My Miyabi lace dress

Yesterday I perused the winter sales in one of my favourite areas of Joburg, Rosebank. Four hours later and a pair of very sore feet, I returned with this very lovely lace number from my favourite shop The Space. The Space is an incredibly special shop to me as it offers rails upon rails of high quality quirky South African fashion by a variety of designers. Every rail is completely different from the others making it a treasure trove for me. I am a very tactile person (and shopper), so being able to touch and feel such beautiful and different fabrics enhances my appreciation of clothes so much more.

This dress is by South African label, Miyabi. Designer Sandalene Olivier, ensures that Miyabi delivers fresh and wearable fashion but that is also edgy.  Initially I wasn't too taken with the dress on the hanger but after putting it on and seeing how flattering it was to my body, I was sold on it. And a dress bought on sale is even sweeter! 

Shoes - Steve Madden. Tights- Woolworths

 We decided to photograph in the contrasted light with heavy shadows because for me the dress is all about light and shadow. And while the rounded collar and silhouette may make this dress appear to be quite cutesy and girlish, it definitely isn't with the black lace and pink underskirt cheekily peeking through. 

I am very taken with this sweet but sexy number, I can't wait to wear it out properly! Hopefully when spring comes soon!
S. 


P.S I hope you like the new header! I felt like it was time for a change, especially since I now have a much better understanding of this blog and myself as well. These last six months with this blog have been so wonderful. 

A week in pictures

Hello lovely readers, 

it's the first week back at university and once again I am back to my busy schedule of seminars, readings, work and of course, blogging! I recently acquired a very lovely white iPhone, named Coco, and I am obsessed. It's a dream phone and one of the nicest things is the camera. As a photo junkie, I marvel at the camera functionality and the Instagram app which makes editing pictures so easy and fun! Here are some of pictures from such a happy and lovely week! 

Riley, a five month old Ridgeback puppy. He belongs to our dog's physio. Nelle, our golden retriever, snapped the ligament in her knee and needs physio before her surgery on Wednesday. Taking Nelle to physio is one of the highlights of my week because I get to play with the dog pack who live there. The animal lover in me is so happy when I get to see Riley and the other dogs 

The Great Hall at Wits University. I have seminars there on Wednesdays and Fridays.
So far, I am so inspired by my new classes.

 After class I stopped at Motherland Coffee in Rosebank to wait out the traffic. I love fairtrade coffee, especially when it benefits Africa. Motherland Coffee's slogan is 'You're the Revolution'.
Awesome. 

What would happiness be without the Kerouac cat? He decided to join me while I read for my class on modernity.
It helped that the sun was shining on my couch. 

The Kerouac cat is so besotted with me that he lets me tie ridiculous ribbons around his neck. If anyone else tried this, they'd be minus a hand.
And now my cat is as much a fashionista as I am! 

Like most girls, I love make up. Skin care is a major priority to me right now and I figure that if I'm investing in taking care of my skin properly, I may as well celebrate it as well! 

Last night I went to a contemprary ballet version of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Johannesburg Civic Theatre. I could write a huge post all about my love of Shakespeare which started at age 8 and my passion for dance. But I won't. I will say that this dance piece was exquisite and I found myself so enthralled in both the movement and the story.The final dance scene with Oberon and Titania moved me to tears.
 Beautiful. That says everything about the way I feel about dance and Shakespeare. 

I spent the afternoon in Rosebank and discovered the most amazing resteraunt there. Pizaevino, serves beautiful fresh food that makes me feel like I'm eating something off of Masterchef! Definitely one of the best resteraunts I've been to in a long time. 

Huge cappucinos. Bliss!

Perhaps, I'm behind on the iPhone craze/praise but I can't believe these pictures were taken on a cellphone! 

I have a few posts lined up for this weekend - one of which involves a pretty little thing found in today's sale at my favourite shop, The Space. 

S. 

I wrote a letter to my love and on the way I dropped it...

I seem to be quite into jewellery this week and I found another treasure on sale at Forever New. I've found that the secret to buying things at Forever New is waiting for the sales, else I could never afford such pretty things! I've been looking for a gold necklace with an interesting charm and this love letter one is exactly that and in my taste. 

The necklace pictured here is so cute because the envelope opens up and the heart charm with the word 'love' engraved on it, fits in perfectly. Even sweeter is the fact that you can then close the envelope again. I really love jewellery with character and charm and I'm so taken by this necklace. I'm so taken in fact, that I was reminded by the plaground rhyme, 'I wrote a letter to my love' (otherwise known as A-Tisket, A-Tasket) and it inspired this little photoshoot below. As a disclaimer, this is in no way a reflection of my own love life. 

I dropped it once

I dropped it twice...

I dropped it three times over...

Outfit:
Cardigan - Country Road (niffled from my mom), 
skirt - Mr Price, T-shirt and shoes - Edgars,
necklace - Forever New


S. 

May my heart always be open to little birds...

This treasured and beautiful blouse, which is reminiscent of a Victorian woman's dress, belongs to my sister and she very kindly let me wear it to complement my latest jewellery find - a little bird brooch. I'm quite fussy when it comes to jewellery because I look for stand out pieces with lots of character and thats not always easy to find. But this little brooch immediately charmed me and I'll admit that I do love bird motifs especially in clothes and jewellery. 

The brooch from Mr Price
is made out of plastic with a wood finish and a mirror backing.

Blouse - YDE.

I love the detail at the back. 

S. 

Recipe for friendship

I wanted to share these pictures from the pizza party I had at my house last night. It was such a wonderful and communal way of enjoying food and many laughs. I feel so blessed in this area of friendship and God' faithfulness has been so enormous. Moving back to Johannesburg, changing churches and universities, I was terrified and so anxious about making new friends. Friendship for me is so important and I haven't always had the easiest time with group dynamics. Groups in general don't do it for the individual in me and my family often joke that we all don't do groups. The only group we know we all belong to is our family. Our tribe. 

But, this year I've been so lucky in making friends and reconnecting with old ones. And I wanted to bring them all together for good food and conversation. And whether I do or do not belong in a group is irrelevant. Instead I'm choosing to focus on the wonderful, supportive and kind people I've met and how much they've given me through being who they are. 

Ant, Mike and Abi.

Rookie error - not enough rolling pins. Luckily wine bottles do just as good a job.

One of my favourite pictures of the night.  

Sarah, Jared (with a cookie jar as a rolling pin), Jono and Chris. 

Red wine and Gluwhein were on tap. 

Lovely Tas

Ryan

Jared and Chris

Fire blazing in the lounge. 

They're all answers to prayer. 
S. 
P.S For once these were all taken by me. 

Fashionista does Ferrari

Yesterday I went to the Ferrari Track Day at Kyalami Race Track with my friend Ryan and his other 'petrolhead' friends. It definitely was walking into serious boy territory. So what does a very girly girl like myself do in a situation like this where the smell of testosterone is equally as permeable as the petrol fumes? Well, even though this is supposed to be a fashion blog where I appreciate beautiful clothes, I appreciate beautiful super cars almost as much. So if you would please allow me to indulge and share the experience of watching these cars even though this blog is mostly read by girls, who may or may not find the curves of a Ferrari 458 quite as delightful as I do. 

As I drove down to the race track, the sound of V12 engines tearing up the track really started to excite me even before I even saw the cars. Once there, I couldn't stop smiling from the noise and being within a kissing distance of the cars (yes, I would kiss a 458). But my favourite part of the morning was standing above one of the corners watching the cars come screaming down the hill and hearing them gearing up and down and sliding around the corner. Some of the cars on track included the 458 Italia, F430 Scuderia 16M and one super California as well as classics such as the Dino, the 550 Barchetta, and a 365GTB/4 Daytona and my favourite on the track, a fire-breathing F40. As the F40 slowed down and pulled into the pits, flames throatily came out of its exhaust making me let out very girly shrieks of delight. Yes I know, I like cars. Alot. 

The absolutely stunning Ferrari 458. 

Below is one of my favourite clips from the legendary television show, Top Gear. In it Jeremy Clarkson reviews the 458 in comparison to James May's 430. Stunning car, stunning footage and hilarious banter. 

My favourite picture of the day. 

I wouldn't say no to this very beautiful and girly California. 

And the intersection of fashion and cars? Well, have you seen how many supermodels go out with race car drivers? Supermodels aside, I realised that through some discussions with the guys, that even though girls like myself read about fashion and guys read about cars, in the end it's about appreciating beauty and great style. 

S.