Box Up Your Closet

Body shapers huh? Girls are not smiling at all.

With the recent hiked-crave for a tinier waist and bigger derriere, dear men now would be the perfect time to recite the ‘lead me not into temptation’ prayer.

The popular silhouettes; A-line, Empire, Mermaid, H-line, Basque, Sheath, Ball gown, Ballerina, even the Bodycon all have one thing in common; they flatter the female figure, targeting the waist.

However, not all trends give us this luxury; the structured boxy silhouette gives us breathing space over figure-flattering.

The boxy silhouette like the name implies has a box-ish appearance and loosely falls away from the body. It is also less show off-ish and flaunty than most silhouettes.

You’re probably thinking; “Wait. So after restricting my breath for a tinnier waist and ‘crouching’ hundred times daily for a bigger and better sculptured butt, I WOULDN’T show it off?! Hell to the NO!!!”

True, the boxy silhouette isn’t flattering, but there are ways to create balance to avoid a Boxtroll look. Also, the up-side to this trend is its ability to hide the ‘excesses’ (for some of us who are yet to get on the workout bandwagon - no shame in that).

Tips:

• Dress for your body. No one wants to be left out of any trend, but if it does your figure wrong, it’s not worth it. 

• If your plan isn’t to hide your figure, avoid pairing a boxy top with a boxy bottom (and vice-versa). Rather, pair with a pencil skirt or a skin-hugging blouse. 

Tiffany Amber

• But if your aim is to grab the 'box' by the 'handle', take a cue from blogger, igobyfrankie, and Bridget Awosika's ready to wear S15 collection; rock a top-to-bottom boxy look.

IgobyFrankie

Bridget Awosika

• Avoid loud colours. Keep it safe and simple by opting for block colours, that is, one hue at a time. If you do not however mind a little edginess, go for prints as seen on the model, but keep them small.

If you're going to hide all the junk in your trunk, best do it right!

Photo credit: igobyfrankie StyleMynt  BridgetAwosika  TiffanyAmber
 

Fashion Inspiration

The much anticipated African Magic Viewer’s Choice Award (AMVCA) took place this past weekend. Watching from the comfort of my home (since I wasn’t invited), I was more interested in what was worn than what was won, although, it is nice to see Africans appreciate talents it birthed. As expected, there were ‘trash-it’ and ‘fab-it’ looks on the red carpet, however, of all the looks that caught the attention of fashion enthusiast, three looks stood out for me: the Lupita look-alike dress worn by Ini Edo, the Zac Posen inspired dress donned by Genevieve Nnaji and the daring ‘jacket-of-many-colours’ worn by Alex Ekubo.

Style Twinning 

 

Lupita Nyongo in Ralph Lauren

“From the day I saw this outfit on Lupita, I fell in love and knew it was a must have” – Ini Edo.

 

Ini Edo

Waiting ten more years (or more) before ‘must-having’ this replica dress would have done Ini some good considering just last year, the whole world was in awe of the Ralph Lauren dress on Lupita Nyongo. Originality is a prerequisite of great fashion and style sense, but I guess the heart wants what it wants.

Glamour Inspiration

As the host of the first annual diamond ball to benefit the Clara Lionel foundation last year, Rihanna was dressed in an elegant Zac Posen dress…

 

Rihanna in Zac Posen

The Nollywood screen goddess drew some 'RInspiration' in her custom Elvira Jude dress...

Genevieve Nnaji in Elvira Jude

One could tell the look, though inspired by the Zac Posen dress, still held elements of originality which stayed true to the genre of style we know Genevieve loves.

Game of Colours

Alex Ekubo

Joseph, son of Jacob, get in here! Alex be stealing your spotlight. When I saw this look, the first thing that came to mind was the popular Rubik’s cube puzzle.

Rubik's Cube

Not every man can pull of this look, unfortunately Alex isn't 'not every man'. He should have opted for an all black look to go with the 'colour-loud' jacket; making it the only focal point.
Fashion inspiration can be drawn from the minutest of things, howbeit, infusing one's own originality is key. Stay inspired!

Respectable Meets Inappropriate: Oh Hello!

My fashion mantra; “In fashion, there is no right or wrong; no good or bad, only dos and don’ts” means morality, though the springboard of our life choices and determinant of rightness and wrongness, isn’t necessarily the springboard of our style choices.

Being a celebrity isn’t all glitz and glam, it comes with its un-pleasantries, like loss of privacy, constant scrutiny, more often than not; extreme backlash… Unfortunately, the beautiful singer, Seyi Shay, has been served her not-so-fair share. From her controversial outfit at the 2014 CHOAMVA which got fingers wagging – especially that of Charles Novia

Seyi Shay at the CHOAMVA

… To her scantily clad outfit at the ‘Meet the President’ event organized by the President of Nigeria, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, that caused social media uproar.

Seyi Shay with President Goodluck Jonathan

In her words, “I am a very respectable young lady and I was not in any way trying to seduce the president… the dress I was pictured in with the president was what I wore during my performance…”

But here’s the thing, an outfit like this is every shade of inappropriate even for a performance because... ‘President’. There is a certain style etiquette required at a presidential event while gyrating on stage.

What ‘don’ts’ she missed:

• She shouldn't have shown too much skin. If there must be leg-showing, her upper region ought to have been covered up. She’s hot. We know this. The president does now too. 

• She should have kept it simple. Wearing that over-the-top necklace was a wrong choice. There’s a thin line between tacky and tasteful.

Lastly, like they say, “there’s a time do and place don’t for everything”

Photo Credit: bellanaija