Never underestimate the power of Accessories – A look into my cupboard...

So working as a stylist, you have to be mouldable. What I mean by this is you have to chop and change between looks, trends, style, people, colours, textures...pretty much you have to have your head around the whole shebang of what’s happened, what’s going on and what’s going to happen in fashion. Now that I think about it this is probably the reason my mind has little room for anything else...

What I find is that no matter who I am dressing I always have a signature. A vibe that follows anyone I style whether it be in personal styling, runway or editorial. And this signature is ACCESSORIES!  Necklaces, Bracelets, Bangles, Earrings, Rings, Brooches, Scarfs, Hats, Head Pieces, Belts, Shoes, Socks, Bags....DROOLING WHILST WRITING... I’m the type of person who will spend all my pay check on that YSL ring, who has worked styling jobs for payment in necklace form, who was nicknamed ‘the Christmas Tree’, who has had passer-byers yell out to me “hey, Mr T” numerous times (and thats CLEARLY because I wear alot of jewlery not because I am a black man, with a killer mohawk and throws snicker bars at everyone). Accessories make or break and outfit. They have the power to turn an outfit from gothic chic to ghetto fabulous, just depending on how you mix it. This entry isn’t going to be a lesson in style or anything it’s just me opening up part of my wardrobe to you.

So enjoy my favourite pieces!

Silverwear....

Perspex necklace I got from the Peeptoe warehouse sale. It was all broken and I paid for 5 bucks and re-glued it all together when I got home. When you have a vision just DIY it.

Crystals and hammered silver, always a good combo. A one off piece from China town, Sydney.

Ohmy goldness...

Dino - Resin and gold perspex, great statement piece.

This necklace I got from Asos and it reminds me of a hairstyle that little black girls in new york would have while skipping rope.

More is totes appropes when it comes to rings.

A mixture of Dino, Sportsgirl and House of Harlow

More is better, right? I love my Dino sun, mixed with glass rings from Sportsgirl.

Sportsgirl rings. Great selection for only $19.95.

If that wasn't a plug, I don't know what is! But for real, you can get high-end looking accessories for such achieveable price points if you just look around.

More Sportsgirl rings.

 Love my bull.

I always need a necklace but when my clothes are quite dramatic pendents are the go.

Bangle mania!

Check out the intricate feather detail. Everything from Dino is one off as it's hand crafted.

My Pamela Love claw comes with me everywhere...

And the one and only silver hoops, essential for any latina.

xo peeps

*Shot by Daniel D Boland

High Buns Mean No Dick?

So I had a client last week who I was doing personal styling with and when we met up the 1^st thing she let me know was “I’m going to London to see my boyfriend and so I want to dress for a man, not for women”. Which basically means "I want to look hot, not cool" and she gave me a list of things she would never wear which included anything too loose or oversized, anything vintage and DEFINATELY no high buns! Then it got me thinking that half the things I wear fitted into those categories, which may explain my singledom... Anyway, press the rewind button and I remember my 1^st week in fashion school and having a conversation with my friend about struggling in the morning when getting ready as some days you want to look ohmygod hot or other days just frikkin’ wack wicked. It’s a struggle let me tell you, to balance things you think are aaamazing, but makes males vom, with just the right amount of sexiness.


*this is probably why I keep myself tanned and wear heels with everything :)

So after having this client who had Gisele like locks, and left looking sexy as hell, I decided to look at one of this season’s biggest trends and see how they fair up with the male population. Some refer to them as High buns or the top knot or as a friend so eloquently put it “when someone pops a squat on a girls head”... well you say potaatoes I say pootatoes, you know how the rest goes.

High buns have always been a standard “model off duty look” but skyrocketed when it started to appear on some of runways most popular shows like Marc Jacobs, Lanvin and Nina Ricci and as we all want to look like our favourite girls it started to trickle down so that you now can’t throw a rock in a room and not hit a fashionista’s top knot. We love them, and it’s hard not to when Abbey Lee, Jesse Hart, Freja Erichsen and other beautiful girls we adore are rocking them. After asking what few STRAIGHT males I know, the general consensus wasn’t good. One of the guys said “it looks like the girl isn’t trying, like she can’t be bothered and so she has just tied it all up” geeee little do they know that amounts of bobby pins that go into making this look work!! Messy isn't messy these days, what messy is is standing infront of the mirror for 10 minutes and pulling strand by strand of hair out, hoping to get the perfect 'messy' look.
Another point of view was “the reason these models look hot with high buns is because they are models, anything looks good on them”, my beef with that is why should we suffer by denying ourselves top knots because we are not as genetically blessed? And a personal fav was "looks like it's sumo style"...ummm do you see these hot biatches wearing napies and flashing there morbidly obese bootys? I think not...

There are variations to this do, such as the super tight pulled back thin but tall bun...

Or a pulled back slightly loosely but with a bigger bun...

Then there is the outta control bun...

After giving you a look into the high bun I wanted to tell you another story... About a boy I knew in high school who we all thought was incredibly hot. After graduating I remember looking at photos of him and thinking, what the hell was I thinking? Then bumping into him a couple of year back he still looked the same and I still found him attractive and then I realised he wasn’t that physically hot it was his confidence that made him sooo attractive. He wasn’t arrogant, just confident and comfortable in himself. So the point I wanted to come back to ladies is that we all have our perceptions of what looks hot and what doesn’t  but I cannot stress this point enough, if you wear your look with confidence and the right amount of attitude it works. So don't dress to make men want you or to make other girls jealous, dress for yourself and work that turd on your head with  leather pants and sky high pumps like there’s no tomorrow.