dearsolo is now on FACEBOOK!

woohoo! i finally took the plunge and launched my very own facebook page for this very blog!

i hope that that space will be utilised to include a sort of interim-blog, for when i’m too preoccupied with exams (six more! six more prelims!) and then i can update you with all the goings on in the fashion and pop-culture world, as well as to show you all the other photos that i take but don’t upload on this blog! my visual diaries don’t tend to show all that i’ve seen, so now you can see more of their glory through facebook 🙂

so spread the word and click the like button to the DearSolo Blog Facebook Page!

read | when in doubt, polaroid out

have you ever looked through your parents’ photo albums from back in the day? i have, and i’m proud to say my parents were pretty swag. they posed nonchalantly by trees or cars, with their jerry curls (mom) and their afros (dad), and took polaroids from parties that are now stuck between the flaps of the album pages… and when polaroid cameras became cool again thanks to you darn hipsters, i just knew that i had to have one and make my own memories.

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outfit | in the moondust

photos taken by my lovely mother

okay, so i finally caved. if you follow me on twitter, you’ll know that when birkenstocks became a trend again, as apprehensive as i was towards them, i liked them on just about everyone else but myself, because, yano, i have ugly toes and whatnot. but, when i was matric dance dress shopping with my mom last week at the eastgate shopping mall (btw: i have a dress now and it slays, thank you mom), i stumbled into factorie and (my mom) begrudgingly bought these shoes. and i hate that i absolutely love them. like, they’re ugly, but they’re cool, right? either way, they’re one of fashions conundrums that we don’t question but if anyone asks, we blame céline for making them cool again (at least they’re not this bad.)

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beauty | my basic make up guide

in case you’ve ever been curious as to how i do my make up, this is the post you’re looking for. i would’ve gladly made a video, except my recorded voice sounds like a banshee and i would also find the recording process increadibly awkward – so here is a consolatory middle ground! a step by step photographed guide to my basic make up, which takes no longer than 10 minutes. it’s suitable for day, and if you tweak it a little and exaggerate it slightly, it’s perfect for night.

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art | from where i stand: maboneng photo diary

as the official first week of my holiday draws to a close and my older sister is about to return to cape town, a last-ditch effort to enjoy johannesburg was made by the three of us which resulted in a beautiful morning at the his people rosebank church, followed by a wonderful afternoon in the maboneng precinct in town. similar to the braamfontein/neighbourgoods vibe, maboneng is filled with food, drinks, fashion, but in particular, art. there are galleries upon galleries filled with trippy and beautiful exhibitions and people proclaiming “these hipsters…” with less venom than draco malfoy spat ‘mudblood’, but only just. it’s days like this that make me wish i could art, but since i can’t, i just want to enjoy it and be absorbed by it. my sisters and i took turns being typical hipster/tourists posing with graffiti and street art, only on the premise that no one actually knows us so their judgement is meaningless (or so we [or i] told ourselves). lime cordial beverages and passion fruit slushies, chicken curries, falafels and burgers – the smell of crepes and ethiopian coffee and the subtle clicks of cameras, today was a day to revel in johannesburg and the culture it provides; to feel like a cool kid and rebel against the system by walking (douchebaggily) in the road. God-willing if i go to cape town next year, i know that it may seem better than this, but it can never feel the same as this.

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