What to wear today...

Pop of Orange

With summer flirting with us this morning, there was a little inspiration to wear open shoes. Perhaps a little hasty, because the south eastern wind is billowing outside......but then again, we live in the Cape of storms, we often see 2 seasons in 1 day, even in summer!

Jacket-Truworths Limited, Pants-Trenery, Top-H & M, Clutch-New Look,Shoes-Woolworths,
Belt-D & G, Necklace-Bijoux

CELEBRATION

What do you get when you combine style with a stunning venue, a charming man, an excellent chef, 10 chic women, delicious food and a hostess with finesse? A perfect venue to host a birthday party by my chic friend, Hanle who celebrated her birthday with a select few. The owner run restaurant known as Benguela in de Kelders, Gansbaai set the scene for a get together celebrating Hanle's birthday, with a view of Walkerbay, on a beautiful spring day! She could not have chosen a more perfect day or venue!  Like always, Jonathan charmed us with his secret cocktail and tantalised our taste buds with his scrumptious food, and healthy on top of that!

 

Hanle wears Coral top and shoes from Zara...

 

 

Jonathan, the director of Epicure delighted us with these canapes...and beautiful table setting

 

Followed by a scrumptious salad of Rocket, Walnuts, Biltong, Butternut, Dhania, Berries and more, with a delicious Goats Milk cheese Soufle on the side, floating on a bed of creamy sauce with secret ingredients.....mmmmm

 

What I wore....

Jacket - Oasis, Polka dot button up shirt - Cotton On, Cotton Chinos - H & M, Shoes-old, Bracelett-Hermes, Oversized Clutch-Zara, Neck piece-Sass Diva

 

The A-List.....girls at play

 

The handsome host....all the delicious food and dressed well to....

 

 

Le Venue....

 

 

Amore sported this beautiful bag...lust after?

 

 

 

Tinneke overjoyed, planning a wedding...

 

 

And so, all good things come to...THE END

 

TOP SHOP AT LAST!

It should not come as a surprise to fashion lovers and stylish women that the sought after UK store, Top Shop, part of the Arcadia group that also includes Dorothy Perkins and Evans, is coming to South Africa at last! The first store will be located in the elegant Sandton City complex, which is the perfect setting for a girls day out with a multitude of fashion stores, restaurants and an abundance of beauty facilities, a fashion emporium no doubt!

 

That means I no longer have to spend so much time in store shopping the flagship store in Oxford street, perhaps allowing me time to actually get to see the rest of the UK next time! Don't despair if the anticipation is killing you, in the meanwhile, you can shop on line, with one click you can fire away and have it delivered to your door. Save up girls, Top Shop has something for all, perhaps more than likely all you want!

Who would not want to support a store with this policy?

‘to produce fashionable products in an ethical way and demonstrate a responsible attitude towards people and the environment’.

 

I spotted these beautiful printed pants and bomber jacket on line, perhaps a good time to stock up your summer wardrobe. Happy shopping!

 

You like? Get it online.  

 

How to wear Leopard Print

Animal Print by fiftyfabulous featuring leopard sandals

VERSUS sheer long sleeve shirt
$135 - net-a-porter.com

Sateen pants
$105 - countryroad.com.au

Valentino leopard sandals
forwardforward.com

Zip bag
romwe.com

River Island diamante jewelry
$21 - riverisland.com

Yellow gold jewelry
newlook.com

Fashion in Transit

If you are on the move, stop by Sandton City for this pop up store....

SERENDIPITY

Sometimes, the obvious is right under your nose. I have been roaming the shops for a while looking for a particular Polka dot top. Every time I came across this speckle of joy, it was either to long, to short, or not in my size at all. I noticed a few items in Grazia magazine referring to Cotton On, but was unaware of it being virtually on my front door, and had no idea what was in store! 

 

Thank goodness to my stylish friend Hanle who mentioned it on our shopping spree-we were lead  to this little gem where you can stock up on key items on a shoestring. How often do you find style met with serendipity? I found the exact Polka Dot top that I was looking for here. 

 

Look what else was in store- I can imagine the top below being styled in a number of different ways, and cannot wait for warmer days to rid myself of layers of wool, unveiling this little number........perhaps with those favourite Black ancle cuff Zara heels and Black cigarette pants......

 

Top from Cotton On

 

Spanish Conquest

The Spanish continues to conquer the V & A.........

Watch this space for further shopping accomplishments, I have some serious business  that needs to be done at the new Zara store. After all, lets give the recession an injection!

ZARA AT LAST!

Congratulations to the new Zara store in the V & A Cape Town! This has been long awaited and much anticipated, cannot wait to get there and see what is in store. I have not passed through a European city without finding Zara, and now I can shop on my own front door. Looks like I will be travelling much lighter in the future-of course there are other beautiful stores to fill the vacuum.....happy shopping girls! 

BURST OF COLOUR

Orange and Coral has always been firm favourites in my colour scheme, but not always received with the same measure of envy as it is rather striking and dominating. My very stylish friend Alma suggested that when getting older, most women are flattered by wearing brighter colours. Well I heeded to her advice and succumbed to the rainbow, brightening up my more "grown up" look. I now have a colourful ensemble and is no longer met with a gloomy palette of Black frocks when I walk into my closet. Off course the LBD or Black suit still reigns supreme when it comes to formal events and meetings for work. This season will be seeing a lot of bright colours from Hot Pink to Coral and Orange. Here as some items that I intend mixing up, as soon as the summer sun decides to bless us with it's appearance in a very cold southern hemisphere. Enjoy, and hope it inspires you to brighten your day!

               Clutch-New Look/Shoes-Queenspark/V-neck sweater-Zara(old)/Scarf-H & M

              

                 Coral Jacket-Belle Epoque (own collection)

My love for Peplums continued......

If there is one thing fashionable that I could enslave myself to, it is the peplum. However, being a little more grown up, I no longer obsess, but rather gravitate towards possess! After all, a girl needs to look her best! Needless to say, I could not resist the temptation and accordingly succumbed to the click of online shopping! Be it on a skirt, a top or a jacket, it remains uber chic and elegant. No matter what your body shape, the peplum either ads volume if you are a little androgynous, or conceals a pear shaped bottom. Fortunately these days buxom is embraced and body con dresses are worn with style, even by the fuller figure. This little gem above was discovered on E-bay and promptly found itself into my array of peplums, adding a little dash to my ensemble of Black and White. The swallow tail is also a little cheeky, right?

Size Counts!

A few words on the over sized clutch, if you haven't gone out shopping for these gorgeous pieces yet, now is the time. If you are concerned about the safety aspect of a clutch and not being able to hold on to it, don't despair, most of them come with a neat little handle as a feature allowing you to tuck your hand into it and hold on to your precious cargo. Most of these over sized clutches are big enough to hold your little valuables like lipstick and other paraphernalia, a girl normally carries, and the bonus, it can accommodate your ipad! They come in all shapes and sizes and in my experience, the best ones can be bought at ASOS (having them on sale now) NEW LOOK or TOP SHOP. Beware the budget, and be warned - you will be tempted to through all caution to the wind when you see the colours and shapes available right now!

Have a look at these must have lust afters, and you do not have to break the bank for these:

What a beauty!

Combined with hot coral colours, colourblocking!

The classic piece, now on sale at Asos!

Perhaps I forgot to mention that, apart from the adorable little cub in the previous post, these shoes are the source of my continued love affair with animal print. Now I just have to find the right oversized clutch to match............

Happy shopping Bellas!

ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR

There are two things that inspired my decision to unpack the animal print items from this winter's hype. First and foremost, the adorable little face of a 4 month old Cheetah cub that I had the honour of cuddling all weekend at a game lodge where we spent the long weekend, caused me to continue this theme for one more season. He was one of four cubs born from a hand reared Cheetah, who was released into the wilderness soon after adulthood, where she subsequently gave birth to 4 beautiful babies. Two of them were removed to increase their chances of survival, and the cute little face in the picture, was one of the two now being hand reared, and hopefully released again later. The 2nd source of encouragement, were a "drop dead gorgeous" pair of shoes that I ogled on a website on street styles, depicting a pair of high heels in leopard print with subdued colours in a pale winter white.

I promptly opened the trunk of last season's "stashed away" pile, and unveiled the animal print items as if it was the first introduction to my collection of safari style clothes. I had very little opportunity to flaunt any high heels, silk and chiffon in leopard print during our weekend away in the bush, as the temperatures dropped to about 9 degrees and barely permitted the bush fashionista to wear anything else than a woollen scarf (leopard print of course!) and a turtle neck in earth tones with jeans (boyfriend style like the ones in the post below) and a stunning pair of boots bought from Prune in Buenos Aires, trimmed in leopard print, off course!

Needless to say, this cute little face inspired me to unpack my wardrobe and re-introduce the animal print for another season, not because trendsetters dictate accordingly, but because it continues to be an exciting print to combine with bright colours, as I will, no doubt do this spring, and in honour of this noble cat!

Safari Style

Safari Style by fiftyfabulous featuring skinny boyfriend jeans

Sleeveless top
topshop.com

Wet Seal sleeveless top
wetseal.com

Current/Elliott skinny boyfriend jeans
stylebop.com

Mulberry studded handbag
ssense.com

Eugenia Kim striped fedora
amazon.com

Dolce Gabbana tech accessory
net-a-porter.com

Ray-Ban Aviator 55 Metal Sunglasses
mytheresa.com