribution. Uzuri is a vision that stretches further and wider than clothes + shoes. We love our country and we want to build + dream alongside contributors to continuously invest in + grow this multifaceted country of ours.

Tell me about your creative process, is there a certain time you work, a candle you burn, a beverage that you consume?

We have both been working full time until the end of 2015, so the dream of Uzuri was pursued over weekends, late nights + early mornings. We have been drinking numerous cups of tea + dreaming of a brand that is true + bold + ethical since 1999, when we first became friends in grade 8.

What are you goals for Uzuri in 2016?

Uzuri is still in its baby shoes. We want to continue building a brand without compromises- growing holistically but remaining faithful to the childhood dream. Our aim has always been to rather deliver an ethical product, that embodies beauty and quality, than delivering a bigger, more mainstream, but less ‘hands-on’, range. Of course this has its own challenges, especially in a growing market – the effect being that Uzuri ranges are always limited editions. Moreover we will continue to follow our hearts, work hard, and shine a light on the beauty that Africa has to offer.

The Moja in Nude Leather  (c/o)

If you want to learn more about Uzuri’s vision as well as visit their newly launched website, click here.  

Black for the Summer

Happy New Year! I have had a two week break from Style Smorgasbord because I wanted to recharge, reflect and redirect my energy towards the holiday season. Whilst we should aim to improve upon ourselves daily, the first day of the year is always a great ritual of self assessment that demands personal honestly and reinforces humility. Instead of coming up with new year resolutions for 2016, I decided to create a list of 101 things I want to achieve in 1001 days. You can see my list here. 

I would say I am a very excitable person. Thusly, I rarely wear black especially head to toe black. However, I love a good oxymoron and black in the summer is refreshingly that. I received this boater for Christmas and plan to wear it forever. The brim is wonderfully wide and perfectly practical and adding it to any outfit just makes me feel like I am on vacation somewhere tropical.

Hat / Top / Skirt / Scarf

/ Photography Credits – Matthew /

P B & J

Introducing the new PB&J that’s the next best thing since old school Peanut Butter and Jelly – Paul’s Boutique and Jacaranda. When I was fourteen, or as we now like to say, a ‘twelvie’, I was a bit obsessed with obnoxious bags like the Juicy Couture daydreamer and the Paul’s Boutique Maisy in a shocking jelly pink. As popular Tumblr, PopCultureDiedin2009 reminds us on a daily basis, the days of velour sweats and Chihuahuas in rainbow monogrammed purses is long gone. Post-financial crisis, we are more thrifty, we crave quality, simplicity, capsule wardrobes and monochrome palettes.

Unfortunately, in the ever-changing consumer landscape, Juicy Couture failed to keep its footing despite growing from a $200 start-up to a $51 million USD company in the space of 6 years.

Fortunately, Paul’s Boutique kept up and rebranded and when I rediscovered their brand two months ago I was pleasantly surprised. There’s a lot of wonderful pieces from their newest collections that would work from the office to a casual day running errands. One of which, includes this black backpack from their 2015 Christmas collection which has been my go to summer bag. I was umming and ahhing between colours and I considered gold just because I thought it would be festive but I settled on black when I found out the inner flap has a bit of gold hidden inside … constrained festivity if you like. The bag is now on constant rotation and I like to style it with high waisted mum jeans, white tees, midi skirts and white kicks.

November is truly almost at its end so if you are looking to do some Christmas shopping, some of my favourite pieces are the Gwyneth Backpack, Maisy Handbag and Melissa Tote Bag. They package everything up real cute so its sure to be a winner under the tree. If you’re interested in seeing more BTS stuff from their holiday campaign, head over to their blog. To see how I dressed up this midi skirt in an older post, see ‘Create‘.

/ Gwyneth Backpack in Black (c/o) / Puma Cap / Forever New Skirt /

Camo The Colour

Camo The Colour like Cameo The Label … I try not to explain my punniness 99% of the time but sometimes I need to toot my own horn because I’m just so dang funny. I also realise now that camo is more of a colour and less of a pattern but let’s not get all nick picky people.

I think Nauen said last week that you learn a lot at university. I certainly did. Lesson Number One: Don’t wear denim cutoffs. Especially if you have to catch the train and then sit for 4 hours straight. After making that mistake about 3 times, I finally decided it was time to start wearing pants even though that would mean succumbing to that autumn weather that is inevitably looming since it looks like the entire easter long weekend will be raining. 

Nonetheless I’m so ecstatic about the easter long weekend … hello cake on a stick, warmed up hot cross buns, bunny onesies and easter eggs!! More on that next week!

 Pants H&M 50% off in store! // Collared Shirt Similar Here // Brogues Similar Here 

The Storm Before The Calm

Have you ever been to the beach and then had to promptly leave again? I have, many times including this time when we thought to head down to the beach for a pre dinner stroll. It had started to rain, the wind was really ripping it and when there’s wind, there’s sand tornado-ing around you. If you’ve never experienced it, be thankful. Sand, after all is made up of granules of rock and minerals so when its windy its kind of like nature is throwing rocks at you and its not pretty.

Nonetheless, my poor camera lens braved possible scratching and I managed to get in several pictures of my Endless Summer Blouse from  Lil Muse Boutique. The crochet detailing is really fine and although I wore shorts, its long enough to double as a dress. It also looks quite lovely off the shoulder!

After we left and hung around the predictable nature of the swimming pool, the sky decided to clear up again and the storm was over. Everything was calm once again. Still but not eerie. I’ll take it.

// Top – c/o of Lil Muse Boutique: Endless Summer Blouse / Shorts – Vintage Replay Cutoffs //