Weekly Fashion Trend - How to be in fashion now...

Dressing for in-between seasons can be difficult. It's not quite summer or winter...some days are hot or cold and some days just leave you confused...so what do you wear and still look stylish? How to be in fashion now...

I will show you 3 trans-seasonal trends that will take you through those in-between days and keep you looking stylish, glamorous and still fashionable without the confusion.

1. Leather

I love leather, a pair of leather leggings or a leather jacket can't take you through the seasons effortlessly. Leather leggings can be worn with a simple white t-shirt and wedges for summer or a fur vest and booties in the winter. A leather jacket can be draped over your shoulders in the cooler months or worn with your favourite winter outfit when its cold. Versatile, stylish and glamorous!

2. Tailored

Anything tailored will last season after season. Whether it be a great pair of pants or a suit jacket. A pair of tailored pants can be worn on the warmer days with a lightweight top and heels and on the cooler days with a light knit and boots. A tailored jacket with a pair of jeans summer or winter is a great option for in-between days.

3. Scarfs

A great accessory that can be worn at least 30 different ways! On the warmer days you can wear it to enhance your outfit by using it as an accessory while during the cooler days you can wear it as a shrug or light cover up. The options are endless! A great trans-sesonal piece!

(All images curtesy of Pinterest)

Weekly Fashion Trend - Coloured Jeans

This week we doing a little flashback...not that far though, as this trend has been around a few times. It seems to appear every so often...its colourful and fun.

    Coloured jeans are big for summer, add a classic top, great sandals or wedges, statement jewelry, a nice bag and you good to go! Want to stand out even more??? Why not wear 2 clashing colours or unusual combinations that are unexpected but totally on trend!

Below are some great examples of how to style them in lots of different ways...I love the yellow and coral ones!

Weekly Fashion Trend - Multiple Fashion Personality Disorder

This weekend I attended a huge fashion event and managed to sign a new designer to our Fashion Agency - Moda Africa. While doing all of this I was in fashionista mode...by 7pm I was home and putting my kids to bed, in mommy mode!

I’m a fashionista and a business woman, I work but, I’m also a wife, a daughter and a friend, but most important I’m a mommy. I can go from playground to fashion event in 30 minutes, from Havianas to stilettos in a nanosecond and from casual to glam in a flash! I can transcend from mommy to glamorous with the swipe of a red lipstick…

I always find it quite funny and sometimes amazing how effortlessly I switch between “mommy” and “fashionista”...dealing with dirty little hands and faces, changing nappies, singing nursery rhymes, doing ABC’s and counting 1-20...to fashion styling, fashion blogging, putting trends together  organising and hosting fashion events and workshops, attending runway and fashion shows plus running a fashion business!

Juggling different roles and responsibilities with each “personality” has become second nature and I often chuckle to myself and think if the “fashion pack” could see me now... playing in the park with my son or sitting on the floor in his playroom playing cars or up with my daughter at 2 or 3 in the morning…not so glamorous then! But, always conscious of fashion…I might be in casual clothes and Havianas or even pyjamas but I will always be stylish and comfortably fashionable…

This made me think of multiple personality disorder but with fashion and fashion personas…so I came up with the term “multiple fashion personality disorder” where you change from one personality to another so effortlessly you don’t even know you doing it! Anna Wintour once said “you either get fashion or you don’t”…I get fashion, always have and hopefully always will, but to my children I will always be only Mommy and that is just perfect!

Weekly Fashion Trend - Retail Therapy

Shopping! 

Who doesn't love shopping? It’s exciting, exhilarating, fun and very therapeutic. No wonder they call it RETAIL THERAPY! It’s food for the soul…like a psychiatrist only cheaper!

It can also be frustrating - when you want something so bad and they don’t have your size, exhausting - when you see nothing you like and mostly expensive - when you simply can’t afford those designer shoes or bag you want so desperately.

Luckily it’s mostly FUN! 

I have two kids under 4, I work in between school runs, after school activities, nursery, swimming and grocery shopping, I see clients, do fashion workshops, run a fashion agency, attend events and write a blog...so you can imagine my household is busy, noisy and challenging at times! When my husband offered I take the afternoon to go shopping…I grabbed the chance before he could change his mind!

I went to Yas Mall and had a delightful afternoon browsing the shops, read my magazine while enjoying my “hot” latte (yes I often have to drink my coffee cold or with “something” floating in it) and just people watched, had a manicure and a pedicure…it was bliss, relaxing and therapeutic.

The shops were filled with bright, gorgeous summer colours in pink, yellow, green, orange and blue! Colours that lured me in and wanted me to buy everything at once! Colours that screamed summer is here! Colours that lifted my mood and my spirits instantly, colours that made me happy!

This made me think and ask the question…is fashion repeating itself? Is fashion taking and borrowing from eras and decades past? What is current right now or is it just history repeating itself?

All the neon in the shops reminded me of the 80’s, a happy place for me where the memories of friends, family and happy days live and great music meant lots of dancing and laughter – so yes shopping is fun and exciting and makes me happy!

After my afternoon of retail therapy I was ready to rush home in time to bath, feed and put my little munchkins to bed! HAPPINESS.

Weekly Fashion Trend - Like Mother, Like Daughter...

This is not my usual Weekly Fashion trend post, but with March being the month for mothers and celebrating mothers I wanted to share this article I wrote for a magazine while I was living in Australia. 

When I was a teenager I used to “shop” in my mother’s closet…not only me but all my girlfriends too!!! This used to infuriate my mother and really annoy her. In my true teenage attitude I could never understand what the fuss was about and always accused her of over reacting!!!

Fast-forward 20 years…the roles are reversed…my mother now shops in my closet! Alone…luckily she doesn’t invite her girlfriends...I think I will get really annoyed!!!

When my mother comes to visit she tells me that she is not bringing much clothes and will just “borrow” whatever from my closet (my mother lives in South Africa). When I have a clear out she is always 1^st in line, or – and this is the worst one – when I’m looking for something my mom is already wearing it or I find it in her closet!

My mother obviously has impeccable style (she shops in my closet) and is always the only one who will ever be honest and tell me the truth about my wardrobe choices…good and bad! She taught me everything I know about style and fashion from a young age and cemented that solid foundation that will one day become my passion and my profession, a role model and perfectly groomed stylish lady that I am proud to look up to and call my mom.

I often wonder, are daughters a true reflection of their mothers? A mirror image of how they see their mothers? Perhaps a modern version of their mothers? Is it a question of - like mother like daughter or more like daughter like mother?

It’s interesting to see what my daughter will be like as she grows up? Will she be a true reflection of me? A mirror image? Will she be passionate about fashion and learn from my style and make it her own? Or will she be the complete opposite?

My motherly intuition tells me, it will be more a case of, like mother like daughter, I hope! All I can do is nurture and encourage her fashion instincts until she realises that fashion is instant language and glamour is a state of mind!

Weekly Fashion Trend - Boho Glamour

Boho Glamour - 3 Autumn/Winter 2015 Trends you can wear right now…

The runways are full of A/W fashion at the moment and you must be thinking…what? We haven’t even reached summer yet! (Officially) Don’t worry I have selected 3 A/W trends that you can easily wear now. Fashion is always one or two seasons ahead so we have to find ways to incorporate them into our current daily look.

There are so many beautiful trends for A/W, however I have chosen 3 of the easiest ones to easily fit into your existing wardrobe.

70’s Chic

Add a gorgeous, soft paisley printed top with bell sleeves and wear it with your jeans for laid back summer glamour. Finish your look with some big gold or silver hoops.

Red Glamour

Anything red will do but I have selected the most glamorous and inexpensive way to add a statement to your summer look and still be right on trend – red lipstick!

Boho Fringe

Fringing is absolutely huge at the moment! A stylish, tan leather fringed cross body bag will add just enough Boho glamour to take you from summer to A/W in one easy step!

And there you have it…3 easy ways to bring A/W into your summer wardrobe!

Weekly Fashion Trend - Lace Up Sandals

I'm obsessed...with lace up sandals! I have been for a while. 

It started with the high heel version that I'm absolutely in love with and now I have 2 black pairs and I'm lusting after a nude pair and a snake skin pair too...but I have taken it one step further! I am now also obsessed with the flat sandal version!

I already have a matt gold pair, a leopard print pair and bought some black ones today that I can't wait to wear! A great alternative to heels when I'm on mommy duty without having to sacrifice on style and glamour! I like the open toe style as it is much more summer friendly and shows off your pedicure...I wear them with jeans mostly, just because I love jeans but you can wear them with almost anything. A gorgeous, fashionable, comfortable and stylish sandal for summer!

Weekly Fashion Trend - Fringing.

Fringing is everywhere. Watch a fashion show and you are almost guaranteed to see some fringing. Gucci, Prada, Burberry and Tom Ford to name a few seem to have embraced it for Spring/Summer 2015. I love a bit of fringe...adapt it to your wardrobe and our climate by looking for a kimono or skirt with subtle fringing details. Accessories are a great way to embrace this trend with a earrings, shoes and bags all adorned with fringing...H&M is fabulous for this trend, they have loads of inexpesnsive and affordable options. 

If you are looking for boho chic this trend is definitely the way to go! Wear it with your jeans and booties or some tan wedges. If it more 20's glam or Studio 54 you're after, add some shimmy and shimmer to your fringing. Which ever you choose, make sure you get fringing in your fashion...Gucci never gets it wrong...plus if you wear it now you will definitely be ahead of the fashion pack and the fashion season! Now that certainly is fashionable!

(All images courtesy of  Pinterest)

Weekly Fashion Trend - Spring into Fashion

This week's Weekly Fashion Trend we are looking at my top 3 Spring/Summer trends and how to incorporate them into your daily wardrobe without spending a fortune and still looking fabulously on trend!

What to look for this Spring/Summer. 

Neutrals - black/white/grey/gold/silver and denim.

Colour - yellow/fuchsia and midnight blue.

Florals - big, bright and abstract.

This is a perfect daytime look. You can wear this while shopping, lunching, coffee dates and the school run plus much more...

Start with a neutral, like this denim dress, even a denim skirt is a great option for summer, add a floral kimono, some gold (neutral) demi wedges and a pop of colour with your accessories like this yellow handbag. Add some contrasting jewellery like these stripe bangles to keep it a little edgy. With this look you are easily covering 3 Spring/Summer trends without looking like a fashion victim...

For date night try a midnight blue dress with some interesting detail like this one and add bright accessories like fuchsia and an abstract floral box clutch to edge it up a bit...

These are just a few key trends from the multitude of what is on offer this coming season. Break it down so you don't get overwhelmed when you go shopping. Remember to start with a your basic neutral, add pops of colour to your look and small accent pieces to build a great Spring/Summer wardrobe.

Weekly Fashion Trend - The Golden Rule of Fashion...

The Golden Rule of Fashion 

Being a fashion stylist people always ask me what I think they should wear, does this or that suit them and their body shape, what are the latest trends and what is currently in fashion…and that’s great, its my job and what I love to do…however I will start every styling session with the Golden Rule of Fashion.

Be Yourself! Unless you are comfortable with yourself and your body, you will never be comfortable in fashion…trends come and go, fashion changes daily, but you remain the same, the same body shape and the same person inside. Learn to love who you are first, with all your lumps and bumps and understand that even the models in fashion magazines don’t look like that in real life…only then you will wear fashion and fashion wont wear you…