Ode to My Fashion

Hi y'all! I am turning 43 this year, God willing. And I still wear jeans and sneakers. When I was younger, I was sure that by the time I turn 40, I would start dressing in a more conservative way, the way older respectable women dress in my country: mostly in Senegalese traditional attire or "tradimoderne", which is a new term to define a mix of old and new in Senegalese fashion.  Yet here I am. I think I have told you before that my uniform was a pair of jeans, a blouse and some flat shoes, most likely sandals. When it gets cold like these past days, I would add a sweater or a jacket and some slipons. For work, I try to keep the look elevated with blouses, formal slacks, blazers, skirts and pumps. When I go out, I usually grab a dress. And on Fridays, I wear my Senegalese style outfits, usually some Boubous from my brand. Nevertheless, all you need to keep in mind is that I am turning 43 and still dress in Streetwear fashion. Salut à tous ! J'aurai 43 ans cette année...

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 ...

Eid Mubarak dear readers! Yesterday, most Muslims around the world got to celebrate Eid el Fitr which marks the end of a month long fasting event called Ramadan. Some celebrated the day before. In Senegal, it was decided that it would be Friday. As usual there is a lot happening to prepare for the event. First of all, we need to do grocery shopping to get all essentials to prepare a feast fit for kings and queens. For some reasons, we always eat barbecue meat or chicken on Eid. My christian cousins from my Mother's side of the family come over to help out. We do more talking than cooking though. That is why we sometimes end up eating past 3 PM.  The men go to attend the prayer at the Mosque by 9 AM, all decked in their best outfit: A type of Sherwani outfit made of a long tunic and pants either in Bazin or cotton fabric. Once they are back, we exchange wishes. Some neighbors also drop over on their way back from the Mosque to wish us a happy Eid. Often we serve them Lakh, a w...

The thing I love the most about Indian ethnic wear is that like my home country's it is very colorful and full of embellishment. Furthermore, the accessories are also over the top. It is sometimes overwhelming but it is also a treat for the eyes. Hi there! Today I am going to present you my Dandiya outfit. India celebrated the festival of Navratri with prayers and fasts at the end of October. But for me the best part of the festival is the nine continuous nights of Garba dance. People dress up in Gujarati style (where the festival originated) and dance all night. I have already experienced Dandiya since I arrived in India and it has never been disappointing. Although this year, I was invited to a few around the city, I preferred to attend the one at my kids school for it is safe and with people I know. The previous years, I dressed up a bit (read here ) choosing comfort over fabulosity. But this time I wanted to go all the way. I thought about purchasing a complete Garba outf...

As I was window shopping in Yokohama before the Christmas sales, I noticed a interesting kind of bag. It is usually a tote bag made out of the same material used for down jackets; some kind of nylon and maybe down feathers. Some days later, as I was buying some donuts at Mister Do, I found out that they were given away the same kind of bags. But they called them Fuka Fuka bag. Mister Donuts Snoopy Fuka Fuka Bag- can only be exchanged for 150 points on Mister Donuts card I went home intrigued by this kind of bags. I decided to google them. And this is what I discovered: they are really called Puffer bag. And contrary to what I thought they do not only exist in Japan. As it turns out, many serious brands have been making puffer bags for a while now: Marc Jacobs, Chanel to name a few. But why is it that I am only noticing these bags now? Well, maybe because they are becoming trendy in Japan. All affordable international and Japanese brands do have a version of these tote bags in...

For somebody who loves Old Navy, I could not be more excited to discover that the brand is coming to Japan. Actually it seems that this is old news since it was reported back in April 2011. For some reasons, I am learning this just now. Recently I discovered that Old Navy and Gap from the US shipped to Japan. And I could not stop daydreaming about the things I would order when I realised that I do no longer have a credit card. My last resort would have been to wait for a trip to the US and indulge there and then. I am happy to know that travellin to the US will not be my last resort as Old Navy will open stores in Tokyo in the end of 2012. The specific places have yet to be determined. I do hope they open in my fave places like Harajuku and Yokohama. Moreover, I am praying that the prices are the same than in the US. Gap in Japan have prices way higher than in the US. Actually most of my American friends say that they never shop in Gap Japan only for that reason. Ser...

Have you watch Japanese TV recently? Everywhere channel to zap to, there is some Korean boys or girls band singing or some Korean drama being aired. Some channels even have so much program around Korean stars that one may wonder if they are watching Korean TV? Japan is going through what they call the "second wave of Korean Boom". Translation, the Koreans are invading Japan with their music, fashion and culture. The first wave started with the famous Korean drama "Fuyu no Sonata" in 2003, and from that moment Japanese have been obsessed with Korea. Korean actors became famous and adored all over the place. And the Korean economy took a boost with many Japanese visiting Korea and shopping like crazy. Now since 2010, the second wave has started but it is more about singers. Bands like Kara, Girls Generation, Tohoushinkei 2PM (to name a few) perform regularly in Japan in front of millions of fans. And up and coming K-pop singers are making their mark in small Korean ...

I went to Minato mirai yesterday with the family. It was such a nice day. We picnicked in front of the Nippon Maru while a band of high schoolers played some nice music. After lunch we took a walk around Minato mirai and up to Rinko park. I am always amazed at how beautiful Minato mirai is. Every time I go there, I find something different to look at. Anyway, while walking, I had the chance to take a good look at trendy ladies on the street. And I noticed something quite interesting, a new trend: printed wide legs pants. Some 15 years ago, wide leg pants were very trendy. But it took me a while to get into that trend because it implied having to wear the pants with a bloused tucked in. And some 15 years ago, I had such a complex over my big bottom that I would never expose it. Needless to say that the wide leg pants was a trend I liked on other people more than myself. The trend seems to be back. I do not know how many I saw yesterday but I saw a lot of them pretty mu...

In the fashion world, there something much anticipated by designers, buyers, celebrities and fashionistas. It is Fashion Week. Japan is no different. There is a Tokyo fashion week. However, there is something quite similar to Fashion week, yet very different that started in 2005. It is Tokyo Girls Collection. TGC is a bi-annual 5 hour fashion carnival taking place in an arena which can hold 15.000 people. Japanese models showcase collections for Japanese (and sometime foreign) trendy brands, and on top of that there is also entertainment from Japanese and Korean pop artists. However what makes the show interesting -aside from the fact that only affordable brands are displayed- is that spectators can purchase any item they see on the runway on the spot. By using their mobile phone, they log on to the show site and buy the item of their choosing.  TGC has grown so popular that only well known Japanese models (/actors/singers) can appear. It is...

Barbie Pink Shoes Since I have been back in Japan, I have been so busy that I didn't have time to window shop (plus I am temporarily living in a not so hip part of town). However my daily trips to the supermarket and family restaurants made me notice something interesting/ strange I would like to call Barbie shoes. I think every girl my age or younger living in rich or somehow developing countries knows what a Barbie doll is.I used to dream of owning one after I saw my cousins who came back from the US having a box full of them plus accessories/ I finally owned several of them including one of my favorite: a black Barbie. Anyway, remember the Barbie rubber shoes? They used to be in rubber and in pink color? Well, I saw the exact same thing one some Japanese woman's feet just a few days ago. Now Barbie shoes are different from your usual rubber shoes or jelly sandals. They have heels and the pair I saw was bright pink. I wanted to learn more about the shoes. Ther...