"Bridget Awosika": A Fashion Force to be Reckoned With

Bridget Awosika is now a household name in Nigeria. She has indeed become a formidable force: her concepts and designs are tried and true. I have observed her work in pictures. Every time I see a Nigerian celebrity (like Eku Edewor, Tiwa Savage, Genevieve Nnaji etc.) donning an Awosika outfit, I check it out. I've observed her growth in designs.

This evening, as I was scrolling through Bella Naija: the go-to website for classy Nigerian gossip (if gossip can be made classy), wedding photos and stories, career advice, hot topics etc., I was flabbergasted, positively surprised and proud of a Bridget Awosika piece. Please see below. When you look at it, it may seem like just another outfit, but it's not. It has creativity written all over it: the cut, the silhouette, the choice of color, the choice of fabric FOR GOODNESS SAKE!!

Bridget Awosika dress. Photo credit: Bella Naija

I am amazed. Absolutely positively amazed at her creation. Granted, I prefer it on the model than on Tiwa. But it still shouts "CREATIVE," feminine, chic to me, in both pictures. Sign me up. If it's not over my budget, I'd love to don it to an event. Like, say Music Meets Runway, this week in Lagos. Holla!

Spark Creations from Nigeria, Mozambique, Brazil

I was leafing through my Bazaar magazine as usual and stopped on a jewelry page. I sometimes get tired of seeing the "Le Vian"s and the predictable jewelry companies on the magazines. Forgive me!

I had watched an interview of Nigeria's Chris Aire on CNN Voices: a very inspiring story. If you know nothing about him, know that he is a king of blinged-up jewelry in LA. His kind of jewelry does not appeal to me: I have a different kind of style, but he definitely does his thing. Back to my story, I'm not surprised that I was taken by a jewelry page and seeing "Nigeria" this evening.

Well, the page that caused me to stop is a "Spark" jewelry ad: www.sparkcreations.com. I just visited their site and love what I see. To my taste. ;) If you would like to purchase a piece for me, feel free!

From solidgoldjewelers.net

From dantsjewelers.com

From khamisfinejewelers.com

From modernjewelers.com

From dantsjewelers.com

Don't you agree? ;)

Heat up your Style with Appropriately Paired Prints

I used to be very uncomfortable with pairing prints. It can seem like doing too much at once. Truthfully, when not worn right, it IS too much at once. For instance, polka dots and stripes combined. Very uncomfortable look for the eyes. Smart advice from some designer (Rachel Ray, I think): you should only pair prints that are related. For instance, a top that has white and blue horizontal stripes with a skirt that has white and red horizontal stripes. 

You can do lots with non-stripes too. See Camille Rowe in this photograph by Tommy Ton. It was displayed in Harper's Bazaar's Garden Party, December 2013. 

Mysterious Low Back Dresses

I wore a low back custom-made gold blouse to a friend's wedding. It was paired with an orange skirt and a wrapper on top. It was oh-so-cute. The low back is something mysterious and sexy. A bit of skin peeking out of somewhere unusual but decent is just slightly flirty. Not overly so. 

In Lancôme's ad for the "La vie est belle" perfume with Julia Roberts, the star is seen giving us her sweet All-American smile with only part of her face showing. But what's obvious is the bare back and gorgeous dress she dons. Sweet!

In Harper's Bazaar's The Extras Jewel commercial in the December 2013/January 2014 issue, the Bazaar model dons a contrasting (to Julia's dress) black low back dress in her photo. Doesn't the pose and the sly look just say "Mystery" to you?

Don't shy away from a low back dress especially if you have nice skin. It will help you play a little. ;)