Kenyan's need to be more creative with style

On Friday one of the more "fashion-conscious" guys in the office told me: "You dress like a white person."


Lol, I was kinda taken aback like "ook", had never thought to put labels to dress sense, the thought had never crossed my mind however what bugged me most was the fact that I really liked the combo I was wearing and yet there was a tone of slight disapproval in his voice. I guess I do form strong attachments to any "yes thank you, I came up with this" outfits and for it to be labeled so quickly was like little blow to my efforts! Anywho, the convo went on and I asked him why, and he replied "black people don't wear jackets (blazers) with jeans." Again I was like "ook", played it off and left.


But then it made me think, did I? And first thing that popped into my head: "But Karla of Karla's Closet is latino!"


So..lately I have been on a serious page after page indulgence of this blog. It's amazing what it does to me! Everything is so creative and it looks so easy and stylish and lady-like, tomboy, menswear-inspried, girly, vintage...to put it simply it's my aesthetic on a page!...(or webpage..s). Such bliss!...updated every so often! :)


My sister's coming back from the little island that is UK this weekend!! :D...and as tradition goes with "gifts from abroad" I was on a mission to channel this aesthetic, serious page by page analysis was carried out and matches to the chosen pieces were scrutinized on every valid online shop I knew. Slept at 4am.


I finally made my choices and slept happily :), but came back the next day and found even more stuff!! But I was being a bit gluttonous thus streamlining had to commence and it did. In the end I was pretty happy with my choices..


Saturday came round and it was time to go to the tailors for what was probably the fourth or fifth time to check on my jeans..see if they were ready and fitted..The tailor wasn't in so decided to walk around for a bit, see the shops; it had been a while. Since it was barely 10am, however, not many were open, or were just opening. The first one I went into was Kalabash which has the most bougie of afrocentric accessories! Ah but so beautiful, as my usual route goes, I headed straight for the jewellery section and quite a few pieces caught my eye, but not because they were pretty. They looked just like what I was frantically searching for, for the sister to buy and they were just sitting in a shop 2 minutes from home! Although pretty pricey I was pleasantly surprised and glad to have found them. The next random surprise came when I went to the previous "Mango outlet" shop which now stocked Zara clothing and found the exact trousers and variations of trousers I have been lusting over, in what else; THE blog :)
It was amazingness...and they weren't the generic shape of trousers...neewww these were edgy, (I want her earrings and scarf as well btw) sassy! Just on point, however they were all the wrong size, not too much of a downer, if I really wanted I could get a key pair and get the tailor to set them straight. Later on I found that scarf on a street corner by the matatu stop on moi lane and to top it all off, my mum had just bought one of my new shoe crushes created in my head, she had the exact style, colour, heel and height! Ala!
So this has really made me wonder if I have just been stuck in my limited bubble of what's available beyond the trends and afro-centric clothing that I know is out there in this market. I guess I could call the ever popular stalls, the "high street shops" and these more unique finds the boutiques. Boutiques, here however do not just refer to one-off shops, but actual sole trader vendors of chosen imported treasures and what's more is the fact that since they are sole traders, their stuff comes from such diverse backgrounds, Italy, Turkey, UK, USA, Dubai, Thailand and the list goes one. Honestly, there is just so much more out there, more than I originally thought there was! I'm beginning to rethink this once in a while "gifts from abroad" search, cos apparently everything I want is right on my door-step! :)