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"Musings of an Afropean" – Afropean culture and lifestyle blog
Archive for March, 2012
I am insatiably in love with this song by indie pop group Fun., featuring Janelle Monae. It will be on repeat until further notice. Here is the official and acoustic version, hopefully you can drive your loved ones mad by over playing the song, which is what I certainly intend to do!
Have a fantastic Friday night y’all.
x
I came across this typewriter necklace created by Vintage Jewellery designer Penelope Porche when browsing through my favourite freestyle blog ‘Go Pantone’.
Penelope’s Porch offers an eclectic selection of Unique, Whimsical and Vintage style handmade jewelry and accessories. Kitchen Baking and Cupcake charm necklaces ,Typewriter Necklace, Oz Ruby Slippers Necklace and lots more.
Check our some of her other items,
I had just added the typewriter in my basket only to see she only ships within the US :-( Oh well, I shall admire it from a far.
This is the amazing work of emerging photographer, designer and entrepreneur Fatou Wurie. Fatou tweeted me a link to her Flickr albums which I found to be so authentic of rural African life and touch upon important issues of education, literacy, poverty, politics and social mobility.
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These are some pictures taken from the album ’60% photography’
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“THE 60% based on Sierra-Leone’s illiteracy rates, which according to World Bank figures, is at 59%. The illiteracy rates we used are based on the percentage of total people ages 15 and above, and although we rely mainly on World Bank figures, other reputable sources such as UNDP Sierra-Leone and UNICEF Sierra-Leone figures vary slightly in illiteracy rates, hence we chose to round the figure to 60%. THE 60% based on Sierra-Leone’s illiteracy rate is a deliberate choice because we come from the belief that poverty is further generated and perpetuated due to lack of proper education. We are also of the belief that in order for development to truly transform the social, economic and political climate, Sierra-Leone needs an educated society. With education comes the freedom to dream, to think independently and to compete with the rest of the globe. This is the philosophy that guides our decision to entitle our photography exhibition based on the country’s illiteracy rates.
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Communities Photographed are spaces of inspiration for us. Some of the photographs depict the average Sierra-Leone on their daily living, others we spent time speaking with and hearing their stories. With their gracious invitations into their homes, we were given first account of their daily reality and privy to their worries, concerns, hopes and dreams.”
The weather in London this week has been suspiciously delicious, and one of my favourite trends for this spring/summer is the front raised maxi skirt. River Island seems to be leading on this trend, as they have up to 5 different styles currently available, and with its current popularity I expect Topshop, Zara, Urban Outfitters, H&M and the rest will catch up soon.
I am wearing the black wrap front belt maxi skirt from River Island, RRP £22, it’s light weight, comfortable and comes in black and grey. The pink top is a from New Look (SS11), and the shoes are ASOS PARROT T Bar Platforms, RRP £45, but now on sale for £27 ;-)
I thrifted the brown belt from the Oxfam DIY store in Camden for like a quid, and the Satchel bag is from a Camden Market vintage stall.
My song of the week is ‘Midnight City’ by M83, taken from their 2011 album ‘Hurry Up’. The song is falls into the electro pop bracket and makes me want to find my 80’s throwback leather jacket and walk down the high-street as the cool but calm protagonist in some Martin Scorsese film.
I downloaded the album ‘Hurry Up’ from iTunes, and I hope to listen to it properly when I finally stop putting Midnight City on repeat. This is what lead musician Anthony Gonzalez said about the album
”I wanted to make a very eclectic album but also something not too long. Making a double album was a dream of mine for a long, long time and I felt ready to make this move. It was written like a soundtrack to an imaginary movie with different ambiances, different atmospheres, different tempos, different orchestrations and different instrumentation….When I make an album it’s always about nostalgia, melancholy in the past and memories.”
The song is ultra-cool, and I can only hope M83 will be playing at the Wireless festival this year!
;-) enjoy.
“Choose the most sugary girly, sweet shades. Meadham Kirchnoff’s show did it brilliantly”
Fashion Assistant- Sarah Mower- Asos magazine, March 2012
Today I happen to be wearing all TOPSHOP, not purposefully, it just worked out that way. SS12 is overflowing with floral, from amazonian wild flowers to spring meadow prints, plus seeing that the weather has picked up somewhat I figured I might as well step into the light and put some spring in my step.
I enjoyed Sarah Mowers take on playful pastels in this months Asos magazine; it’s soft and delicate, and generally more naturally beautifully whilst holding onto a sense of self assurance, boisterousness with loose fitted blouses and high neck shirts.
Naturally I have a taste for patterns as opposed to floral print, so I have kept the pastel theme, but chosen a Animal Print Airtex vest from TOPSHOP, under a Knitted Pointell Detail Cardigan. As I am off to work, I have gone for jersey pencil skirt with heeled pumps (which got cut off in the picture, whoops!); however, had it been the weekend, I would have likely gone for a high waist Shimmer Skater Skirt, topped off with some ankle boots.
For more playful pastels, I recommend the 50′s Diner, and spring equinox look book by TOPSHOP for this SS12
Alas! We are beginning to see in upward shift in top fashion designers opting to have their black models extension-less. It is extremely gratifying to have seen that throughout London, Milan and Paris fashion week the ever proud afro has largely been spared the gruesome, make and break routine that all too often black models are subject to, in an effort to ‘manage’ afrohair among western fashion showcases.
”Left in the hands of hairstylists deaf to the temperament of Black tresses, Black fashion pioneers have recounted tales of their coils and strands being stretched to their breaking, frayed ends; scalps carelessly permed, harshly scorched, battered with color, and left to be restored by weaves, wigs, and the shearing of frazzled locks” Maria Carlos- Vogue Italia
I can only hope that designers and stylists are learning to understand the diversity of black hair texture and work with it rather than eradicate it. Furthermore,as afro hair care products are increasing reaching mainstream retailers and high end salons, we remain optimistic that they will soon land in the hands of industry’s top hair masters that have yet to understand how to manage and maintain afro hair.
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Model Harieth Paul, had a strong presence with her coiffed fro across the catwalks of Burberry Prosum, Diane Von Furstenberg, Yigal Azourel and Costello Tagliapietra; whilst Ajak Deng made a mark with her signature short cut across the runways of Suno, Roksanda Ilincic, and Issa.
So what are your thoughts, have you noticed a shift in natural hair models this year? I suspect with the likes of Julia Sarr-Jamois and Solange Knowles growing in popularity among bloggers and fashion publications such as NYTimes and British Vogue, natural hair models, and natural hair in general is gradually being treated less contentiously.
Barbara von Enger
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The Jardins des Tuileries and other cult locations are now the background to capture the trends of those that follow fashion both for work and for passion.
Gianluca Senese photographs them with his camera, and here you will be able to follow everyday the latest updates.
There are some common misconceptions about the recent KONY 2012 compaign which has recently gone viral. In this graphic, Charlie Morton illustrates the facts around Invisible Children, the cause they are fighting for and who is missing out as a result. Immediately following the release and success of the internet film, Invisible Children received criticism about its activities as revelations on the campaigns finances surfaced.
Click on the image to enlarge.
I imagine I was not the only one who wondered where the #KONY2012 suddenly sprung from one morning, and despite that many of us are aware of the sad situation of child soldiers in Africa, the Invisible Children campaign appeared to have created ‘the villain’ for whom we can target our new found disgust.
The premise of the campaign was to heighten awareness of the actions of Kony and the LRA in order to put further pressure on the U.S. government to intervene militarily in Central Africa. The campaign focused on “making Kony famous”. Evidently from the magnificent scale by which the campaign trended on Twitter, Facebook and mainstream media, they succeeded in doing so, reaching over 40 million views worldwide, and receiving recognition by the likes of Rhianna, Justien Bieber, Oprah Winfrey and Ryan Seacrest.
”We have seen your reporting, your websites, your blogs, and your video postcards—you have made the plight of the children visible to us all.”
President Obama
So what’s the problem? Surely, now that we all know Kony, we all have a collective hate for Kony, let’s all go get Kony!!!
Unfortunately, that would be most ideal in a Marvel comic but not so much in real life.
Many worry that the situation has in fact worsened since the campaign; Invisible Children came under major criticism for oversimplifying a complex and multi-faceted issue. Of major concern is that US troops are already deployed in an operation that should be secret, and that the attention that the Kony 2012 film is bringing could incite violence.
“If you want to catch Kony, I can’t think of a dumber thing to do,”
Africa expert, Peter Pham
Needless to say, many of us who retweeted, shared and blogged in support of good vs. bad campaign are now twiddling on our keyboards feeling confused and overwhelmed by what to believe, questioning whether ‘no support’ is the ‘best support’ in light of this situation.
I have have to put my opinions on pause until I can better understand the complexity of the situation, but I would love to hear your thoughts….
A Russian street artist who created a giant pair of spectacles from a streetlamp has been dubbed ‘the Russian Banksy’. The mysterious figure, known only as P183, creates eye-catching works around Moscow. P183 reveals little about himself except that his name is Pavel, he is 28 and that he studied ‘communicative design’
