fashion | dearsolo goes to SAFW

random disclaimer: this post is mostly fashion week banter. if you want to read my actual commentary on SAFW, you can read what i wrote on Style Africa.

 

knowing me, you’d think that if i had the opportunity to go to all four (in this case, five) days of SA Fashion Week at crowne plaza in rosebank, i’d be constantly blogging about it. and you know what? you’re right. but this AW 2015 season was a little different – maybe it was the bracelet on my wrist or the tag around my neck… yup! you read that right – this girl right here got her ish together and went as media! but wait, there’s more. i was chosen as Style Africa‘s SAFW correspondent! so instead of blogging all about it here, i blogged all about it there.

but before i go any further, i feel like this should be said: never underestimate the work bloggers and fashion editors/media put in, especially during a fashion week. although the work is glamorous, it is exactly that – work! see, we aren’t just pretty faces in prettier clothes.

carrying on, though. i got to experience fashion week and all its vicissitudes – from the yays of the opening party with performances by AKA and Da L.E.S and the amazing goodie bags from rimmel at the shows (i am set for life!!), to the nays of acts of nature, such as the hectic sandstorm that resulted in thursday night’s show being moved to sunday night (so day 2 became day 5, or day 2.1, or day 2 take 2).

i also got to meet some SAlebs and fashion people – all of which i either posted via style africa’s instagram or will be posted onto my facebook page – rub shoulders with designers and have to introduce myself to strangers in order to shoot some street style (eek).

day 1 was a day that i did han solo, and that, in and of itself, was pretty traumatic. but, because of the streetstyle thing, i kinda had to get over my fear of strangers pretty quickly. and when i did, it turned out to be an awesome night featuring the Renault New Talent Search, Black Coffee, and Gert-Johan Coetzee. to read my day 1 round up via style africa, click here 🙂
day 2 got off to a very late start because bloemfontein decided to gift joburg with a little (huge. it was gigantic) sandstorm that had me feeling very apocalypse-y, seeing as i had to walk from rosebank mall to crowne plaza without blinding myself and inhaling the whole of dubai. delays brought on more delays, and eventually, the SAFW organisers decided that in the interest of safety – seeing as the shows took place in a marquee – it would be better for everyone involved if they just moved thursday’s shows to sunday and we moved along on our merry way. of course, this traumatised me, because i was battling to come up with outfits for even friday, so the prospect of another outfit was seriously daunting. and that also meant that i basically did a hellish-ly difficult milkmaid braid for nothing. *sighs* in the end, i shot some more streetstyle and got to see inside the edgars VVIP venue in which my sister got her hair and make up done by the amazing people at Motions and Rimmel.

after being with khensani the whole of thursday night and essentially being invisible because i was standing next to a total streetstyle babe, (my mantra was, ‘i’m only press. i’m only press. i’m only press. i don’t have to look interesting.’) i thought i should let the troops back home know that i, too, can look cool. and that landed me on marie claire, so hah! mom, i’m hip also! i attended the friday shows that showcased the elli-nicole, ilan, erre and the KZN fashion council (matte nolim, mej. lues, amanda may, larisa moda & yadah exclusive designs). you can read about that round up on style africa here.

 

day 4 was probably my favourite day for absolutely selfish and shallow reasons (male models). men’s fashion is something that is often sidelined, so it was pretty great to have a whole day of shows dedicated to them – and house of ole’s installation also made my life. i tried to look even more hip & cool that night, by wearing a flower crown, kimono AND birkenstocks. in my defence, it was a pretty exhausting day. my day started late, my winged eyeliner wasn’t symmetrical, and i missed my train. then after cheering myself up with pretty clothes at the buyers lounge, i had a nice lunch by myself (the best kind, really) and proceeded to nearly fall asleep in the hotel lobby while i waited for the unscent perfume tour to begin. and my goodness, when it began, it was incredible. i wish i could do it again. anywho, i almost missed my train home, managed to take a 15 minute nap and try (in vain) to redo my make up before the night’s shows. and that’s how i came to the, “screw it, let’s wear a flower crown with space buns” conclusion. for real SAFW commentary, read what i wrote for style africa.

it’s day 5 (ish) because it was really day 2, but it was the 5th night of being there, so you get the gist. that evening, we saw fundudzi by craig jacobs, mantsho by palesa mokubung, clive by clive rundle, leigh schubert, colleen eitzen and rubicon. the fashion was incredible, and you can read all about that on style africa. i ended up wearing jeans and a denim shirt with a crop top underneath because i was pretty sure i had proven at that point that if i wanted to, also me, i could look cool. i got a pretty great compliment (i guess?) saying that if i wore hoop earrings, i’d look latina. as the night drew to a close, it was pretty sad to leave SAFW behind, because, believe it or not, i had actually made some friends! i had seen those people day in and day out for 5 days, so it was a bit sad to go (especially siya, the designer of matte nolim).

so, with many thanks necessary to the sponsors and organisers (SA Fashion Week, Edgars, Tresemme, Motions, Lufthansa, Rimmel, Aldo, Renault, Jameson, Skip, Avery Fragrance Experience, Crafters From Ekurhuleni & KZN Fashion Council, etc), as well as to style africa for having me, i call SAFW a wrap, just as my school books call me to study.

you can read my final fashion week article for style africa here 🙂

have a great week!

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