Style We Heart #6

Chantelle Unachukwu in Ituen Basi

Love love this mini, reminds me of a lovely design by Vel Mensah. 

Vel Mensah design

Print Me Boho

Ever since I heard of Jewel by Lisa, I have been a die-hard fan and supporter. And for rightful raison! It's such a unique line and my wardrobe is filled with majority of Jewel By Lisa designs. This is an ideal line for artists and fashion forward fashionistas or in the Jewel By Lisa style dictionary, a Jewelette! I love head designer, Lisa Folawiyo's interpretation of all things Ankara ,Print and her daring mixture of silk, embellishments, beading and more than anything her genius placement of embellishment on the collar of some of her designs. I guess, I am holding on for dear life, until she decides to make suits for women!

As usual, I am such a sucker for beauty, I am almost a beauty glutton. Bwahahahaha! It was very tough to choose a minimum # of designs to post on this blog. And as I write this, I am leaning towards posting every single design of hers ranging from her Autumn/Winter 2011and Spring/Summer 2011, which I adore. But hey, everything in sweet moderation, abi? lol . It's Spring season and just this once, we should do like Romans  in Rome and adhere to tradition.

Enjoy my beauties.

 Jewel By Lisa S/S 2011

 Jewel By Lisa S/S 2011

 Jewel By Lisa S/S 2011

 Jewel By Lisa S/S 2011

 Jewel By Lisa S/S 2011

 Jewel By Lisa S/S 2011
PhotoCredit : Jewel By Lisa

This is the perfect line for all Bohemian princesses and queens. The Wrap Dress is simply presh. But I'll be lying if I neglected the Body Con dress at the very top. Ah yum . yum. YUM. So where can you place your orders? It depends. If you are in Los Angeles, a simple trip to Zainab on Melrose Avenue will score you a Jewel By Lisa thread. If not in L.A, you can visit Temple Muse and place your order there. Enjoy! What's not to enjoy!

Passionately Bohemian

Style is a personal thing. And  for it to be properly executed, one must have the necessary fire to get the job done. And that is what Folake Huntoon does with her electric fashion sense. I don't believe this woman has fear in her vocabulary.She is  calculatingly bold with her sense of style. She inspires, she is  a muse. Bohemian is what this woman is all about. She always transmits a raw earthy sensuality to her outfits and this is my salute to her. Salut!   Did I say Boho as in Bohemian in the last sentence? Oops.  Folake is doing this to me.   Needless to say, I was once again faced with selecting only  4 pictures and repeatedly telling myself, " It's Okay, Mistress, you can write another article on her awesome style." The point is , I identify so much with her style that If I could, I'd post every single one of her styles. She's also been named a Style Icon on Chictopia , MTVStyle . They love her.  And so do we. She is a bold stylist. A true fashionista .

     Folake in True Religion Jeans & GAP Tuxedo Shirt

We HEART her Earrings.

Custom Designed by LindaLuDesign 

KemKemStudio Green Shorts Jumpsuit
Excellently worn with GAP Knee High Socks. Layered over SM black fishnet tights
And Cream Colored Steve Madden pump
( I own a pair in brown)

 Always Boho Chic. 

Diggin' the cowboy boots 

And the fishnet stockings.

Folake in a fitted sweater dress. 

We love her choice of color for the bag 

And to prove how bold she is , coupled with

her innate understanding for color

She chose  gray boots

rather than  brown

And it works!

Great style begins with confidence and Folake , founder and head designer of WeWe Clothing, has it in abundance. GREAT PERSONAL STYLE, indeed.

Photo Credit: Folake Huntoon

Color me Cote

Came across these lovely designs on a rather rainy day in Seattle. These are extremely sexy. Remember to add a slip to the purple strapless design posted beneath. I love the multicolored bodice in addition  to the drama on the skirt of this awesome strapless mini. 

 

Cote Minou is known its very progressive interpretation of prints .

the modernization of prints/ankara.

very fashion forward interpretation of cut-out. Rockstar chic.

Ruffles. Ruffles. Ruffles.

 

Absolute Fav.

 Photo Credit :
 CoteMinou
 Paul Hance Photography
 Phelan Marc Photography

Boxing Kitten

Whoa! This Boxing Kitten spread conjures up Shakira's " Waka Waka " video. I actually just fell in love with that video. As in a day ago. Il me rappelle l'enfance en Afrique .  BoxingKitten is a total girly line. Remember to input this brand when you think of enhancing your femininity. Anyone recall, Naima ?  Season 4 AMNTM cycle winner, who nabbed her crown in South Africa. The soft spoken, yet determined Naima. The reformed bad girl.      .....This is her twin , Nia.

Nia Mora in Boxing Kitten

Naima Mora(twin sis to Nia)
in an Embroidered Yves Saint Laurent Silk Top

The photographer transformed to model in this BoxingKitten photoshoot. I love BoxingKitten, Solange Knowles was the first to rock this relatively new brand. Since then , Alicia Keyes has also joined the ankara trend.

Nia Mora in BoxingKitten

Unlike many, I don't believe there is a particular season for ankara, as wool is to winter. Ankara is versatile.  dubbed the stepsister to Cotton. The fabric of our lives.  Ankara is for every season. Boxing Kitten Founder and Creative Director, Maya knows how to perfectly translate the endless beauty in Ankara.

Eshe! ( Thank you)

 It's Asakeoge. A Ready To Wear line out of London. These are awesome. I'm not sure if the yellow print maxi is my favorite or just maybe the black mini # . I like them all.

It's obvious maximizing a woman's femininity is the ultimate goal. 
But here's the treat , you can place your order directly from them 

Asakeoge
Tel# 44 75 344 218 22
mwah!

The yellow maxi print dress is my favorite!!!

;-)

Happy Friday.

You can never have too many awesome clothes. 

Ijinle Collection by WeWe Clothing

I love Africa and I am super happy Ankara is making a comeback and a fierce one at that. WeWe Clothing, a relatively young fashion house, specializing in bohemian clothing for the most precious in every society, the WeWe's pronounced " weh-weh", a yoruba term meaning " Little Ones" , has just unveiled its long anticipated collection, the Ijinle Collection which means " roots " . Wow, if this is what it means to be chic, afrocentric chic, then we are in good company.

What I love about this line is head designer/owner Folake Kuye Huntoon's immense love for designing precious, unique, African-inspired line, any fashion forward parent would undoubtedly want their "pekin", (means "small child" in pidgin english)/child to be seen in .

Skip the daily Target routine, and opt for at least one WeWe Clothing  item for your son , daughter, niece, or nephew and within 24 hours , he or she will be branded fashion icon by his or her peers.
WeWe's clientele include actress Marcia Cross, Julia Roberts, Halle Berry , and ofcourse every other cool mom who knows what it really means to pass on their awesome style 6th sense to their children.

Ijinle Collection consists of harem pants, colorful tunics, Kimono dresses, and ofcourse some basic Tee's for your WeWe. The most cool part, Ijinle collection is recession friendly . For under $20 you can add a WeWe Clothing design to your son or daughter's closet .

 Ijinle collection consists of timeless designs, made with the best materials . Your son or daughter can pass it on to his or her younger siblings. MAKEUNATELLAM strongly recommends shopping WeWe Clothing. Your "weh-weh" will thank you for it .

Lanre Harem Pants $19.99/V-Neck tee $9.99

Shade Tie Dye Tunic $17.99

loving the bow details of the tights as well .

Ameenah Kimono Dress $31.99

Ameenah Tie Dye Kimono. $31.99

presh!!!

Lanre Harem Pants

Kemmy Butterfly Top $17.99/pink Lanre Harem Pants $19.99

Black Femi Pyramid Tunic $19.99 also available in red.

Kemmy Butterfly Tops $17.99

Okay cool parents. This has been a lovely MakeUnaTellAm moment.

Ankara in Madrid

OMG! should I just leave it there? Never! MakeUnaTellAm brings not only the most aesthetically pleasing pieces right at your door step , but  also the most unique. His name is Juanjo Oliva, a Parson's School of Design graduate, the mastermind behind this stunning ankara collection at Madrid Fashion Week. I especially love the styling concept utilizing brown vintage belts to add even more funk to these flirty mini dresses.   Juanjo Oliva  Spring 2010 collection ROCKS!

I love , I mean HEART, maybe it's not quite clear, I ♥ ! this line .

Stunning!

“Elegance is deeply personal and pertains to individuals who incorporate tolerance, dignity, intelligence and, what is most important, sensitivity,”--Juanjo Oliva

UNTOLD '10

Just last year, I was fortunate to find out about UNTOLD, an annual fashion show which gives new talents in the fashion design genre , a platform to showcase their masterpiece.Last year, we witnessed African fashion become the big buzz in the fashion industry and judging from what we saw this year at UNTOLD, if  style for you means an edgy boho feel. Mixing, remixing of pieces, then my advice is that you  continue to support UNTOLD and check out the fierce fashion, young /undiscovered designers have in store for you. For more info on designers showed here: you can contact UNTOLD at    info@un-told.co.uk.

Designed by Chantelle Walters

                                         

love THE SHEER TOP AND THE OVERLAPPING PETALS.

Designed by ChiChia London

Designed by Chrissiefizz

Follow UNTOLD on Twitter right here

Dashiki Lady

diaspora dashiki dress

Photo Cred :Aschobi Designs

West African Ready to Wear line, Aschobi designs brought it again. Yes, I was not going to post this because I don't own all the colors just yet. Comes in blue & tan . Just the sky blue. But it's Dashiki time ! I know it's fall and it's cold but you can always get very creative and err...boho......

That means matching this lovely Dashiki dress with a black long or short sleeve tee. Let's not forget a blazer and it's recession friendly. JC Penney's knows that as well, click away.

I really love the criss cross spaghetti strap of this dress as well as revealing cut on the posterior of the gown. I love DASHIKI!

For inquiries contact Aschobi at info@aschobi.com.

Great Finds

The Ruched Jacket --by Jewel by Lisa

The Virgin Blouse by Jewel by Lisa

Maridadi Dress by Lalesso

Jua Skirt by Lalesso

Yes, call me the Ankara whore, but I love Ankara and want you to get hip to this Ankara movement. For under $100 , you can start building your very own collection of Ankara collection. As usual, JBL is also featured on the magnanimous site, MYASHO.

Amazing finds from , YouMeWe, Jewel by Lisa, AIMAS are featured on myasho. com. Locale Fashion made global.

Solange : Adventurous Kitten

from top left, Solange Knowles in a Boxing Kitten "Billie Jumper"

Erykah Badu in Boxing Kitten dress

Boxing Kitten

Solange Knowles and her famous sister, Beyonce were recently spotted out in L.A. night scene and the buzz was not over Beyonce, but over her not so famous sis Solange and what she was wearing . It most definitely looked a whole lot like Ankara. A unique material mainly spotted in African fashions and most recently has sparked immense interest in the high fashion world.

Famous African Fashion houses such as Jewel by Lisa have developed a strong cult following by using high quality ankara brand, Hollandais made in Holland. It is most definitely not a surprise that Neo-Soul artists such as Erykah Badu, Solange are rocking these items. I would love to see Nicole Richie in an ankara item.

The jumper shorts otherwise known as the "Billie Jumper" is a creation of Boxing Kitten. Love this line.

Since it's Ankara celebration.

Do also check out Jewel by Lisa's 2010 summer line presentation at ARISE Fashion week in Johannesburg, South Africa. Just adorable and JBL also uses the highest hollandis brand for her line.