Fashion!

 

Dinner Party Outfit 
 

I am a very imaginative and visual person and I’m good at visualising ideas, dreams and the completion of goals. When considering or planning an outfit for an event, I usually envision various items of clothes in my mind. I make a mental run-through of my favourite clothes, jewellery and make-up and start mentally pairing outfits together.

​

The Event:  I wore this outfit (please scroll down) to a dinner party. I enjoy wearing more tighter fitting clothes but on this occasion, I wanted a free flowing dress so that I could sit and move around comfortably and not feel constrained when eating. I wanted to exude an air of relaxed glamour: to give off an air of a relaxed Lady of the Manor.

​

My Outfit: I wore a red flowing dress with a yellow shirt over it; cowrie shell earrings and a cowrie shell necklace with a red flower broach on the pocket of the yellow shirt.

​

Concept:  For this event, I wanted to feel like an African-Caribbean Princess relaxing on a Sunday.

​

The vibe I was going for: I would describe this outfit as having a free-flowing, romantic Afrocentric vibe.

​

Colours: Originally, I didn’t have a concrete plan of what I would wear with the red dress, but I knew I wanted a more vibrant colour to make the red dress louder. I imagine colours as partners dancing with each other – each colour making the other brighter and making the other stand out even more. I was eager to add a colour to make the red dress stand out and bring some playfulness to my outfit - a colour that would energise the red dress. I thought about what could make the red dress more vibrant and then my yellow shirt came to mind.

​

When wearing different colours together, the colours should be having a conversation with each other . . . even if the conversation is a loud one and the colours sometimes speak over each other. There may be some clash or discord, but the colours must all come together to create some kind of harmony. It’s important to note that the colours don’t always have to perfectly match (as poems do not always have to rhyme - in fact the best ones don’t) but fundamental harmony is key.

​

Hair: I love wearing my hair in an Afro. I like wearing my hair in a full ‘Fro, a ‘shrunken’ ‘Fro, or a sort of twist out. (I just gently loose out my medium sized two strand twists until the hair is loosed and teased out into an Afro.) I took out my medium sized two strand twists but didn’t comb them out. I gently separated the twists with my fingers. When taking out my hair, sometimes I like to fix my hair in a specific style. Other times, I like to just take out my hair so that it’s in an Afro, see how it looks and let it rest in whatever way it chooses. On this occasion, when I took out my hair, it rested in a way where some of the curls swooped over the front of my face, which was pleasing to me as it complemented the free-flowing romantic look I was going for.

​

Jewellery: I decided to wear my cowrie shell jewellery as I felt this jewellery fit the feminine, regal, yet still relaxed look I was going for.

​

Make-up: I love dressing up my lips with lipstick, lip paint or lip-gloss. On this occasion, I used Fenty Beauty Foundation and Fenty Beauty Fenty Icon Velvet Liquid Lipstick – THE MVP. This lipstick is a red colour. I chose the red lipstick because to me, red symbolises feminine power and the colour also matched my outfit.

​

The Outcome: Clothes, hair, make-up and jewellery came together to create an outfit that was regal, comfortable and gave me much joy. I was able to move around freely, eat to my heart’s content and feel glamorous at the same time!

​

​