She's got some gall

Sticks and stones, pins and needles

Dress & waistcoat - YDE

Belt - mom's

Bag - The Lot

Platforms - vintage

Wow, what a couple of weeks. You might have noticed my absence from blogging. Where do I begin? Sadly, I had to put my dog down recently and have been encountering tons of bad news from friends and family too. It seems as if nothing is going right for anybody I know. I'm an optimist but during times like these, it gets tough. Life happens and there's no stopping or planning it! A few weeks ago I blogged about a recent bout of food poisoning but I believe I was mistaken. 

In the early hours of the morning on 1 May, I woke up from unbearable pain in my upper abdomen. After hours of suffering through the night and being sick, I felt almost as if I couldn't breathe. I had sharp, tight pain in the entire right side of my torso expanding to my back. My chest ached, I didn't want to talk and I felt like I was about to collapse from pain. My family has a history of heart problems so my mother drove me to an emergency room. I can barely remember talking to the nurses and doctors but I do recall that they had trouble finding my veins since I was dehydrated so I was poked with needles on both of my arms until I began twitching as the fluid in the IV started to enter my bloodstream. Pretty much felt like I was Harry Goldfarb, the bruises afterwards wouldn't argue.

I slept a few hours and then went in for an ultrasound. As it turns out I had suffered a gallstone attack which has been said by some to be more painful than childbirth. Unfortunately I had a large gallstone in the neck of my gallbladder so they had to remove the entire organ. Apparently I was lucky to have the attack instead of having stones displaced into my main bile ducts. Men and women at every age face gallstone complications and end up in ICU and in emergency surgery. So this whole thing really sucked. The last thing I felt like was being poked with more needles and having to stay in the hospital overnight. After I was diagnosed with gallstones I realized that I have been having similar mild attacks (mistaken food poisoning) for a while and wrote it off. If you experience crippling pains in your right side as well as bloating and nausea, please get it checked out as soon as possible! Go for ultrasounds, one doctor told me they sometimes miss stones on X-rays. It turns out that my 17mm stone (bigger than a whisper/malteser sheesh!) has probably been growing in my gallbladder for about a decade. I have finally somewhat recovered from my operation, so far so good. If I didn't remove the organ, I would have only had more attacks or liver and pancreas problems so it's just one of those things you have to do.

One minute you're enjoying a lovely long weekend by a fireplace and the next you're in the emergency room! Life is too short so enjoy the hell out of it.

Basics Fashion Management: Concept To Customer

I've been devouring books lately. Recently I read one of the books belonging to the Avabooks Basics series; Fashion Management 01: Concept to Customer by Virginia Grose. It explores the intricate process of design from imagining all the way to established brand. It specifically examines key steps like concept, product development, retail strategy, the supply chain and branding. After reading and returning to it, I think this should be a textbook given to every fashion student.

Concept To Customer uses modern case studies and includes interviews from fashion gurus to establish a thorough understanding of each phase of development. I've been planning a commercial line for a while now and this book gave me amazing insight. Even when you eat, sleep and breathe fashion, there's always new information to consider and so many spheres within, not to mention the knowledge you might have forgotten! This book serves as a great resource for any fashion employee in the different departments as it aptly demonstrates what a well-oiled symbiotic machine the industry is. It's always wise to be aware of how one's own position fits into the ecosystem of one's chosen ambitions. There's always room to adapt to a new role, fashion will never be obsolete as it continually evolves and remains a fast-growing industry. 

I enjoyed the examples in Concept to Customer because everything is helpful and easy to follow, no verbosity in sight. I especially responded to the case studies examined in every section, they drive home and expand on the information gathered in the chapter by matching it to a relevant company; the focus on Topshop was my favorite. I can speak for myself and say this book will be an important reference guide in my ongoing journey though fashion. The bottom line is, Concept To Customer is a fast read that contains a goldmine of information for a novice and holds important considerations for the professional. I would love to check out the other books within Avabooks Basics series, especially the Fashion Design one! Check out their website http://www.avabooks.com/ to see their other specialist books.

Sass Diva

This post is long overdue, pretty much every accessory I wear is from Sass Diva. I have way too many but I always keep going back for more! Addicted, obsessed, you name it - I need a Diva intervention. It's not just me, whenever I go to an event and the conversation turns to accessories we all talk about how much we love their stuff. They get new stock in all the time and they're always bang on trend. Whatever you're looking for, Diva has your back; when I was searching hopelessly for rosaries, Diva was there. When I wanted to invest in a harness or an anklet, they had them. I don't even want to know how much I've spent since Sass Diva came to our shores! They're going to have to put my photo up in their stores and tell people not to let me in, hehe.

So these are my latest buys, I'm really into piling on bracelets and mixing metallic with neon, what are your must-haves at the moment?

Disposable Camera Diary

Thought I would share a few pics from the past couple of weeks. Lately I've been severely interested in disposable cameras but they're getting difficult to find. It's very fun to get the film developed, I have two more waiting in my bag! It seems as if Cape Town really does have one season, there's a been few rainy days (which are still spent in the pool) but it's been unusually hot for the middle of April. Quite an awesome place we live in!

 

I'm super exhausted and yet another week is already filled before it has begun, haha. I kind of love it but sometimes you do that too much and end up spending a weekend with the flu. I recently suffered a bout of food poisoning. Sometimes your body just takes decision making away from you. Gotta roll with it, I guess. Have a wild weekend everyone!

Fashion illustration

A while ago I started a Tumblr dedicated to compiling and archiving as many fashion illustrations as possible. I just remember being at college and wishing I had more references so I could study tons of different techniques and styles. So now I spend most Sundays managing Fashion-Illustrations, answering questions and publishing submissions. I really like the online fashion community, everyone is so positive and creative. Two lovely artists even drew these images from my blog. You can click on the images to check out Rebekah and Crow The Painter for more beautiful art. 

Nine Inch Nails

 Pic of my nails by Bryn De Kocks

Ok here's the sitch, we're talking about nails. I love nails because I love details and nails have finally started to get really exciting. I remember growing up in the 90s, flipping through teen magazines seeing complete editorials about nails. There were the mix and match ones; alternating two contrasting colours on different nails, there were rhinestones applied to Y2K metallic nails and there was the black-tipped take on the french manicure. I remember seeing some MTV interview with Pink where she had corset-ribbon nail art going on and I was hooked. People started to get belly piercings but I wanted nail piercings...where do you get nail piercings in South Africa? I don't know so I had to attempt it myself. It wasn't pretty, my nails were never long enough so the old necklace loops I used worked one time but they kept falling out. Long story short I spent many nights trying to paint and glue things onto my cuticles but it was a MESS. 

Now with Minx, nails kits, Shellac, stickers, magnetic nail polish and Kawaii nail images making the rounds on the internet, nails have never had such a vast array of options. It's like the 20s for flappers except for nails - only, I still think a corset nail would be amazing and flappers threw their girdles in fires and drove away on motorcycles. Don't quote me on that. Oh actually you can, I just googled "flappers on motorcycles" - it's legit. Since we're talking nails, we have to talk rings to set the look off. I quite like the idea of having crazy nails and pairing them with less busy jewelry, something like the silver rings from My Jewelry Box. Ghetto nails with a classic twist. I'm into it. So which nail trends are you favorite? I think the velvet ones are amazing! Oh I am a total Trent Reznor fan if you were wondering, And All That Could Have Been was my spirit animal in high school.

Puma Wilderness Collection

Last month Puma launched the Puma Wilderness Collection endorsed by Fairtrade in Due South Stores. The collection is a line of apparel, footwear and accessories inspired by the landscape and climate of Africa. It's primarily sourced and produced in Africa using sustainable materials and has a worn, bushwhacked look and feel that addresses the element of heat.

81% of the apparel styles of the PUMA Wilderness Collection use Fairtrade cotton, providing opportunities for small-scale farmers, while also promoting sustainable developments. Fairtrade creates more prospects for farming communities who have been economically disadvantaged or marginalized by the conventional trading system and has become the leading certification system for sustainability and poverty alleviation.

Selected styles from The PUMA Wilderness collection are available in Canal Walk, Sandton, Clearwater, Maerua Mall, Centurion, Rustenburg and Melrose Arch Duesouth stores. The collection will also retail in 16 different countries as well as on www.puma.com.