Magazine

It's amazing how quickly time flies by. I can't believe it's already time to welcome another new year but it's also a time to look forward to all the great things to come. 2015 had it's share of successes chief among them the launch of Dalasini, a dream I've had for many years that I was finally able to bring to fruition.

"Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" remarked Kate Moss at the height of her career and it doesn't seem like much has changed in the fashion industry since then. Extremely slim, some might even say skeletal, women have long been romanticized in the west,largely thanks to the fashion industry that has saturated the media with images of rail thin women.

Finding clothes that fit our natural curves is not always easy and it's the same when it comes to boots. If you have anything other than 'average' size calves, you'll have a devil of a time finding knee high and over the knee boots that flatter what your mama gave you. So you can imagine how overjoyed I was when I came across these boots during a trip to New York several years ago.

It's that time of the year again when we give thanks for everything that has come before and everything that is yet to come. I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday season and I look forward to what the new year brings.

Ever since Joan Rivers tragically passed away on September 4, 2014, the fate of her highly rated show on E 'Fashion Police', has hung in the balance. Like many other 'Joan Rangers' I tuned in to watch Joan's unique brand of humor, relishing how she would tear apart the top names in the business without fear of the consequences all in the name of a good laugh.

Even though I love bright colors, sometimes I'm in the mood to be a little bit more subdued. I decided to go for earth tones with this look spiced up with a dash of navy. This cape is super cozy and just the ticket when it's a little bit cooler but not too cold. I paired it with a matching tissue thin t-shirt, some leggings (love the zipper up the back) and these to die for rich chocolate suede boots.

Every week we feature a sustainable brand on our blog. This week's featured brand is Zero + Maria Cornejo.

It's refreshing that Maria Cornejo, the brains and beauty behind Zero + Maria Cornejo is not afraid to admit that being completely eco-friendly is practically impossible.

The late Joan Rivers regarded Cate Blanchett as a true 'Hollywood star', a ringing endorsement in an age of celebrity where talent is not a prerequisite for entry. I've watched Cate on the red carpet over the years and have always been struck by how refined she is in every way.

I knew I had to have this print in my closet the moment I saw it. It's funny considering how much I hated floral prints when I was growing up. Perhaps it because my mother had them everywhere from the curtains to the couch to the carpet, it was just floral overload and I swore I would avoid floral prints like the plague as soon I was old enough to move out of the house.

Every week we feature a sustainable brand on our blog. This week's featured brand is ASOS.

As the second largest online retailer in the world, it's laudable that ASOS has supported sustainable fashion since 2010 when they launched the 'Green Room'. Since renamed to the Eco-Edit, a curated destination on their website, they have plans to grow sales to $10M by 2020.

The first time the brand Aquazurra came on to my radar was when I noticed the to die for 'wild thing' sandals that almost everyone seemed to be wearing. From bloggers likeFolake Huntoon of 'Style Pantry' to celebrities like Solange Knowles, these shoes, in a dizzying array of colors, were the it shoes of the season. Despite their appeal, I resisted buying them since I hate jumping on bandwagons. It's hard to covet something that has become so ubiquitous and so I forgot about the sandals and went on with my life.

There's something simple yet sophisticated about wearing shades of the same color head to toe.To avoid looking too one note, I added some interest to the look by incorporating different textures, leather in the boots, silk in the dress, as well as a hint of sparkle with the belt and jewelry. The hat serves a dual purpose, it adds another textural element to the look since it's made of straw and the cat ears are playful.

Every week we feature a sustainable brand on our blog. This week's featured brand is Matt & Nat.

It was only recently that I learnt the brand Matt & Nat is not named after the imaginary founders Matthew and Natalie that I'd always assumed but rather for 'material' and 'nature'. 

This year's Victoria's Secret fashion show has by most accounts created more buzz than year's past. For starters, fashion and social media it girls Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid walked the show for the first time alongside long time angels Alessandra Ambrosio, Adriana Lima, Candace Swanepoel and Lily Aldridge.

When I'm in the mood to twirl, there's nothing better than fringe. Ideally, I would be wearing a flapper dress but since I don't own one, I went with the next best thing, this fabulous fringe belt. Oh how I would have loved living during the roaring twenties, snubbing my nose at societal norms and dancing all night to jazz music. 

Every week we feature a sustainable brand on our blog. This week's featured brand is Wayward Projects.

Known for their signature handcrafted leather items which includes pillows, bag and pouches, Wayward Projects is committed to supporting artisans based in the US. All items are produced in the heart of New York city is small limited edition batches to ensure attention to detail and quality.

I first fell in love with Adele when I heard the song 'Hometown Glory' from her first album 19. There was something about the way she sang the hell out of that song that stirred my soul. It made me yearn for home, thousands of miles away on a continent that seemed worlds apart. But that wasn't all, the album also had several other memorable songs like 'Chasing Pavements' and 'Cold Shoulder'.

I've talked about my love for dressesbefore but just because they're easy doesn't mean they can't be interesting. One way to accomplish this is to use color but another way is through the use of prints. Of course you can also have both but today, I was in the mood for something a little bit bold buta little bit muted. So I reached for this three-quarter length sleeve body-con animal print dress which fit the bill perfectly.

Every week we feature a sustainable brand on our blog. This week's featured brand is Litke.

Anointed by Vogue as a 'designer on the rise', Catherine Litke's line of American made womenswear sits at the intersection of crafty and cool. Not surprising when you consider that her friends consider her personal style 'sexy Amish'. 

I've never really seen the need to buy apparel from high end designers. For starters, I find it extremely difficult to spend more than a couple of hundred dollars for a single item of clothing considering the overstuffed state of my closet. But more importantly, I'm just more of a shoe person. When you consider how many hours we spend on our feet every day, it just seems easier to justify spending more on well made and comfortable shoes than it does to spend it on yet another dress or shirt.

People have been wearing animal prints for decades if not eons. After all, what can compete with conveying just a hint of our innate primal nature even as though we continue to move farther and farther away from these humble origins?

Nevertheless, it doesn't hurt to refresh this enduring classic with a a modern gray color scheme. 

Every week we feature a sustainable brand on our blog. This week's featured brand is Kordal Knitwear.

As the days keep getting shorter and nights keep getting colder, there's nothing better than curling up on the sofa with a warm beverage and a cozy sweater. Enter Kordal, a knitwear brand that uses natural fibers like wool, organic cotton and alpaca to make their fair trade knitwear. 

It's the only one hour show dedicated to a single brand and you know exactly what I'm talking about if you were one of the more than 15 million + that watched the Victoria's Secret Fashion show yesterday evening. The show has come a long way since it's humble beginnings twenty years ago when it was held at Plaza to a select crowd of fashion insiders and no TV simulcast.

I'm not a huge fan of designer collaborations with discount brands since the quality rarely tends to be up to scratch. What's the point of wearing Balmain for H&M if it doesn't feel like Balmain? Cheap fabric and shoddy construction are the hallmarks of fast fashion and collaboration or not, there is no escaping the fact that this is the only way fashion can be produced at rock bottom prices.

Every week we feature a sustainable brand on our blog. This week's featured brand is Angela & Roi.

It's not uncommon to have had a bad experience with products made from leather alternatives. After all, people having been making shoes, bags and countless other products from leather for good reason: it's a really durable raw material that only seems to get better with age. 

You can't run a marathon at a 100m race pace so it's not surprising that fast fashion, which these days requires designers to produce six or more collections a year, is starting to run out of steam. Speculation is rife that this is the reason that Raf Simons left Dior after three and a half years as creative director. 

Aside from the fact that I don't like boring clothes, I tend to go by instinct when I'm shopping. All I have to do is see something to know if I need to add it to my collection. And so it was with this suit, even though some would consider it too much of a good thing, I was only interested if I could have both the jacket and pants.