Ode to My Fashion

Hello! How was your Christmas day? Do you even celebrate Christmas? I come from a family with a Muslim Dad and a Catholic Mom. It means that we mostly celebrate all major holidays from both faiths including Christmas. Truth be told, Christmas is celebrated all over my city of Dakar whether we are Christians or Muslims. Because Christmas has become a commercial holiday where people are forced to buy food to make a feast, and gifts for the kids.  For me, Christmas means family. My Mother always made sure we had a small party at home. She would put her finest china out and we would eat in the dining room. In fact, the only time we used that dining room was for Christmas's eve diner. She also made sure we dressed up, in suits for my brothers and a fancy dress for me. We usually had Chinese rolls, salad as appetizers, roasted chicken in mustard sauce and french fries as entree and Christmas log as desert. After diner, my father would take us to the local photo studio to have

Hello! You may have casual Friday in the US and other western countries, but in Senegal, we have what I call "Friday best". Senegal is a country with a majority of Muslims. Every Friday afternoon, there is the big event of the Friday prayer. The city just stops and thousands of people (mostly men) rush to the mosques. Many prefer to dress up in traditional attire for the occasion. Friday is actually one of my favorite day of the week, just because I like to admire Senegalese men and women all dripped in finesse, rocking their best attire. Funnily enough, even the most blah person becomes a stud rocking Senegalese traditional attire. And women! Oh my! I am such in awe with so much elegance and style. However, dressing up on Fridays have become a pressure I am trying to avoid. It seems like it is compulsory to wear Senegalese traditional attire on Fridays for work. If we do not, strangers on the streets look at us funny. And family or friends judge us. I cannot count the

Hi y'all! What is up with you? Me, nothing except I have found the best pair of jeans ever. But let me start from the beginning. a month ago, on a Friday after work, a friend of mine dragged me to the Numero Uno shop in Alamadies. There, I found some nice bodysuits and was ready to buy them when that said friend dragged me out of the store stating that if she did not buy, I would not either. Little did she know that the following day- a Saturday- I went to a similar store (it is a chain) closer to my house to look for said bodysuits. Unfortunately they did not fit me and I proceeded to try on several other clothes. I found this wonderful pair of jeans I did not purchase because a colleague of mine promised to give me one. I went back home but could not stop thinking about those jeans. Come Monday, I rushed back to the store and finally purchased it. Lace kimono - HLM market Watermelon tank top - Uno High waisted jeans - LAURIE brand but bought at Uno Platform sand

So, I attended my first bachelorette party the other day. A french colleague of mine was getting married back in France but she decided to have a little celebration with her Senegalese friends before she left. Her future sister in law organised the party for her, inquiring about what we would like to do. We finally settled for fun games, advice and Sabar. If you do not know, Sabar is a Senegalese party with drums and dancing. There are different types of dancing, from jumping around to the beat to twerking. The theme of the party was supposed to be African or Senegalese attire. And here is what I wore Lace dress - borrowed from my Mother Wrap around skirt - borrowed from my Mother Shoes - Sandaga market Fan - Keur Mamie Charlotte Necklace - bought from a friend Bag - Fair in Pune  I borrowed my outfit from my Mother. She was giving me hard time because she wanted to wear the same outfit the day after for a naming ceremony. The funny thing is I bought the fabrics of

Do you want me to read your palm and tell you your future? Well I am no palm reader but today's s outfit could have fooled you. Scarf - old Dress - Thrifted Feathered mules - Centenaire market Bag and earrings - UNO I wore this dress for a monthly get together with my cousins on my Dad's side of the family. Every first Saturday of the month, we meet at someone's place, chat, and pay a fee to the host.The fee is already determined as well as the host for each month. We call this get together "Tour" which means "a turn" in french. It is a very popular social gathering in my country. When I was growing up, my father used to do have one with his former college friends. Sometimes he would take my brothers and I with him and I would meet his friends' kids. We would have so much fun playing while the adults talked. I also enjoyed it when it was my father's turn to host because my Mother would cook delicious food fit for an entire a

Hello Hello!  I have already told you that I am very present on Social media. And I also told you about the things I cringe on those platforms. Today I bring you another rant about a new pet peeve on Instagram. I have been noticing new followers on my Instagram page. I have been really excited about it because I thought that I would finally reach 300 followers. But every week, the number would drop back to 280 without me understanding why. Then after doing some research, it finally hit me. All my new followers were just people promoting their business in hopes that I will be intrigued and use their services or at least follow them back. And I suppose most of them just un-followed me when they realized that I did not follow back. It was kind of petty. But I guess it is another strategy in this social media world. Scarf -old from India Top - Zara (thrifted) Zipper cropped pants - Zara (from UNO shop) Pumps - Consept (now closed down, Sea Plaza mall) When using social me

While y'all are already thinking about your fall wardrobe, we in Dakar are still going to enjoy Summer till October or further. The cold really comes in my city after December. Therefore we will be fanning ourselves probably till 2019. This means that for a while I will have to rely on a wardrobe that is versatile and easy breezy to survive the heat wave.  I did some shopping to try to add those versatile pieces to my wardrobe this Summer. I concentrated on thrifted things because I did not want to spend too much money. I wanted tops that were easy to wear, easy to style and vibrant. As for the bottoms, I wanted an alternative to jeans. So, I went for skirts, maxi and midis. It is too hot to have something between the legs that will chafe you. Maxi skirts in chiffon or cotton are going to be my friend this season. Finally I wanted maxi dresses in chiffon that require minimal to no ironing. I was lucky enough to find almost everything that I needed at Colobane market. Colo