Ode to My Fashion

 Ever since I moved back home more than a year ago, I have not really been shopping. I checked stores at our mall that were highly overpriced. And those at the market were not any better. However, I was given life when I returned to the Saturday market. This market located near my parents house in the subburbs is filled with goodies, second hand items from overseas but also new stuff like under garments and fabrics. We can haggle the price therefore I always manage to get a good deal. I have to admit that I have been going there every other week. My favorite things to score are shoes. I always look for quality, size, wear and tear and of course the brand. I found shoes from Michael Kors, Steve Madden, Target and more. It is kind of hard to score the nicest ones because they mostly come in smaller size. But I did get lucky once. (Or twice) Scarf - borrowed from my Mother Top - Liberte 6 market Jeans - Liberte 6 market Shoes - Saturday market Earrings - Gift Whem am...

  I went to my first "After work" the other day. For those who do not know what that is, "After work" is when colleagues get together for drinks or diner after work. Oups! I forgot to tell you! I started working for an international aid agency recently. I finally found myself a job that I also happen to like. Praise the Lord! I have been working for the last few months. It is challenging but I get to learn so many new things. And the best part are the people I get to work with particulalry the ladies. I enjoy them, every single one of them for they all have interesting personalities. They are also hilarious. I spend my days laughing. And I could not be more grateful to God for that! Since two of my co workers were leaving (sad part of my job: people do not tend to work there for a long time), we decided to surprise them with an "After work"/ farewell party. We went to Marina Bay, which is a seaside hotel with a fabulous pool located in a hip area ...

Hello dears. How are you? And for those fasting, how is your Ramadan so far? We are in the last week of Ramadan and I am feeling great. I cannot complain. However I could not help but notice a certain lethargy that has engulfed the town and the people living in it. since the beginning of Ramadan. For starters people go to work later than usual because they are still trying to catch some sleep between the time they eat and pray in the morning and the time they go to work. It is harder particularly for women who wake up early to cook something for their families. Even when you get organized and cook something the night before going to bed, you still have to get up earlier to heat it up. And most women I know are not content on cooking something simple, like ordinary breakfast. They want to make elaborate meals that would please their families. They feel the pressure more than anybody else, and they sleep also less. This lack of sleep can have some serious con...

Sénégalese people are known to do whatever they want or like no matter what. What only matters to them is that "gnu dem" ( they advance) as they say in my country. As long as they get what they want, the ends explains the means. For example, they might take a wrong way even on the highway if they are in a rush to get to work. They will not queue at the store but instead force their way in. They will park any way they want without thinking of the next car.  That was not the case in the past. People were thoughtful and caring particularly between neighbors. They tended to keep the peace and even had nice relationships. For example, a woman would send lunch over to her next door neighbor. Or she could go and borrow sugar if she ran out. During events, she could borrow chairs from her neighbor or even her entire house if there were too many guests to fit into her own. Some neighbors became so close, they ended up being family.      Blazer - thrifted...

You guys! Guess what? I attended my first real fashion event. Yeppee!!!!  A friend of mine knew a lady who was organizing a fashion launch and she got me and other friends passes to attend. I obviously went with my best friend. The event was for a sportswear and swimwear African fashion house called B'lingo. I have never heard of it but I did Google it before the event. What I found were cute sportswear with a splash of African prints. It was different from your usual sportswear. The event was held at the Radisson Blu hotel in Dakar. I have never been there but I got to admit that the place is amazing. My Spidey senses were tingling upon entering and I told my best friend that I needed to come here more for my blog photoshoots. The event itself was outdoors in a beautiful garden with lots of greenery. Since we arrived early (but still fashionably late) we were seated like front row even though there were no rows. There were many comfy sofas and couches placed around the gar...

A few months back, I was called for an interview. It was at the Indian embassy. As usual I was in panic mode, because they called me the day before the interview. In my mind, all kind of questions were swirling. But obviously the most important one was :"what was I to wear?" For interviews I always want to go the classic route aka black suit with a white shirt. But I had to mix it up a little in the past. One time in Summer, I wore a bright orange sleeveless blouse with a dark blazer because wearing anything with sleeves with that heat would have been suicide. Another time I wore a grey two buttoned vest with a black and white blouse. I always go for dark slacks as well. For this interview I was going to go for the same dark slacks, a dark blazer, a white shirt and pumps when my husband who was watching me pulling clothes out of my closet suggested I wore Senegalese ethnic wear. I was puzzled a first . "What the hell are you talking about?" I asked him. He went ...

Since I have been back home, women in my family particularly my mother are constantly on my case to dress better. Although they want only the best for me, it gets on my nerves. Women ( and men) in my country dress differently than I do. SENEGAL is a country where being casual is misunderstood. People like to dress up, men and women. Even if they wear jeans, they will wear it in such a way it does not feel dressed down at all. Girls would add nice blouses and sometimes blazers and spruce things up with sandals and a matching tote bag. Men would wear loafers and a shirt with also a blazer. As for traditional wear, the fancier the better. They also like to follow trends and color coordinate. It is not unusual to see someone wearing one color from head to toe. They spend huge amount of money to be trendy because we live in a country where only people who dress up are respected. If you do not, people either do not acknowledge you (try shopping in a fancy place wearing tattered clothes, no...