Flaunt it all you want

Dressing up is not all about covering your body. I assume that you already know that.

Ever seen a lady who wears long skirts and pants all the time but the day she decides to wear something that shows some leg, you all be like, “Where have you been hiding those?”

If you hear that comment, learn that whenever you hide those legs, waist, cleavage or even the face, you will be doing yourself a disservice.

I am not saying you go all ghetto to the levels of indecent exposure or to wear a crop top to that board meeting. There are appropriate times to show off what your mama gave you and never miss that opportunity. Ugandan women are curvaceously gifted. So why not flaunt it?

I am not going to tell you to stay within the boundaries of your body shape when choosing clothes. Thinking of yourself in terms of hourglass, figure eight, an apple, pear or coke bottle shape, will help you not to cross the line, but it is better to focus on the aspects you love not on the ones you must cover up.

So, pick a dress that will support and enhance your bust, wear something to show some leg, pull your hair back sometimes so we can get to a clear view of your eyes and facial features. Flaunt your behind in fitting jeans or flowing dresses; show off your arms in short sleeves. Do not let your time spent in the gym go unnoticed. Most importantly, wear whatever makes you feel beautiful and confident. Go on and flaunt your curves!

Mix and match well

Picking your outfit is entirely up to you, and many people may not find a problem in that section.

But clothes come in colours, and that is where the problem lies for a lot of people. Have you ever looked at a lady and all the colours in her getup make you feel dizzy and cause an instant headache?

Sometimes brothers use the term ‘Christmas tree’. So how about you save yourself the embarrassment and us, the headache, by doing a little research about colours and how to match, mix, contrast, etc; the colour wheel is too big a subject to be covered here, but for the dot.com fashionista, there is an app called SwatchMatic for Android phones or ColorSnap for iPhone that will clear the confusion about how to pick colours to go with your new turquoise top.

First you need to get the basics.

Go back to and remind yourself about primary and secondary colours. Or you can download and pin a colour wheel on your wall. It will help with the days you want to wear warm, cool or contrasting colours.

For example, blue and orange, or red and green (complimentary colours) create a high contrast, so choose from that side of the wheel when you want to stand out.

After mastering the colour-pallet you will understand how to put together an outfit of blue, yellow-orange and red-orange or how to match a high contrast red, yellow and blue, of which you have let one of the colours dominate and accent with the other two. Using equal amounts of the colours, especially if they are more than two, can make the outfit look unbalanced. Mastering the art color coordination takes time. If you have been labeled colour-blind, it is time to seek help from the Internet or a friend. 

Get sporty with baseball jacket

Many guys will not admit it, but there is something really cute and sexy about a babe wearing what is considered a man’s apparel.

From men-inspired shoes, tops to headgear, a lady will come off naughty (in a nice way) and turn lots of heads.

The latest fad in town is the baseball jacket.

This laidback sporty look is trending in the casual section. Remember the bomber jacket craze? Yes. It has gone all sporty.

You may never have heard about the game of baseball or your school has never played it, but this is a fashion statement you need to make.

Before you plan to buy one or borrow your boyfriend’s, here are a few tricks on how to pull off the look.

It is important that the jacket is the right size. Anything a little too large may kill the look and you may end up coming off as shabby or as trying to send a message that the original owner – your boyfriend – is a bit on the bigger side compared to you.

For that ultimate athletic look, wear a pair of slim fitting jeans.

For me, a pretty, navy blue jacket, white top on the inside and totally ripped sky blue denim jeans plus a pair of Chuck Taylors (All Stars) or lace up boots, is the ultimate look. But also experiment with skirts and short shorts.

 

 

Show some skin with the high slit

Some trends never get out of fashion. Like the slit. The lengths may vary but the leg showing trend and the cut that goes with it are here to stay.

You do not need a super-slim physique, miles-long legs, or a perfectly defined waist to pull off this look.

Whether it is worn in the form of a maxi dress, floor-length skirt, or full-out glamorous gown, a thigh-high slit is one of the simplest ways to add a little oomph and sex appeal to your night-out outfit. It can be tasteful and subtle when done the right way. You just need a few tricks.

For every design, fabric is everything so, choose the right fabric. What’s the point of wearing a slit if it is in heavy wool and allows for little movement and few chances for a peek at your leg?

That is why it is smart to choose a flowing, lightweight fabric like satin or chiffon. The human eye will follow the slit down to the feet so it is important to complete the look with a nice pair of heels or low profile sandals.

The slit is seductive and one way to drive the point home is by defining your waist. Your options are a thin belt or a thick band of contrasting colour fabric.

For any trend, you have the option of staying within your comfort zone.

If the full-on frontal slit is too much for you, opt for a more subtly placed side slit, which offers all the drama of a front slit, but in a more toned-down way.

Lessons from the 2015 Golden Globes red carpet

The 2015 Golden Globe awards took place the other Sunday. There is always as much action on the red carpet as is in the award-giving ceremony. Jennifer Lopez aka JLo was again a top contender for the best-dressed woman. The seriously sexy Zuhair Murad gown with a high slit showing off her lean leg, a plunging neckline revealing her cleavage, the 45-year-old singer/actress definitely looked gorgeous.

The beauty with such a star-studded event is you can talk about it for ages and most importantly, you can pick a few trends. The first thing that caught my eye was the show-stopping metallic dresses. Julianne Moore and Dakota Johnson turned heads in these while Reese Witherspoon rocked a beaded gown by Calvin Klein.

Also on the red carpet were the belted dresses. Some stars decided to show off their tiny waists, courtesy of the belts. Salma Hayek rocked a silver-belted Alexander McQueen ball gown.

Showing a bit of a lot of cleavage seems to have become a mainstay on the red carpet. Styles of doing it have evolved and plunging necklines are still the trending way of pulling that off. Nothing stands out on the red carpet than a lady in white. Selena Gomez led the white gown band looking all mature and beautiful.Hopefully you took some notes too while watching the red carpet moments; a style or two picked from there could come in handy.

Try out the playful double denim

In the second half of the 19th century when Levi Strauss made jeans as a simple man’s work apparel, the company probably did not envisage that it would become a modern-day closet staple for for the stylish.

Jeans is one trend that will never go out of style. One of the common mistakes people make is confusing denim with jeans.

Denim is the fabric whereas jeans are the apparel made out of denim. All jeans are denim, but not all denims are jeans. Denim is used to make not just jeans but also shirts, skirts, bags and other accessories.

With so many varieties in designs, colours and silhouettes, the styling possibilities are virtually endless. The current fad is to pair denim with denim.

For this look, you can play around with a denim dress (long or short-sleeved), denim vest, shirt, jacket, jeans (short or long). For example, you can pair a long sleeved denim shirt (light blue) with a pair of darker skinny jeans.

Remember to tuck in before finishing this beautiful cowboy look with a pair of booties – preferably brown.

For a night out with the girls, a pair of denim shorts is a must-have. The best way to finish off the look is with a lightweight denim jacket worn over a simple white or grey top.

This look was very ‘in’ in the 1990s, and like most older fashion trends, it is making a fierce comeback.

This first appeared in my weekly fashion column in The Observer 

Look out for Nike’s 2015 Airmax

In my previous article that appeared in The Observer, I wrote about the item we need to get rid of. One of the items was the wedge sneakers.  The wedge sneaker is like a regular tennis or sports shoe, but it comes with a platform at the heel.

If sneakers are your thing for that casual look or gym visit, you will need a replacement.  Of course the wedge sneakers were not built for working out but they had the ability to still pull off a casual look in a little dress or pair of jeans.

As you search for a replacement, you may stumble upon different brands but let me introduce to you the Nike Air Max 2015.

This means the 2014 version is already on its way out so, if you can, wait until the new version hits our streets; that should not be long for a product released on Boxing Day.  Nike is known for pushing boundaries as far as creativity and comfort are concerned and the Air Max line is one of its age-old designs that has kept on evolving with the prevailing trends.

The most talked-about feature of the heel is the reflective sole and the reflective signature swoosh logo that blend with the sleek body.

The main similarities between last year’s model and this are the top mesh for breathability and the colours that fade midway through the sole. It is time to hit the road running in an expensive pair of sneakers as the originals are expected to cost between $130 and 300, depending on the version.