PHEW!!! It has been a crazy couple of weeks from starting training with my new job, to transitioning to a new city, and making the best of my last few days with the people I care about the most. It's been a really exciting and exhausting time but it also means I've been slacking on my blog. Hopefully once I get settled I'll get a new routine to pick up the pace.
This weekend my parents came up to visit and help me look for apartments and luckily my mom brought some of the clothes that I her tailor had sewn for me. It was the highlight of the last couple of weeks.
If you're not familiar with some of the customs of the African culture it is not rare for women to have a tailor that they give ankara, lace or other types of material to and have that tailor sew them an assortment of garments such as dresses, tops, skirts, etc. Usually most of the things that the tailors are sewing are the traditional African attire but in this day and age things have gotten more modern and many of the clothes that people are wearing reflect more of today's fashion trends.
I'm sure many of you have seen the off shoulder trend that is all over social media. It's the perfect way to show skin without being too scandalous. When I went to London we bought some ankara material and I used it to get an off shoulder top made. I absolutely love the way it turned out. At first I was a little skeptical because I have had instances where the tailor had never sewn something like what I was asking and it turned out completely different. When I gave the material to the tailor I showed her a picture of what I wanted and she was able to be creative and make it work.
This print is definitely is one of the more unique kinds that I've seen. The main thing that drew my eye to it was the speckled pattern that was on the orange and the tan. It is a pattern within a pattern which makes it different and keeps you interested in the print. Also the contrast of the colors is always a signature touch to all Ankara material.
I paired my top with white pants and camel colored accents because even though it had black accents in the fabric the overall feel of the top for me gave a warm nude feel. I wanted the top to be the main focal point and everything else to just blend with it. You cant see them but I were some rustic gold bracelets that I recently bought from Forever 21.
If you are interested in finding Ankara material please let me know. I'd love to help you find the perfect material so that you can create a personalized piece just for you. I believe that all the fabrics that are used in African attire are uniquely made and can be crafted to fit each and every person's fashion sense.
