Out and About - Portobello Market

Three months ago, I was walking around the Portobello Market in London and bumped into the delightful pop up shop of ceramics and home ware designer, Keith Brymer Jones and after getting treated to a complimentary hand massage (pleasure first, people) , I went a little ceramics crazy. 

                            
                                  I put some dried lavender, thyme sprigs, rosemary and Moroccan mixed herbs in mine.

Perfect for my Rolling Stones + Tea loving husband

               

My absolute favorite thing from this well thought out and beautifully designed line is the the Pomegranate, Rose Petal and Casis votive. The fragrance is so clean and not all cheap or cloying. It just brings warmth and the scents of summer to my entire living room. As an unexpected bonus, the word "light" is inlaid so it shows as the candle burns down. 

I'm planning to turn the empty jar into a vase for my office desk, so hurrah for multiple use beauty. 

DVF.... Oh how I love thee !

Today,  I took another step towards becoming "that Mom". You know, the one you roll your eyes at and tell your friends that you will never, ever upon pain of death become. Yes, I plan to wear matching outfits with my toddler daughter, gulp!

Look, don't judge me. What's cuter than a stylish mother - daughter duo in complementary skinny jeans and Uggs? I haven't actually done that yet, I'm waiting till she doesn't outgrow things every other month. But the new Gap Collection by DVF is calling me like baked goods to an Atkins devotee.  Feast your eyes, mortals !

And my little one and I will be wearing this, sitting outside and enjoying the summer:

Its selling out like mad, so I better get shopping pronto !

Africa Fashion Week 2012 - Lagos, Nigeria

Last week, a trong of talented African designers converged on Lagos, Nigeria to be part of the 2012 Arise Fashion Week.  I couldn't be there but my fashionista friend, Nellie had front row seats to the top shows and managed to get a few somewhat murky blackberry shots (which I won't be using here) of the amazing creations. African design was well represented in a large range from well established names like Ozwald Boateng and Tiffany Amber ( who had Alex Wek walking in her show ) to the virtually unknown such as Tsemaye Binitie and Maki Oh.

Here are a few of my favourite looks courtesy of Bella Naija blog.



Clan



Maki -Oh

Tsemaye Binitie

Tsemaye Binitie

Tiffany Amber

Tiffany Amber

And here is my favorite attendee look. I think she looks fabulous from head to toe. Particularly loving the mix of colours in the rafia fabric and the addition of grey (or is that silver ) in the handbag.

The top five designers will be showing  at the Arise Show at the New York Fashion Week in September 2012. I really hope I can work out my schedule to be at the shows... Good job, guys.