Me and E

 As the unofficial wedding planner to the stars  engaged one I was naturally to much of a control freak to let anyone but me do the wedding stationery. Its my big sisters big day and I want it to be perfect so I spent ages bent over every Martha Stewart wedding mag studying all kinds of papers and fonts and doo dah's trying to come up with something spectacular yet not too narfy, intricate but also simple, maybe in navy but also maybe in gold or chocolate brown? you get the drill. I wish I knew then what I know now.

Me & E is a little boutique design house run by Eloise Timmis and Elizabeth Duff and let me tell you, they are the bees knees. Their design is simple and beautiful and when the bird finally caves, I am not going to mess around with all this control freak bull-dangle, these chicks clearly have this whole wedding design thing down. 

THE MAN GIFT CONUNDRUM

Guys are simple. They are not interested in mushy birthday cards or surprise parties complete with a flock of white doves. They don't drop complicated telepathic hints which will lead you down a breadcrumb trail of clues. At the end of the day, all they want is for you to wake them up on their birthday wearing nothing but a smile:) feed them some eggs and shower them in practical gifts that they can actually use. 

Today is the Bird's birthday, I spent a month in a state trying to think up the best pressie in the world, scouring our conversations for the kind of hints and silent clues I am used to dropping and came up empty handed- with zip, nada, nothing.  Then I realised that I was getting too female in my thinking- getting all surprise birthdayish and crazy giftish and really just driving myself crazy. So I made a list of man basics to try figure this whole man gift thing out- I think its pretty good:)

Man's basic needs
1. Beer
2. A Girl (preferably wearing his t shirt and a smile who brings him tea in bed) 
3. Food
4. Mates
so That is pretty much the man list for now. See below for instruction on how to fulfill these needs and save yourself lots of time.

 

Nothing says I love you like a case of Gabriel collective's finest. Not only does it make a rad birthday present but also the anniversary gift that dreams are made of.  Imagine how chuffed your man would be if his rock star girl friend had a a sexy bouquet of craft beer delivered straight to his desk:) Instead of that card you love that sings a ballad to him for his whole office to hear (This option is not an option by the way). For more info visit their website here or click here to enquire via email.

When you are deliver his warm birthday beverage of choice make sure you are wearing a custom, made to fit shirt by the crafty foxes over at Collar and Cuff. The process is ridiculously simple and the results will guarantee you a breakfast of champions. Head over to their website, make your demands and click order it is that simple. 

When it comes to the food category, you can never go wrong with YuppieChef. Not only are they the grand accessory masters of the culinary castle but they also deliver straight to your door, for free. I feel like I am making this too easy for you. These guys have every braai accessory a man and his 'buggers' can handle, including a braai lid with a temperature gauge on it, ridiculous.

 

If all else fails Rugby season tickets might be the answer you are looking for. This pressie is probably the best all rounder gift in the man category because you are not only giving him tickets to a game, you are giving him the go ahead to go out with his mates to a place where he can drink beer out of a jug whilst watching the cheerleaders shaking their bits in small bikinis at men savaging each other like those dudes in the Colosseum. It's fool proof if you ask me. Click here for more info.

SALE ALERT

And I quote, "Psst…Guess what? The Country Road and Trenery mid season sale starts tomorrow, with up to 50% off selected items" Stop shaking and giggling hysterically, and start thinking of your excuse you are going to give your boss when he/she calls you to ask why you are not at work tomorrow.

Blue Monday?

Oh my lolly, H & M have just launched their Summer 2010 range. It is a clear illustration of the fact that Blue is most certainly not ONLY for boys and or Mondays and also that now is definitely the time to get on a cowboy your cowboy on.  All that there is left to do is buy my Missibaba Cowboy's little girl bag that I begged blogged about the other day (if only) and a Horse (this part could be problematic).  In the meantime I'm just going to photoshop my face onto these pics and live the dream digital style.

This and That

Julia Stegner in Cavalli ; Blow Away Vase

Chew the Magazine

So the latest Chew mag is out and it is a cracker. The latest edition titled The Girl's Issue is a like a high end lucky packet jam packed with girl-inspired stuff.  A definite recommended read:) Watch out for the little pink star bursts placed in and around the mag. They will lead you to information related to that particular article, person, photographer but watch out because you will lose track of time and get very little work done once you enter the world that is Chew.

GO BLOOMIN WILD

Hi Ho Silver- away

For the last two years I have longed for one of Chloe Townsends astoundingly beautiful handbags. It is impossible not to look one hundred percent cool as hell with one of her creations dangling from your shoulder. The way she marries pattern and leather is nothing short of ingenious- the woman is one seriously talented little firecracker. Her label is called Missibaba- I can hear you going 'ooooh yea, I know that name I have heard it spoken from the lips of many a cool fashionista over and over again'.

 I love the one on the right- sigh

 

 

Two weeks ago Chloe Townsend launched her first seasonal collection of luxury leather goods, called ‘Cowboy’s Little Girl.'- Pictured above. And as per usual the collection is a roaring success. I have decided that it is time to make the plunge, sell all my worldly possessions and invest my pennies in one of Chloe's creations. I just cant sleep right at night knowing they are out there alone on a shop hook- I need to take one home and show it the love it so deserves.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

VIA BEHANCE

TUESDAY SPICE

AH, NOMU,  you cheeky rats

Surely she smelt horrible? I am  baffled I mean I get that she is trying to be all wierd cutting edge (each to their own) and stuff but why on Earth would you want to smell funky too? sis

SOMETHING TO CHEW ON

7 reasons African fashion brands should be nice to bloggers 

Fashion Brand Tashkaya have such a lovely blog filled with really interesting snippets for you to chew over. I like where she is going with this article, SA fashion labels need to start taking a little notice of the force behind local bloggers and showing us some support because we are only getting stronger:) What do you think?

In the fashion world bloggers are rising to prominance as a force to be reckoned with. For some reason African and South African fashion brands in particular still seem to treat them as second class citizens. We think this is a mistake, and here are a few reasons why we think so.

1. 40% of the press at New York Fashion Week are bloggers.

According to Reuters the presence of online media at fashion week has grown more than 20% over the last six months. This means that of the 3, 600 members of press present, nearly 40% are fashion bloggers.

2. Major fashion brands are inviting them to shows.

Designers like Carl Lagerfeld and John Galliano are inviting bloggers to their shows. In some cases they are even paying all costs to fly the bloggers to the show. If top end designers are doing this, don’t you think it’s time you start being nice to your local fashion blogger?

3. In the USA fashion bloggers are becoming very popular.

Blogs like Style Bubble are getting up to 25 000 hits a day. While some bloggers have tens of thousands of twitter followers. If this isn’t enough to make you sit up and notice then I don’t know what is.

4. Bloggers are now judges for CFDA

For the first time ever bloggers have been invited to be judges for the Council of Fashion Designers of America. This is a landmark event for the fashion blogging industry. It is an indicator of the power and influence that is moving into the hands of fashion bloggers.

5. Traditional fashion editors are loosing control

Just like the film and music industry is struggling to come to grips with the fact that the internet has made them largely irrelivant; the fashion editorial industry is loosing much of it’s power. In the good (or bad depending on your point of view) old days fashion editors could control what and who the public sees. With the advent of the internet and growth of fashion blogs this power is now gone.

6. Enthusiasm = Influence

Everybody knows that the thing that sells clothes is enthusiasm and passion; not knowledge. The average person out there doesn’t care about technical details and high-brow descriptions of the “silhouette” and “architectural lines” of a garment. On the other hand, having somebody who clearly loves clothes recommend an item they love carries much more weight. Bloggers mostly do this because they love clothes and fashion, yes some of them make money from their blogs, but they only make money because they are passionate about what they do.

7. The rest of the world lags behind the USA

This might be the most important reason to start building relationships with local bloggers. The developing world runs 3-4 years behind the states when it comes to the adoption of internet trends. This means that before long all the major local brands will be beating a path to the door of your favorite blogger. Shouldn’t you be there first?

We have created a page to list the top South African bloggers. We hope this will become a place to showcase the talents of the top bloggers in this country. Have a look and support their blogs.

Do you agree that fashion blogging has the power to shape the fashion landscape?

ESSIE-licious

I am addicted to nail varnish, not the mature deep plum type that professional ladies wear in the movies, I like the jade greens and 'jungle reds' of the world. Its so weird how coloured fingernails can make or break your whole day- Mint Candy apple is certainly making mine:) I bought this little bottle of glorious the other day and decided to give it a test drive today-what colour are you wearing?