Everyday Ankara

Hello. I’ve decided to change things up a bit. Let me give you a little bit of my history. I did not become a designer that works mainly with Ankara by accident. Growing up, I hated clothes made out of Ankara. I’m not a big fan of the ‘skirt and blouse’ Ankara ensemble, which was one of two options that we had when I was growing up (It was either that or using the Ankara to sew ‘double wrapper’). I personally find it boring. I prefer to use Lace or Silk or some other fluid fabric to make ‘native’. So from the time I was a little girl, I couldn’t wait to start using Ankara for what I have always thought it is good for. Bare in mind that I don’t like most of the fabric available in the market, I find them mostly dull or garish.

My mission has been how to bring Ankara into daily life for the contemporary woman. Focusing how to create pieces that any woman can pull out of her wardrobe and wear on Casual Friday, or to go watch a movie, or to have drinks with her girlfriends, or something to wear to that lecture you are going to give. On how to take Ankara out of just being for weddings or church and into everyday life. The fact that Ankara is made of cotton, means that it is breathable and that is ideal for everyday wear in this our hot West African weather. Focusing on this has led me to come up with certain pieces that I think Ankara is well suited for which I think every woman that fancies herself a fashionista should have in her wardrobe.

So what are these pieces? They include a Skirt, a Cocktail Dress, a few Day Dresses that should include a long Summer Dress and a Wrap Dress, a Jacket/ Waist Coat/ Trench and Cropped Fitted Pants. The items can either have Ankara as their main or as their accent fabric. These items, in my opinion, should form the foundation of your Ankara wardrobe, pieces that you can work your already existing wardrobe around, pieces that if you own, you will find yourself reaching for, time after time. Notice I did not add The Jumpsuit to the list. This is because the Ankara print is characterized by its ‘busyness’, what with its bold and colorful design and so much going on that making it into a jumpsuit tends to come off as being too much. I personally am yet to see an all over Ankara jumpsuit that I like. For a Jumpsuit, it’s always better for the Ankara to just be the accent fabric, its job being to ‘lift’ the look of the jumpsuit.

I realize that this is just an over view of what I consider the foundation of a modern woman’s Ankara wardrobe. I hope that over time, I will be able to take each item and break down how to make it work in today’s wardrobe. What to consider when choosing them and how to integrate them into your wardrobe to create a look that is very contemporary.

Hope you stop by soon. Remain fabulous.

The Role of the Accessory

Hello babes, today I’m going to talk to you about accessories. It is really quite simple. Without accessories, all you have is cloth. Accessories make the outfit. A lot of ladies don’t wear a lot of accessories apart from the very basic shoes and handbags. Others add a basic, everyday necklace, earrings, and watch. Very few of us will ‘because it’s Tuesday’, for example, pair a fabulous statement necklace with a pair of jeans and t shirt and maybe even add a waist coat, working it into a unique ‘look but yet’ suitable for whatever activities we have planned for the day, whether it be going to work or school or just running errands.

There cannot be style present if accessories are absent (I just made that up so feel free to quote me). It is important as a fashionista to have a healthy stock of accessories that you can rely on to help you bring to life the various looks you try to achieve every day.

Go beyond the ordinary, think spectacular. In a world of mass produced clothes, where you and a few thousand or even million people have the same dress or something similar, your choice of accessories is what will stand you out. I don’t mean shoes and bags, except of course they are som’n special. When you think accessories, start to think scarves, cocktail rings, statement necklaces, pendants, bangles and bracelets. They don’t have to be gold. They can be silver, wood, leather, hemp, glass, etc. You could work with vests, waistcoats, hats and even gloves (if you can find any that don’t look ridiculous in this heat).

For example, a t shirt worn with blue jeans with a pair of sandals and your basic bla

ck bag is sooooooo blah. However, choosing to use a red belt instead of your basic black one instantly lifts it. You can then add character by adding a lovely beaded Ankara vest. That gives the ensemble a boho vibe. You could instead of the vest, layer on different lengths of gold chains. That gives it a funky vibe. So over the next few days, experiment. Look through your accessory collection, whatever the size, and go where they take you.

I hope I was able to add value. Hope to see you soon. Remain fabulous.

GIVE AWAY!!!! ( CLOSED)

Hello everyone. To celebrate my being back on Blogger and also my new collection, I'm giving away a dress worth N10,000. For you to qualify for it, you have to Like my Facebook page Ajiri Avae Clothing http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Ajiri-Avae-Clothing/229050093848224 and follow me on twitter @ajiriavae. What you need to do to actually be in the race is to go to my website and look at my newest collection http://www.ajiriavae.com/ and then come back to this post to rate and comment, telling us what you like and/ or don't like about it. The winner will be picked based on how useful and practical the comment is and how well it can help to point us in the right direction for our next collection. The give away will close on the 21st of July 2012 to give people the chance to participate. So what are you waiting for? Go and join in the hunt. Remember, you have to be in it to win it. Remain Fabulous peeps!!!

Elements of Style

What is it that makes you choose what you wear? Is it comfort? Style? Color? We all choose our clothing for different reasons. Some of us want to stand out, others want to blend in. Whatever the core reasons, the one thing to keep in mind is that there are certain basics which must be achieved before we can even talk about having style. What do I mean? I mean that whatever it is that we want to express with our look, we must make the conscious effort to keep within the boundary of style. Every style can be overdone and look cheap or done tastefully. It’s about balancing every item within the look. The single most important thing to consider when choosing clothes is your body shape. No matter how cute that dress is, if it was not designed for your body shape, you will end up looking silly. Ever body shape can be flattered by wearing the right cut of clothes just as great injustice can be done to a figure by wearing the wrong cut. The next thing to consider is color. Every skin shade has certain colors that enhance it and others that subtract from it. Some people look better in warm colors while cool colors work better for others. An easy way to find out which works better for you is to drape different colored fabrics around your face and you will begin to see that certain colors read better against your skin tone. It is even easier to have someone help you observe the effects of different colors.

After that, the next consideration is occasion or practicability. You don’t want to be the girl wearing a suit at a picnic or the girl wearing that Herve Leger stunner at a young child’s funeral. As long as you get these basics right, you can be sure that you are on your way to projecting yourself stylishly. Without taking these into account, one is likely to miss the style boat. Your attempt at looking like a rock chic will be unsuccessful if the jeans are the wrong cut for your body shape. Also the most stunning dress will look drab if worn in the wrong shade of green. Of course we all know that the flyest outfit will only make you look like a fool with money if worn to the wrong occasion.

It is when all these have been fulfilled that one can start ones style journey. With these conquered it is easier to navigate the murky waters of fashion to arrive at whatever style destination we set for ourselves.

I really hope I have been of help today. Till we meet again, hopefully soon.Remain fabulous.

Allow me to re- introduce myself.

Hello babes, my name is Ajiri Okah-Avae and I’m a fashion designer and stylist. I am very interested in helping women (and men) put their best foot forward, presenting themselves in the most advantageous light, assisting the best way I know how, in their quest for world domination (or whatever their goals may be). So many fashion writers and enthusiasts have written about fashion but my purpose here is to help women (and men), from the complete novice who is trying to become more chic to the fashionista who is open to new ideas, explore the world of fashion and with what they have available in their wardrobe (with maybe a few key items added) interpret it into their own personal style.

The natural question then is ‘what is style?’ I have heard and read several opinions on what style is, but I think the simplest way for me to describe it is this. Style is the way an individual chooses to present themselves to the world. Style of course is not just about the way we dress. Style includes (but is not limited to) the kind of car we choose to drive, the way we decorate our personal space, the kind of activities we choose for relaxation and other nuances that give people an idea about who we are and what we represent. Basically, our style is what people see when they first meet us.

In fashion, sometimes style is interchanged with the word ‘look’. However ‘style’ is a more involved term than ‘look’. What do I mean? Let me put it this way. In the morning, when we all stand before our wardrobes, no matter how big or small, we have an image of what we want to project to the world based on how we are feeling or the activities we intend to take part in, and we all pick our outfits based on that. That is picking a look for the day. Style, at least in fashion, comes into play when we stop and actually give deep thought to each piece in the ensemble and how they enhance our size and shape. When we say that someone has style, we simply mean that the person gives thought to the relationship between each element and how those elements enhance their person and their space AND that it comes off as aesthetically pleasing.

I hope to be able to help you navigate the sometimes fickle, sometimes confusing world of fashion, interior design, fine wine and food. I’ll be helping you broaden your mind on how to put looks together in a stylish way, critiquing outfits worn on the streets of Lagos, giving you tips on how to make your personal space more appealing, help you understand the little things that help make wine taste better, and share a few recipes with you.

I hope to meet you here again in a couple of days. Enjoy what I have to offer today. Remain fabulous.

It's been a while.

Hello everyone, It's been a good four years since I last posted anything and I have decided to turn over a new leaf. So I'm back, a little older and hopefully, a little wiser. This will be a much more fun experience than my first go round. There will be Outfit of the day posts, give aways, first look at my latest collections, even video posts, etc, etc. For any returning readers, thank you for coming back, all new readers, thank you for stopping by. Hopefully, we will all learn something about style and how to articulate it, whatever our interpretation of it may be. Remain fabulous.

Designing a space.

next thing to do after deciding on functionality of a space, is to create a mood board. The function The of the mood board is to give you an idea of the feel of the room. By feel, I mean the style. Do you want your space to be homely, minimalis,tretro, themed, art deco, formal, contemporary, etc,etc,etc. your only limitation is your imagination.
The way to create a mood board is simple. Collect pictures of things and scenes that speak to you and convey the lifestyle that you was to project. These pictures could be anything from the kind of car you fancy, a dress or handbag that you like, flowers, your style icon. The point is to start seeing the direction that your taste takes you.
The reason why its best to make a mood board before you start decorating is so that you have a clear idea of what your taste is. That way you don’t end up with space that doesn’t appeal to you after all. It gives you a clear idea of things like colour scheme, funiture style and what the statement piece in the room should be. These are decisions that should be made before you even hit the shops.
Its important to have a lay out and a mood board before going out to buy anything because you need to be sure of what the space will look like before you spend the first kobo. You don’t want to get distracted when you hit the shops.
I hope that this will be helpful to those of you that are contemplating decorating your space . if you have any questions, feel free to leave it in the comment space. If you feel you need my help send me an email.
Stay fabulous.