Be still heart.

Elie Saab Couture Spring 2013. Be still my machine gun heart. This is everything I envision when I think couture. There are over 40 pieces of divine transparency, rich embroidery and a beautiful lightness that quite ironically weighs heavy on a woman's heart. Below are my most "ohhh myyy" moment pieces, two from each color just because I wanted to be a cool organizer like DAT. My words will do no justice in description & the evoking of emotion. So let's just take a minute and stare in wonderment.

 

 

 

 

                         


Photos by firstVIEW

 

No time for Discretion!

S.O...... two letters is all he goes by. My favourite rapper right now and most probaby for a long time to come. He is an urban Psalmist. A poet who speaks in complete vunerability. He does not spare his flaws for reveal, he is Biblicial in his praise, he is relevant, he slays the inauthentic realism that this generation projects on themselves and others, he is daring -- with fire he will speak to your heart.

 

I've been meaning to post about S.O. for a while now, but I wanted to wait for his new album "S.O. it continues" to drop. I love this video, the black and white with the highlighted reds and oranges. It has such a vintage feel to it. They did good to rap on a sunset canvas. S.O. rips his bars apart, such a talented brother, did ya catch his Brit/American accent?

 

I appreciate hip hop that is created out of a love and humility that pays no mind to the lights and the numbers. I believe good hip hop or music is creating for The Creator.

SUMMER LIFE

In the early hours of a cold dark winter morning, I would awake telling myself that soon I would be waking up to paradise.

Whenever summer finally comes around after a what seems to be an eternity of winter, everything becomes so much easier, happier and brighter. However, New Zealand summers are a hard nut to crack. It comes when it sees fit. When your body can no longer bear the monstrous layers of clothing or the fear of leaving a warm bed, summer still remains hidden away, giving us only glimpses of what she could be. One word...Annoying. My tolerance for cold weather has taken such a dive that if someone left a free chocolate cake outside I wouldn't even take a second glance.

Instead of waiting a 100years for summer to come along. I went to it. Actually, I went to a place where summer doesn't exist, where sun, easiness, happiness and brightness is everyday, all day. My home, Fiji.

I envisoned my time home to be adventourous and thrill-seeking. Doing things I've never done before like:

Jumping out of a plane


Crusin' over some postcard islands


Catching some game fish


Trying to not drown on some waves


Climb an epic mountain

© Alisi Bulouvou Sheehy

I accomplished 1/5. Pretty sure that's a fail in school.

HOWEVER, I did have some amazingly beautiful times that made up for all those missed marks. I saw a side of home I had not seen before. Serene, untouched beaches, valleys and forest. Miles of clear blue water and scorching hot sun that left me dark as night. It wasn't just these mighty lands, but it's mighty people. Reunited with family that I had not seen in years. There is a peace in seeing a long lost familiar face. As if time had wrapped us up and whisked us away and wherever we would be free of it, we would be sure to find each other at the same place we began.

This is how I made up for the 1/5:

I walked along rainbow colored sunsets...

Looked out into deep and clear seas...

Swam all morning, afternoon and night in crystal hot water...

Enjoyed down time with family...

Walked on Untouched and serene beaches...

Climbed to see the first sunrise of 2013...

And yeeepp, I still got to climb that epic mountain...

Watched my dear cousin get married...

 

 

And spend lots of time playing cards with lots of cousins...

 

I really don't think anything else could be more thrilling. God planned it pefectly.

Color shhmullerr

I have probably been told a trillion times by my good friends that I need to wear more color, to the point where one of them actually asked me whether it had to do with some deeper brewing emotional issue. I am not a goth. I did make it a new years resolution (9 months ago now) that I would wear more color, but that plan failed as soon as I thought it. Though, I think it is safe to say that people tend to gravitate toward the darker, dull, gloomy colors and shades come the long months of winter. But, dark, dull and gloomy is in no way anti-style, nor is it  an ostracized phenomena. Like all things fashion, the more unique, strange and second look worthy a garment is the more "in-style" it becomes. Therefore, I embrace it all! Proof that dark & dull can still be cool? 

      

Photos by Fur Insider
Top Left: Dior F/W 12, Rick Owens F/W 12 & Gareth Pugh F/W 12

Despite the fur overload and face wraps/masks...is it just me or are designers setting us up for careers in robbery? Joking, anyway. Head to toe in the dark & dull, but look at these girls don't their faces just scream "I don't need no color, because I can't actually see any color with this head mask on, this is great!" And with this I am able to justify why my closet looks like I pulled the entire thing out of an oil spill. 

NZ saw a winter of bright colored denim, from canary, burgundy, teal, deep blues to pink, blue and green pastels. As well as mammoth amounts of floral prints on every second pair of legs that walked past. It was a bright Winter to say the least. Knits were/are the necessity and will most definitely be again next season. They say Winter is going to be crazy colored and patterned again next season. I really need to get back to Fiji and out of winter before painting rainbows and flowers on your face becomes a fad. Though, if next seasons winter looked like this and I won the lottery I may tear up my passport...

From top to bottom: Jil Sander F/W 13, Prozenza Schouler F/W 13, Haider Ackerman F/W 13

Quick by Colin Kennedy

Skate boarding, A sport, a lifestyle I really know nothing about, though the appreciation I have for it is great. I really enjoyed this short film by Colin Kennedy. I loved the wide constant and consistent shots of the skating. No fancy zooms or grind close-ups. The ordinary backdrop of communal spaces and everyday coming and goings of regular passers bys, made for a spectacular canvas. And even more the music seemed to effortlessly attach itself to the speed of the skating and vice versa.

              

H U F F E R

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted anything about fashion or style, not that I have any. But still necessary nonetheless. Tis the season to speak fashion! Milan, London, New York all the major fashionista cities have just wrapped up their anticipated fashion weeks (pretty sure I just used fashion 3 times in this sentence). Even little ol' NZ just wrapped their fashion week last week. Guttered I couldn't attend this year because LIFE got in the way. Even more guttered that I missed the Huffer show. I have heard a million and one things about how amazing it was, mainly because it was a big party and the guys behind Huffer scrapped the traditional runway show, instead having their models interact and mingle with guests all in new season Huffer. Huffer designer Steve Dunstan said that they wanted to reflect what Huffer was really about, which is a lifestyle, fun and interaction and not a structured type of show. Awesome idea Dunstan, spot on.

Photo by Cobra Snake
Palm tree prints, orange!? Please Sir, can I have some more?

Photos by Cobra Snake

 



Speaking of, I just copped me some prettttaayyyy rad Huffer polka dot denim. This isn't my "thing" really, but the fit was BEYOND and I thought why not, I should probably wear more interesting things. Striped Tee also by Huffer.

 

                    


Item next on the list. Super simple, perfectly shaded dress by Huffer, duh.

Fiji Trip

Almost 4 weeks ago now I took a wee last minute trip to my island home Fiji to take care of a few bits and bobs. I stepped into warm, humid air painfully expectant. And I left knowing I would and was never the same person that I arrived.

On a beautifully moonlit Friday evening I found myself on a slice of paradise. Little did I know that from the moment I would step out of that airport God’s perfect plan had already been laid, before the beginning of time.  Saturday morning would be the start of my perfect adventure with Him and those who He handpicked for me to share it with. It all began to unfold on that Saturday evening, at my cousin’s 21^st, WHICH I just so happened to time.

I’ve never witnessed anything so beautiful my entire life. There was an unmistakeable feeling of perpetual relentlessness in the room. A space filled to the brim with broken hearts & spirits poured out in complete awe of a love that could shake a young man to his core. I sat there trying my hardest to take everything in. Never letting a single word slip from memory. My cousin, my friend, my brother, my superstar stopped for a few seconds to catch his breath before he honoured a list of people he held before him. I cannot help but see greatness and impossibility bow before his feet when I look into his eyes. His tears showed briefly as he honored the first person on his list. And like a sword swirling with fire, his words cut & burned into the hearts and minds of every person exposed to it. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room. I don’t deserve to know such a person like him, but by grace…

He ended the night by washing the feet of 6 of his best friends. My heart sank. A birthday, a day we celebrate ourselves? Should we not instead celebrate those that made those very years possible? This night I would never forget. If ever I saw Jesus walk amongst us, it was this night.

I later found out that one of my best friends was in the country. Seeing her was like finding sunshine on a cold day, warm and never wanting it to leave. Sharing our stories, laughs, food and gyming like time had never past us by. And through her I reconnected with a long lost high school friend who’s smile ignites me with joy and who’s stories are like gems that I secretly packed away for safe keeping. I also managed to spend time with a great friend that I share a soon becoming unhealthy Brooke Fraser obsession with. And imagine all this stemmed from that warm Saturday evening. I am not perfect but His plans always are and for some strange reason I still fit in them perfectly.

These four pictures sums up all we did together, eat, gym, smile & laugh.

 

 

I cannot forget to mention one more thing that continued to prove just how perfect this trip was. Family. I stayed with my aunt and uncle who I look up to as perfect examples of a couple who yearn and seek God's love more than anything else. I was also able to see both my grandmothers and cousins. Each time I see them, with deepened marks of wisdom on their faces and fading color on their heads I am reminded that I cannot for a second forget that with them is where I started, where I am from.

visiting my grandmother from my father's side. They gave me a little special graduation honor :)