DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH

La ShMood

Hey everyone,

Tarina is back with a new post!! Yay!!!!!!

This look was most definitely inspired by the 90s. You can see a bit of Britney/Justin's power couple all denim look at the AMAs in 2001 which was 15 years ago. (Is anyone feeling a little old?!)  I also did the classic R'n'B singers' dark brown lips. However to give it a modern twist I wore my baby blue timberlands instead of the classic tan colour as well as wearing my distressed denim jacket off the shoulder- which is the go-to style for every off duty celeb look apparently...I'm looking at you Rihanna. 

The denim choker is from La Moda and that is why I decided to name this post "La ShMood" because this denim choker gives me SHMOOODDSSS.

If you are not aware of what Shmood means, I have a little too much enthusiasm to put a definition here for you which I sourced from Urban Dictionary to perfectly explain - Shmood

Basically mood with the Sh sound the "Sh" before words trend came from Bobby Shmurda & his crew (GS9) like Shmoney.

For further expansion on the term, please click here

Urban Dictionary is LIT! (just saying)

But on a serious note I feel like I never give you guys any close ups of my outfits or makeup so here it is..

Choker: LAMODA

Jeans Jacket: Thrift Store

Jeans: Topshop

Thanks for reading! xx

Bruh My Fade's Better Than Yours

Thanai is back!....and yes with short hair!

This post title is a response to anyone with an opinion that a girl has to look a certain way to be liked or to be taken seriously..especially to the opposite sex. So to any guy/girl..specifically guy.. who is reading this post and has any negative thoughts as to why I have cut my hair or have automatically been given the impression of a stereotype in regards to my gender, sexuality.. BLAH BLAH BLAH

Comment below and I'll happily give you my barber's number cuzzzzz  Bruh My Fade Is Better Than Yours!

Now that is clear, let's get into the W's - What, Why, When, Who?

I cut the mane on the 24th September which was London Fashion Weekender. Now, I have been wanting to cut my hair for the last two years but for some reason I just couldn't bring myself to do it. People told me I looked better with long hair. And I got this disgusting stigma in my head that I would never look beautiful with minimal hair, my hair was my beauty. Until one day, I came to an epiphany from one of my idols India Arie - I am NOT my Hair! As well as that reason, my hair was damaged for a while and I kept convincing myself it wasn't because it had come such a long way. Nevertheless, it was broken..kind of like my self love and confidence.

Us girls, in particularly in my case, us Darker Skinned girls struggle to find our beauty as we are told we can't wear certain things or look a certain way because our skin tone won't allow it. We are suppose to accept that we will never be as beautiful as our lighter skin tones. And then obviously we are pressured as black women to conform the kinks in our Fros to straight wavier textures by the way of creamy crack (relaxer).

So I woke up one day and said NO.

NO I do not want my life to be governed by my hair.

NO I do not want to conform to what society deems a girl should look like or what beauty is.

I define beauty.

I came to realisation that my hair doesn't showcase the person I am inside. And I would like to think I'm a pretty darn good person..SOMETIMES!

I took myself down to Cut Throat Barbers in Peckham...yes Peckham! Although this barbers was quite pricey in comparison to the normal barbers on the highstreet, I really appreciated the experience especially for my first time going to a barbers to get my hair cut. I was met by Steve who took my coat, sat me in the chair, I was offered a drink and then he consulted me on what I wanted to do with my hair. He really put me at ease and took time detangling my mane. He shaped my fro and went through the different levels I could go to on the sides and back of my hair. When I saw my hair fall to the floor, I wasn't said but I got a burst of excitement. I was relieved to get rid of it. I never felt so confident. So I paid, strolled home - not caring who saw me. Why? Because I was redefining my beauty.

So that is my story! Kinks & All! 

I hope I have empowered all you women out there. Whether it is cutting your hair short or any other change, embrace it. And if somebody has something to say, send them my way!

Until Next Time xx

LFW

So now that we're finally in October I think we can finally begrudgingly admit that summer is over!! I always have a mixture of emotions when the end of summer comes  because, on the one hand, I get to layer up and where massive sweaters and fur coats and be cozy. But on the other hand it's always dark, cold and wet and wearing nice clothes and looking presentable is the last thing that I want to think about. 

But anyway for now it's not too cold so I'm mostly excited for Autumn/Winter season. So this post is all about the trends of the AW16 season. We recently attended London Fashion Weekend for the first time-we're not quite prestige enough for London Fashion Week. I think it was a good experience and I think if you like shopping for designer items it's the perfect place for you. But as you guys know I'm more into charity shops than designer boutiques so for me the most enjoyable bit was the trend catwalk. 

The show itself was quite short but I did love the pieces featured and fashion shows are always exciting for me. There were 3 trends that the catwalk showcased and they were 'velvet affair', 'winter florals' and 'New Look Lace'. In the next couple posts we're gonna go into these trends in depth. But for now we're just gonna tell you about the trends that we really liked. 

Tarina- My favorite trend was the winter florals. I generally hate floral fabrics because they're too feminine and bright for me but this A/W trend pairs florals with a much darker undertone than usual and I love it! 

Thanai- My favorite trend was 'A Velvet Affair'. I'm in love with the textures and versatility of the fabric. It goes with almost anything and gives quite a grungy but sleek look that you can dress up or down.

The outfits we wore...

         

Outfit Details

Jacket: Vintage

Dress: Boohoo

Boots: Ego

Choker: Asos

Earrings: Asos

Outfit Details

Jacket: East End Thrift Store

Dress: Missguided

Boots: Public Desire

Earrings: Asos

Bag: Charity Shop

Style Steal: Kylie Jenner

Hey everyone,

This outfit post is  inspired by someone we all know and might love or hate, Kylie Jenner. I'm sure we can all agree that when it comes to style, few do it better than her. So of course this being a fashion blog her name was bound to come up.

I can't remember where I first saw this picture of Kylie in a fringe belt around a black jumpsuit- probably during one of my many procrastinating internet browsing sessions- but I do know that when I first saw it I wasn't sure if it was a style do or don't. Of course Kylie looked gorgeous in it  but could us 'common folk' pull it off as well? So hopefully once a month I'm going to try a style that has been worn by a celebrity past or present and see if it's too crazy or extravagant to be worn by the everyday fashion enthusiast.

Now let's get onto my outfit for this post.

One of my favourite colours is black so for me there is nothing more satisfying than an all black outfit, however I do like to add different textures and layers so it's a little more interesting. With this outfit I liked the juxtaposition between the smooth texture of the leather skirt and the bumpy texture of the knitted turtleneck crop top. The fringe skirt in my opinion works better with a skirt than trousers as it adds different lengths to the skirt.

Overall this fringe belt is so much fun to wear and photographs so well with all the movement it has. I would definitely recommend buying one or making your own.

Top: Missguided

Skirt: PLT

Shoes: Primark 

Suit UP - Part 2

Hi guys, this post is all about Tailoring and Pinstripes! We got this amazing jumpsuit from Boohoo which looked so smart and stylish. We thought it would be the perfect staple piece for a day to night look if you had to work during the day and had to go out after in the evening. The wide leg trousers and the pinstripes give the jumpsuit it's business look but the bralet attached at the top gives the jumpsuit it's edgy and casual feel.

On a side note and a little #BTS (behind the scenes) for you guys- I wasn't actually meant to be wearing this look, Thanai got the jumpsuit for one of her looks but on the day of the shoot was too ill to wear it so I had to quickly do a look for it, however luckily for me this jumpsuit looks great when just worn on its own so thanks Thanai!

I hope you guys find this outfit as aesthetically pleasing as I do!

Jumpsuit: Boohoo

Shoes: Primark