ON SUNDAYS WE WEAR WHITE

Today's post is a hit and run, I am in the middle of preparing for crucial exams so am literary burning the midnight oil studying like crazy. A girl has got to grow her career so some sacrifices on leisure and finances have to be made.
So this is not really a whole white outfit, but most urban myths believe that plus size cannot do white or low back. Well this is an out inspo that you really can.

 

 This is my tired with the photographer face (I always forget to tuck in those annoying shoulder strings)

low back top is actually peplum bought on sale from HnM

Skirt-Primark 

Wedge Shoes- Clarks

PLEATED SKIRT

Can a plus size girl wear pleated high waste skirts? Oh yes you can. I have worn this skirt previously on this blog and its clear its a favourite item of mine. I honestly think pleated skirts are timeless items and they are always stylish and on trend. I wore this recently at an out of town work retreat; decent enough to wear in front of the boss but still comfortable enough. For some reason I have been loving shades of orange and peach recently, so you will be seeing more of that in future. Tell me what do think you think of this look?

T-Shirt-Mr. Price Nairobi

Shoes-Store 66 Nairobi

Skirt very very old- Primark UK

A BLACK DRESS AND CONFIDENCE

I have been thinking a lot about how to make this blog more meaningful. It's easy for me to write about clothes because I love fashion. But at the same time I have so much else going on in my life which mirrors similar experiences and life challenges that other women go through. So I have decided to start a black dress series, for various reasons one is I where lots of black (obviously) but black is such a timeless, ageless and trend surpassing colour and I think women are the same. I will be having black dress series just to share life and encouragement.

Today I start the black dress series with confidence as my conversation piece today and because this is something that affects us women so much. I have gone through quite severe low self esteem especially when I was younger I was a geek (still am) severely shy and am sure it's a challenge that so many of us go through. We are usually our worst enemies; critiquing our bodies and trying to achieve beauty standards that are so unachievable. I have been there too. Its interesting I have actually never been slim and of course the never ending struggle for weight loss and self acceptance. I am not sure what works for people but for me fashion is actually what made my confidence start growing. I discovered I had a natural knack for style. Eventually I was the go to person all my friends went to for style advice.

But the advice I would give my younger sisters, is don't sweat the small stuff. I promise it get's easier as you grow older. I love myself so much now with all my flaws curves and bumps. I think I AM PERFECT. I AM THE BEST VERSION OF ME. So live my life to the full and try to enjoy every minute of it. But if losing weight, or dressing up or hanging with friends is what makes you feel better about yourself do it. Just remember you are perfect and there will be no better version of you ever

 

RELAXED SUNDAYS

I love chilled and relaxed Sundays where I vegetate in the house the whole day and just as the sun is setting get out of the house to look for a sundowner and psyche myself for the week ahead. As you will probably notice my style is generally quite simple. With time, and as I have grown older my style has become more minimalist don't get me wrong I still love me some colour Am an African woman after all, but I find I need clothes which transcend trends and therefore stay in my wardrobe for a while. Black, grey beige, denims and whites basically neutral colours have the magic staying power.

I always feel for a plus size girl you always need to be careful about the proportions of the clothes you wear. For example this t-shirt dress is quite short but because it is loose with a high-low style it flatters without being to risqué

 

Dress Woolworths, Bag-Mango, Shoes- Zara

PLUS SIZE SHOPPING IN KENYA

Does Kenya have a plus size industry you would ask? And I would say yes and no. Yes because most African women tend to be on the curvier side with the vast majority being between size 12 –size 16. As result you have (and this is where my no comes in) an accidental plus size fashion industry because most Kenyan girls are generally curvy. So the plus size fashion industry in Kenya is not an industry per se, but it’s just how we are anatomically built and as a result almost everyone will buy plus size clothes seeing as plus size is any size from 12 and above. So how about the fewer number of women who are sizes 18 above, where would you go to buy clothes that suit your style and size:

Cheap

Well for cheap clothes, you can look no further than your nearest second hand stall. The most common second hand markets are Toi and Adams arcarde just off Ngong road. Here you will find lots of vendors with lots of cheap variety of second hand clothes many from various international brands and many quite new. You could also go to Gikomba where all the bales are opened; but this needs stamina and grit. When I was younger these were my usual haunts for cheap clothes and one of the best ways to spend an afternoon with girlfriends. Of course there are several second hand retailors dotted in various markets all over Nairobi and in Kenya. So put on your flat shoes and go grab a bargain

Cheap to Average
Your good ol' tailor. I think this is the most fun for me because I get into the creative process of designing what I want to wear, fabric choice, colour and style. My tailor Maurice is probably one of the best tailors I have ever met, constant fights on delays not withstanding. Tailors in Nairobi/Kenya tend to vary in price. If you are big girl and you see something in a shop not your size, don't despair, just look for a good tailor. The fabric shops I highly recommend are Memsaab in Westland's Nairobi (a bit pricey but a huge selection of the best fabrics you can imagine) and Nairobi textiles within City center down town.

Average

In the middle on Nairobi town are what are called exhibition stalls. With individual vendors renting small 6 by 6 glass stalls which are crammed with cheap Chinese imported clothes and shoes. I have to confess I am not a fan of exhibition stalls. I find they do not make for an enjoyable shopping experience what with vendors haggling for you, the excessive bargaining for over priced clothes and the quality of clothes is usually questionable (I stand corrected) however you could find some fashionable clothes here; I see many stylish women in beautiful body con dresses bought from exhibition stalls.

The other average shops are Mr. Price shops a South African brand located in most major malls in Nairobi. They carry quite a variety of trendy and hip clothes at surprisingly low prices. Up till recently they had a dedicated area for plus size shopping, however this was stopped as they felt that they were not getting as many plus size clients. I used to get my denim from here but not anymore which is disappointing

Expensive

Woolworths is another South African brand that is quite popular in Kenya. It has good quality clothes hence the higher prices. The other advantage with Woolworth’s is they have regular end of season sales with pretty low prices so look out for those. Woolworth’s is actually my favorite store in Kenya and this is because the clothes they stock appeal to my minimalist style. They have a wide variety of basics and beautiful denim. They do have a wide variety of plus size clothes and you will likely get good variety of plus size clothes in stock

Truworths is part of the same South African brand as Woolworth’s and Mr. Price is way more expensive for its sister store brand but with good reason. The clothes are really well made and the quality of fabric is superior. Sales unfortunately are not that often. But I love the Truworths store for various reasons. It is the one store that really has a good selection of plus size clothes. As opposed to many stall that will have a separate plus size section, Truworths will have same outfit from regular size to as large as size 24-26 which is amazing. I have without fail found my favorite denim pieces from this store

Dichotomy I must confess is a store I discovered very recently on my first visit to the newly opened Garden city mall. the store is beautifully and simply designed similar to luxury store you would find in fashion capitals of the world. I have not bought anything here yet, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this high end retail store has beautiful clothes in store up to size 20 and they can have your clothes made to order if the sizes are too small for you. How amazing is that. I will do a review of their clothes once I get something. The fabric used here is rich and luxurious. What makes me love this store so much is that it’s a Kenyan luxury store with clothes made locally in Kenya. If you of the buy Kenya build Kenya mentality, then this is the store for you

These are current shopping favourites. Tell me below if there is any place I should try looking for plus size clothes

BARCELONA

I was in Europe in the summer for work in Barcelona and I took advantage of my proximity to England to visit family and friends. Spain is so beautiful, Barcelona blew my mind away and the people are equally nice. Just watch out for the pick pockets. I was pick pocketed at the airport immediately after arriving, which made the start and the rest of my trip really challenging. But thanks to technology my family were able to send me money ASAP. So all was not entirely lost.

I took this photos on the bridge while walking to the Maremagnum mall found herein Barcelona city. It's a beautiful mall built on the Mediterranean and accessible via an opening bridge. So every so often pedestrian's have to wait on either side of the bridge to allow yachts to cross under the opening bridge. Barcelona is a shopping Mecca and Spanish brands like Zara, Mango and Stradivarius are found cheaper here. However since I was going to England after this I didn't do much shopping because I had luggage weight restrictions on the flight from Barcelona to England

My style in this post is simple and basic, summer in Spain is quite hot and humid so piling on the layers is really not advisable. Tell me what you think of this look.

Have a good week ahead

Flying over Cairo with a stunning sunrise younder

What am wearing: Boyfriend jeans and shoes- Truworths Kenya (old), White Tee-Mr. Price Kenya, Bag Woolworth's Kenya

NAIROBI WINTERS

I do not for the life of me know how to pose for blog photos. I always stand ramrod straight never sure what to do with my hands or am always caught unawares doing something random. Exhibit 1 above and 2 below

Poncho-Primark (UK), Boots Woolworths (currently on sale) Bag-Mango, Floppy hat-H&M, Long sleeved t-shirts- Mr. Price

Nairobi winters are a bit schizophrenic if you ask me, it will be freezing cold one minute and hot in the next. I wore this beautiful poncho (blanket....) that I bought in Primark on a recent trip to Europe for work. Its perfectly heavy for the cold but easy to shrug off or just drape on my shoulder when the temperatures warm up.
Happy Monday and the week ahead

TRAVEL DIARIES

So last week I did one of the craziest things. I work in a rural area and I just got a crazy craving for the big city (read Nairobi). I literally got into my vehicle and drove ALONE for 345km of horrible Kenyan roads to Nairobi. It was one of the most daring and best things I  have ever done. My parents were not amused, honestly when do we stop being our parents' babies LOL.  I did my Solo road trip with a beautiful music playlist and singing out loud most of the journey.

TRAVEL ESSENTIALS: I made a quick stop In Kericho (most beautiful place in Kenya) for a quick snack and a break from the drive. My cat eye sunglasses are from Zara. I got them in July on sale while on a trip to China.I checked online but they are sold out

WHAT I SAW: I love the tea plantations in Kericho. When I was a kid it would remind me of tennis lawn. I think it still does. This photo does not do justice the beauty of this place. Miles of green tea plantation as far as the eye can see

WHAT I WORE: Flat sandals with a golden band. I bought in woolworths in Yaya centre about a month ago. I checked last weekend and it was sold out but just check in the other branches in the malls in Nairobi and you might still find them in stock. I am in old tights I bought in primark a loooog time ago and a long loose HnM t-shirt that I got at HnM during my China trip in july

WHAT I BOUGHT: I bought some curios from a nice gentleman along the way. Would you believe there is a pizza inn at one of the view points facing mount longonot. I highly reccomend a drive out there. its about 60 km from Nairobi towards Nakuru. The air is crisp and its such a nice way to spend a beautiful day with your loved ones

Styling a striped skirt for the plus size girl

If you remember a few weeks ago I had a major rant about the state of retail fashion in Kenya. Well I decided to start doing something about the lack of clothes that I love or i can afford in the shops in Kenya.
I bought this beautiful striped fabric to make a skirt after obsessing about this skirt on blog here.

I have an amazing tailor who now understands that I am a slave driver about the quality of the tailoring of clothes. The Skirt had to be redone a couple of time to make it what I wanted. so here is the final results styled in different ways. Tell me what you think

Styled  with a denim shirt and belt with high brown wedges

 Red Kitten heels, statement neck lace i got from Woolworth's, red kitten heels from Angelo's

INTERIOR INSPIRATION

I will be redoing my apartment starting 2014. Its an old flat that was built in the 1970s or earlier so it has a lot of quirky details which I love. The main challenge with my flat is that the rooms are pretty small, so it will take a lot of creativity to make it stylish and livable for someone like me who tends to accumulate stuff.

 I am bookworm and a compulsive book buyer. Books are my one absolutely totally guilt free purchase. I don't think there is a bookshop that I can pass by without entering and buying a book. I buy about 4 to 6 books every month so by the end of the year i have anything from 50 to 60 books. Also I never give away my books. For me books are like my best friends. Weird thing about me I sleep with about two books on my bed every night and if I am stressed the number of books on my bed increase ;-///. So basically my house must have adequate shelf space to accommodate lots of books.

So I have been looking for some inspiration for my house and how to redo it. Its going to be a long term project probably a year or more

Here is some of my inspiration
This is my ideal room; quirky, eclectic and cosy

I see me in a corner of my bedroom with a cosy am chair and lots of books around me

My room is pretty small so I Love how this room has been designed

 sigghhhhh!!!!!!! dont you just love this room. Isn't it beautiful?

This is just so beautiful; I can see my guest room looking like this

 I got this tips for a small bedroom from pinterest

I will keep looking for more ideas over the next few months before i start my project

MY FRUSTRATION WITH THE KENYAN FASHION RETAIL SCENE: A RANT

Almost anyone who knows me even for a week knows I love clothes. I love the fashion industry I love fabric. I read about fashion every day almost throughout the day. I read fashion blogs both Kenyan and Internationally. I read about fabric design. Last week i went to woolworths to see what they have in store. I usually wait for sales so that i can be able to afford the clothes they stock. Unluckily for me there was no sale on this particular occasion. I just got so frustrated and annoyed at the prices of the clothes. Some of the prices in this shop are completely unaffordable for most people. It would be so much easier for them to reduce the prices and have more clients that have this ridiculous prices that keep away a big percentage of would be customers.

Then yesterday while walking in town with a friend of mine I saw a street hawker selling shoes on the streets. One of the shoes that he was selling were the exact same shoe that i had bought from Primark at dirt cheap price on sale but the original price was still quite cheap. For those who might be have been to the UK, Primark sells ATMOSPHERE branded clothes at the cheapest price you can imagine. But this bugger was selling the ratty second hand shoe for a higher price than its original retail price. I happened to have the shoe in my vehicle and it had the price sticker still on the bottom of the shoe and i showed him the original price and the sale price that were on the shoe. Man!!!!! I was so annoyed. It is so frustrating getting good quality well priced and affordable clothes in this country.

It is also so annoying that we have destroyed our cotton industry and as a result we have had to move on to second hand clothes as a staple. Infact Kenya has the largest second hand clothes market in sub-saharan Africa, heck probably the whole of the global south. Because second hand clothes have become such a staple, it has developed a whole multi-million industry market that is actually fuelling economic growth. But at what expense. There is a farmer in Nyanza who cannot feed and educate his children because the cotton industry died. On my way to work every morning I pass by the shell of the once vibrant KICOMI fabric company. I think it is time we made a conscious effort to start reviving our fabric industry. This are the things that will help build our fashion industry in a sustainable manner.Create jobs not just for farmers but for fabric factories, designers, models, tailors and so many other side industries that develop from this. and the beauty of this is that it is sustainable and long lasting and actually a benefit to the economy of our country

NB: If you go buy second hand clothes and the brand reads atmosphere please make sure you bargain like your life depends on it because anything over kshs 500 is probably double its original cost

ANKARA WAISTBAND

Hey Everyone,
So if you if you read my last post i uploaded a photo of a skirt that i had modified by putting and Ankara print waist band. Tell me what you think of the final out come. I quite like it and I think its a simple and timeless look. Its amazing the things you can do with an old skirt that is hanging around the house. You will be seeing a lot more of this- me modifying clothes and giving them an african touch or just wearing more Ankara but in a way that reflects a modern African woman.
Have a lovely weekend

WHY I FEAR BLOGGING

I have to confess I loved the idea of starting a blog but truth be told taking photos of myself and uploading them on my blog really takes me out of my comfort zone. I am such a private person and I am so uncomfortable with putting myself out there. And having a fashion blog is definitely a big way of putting myself out there.  In addition my job is crazy busy, I am a doctor and I work in research so am constantly on the road to rural areas so sometimes it can get a bit difficult to get time or opportunities to take photos of outfits but this not withstanding I am determined to make it work this time. I always feel its a waste to put on something crazy interesting and unique and not chronicle it or share with people. I have been receiving constant encouragement from some of my dear friends to restart my blog makes me feel kind of guilty about not making my blog active.

Of late I have been reading many blogs on women who are plus size like me and I feel am getting confidence and motivation to start uploading and posting photos. Please check out blogs like

·      http://www.thenaturalfashionista.com

·      http://girlwithcurves.com

·      http://kenyalfashionblog.com

For me this girls are so amazing and so inspirational. They definitely challenge me to try to new things and to be more daring in my style. I will be highlighting others with time. 

With those few(ish) words, here are a few things that I have been upto and wearing over the last few weeks (the ones that I managed to take photos of.

You will notice my style has taken quite a turn. I am now wearing more vintage and I scour flea markets looking for skirts that old lady would envy long and conservative looking but I try to give them an edge and I always love the final results (more photos soon).

I love this look I think its so simple and elegant. The red belt gives the look a pop of colour

 Brogues at the rugby game
I went for a rugby match a few weeks ago and it rained like crazy and was so muddy luckily i had my faithful oxford brogues to save the day

Here I am with a few girl friends at the games. wearing a simple black dress and a cropped denim jacket

Like I said earlier my style has been changing over the last few months. I am wearing more skirts but making the look more me (if that makes sense at all). I bought this Zara skirt at the flea market and decided to add an african print at the waist band (more photos to come). What do you think of this look