Try Something New

Back when I was in school (for the second time) I got really cool with one of my classmates, Haddy. We hit it off from the get go. Throughout the two years we were in fashion school together we got closer and closer and eventually became senior project partners. Haddy was a fierce realtor turned fashion student that commanded a room when she walked in. I loved her confidence, her outgoing personality, and her fly African pieces she wore on her social media accounts. Haddy is from Gambia, Africa. She often told me about her homeland, its culture, and their unique style. I always told her I would love to cop some pieces because she always had unique, one - of - a - kind garments with bold prints and interesting shapes. 

So fast forward to this summer, after Haddy and I graduated 1 year prior, and I received an unexpected package from Haddy. The package contained two kente cloth dashikis for Grayson (I cannot wait until he gets a little bigger so he can wear them, they are absolutely adorable), a red, floor length skirt with a beautiful pattern for me, and this beautifully cut dashiki. I’ve never owned a dashiki, but I was honored that Haddy would think of (Grayson and) me and introduce me/us to a little piece of her culture through some amazing garments.

I absolutely love this dashiki! It is bold, bright, and unapologetic which mirrors my personality. Even though I’ve never worn a dashiki, I wanted to own it! I paired it with a black pair of (D.I.Y) distressed jeans I purchased from the Gap, a pair of pointy - toed booties I scored from Old Navy about a year ago for less than $15, and my favorite new pair of sunnies (my yellow - tinted sunglasses from Windsor that you have seen often here on Ali’s Fashion Sense recently). This is the perfect top for traveling, because it slides on very easily, but more important it is a statement piece that doesn’t require much else.

DASHIKI// Gifted (similar) - BLACK DIY DISTRESSED JEANS// via Gap (similar) - POINTY TOE BOOTIES// via Old Navy: old (expensive dupe),  (cheaper option) - YELLOW SUNGLASSES// via Windsor (similar) - LIPPIE// via The Lip Bar in Prima Donna sold out but try this liquid matte lippie Crown Me)

Sometimes in life, we are afraid to try something new in fear of it not panning out the way we imagine. But the quote by the young author, Erin Hanson keeps popping up in my mind: “What if I fall? Oh, my darling, what if you fly?” As we round out this last month of 2017 (Can you believe it is December already? Where did the time go?) let’s vow (you & me) to try something new: something that we’ve been wanting to do, wear, a new dish, a place to travel, an idea we’ve had buried inside etc. Just go for it! Life is too short (in the grand scheme of things) to live off fear, so why not fly into the unknown. And even if we fall we can still learn something from the fall (like another famous quote from Les Brown says…)  “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it you will land among the stars.” So here is to abandoning fear in exchange for freedom to live the life we want and try new things!

Happy first day of December. Let’s rock out these last 31 days and gear up for an amazing 2018!!! TGIF luvs!

Xoxo,

-Ali