But...those pieces don’t even match!

I am not a fashion blogger and most probably will never be one… But I thought I’d share this interesting experience I had regarding shopping for an outfit for my album cover and web shoot.

Growing up – if it matched – that’s what worked… A yellow top with jeans and yellow shoes, with yellow bangles and yellow hair goodies – and a yellow bag... with yellow socks! My worst was the frilly dresses my ouma always wanted to buy for me – and I she can testify to this… I hardly wore those dresses! I may have looked pretty – but I was about to get ready to set those on fire…

 I think I got left behind in the early 90’s! My mama is one of the most amazing people I know… a godly woman with strong heart and the greatest personality ever… anyone can get on with her… that’s where my brother, Emil, got his “awesomeness” from. But as beautiful as my mama is – inside and out – I was never really brought up to be concerned about fashion. So here I am… stuck in neutral. Jeans, t-shirt, tekkies… and big dreams of hitting the stage!

I am currently starting a personal CD project which requires me to have a certain image… So I called up a friend of mine, MrsRogero, for some assistance. She helped me by sending me pictures and even wrote out what each “look” should be made up of. I was super excited and decided to tackle SANDTON CITY all by my confident self. She had given me what I can totally see myself in and couldn’t wait to look THAT way!

It was most probably the worst shopping experiences of my life. I kept sending pictures back and forth to her and kept getting colours and things wrong… I walked out of there after 6 hours of shopping in Mr. Price, Cotton-on and Jay Jays… 6 HOURS!!!! By the time I got to Trutworths I just burst into tears and made my way back home – absolutely discouraged. I couldn’t even buy clothes looking at pictures and following written instructions… And I am a seriously visually motivated person! (I most probably gained an extra 5kg’s after all the comfort food from Ocean Basket)…

So I decided to get even more help… Along with my 6 page instruction manual and colours from MrsRogero, I borrowed a friend of mine’s 16 year old daughter and took her to the shops with me… It took her 10min to find 3 outfits for me to try on… I don’t know how she did it… NOTHING matched but EVERYTHING worked (not in my mind – but according to fashion rules… yes!)…

I felt hopeful again! It was then that I realized that it won’t be a bad idea to ask someone who has an eye for these things to jump in and help… like their strength is my weakness – so my strength is their weakness.  And this is where I’d like to apologize to every fashion-blogger and well dressed person I have ever looked down on… I may have thought what you had to say was insignificant in the bigger scheme of life. May you all continue to write and blog regarding the things I am ignorant of!

I’d like to give a huge shout-out to my dear friend Arlene August  with whom I seriously enjoyed this past Saturday’s shopping experience at Sandton City (using MrsRogero's instruction manual). We found the cutest outfit for the big photo-shoot that I am doing this coming weekend… and I could never have done that without her… all under 4 hours of shopping with time for lunch included! J My heart is grateful for fashion savvy people… I NEED YOU! And might I add… We managed to walk away from Sandton City with around R3 from the budget to spare!

Thanks to everyone who made the past 3 weeks of image consulting and shopping an educational experience! I will upload photo's of the "look" soon!

Have a fab week!