NYC amfAR 2017 Best Dressed

I love how the UK Vogue magazine and the Standard UK newspaper show Zoe Kravitz's Versace dress as one of the first three amfAR event pictures on their website galleries. Zoe's dress absolutely blew me away, especially with that blonde hair. I could not help thinking of Khaleesi of Games of Thrones: the queen-to-be. It is a white dress, a snow-white dress. You know how I love that. It has a high slit, though on the side. You know how I love slits. She matched the jewels in the neckline of the dress with a sparkly pair of high-heeled sandals. [Exhaling] Need I say more? Zoe killed it. She absolutely killed it. I'm not about nipples seen through dresses but right now, I'm not even thinking about that. I just want to know when and where I can get a dress like that, sans boobies. All Hail Zoe's amfAR 2017 style.

Okay. Only a few other dresses caught my fancy. To be honest, most of the others seemed typical, much like designs we would have seen 5 or 10 years ago. I show you below, the dresses I fancy. You should not be surprised to see the black lace Elie Saab dress on Barbara on my list. I am all about black (like white) and about lace.

Do you disagree with my collection of the best? Pictures are from the Vogue UK website.

23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award

We recently witnessed the SAG Red Carpet looks. The looks ranged from fun to elegant to classy, but pay attention to the jewelry or lack thereof, in the outfits. While I am an advocate of going without a necklace if unsure of how to pair with an outfit, sometimes I'd rather you take a risk. Necklaces make a statement and show your personality or your mood while dressing. It reflects who you are. That being said, I just love Viola's necklace with her outfit. I enjoyed the other dresses posted here as well. All pictures are from the Gallery on the SAG website. Muah!

#TinselCharityBall My Picks

Hello hello!
I haven't written in a while. I won't bore you with the details of what I've been up to. I will, however, announce that I was moved to write again by one outfit on the red carpet of the Tinsel Charity Ball. The Ball took place last night, Thursday October 1 at the Oriental Hotel, Lagos. I attended vicariously through the internet. Haha.

The winning look (yawl know I like "different")... the look that inspired me to open up Blogger this evening, is... Waje's outfit. Truly, this is the most exquisite I've ever seen her. There were nice ball gowns, and enough skin at the ball (per the pictures on @BellaNaija). However, her outfit was absolutely unique, distinctive, rare.  You get my point. Purr over it here. Isn't she glowing? Reminds me of Taraji P. Henson in this picture. Love me some #blackandwhite. Classy, classic.

Waje @ #tinselcharityball; Photo credit: BellaNaija

Waje @msmodish; PHoto Credit: Instagram

Rukky Sanda's dress is appropriate for a ball. It fits her perfectly though I find her tattoo distracting, and takes away from the dress. You can tell I am not a fan of tattoos, but to each his/her own.

@rukkysanda #tinselcharityball ; Photo Credit: Instagram

Isio W. also looked great at the ball. I'm not sure I'm feeling the all-white for the ball though. A bit more color would have really popped especially with this outfit.

Isio @slimzzysteve @tinselcharityball; Photo credit: Instagram

Find other pictures on instagram and Bellanaija. Did you see any other outfits that made your jaw drop?

Oooh!! MET GALA Yo!!

Ok. I wasn't there and I sound all excited about it. Here's some history on the MET Gala you may not have known. It used to be called the Costume Institute Gala. Told you you didn't know. :) Hey if it's wrong info, blame Wiki, okay? It is an annual fundraiser to benefit the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in New York City. Creative to have turned this fundraiser into a total celebrity runway event.

I love checking out MET outfits and see who's most bold and still stylish. Here are a few outfits from Time website and my comments.

I like the creativity of Solange's Giles dress. I think she's totally gorgeous. I do hate though that it hides some of her figure. :( An A for uniqueness and B- for fitting.



Rihanna's outfit by a Chinese designer reminded me of Oscar de la Renta. Don't you agree? Different color but I'm most fascinated by her hairpiece. B+ for creativity and B- for fitting. I love that her legs were showing. ;) Thoughts?


Was that a neckpiece on Jennifer Lawrence with that dress? A definite No-No. C for uniqueness but B for fitting.


Katie Perry looked fierce... on fa-ya (fire). Haha. C+ for uniqueness and B for fitting. A D+ for "classiness" though. :-/


Helen Mirren's outfit is awesome. I love the red. (I love red.) She looks so vibrant. Love it love it. An A and an A!

MAJU 2015: Ready-to-Wear Collection

This is funny. I usually am unimpressed by ready-to-wear collections from up-and-coming Nigerian/African designers highlighted on BellaNaija, especially from African Fashion Week etc. And I'm not putting down "Made in Africa." Not at all. I am a HUGE advocate of African-made and African-designed outfits. Jewel by Lisa and Bridget Awosika designs are absolutely gorgey. It's just that sometimes, in a bid to be bold or unique, new designers go sooooo overboard with designs, that the outfits should be worn on tres-haute couture runways. You get that? A totally new division of haute-couture would have to be created to display some of the ridiculous and bizarre outfits I've seen. Haha. OK. Enough with the meanness...Or constructive criticism? :)

So, today, when I looked through MAJU's ready-to-wear collection, I was glad. I could totally see myself in the clothes. There was nothing superfluous about the outfits. I thought classic, classy, somewhat creative... The appropriate models were chosen for the shoot: a contrast between dark-skinned and light-skinned Africans, and how different they could look in the outfits.

Black surely looks different on light skin than it does on dark skin. Good play. A couple of pictures are below. Find others through this BellaNaija link.

Tania and Banke <BellaNaija>

Tania and Banke 2 <BellaNaija>

Tania and Banke 3 <BellaNaija>

RIP Mr. Camuto!

It was only a few years ago that I got my first Camuto blouse (even before I had his shoes or jewelry) and yet he was first known for foot wear. I loved the blouse when I saw it in the store because it was "free" (I still love it). A black sheer asymmetrical loose fit blouse. I've worn it three times since: once tucked in a tight short skirt on a night out with friends and twice with two different pairs of skinny white pants. I've always been complimented each time I wore it.

Around the time I bought my first Camuto object, I saw him on HSN, the shopping network. He was talking about his designs and I assumed he was a newcomer to the fashion industry... Well, he just did establish Camuto Group in 2001 (Wiki knowledge) but seemed to acquire lots of brand footwear licenses in a short amount of time. His business grew quickly: quite the hardworker it appears.

And then, on Jan 21 2015, I opened up my Facebook page to see "Vince Camuto dead at 78." Shocking, I must say. We bid you adieu, Vince. You've left a legacy. It will live on.

Courtesy: http://www.camutogroup.com/ceo 

A Vince Camuto Cape-Back Printed Blouse & Faux Suede Shorts... sold at macys.com

Vince Camuto Sequined Dress, sold at 6pm.com

Lovely as whoa Vince Camuto bracelet, sold at shoptheshoebox.com

Vince Camuto necklace (for that night out), sold at polyvore.com

Sisters at the 2014 British Fashion Awards

I wasn't at the British Fashion Awards but I, like most of us, partook of the event through pictures online. I got my fill on BellaNaija's Events page, with Rihanna starting out the "album." I must say she looks healthy and happy in most of her recent pictures. Regardless, I did not enjoy her ensemble: the loose tux. Though rer jewelry, hair, makeup and heels warmed my heart... her smile too of course.

Rihanna/Cara D.

 Her second outfit, sans the sheerness, was hotness. This is probably the after-party or pre-party.

Liya Kebede, whom I love from afar (I don't know her personally), and Naomi Harris wore outfits too Boho for my taste. OK to another event, not an award ceremony. See outfits here.

Kendall Jenner looked classy in a black and white jumpsuit.

Olivia Palermo's outfit rocked. A good mix of satin or silk and some sort of lace? Can't go wrong with those slits either.

Anne Kendrick's outfit is simple but gorgeous. It's an outfit almost any girl can wear and rock. The color of the dress is also mild and soothing.

In my opinion, Ashley Madekwe wore the tux better and fanicer than Ri-Ri. But then, when you are Rihanna, you can do almost anything you want in public. I'll end this post here. Holla!

Ebola-Free and Style-Intense

Most of the world was astonished when Nigeria was declared ebola-free within a few weeks of Case-0, the Liberian man who allegedly escaped quarantine in Liberia and entered Nigeria end of July. I had prayed intensely and fasted like a lot of people probably did. The country handled the situation impeccably. Their trace procedures were impressive and the method with which they broke the news to the few victims is laudable. I had never been more proud of the country. As many non-Americans have expressed, Nigeria handled ebola probably better than the US (Dallas specifically), where a patient provided data that pointed to ebola but was ignored and sent home. The patient unfortunately died while those he had seen for healthcare survived. But I digress  into politics and ignorance.

Life goes on as normal in Nigeria with the dreaded infectious disease behind us, prayerfully. As I reviewed pictures from the GTBank sponsored fashion event in the first week of November in Nigeria, I was  brought back to the memory of how Nigeria handled ebola...both the style on scene at the event and the eradication  (though very different), filled me with a similar kind of pride.

Nigeria was declared the largest economy in Africa some months ago. While a lot of its revenue is from oil and gas, lots of expenses for working class women are in the fashion industry. Nigerians like to look good and most of them know exactly how to do so. A few photos from the event are below. All courtesy of leading Nigerian lifestyle website BellaNaija.

Very lovely simple dress and nice shoes

Fun street style...reminds me of entertainer Patra 

Boys and their sleeveless shirts (and shorts though not here)

Very simple dress street style 

Those sandals!!! And the gorgeous dress/ skirt-set

Awesome look minus the hair

The new long look for men?

Simple dress

I love this white look though my mum is not taken with it

Another long look

A confident woman...need I say more?

A bold  guy

The uniqueness, boldness and creativity of this look excite me

Lace lace lace...gorg!!!

Another simple but nice street style

RIP to Fashion & Design Icon Oscar de la Renta

There is no student of fashion and style who does not know designer Oscar de la Renta. What most probably didn't know is that he was a native of the Dominican Republic. However for those who paid attention to his designs, you may have sensed the tropical (some would say African) touch in his clothing. The story of how he started: learning a year's worth of sewing and draping in a couple of weeks, is inspiring. He had raw talent and was very hardworking. That was pretty obvious. Fate surely shone on him as well. With his amazing history of dressing women in power, what more could he ask for? I have no idea what his personal and spiritual beliefs were, but I hope all was well-sorted in his spirit before he left this earth. May his soul rest in peace. We hope his successor Copping continues to give us awesome feminine cuts and outfits. Long live Oscar de la Renta designs. Some of his best are here. Images from Oscar's site, Getty Images (through NY Times), Wedding Inspirasi and other Google images.