Tag: johannesburg style

Outfits, Uncategorized

Still in Winter but yearning for Spring

by s.a.b1 Comment on Still in Winter but yearning for Spring

Here we are… still in lockdown but with harder restrictions than a week ago, and still very much in Winter: a bitter wind has joined the frozen temperatures meaning my habit of wearing bare legs with skirts and dresses even during the cold months will have to wait a little more. In truth, I’m getting a little bored of my usual working from home attire, especially as it means I’ve not worn any of my more formal clothes… That said, this week I received a few jackets I had ordered in London, and then my lovely seamstress delivered a few of my new pieces, including a copy of my favourite tiered dress in a more wintry fabric. And suddenly I was able to find my outfit mojo again.

First, a word on my jacket, by MiaGiacca… It is all 100% handmade by the beautiful Maja, who one day decided to eschew fast fashion and create beautiful pieces that look elegant and timeless no matter what you match them with. We exchanged a few messages on Instagram after I found her and agreed on the tweed, cut and chain trim (also handmade…) and after a few weeks my gorgeous jacket was delivered in London, waiting to be redispatched to me here… The jacket is not only gorgeous it’s also super light and exactly at my measurements, meaning the fit is perfect. I will be coming back to Maja for more and in the meanwhile I think it could be fun to do a post of how I can style it in more or less formal ways…

The dress is a replica of one of my absolute favourite white dresses (I realised by digging it out to take it to my seamstress to copy that I do own quite a few white dresses) in a lightweight checked fabric I found in one of my recent outings to the fabric store… The shape is oversized with exaggerated tiers, something I love as it feels very modern and unstuffy. Lightweight fabrics are perfect for South African winters because you can layer them and not feel too warm in the midday sun.

If you ever want to elevate a casual look, do it with accessories. That is why I love shoes and bags so much. With a tote and a pair of Stan Smiths this would be a perfect relaxed outfit, here I added a pair of my favourite slingbacks (they truly are my favourites: they are comfortable and chic, and in my view when you find a pair of shoes you love so much it’s totally justified to have them in various colour combinations…) and my beautiful little Coco Handle, both by Chanel.

There you have it… a look that wants to be for Spring but works for the freezing temperatures we’ve been having of late. I hope you like it.

With love, S.

Outfits

All dressed up and nowhere to go

by s.a.b1 Comment on All dressed up and nowhere to go

In today’s news, it seems I have become that woman in Johannesburg who visits her wardrobe to pull up an outfit, only to walk up to the garage door and coax Hubby Dearest into taking modelling pictures. Am I a model? No. Am I selling any of the pieces I’m wearing? No. I am just another bored fashionista in lockdown, dying to wear some beautiful things and go out… Oh well. For today the garage door will do.

I’ve been scrolling a lot of fashion news feeds recently (another side effect of 2020, the year of isolation), and it seems shackets are the piece of the season. It’s hilarious because I’ve owned plenty of shackets for years, like this camo one from Pull & Bear, but apparently they seem to be having a moment.

What is a shacket? A shacket is quite simply, a shirt and a jacket in one. Think of it as having a classic shirt silhouette with buttoned pockets (usually at the chest but not necessarily, god knows I for one don’t need more attention drawn to that part of my anatomy…) and a buttoned front. The material is usually wool, felt, or strong twill so you can quite easily wear it as a jacket. Needless to say, whilst we’re well into Autumn here, there is still no need for the wool ones. Maybe in July, when we hit week 14 of the lockdown and I’m posing by the treehouse… I may even try a lumberjack look for some fun, watch this space. 

You can wear shackets over dresses, jeans, on safari, out and about for brunch, or, like me, working from home over my most comfortable pair of khaki culottes (basically these culottes are a somewhat elegant way of wearing elasticated-waist trousers with absolutely no tug anywhere around the leg seeing as they are super roomy…) I accessorized for the photo with my Zara kitten heels and my Chanel small classic bag from the Paris Cuba collection, which I promise myself I will wear more when they let me out.

There you have it, another isolation outfit… still not wearing the PJs but perhaps next week as I ordered two beautiful ones in Liberty prints from my lovely seamstress, and they would look amazing with pink sandals…

With love, S.

Outfits

Working from home… again

by s.a.b2 Comments on Working from home… again

It’s getting colder here in Johannesburg… and I’m starting to sympathise with that colleague of mine who was confessing with glee that she was very happy to work all day in her PJs (see, I told you I’d slowly get there, I’m not quite there yet, but soon, I’m sure), especially as I just heard our office would remain closed for another four weeks at the least… That’s a lot of home-based work outfits for me to pull together.

I found this knitted dress during last week-end’s closet clear-out, it was hiding under some (many) jumpers… It’s from Mango, which pretends it delivers in South Africa: in reality it still ships your orders from Spain and you get wacked with a major duty invoice if you’re not careful, I learned the hard way…

I’ve been wearing trousers most days since lockdown so this is a nice change. In all honesty this feels very close to wearing PJs at work… After all the knit texture is super comfortable, very unlike the more structured shapes I often wear in the office, and this outfit took exactly five seconds to pull together. I am however wearing Spanx-like undies, for obvious reasons (try wearing knit fabrics over lacy lingerie and get back to me), does that redeem me?

I did make an effort with the accessories (pretty much like my colleague of the PJs: she puts a nice necklace on top of a sweatshirt and there you have it, dressed) with my favourite Hermès CSGM, a design called A Cheval Sur Mon Carré (it’s over ten years old, is at the top of many H fan’s grail list, and yet I scored in a sale!), a few fun pearl earrings from Samira 13, and my favourite Chanel slingbacks, which would need to be replaced at this point after three years of traipsing the streets of many cities the world over, if only Chanel would re-issue this very classic grey flannel combo instead of issuing some pretty garish colourways…

Watch this space, at this rate it’s very probably I’ll soon be wearing something very casual indeed to get me through my daily video call marathons, and when I do, I’ll be sure to document it.

With love, S.

Outfits, Uncategorized

I love a denim jumpsuit

by s.a.b2 Comments on I love a denim jumpsuit

The fact that I adore jumpsuits and own multiple versions (linen, wrapped, zipped, work-friendly, beach-friendly…) is odd, seeing as the look, done wrong, can make anyone look like a toddler in a babygro. It actually depends on how you style them, as each different type of jumpsuit has the potential to look amazing but you need to thread cautiously: a boiler suit is not very flattering with trainers, but add fabulous sandals and you’re in Studio 54 territory, a jumpsuit with palazzo legs absolutely requires heels 12cm and higher, unless of course you the the gorgeous legs of a giraffe (if that’s the case I still love you, but please don’t rub it in by commenting just that) etc… That said, there is one thing jumpsuits are bad, even horrible, for across the board: going to the bathroom; the idea of sitting half naked trying not to let the sleeves droop on the slightly damp floor in a restaurant’s loo just because I needed a tinkle is, ahem, not how I saw my glamourous self move through life. My advice: drink little. Once you are able to see past these trappings, you soon realise that a jumpsuit is actually the perfect hybrid between a dress and trousers.

Like a dress, a jumpsuit removes the need to think through matching separates, it’s a perfect one piece outfit and it can be accessorized up or down depending on the occasion. But, like trousers, a jumpsuit is a little more practical and easy to maneuver than a dress. A denim jumpsuit is the most versatile of pieces, it works for all seasons and this one, by Rebecca Taylor, is my current favourite; the fact it makes my waist look quite trim may have something to do with it… It also looks quite neat underneath an cable knit on chillier days (not that I’m seeing many of these now that I live in sunny South Africa).

The simplicity of a jumpsuit means you only need shoes and a bag and you’re ready to go…  in this case I was going out for one of my rare outings in lockdown, for some groceries, so everything was quite pared down. A canvas tote for the groceries, some easy flats (with the animal print detail, I have standards, you know), sunnies, and there I went. I obviously prefer when I dress it up a little with strappy heels and a fabulous H handbag, alas these days it’s all about simpler and easier… But I promise, I will post some more interesting outfits very soon.

What do you think…. denim jumpsuits: are you a fan or that’s not a trend for you?

Love, S.