Sweet Potatoes, I Want To Share My Style With You

Sometime in 2013, I decided to incorporate my personal style into this blog. As a personal and lifestyle blogger, there technically isn’t any area of life that does not fall under the “lifestyle” and “personal” niche – although I don’t think that “personal” is still a niche.  Prior to the decision to incorporate my personal style into the blog, I used to randomly write about style. Usually, it was something funny – like why men shouldn’t wear leggings.

By the way, I received emails from men who said that I was discriminating against men based on gender, that it was disrespectful to say that men shouldn’t wear leggings. These men who sent the emails were not Nigerian or African (based on their names — which could have been fake, I suppose). But ehm, I haven’t changed my stand sha. I still think men shouldn’t wear leggings – especially if they look anything like the ones in this post.  I have really digressed.

The point is that just as I mentioned in this 2013 post about my fashion disaster, I just felt like I had a closet full of clothes that I did not like or want to wear.  So I decided to start showing you pictures of what I wore to events. The problem with this approach was that the pictures were not taken consistently, conveniently, or with a lot of creative direction. I just basically stood outside before entering the car and took pictures. Like what I wore to Faith’s wedding, and what I wore to Pelumi’s wedding, and what I wore to girl’s night out. They were okay pictures, but they were not excellent, nor did they do much to encourage my pursuit of style.

Still, they were not terrible pictures, if I do say so myself. The idea I had was a good one, but the execution left more to be desired.  I did a few what-I-wore posts and got tired. Then my Style & Beauty section was overtaken by beauty and barely any style. However, my problem persisted.  I needed a closet makeover.

So, last year, November 2017 to be specific – I decided that I would try again. Well, I never stopped trying to revamp my style but between being lazy, being uninspired, and being leeched, I just never got around to doing what I wanted to do. There was always something else I was diverting my money to. And me, I am a correct Igbo babe oh! I don’t like wasting money at all, at all. So before buying one pair of shoes, I have to make sure that there’s no bill waiting to be paid and that Ada Verastic is good!

Ehen, so I contacted this wonderful photographer in November. I explained to her that I wanted to dress like the girl I have always imagined myself to be, and that I wanted to document it.  She thought it was a wonderful idea, too, and we discussed the details. Then shit happened and I never reached out to her again. She reached out months later to ask if I was not doing again, and I told her that I was still doing ooo, that she should just give me some time to sort some things out. Eventually, we got together, hugged, gisted, and took some actual pictures.

This is one of the outfits we shot, so come Monday, July 16th 2018, I’ll be putting up my first style post. Well, technically not my first style post, but my first 2.0 style post with correct camera! Ha! I’ll be showing more of this outfit, so I guess we can call this picture a sneak peek. Abi no be so the style bloggers dey call am?

The purpose, by the way, of doing these style posts is to be more accountable. If I share on here that I’m trying to discover (or rediscover) my style, then you people will know, and when I don’t share pictures, you people can scold me.  Or send me new clothes. The latter would be preferable.

So here’s The Plan:

1.  Buy new clothes in styles, fabrics, cuts, and colors that I may not typically wear (only if I love them).

2.  Be more intentional about buying only clothes that I love.

3.  Do not buy clothes just because they’re on sale/affordable (and then dump them in the closet because I actually don’t like them)

4.  Try to be more daring, but use common sense to do it. Oversabi has never been a virtue. Besides, walking around looking like a mad woman is certainly not the plan.

5.  Rediscover the clothes that I do already have, including clothes from years ago that still have tags on them.

6.  Tell you the story behind each outfit: like where I bought it, why I bought it, the size, when I bought it, how it makes me feel, etc.

7.  Just generally dress nice, so Ada Verastic doesn’t tell me to stand 10 feet away from her when we’re in public.

8.  To compare Vera of before-before to the brand new Vera. There should be a visible, audible, tangible, unapologetic difference between the two.

9.  To just be over-sexy. Remember that post I wrote about my Soldier Boy saying over-sexy dey worry me? Well, my forthcoming style posts are the reason I shared that story.  I want over-sexy to really worry me.

10.  To become a card-carrying member of the Pepper Dem Gang (and to remind the others that I am still not their mate).

What’s NOT The Plan:

1.  Discard all my current clothes and fill my closet with brand new clothes (unless I win the lottery, then all bets are off)

P.S. That dress I wore to Faith’s wedding, I don’t think I’ve worn it again since then. It’s hanging in my closet smiling at me. I really like this dress, so why haven’t I worn it again?

P.P.S. For a style post, this post sure is wordy!

P.P.P.S. Although I use the word, “clothes” a lot in this post, I am really referring to the entire outfit: clothes, shoes, bags, accessories, and even my hairstyle.

So, are you excited to see more of these style pictures?