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...