Tiwi's Closet: BushFire Style Ideas

If you live in Swaziland you will  know that Bushfire is coming up.  I myself have never attended one but I plan to this year. Bushfire has been ranked as one of the biggest festivals in the world by CNN.  From what I have researched  Bushfire is about great music, food and self-expression.

This post will hopefully give you a few festival ootd ideas for the coming bushfire. The great thing is you can buy these pieces from Tiwi’s Closet.  This post will also give Miss Tiwi’s Guide to festival fashion.

What do you wear to a festival?

Festival for me are a chance to play around with fashion.  They give you a space to be open and creative.  A question I always get from friends and people in general is ‘ What do I wear to Bushfire?’ . It is hot during the day and cools down at night.

Dresses

Festivals are about embracing your inner flower child. Channel the 70s with a boho chic maxi dress. Or just be a fairy for a day in a floaty dress. It is your time to get creative and colourful so go for it. Here are a few Tiwi’s closet suggestions:

Vintage Shirts

A vintage blouse can work as the focal point of your outfit. You can pair it with jeans, a skirt, shorts just about anything as long as you are creative. Wear it is outwear with layered over another shirt. It is a versatile piece to have.  For a festival going bold with your vintage shirt is a must.  Let your shirt speak.

Light outerwear

Dusters / Kimonos and general light outerwear are the perfect day to night piece. If you don’t want to carry heavy  outerwear then this is perfect. You can style light outwear with just about anything.  Here are some Tiwi’s Closet options: 

Denim

From skirts, to shorts , to dresses. Denim is what I call a festival classic. For a more interesting denim outfit go for a skirt, dress or outwear. Denim shorts scream festival. If you can pull it off go for it.  Tiwi’s Closet has a few denim pieces you may be interested in. We also have a selection of shorts which are not photographed.

Print
Get creative with print. It's a festival be bold and bring out your inner 70s icon.

To get any of these products. Visit us at the Vintage Fair on Saturday the 30th of April from 10am to 6pm. We will be at the Checkers Business Park in Mbabane. 

If you can't make it feel free to contact Tiwi's Closet and make a house visit. Find our contact details on our Facebook page. www.facebook.com/fashionbytiwiscloset 

I hope you have found this post useful. Follow the Miss Tiwi page on Facebook for updates on festival fashion. 

Love and Light

Tiwi x

That 70s Look

Hello lovelies.

So I am finally getting back into the swing of things. I have so much to share with you. I have been blogging since 2010 and I never quite knew what my motives where with the blog. I've since changed it, tried to end it and come back to it. Blogging for me is an outlet. It allows me to learn new skills, while being creative and sharing what I know.

So I wanted to do a 70s lookbook but on the day of shooting 2 out of the 5 outfits malfunctioned so I decided to simply share the beauty of  the location I was shooting from.I have moved back to Swaziland. The mini lookbook was shot in Malkerns at the Malandela farm. I felt so free doing this and it pushed the boundaries of my comfort zone. It was hot and we were surrounded by grass (I have mild allergy to grass). Running in between sugar cane fields was interesting. The shoot featured my favourite 1970s inspired maxi dress from Wallis and my thrifted Dashiki top from Oxfam.  This post will also feature my new hair colour ( yay me).

What I am hoping for you to take from this post is how to bring the 1970s into 2016 and not look dated.

Look 1: The Maxi dress

A maxi dress with a paisley print will give you an instant 70s look. You can also wear one with an 'ethnic print' or just abstract colours or motifs. My dress had the added kimono sleeves which gives the dress a more authentic 70s feel.  Also do play around with headgear.
 Body jewelry was very big in the 1970s. I went for a smokey eye which you can't see because I sweated it off and a pink lip. Under normal circumstances you should not go for bold lips and bold eyes but the 70s where all about being bold and this makeup look works. You can also try a smokey eye with red or orange lipcolours. Dramatic eye shadow is another thing you can try.
This look would be perfect for a wedding, festival or when you feel whimsical and feminine.

Look 2: Wide leg Jeans

Nothing says the 70s like high waist wide leg jeans. I styled mine two different ways. With a crop top and a dashiki top. To make this look more authentic I added body jewelry and platform shoes. To complete the look wear your hair in an Afro and throw some hoop earrings in the mix. Over sized round or square shaped sunglasses will complete the look.

Photography credits : Tina Mbachu

I enjoyed putting this together. My hoe is that you can learn something from this post. Go forth and get your groove on.

Love and light
Tiwi

A New voice

Faith and Confidence can open more doors than you expect. Believe in yourself. 

Well.. It's good to be back

I had planned to delete my blog and start over. But I just couldn't let go. I have done it before and to be honest the results weren't that different. So much has happened since I last blogged. So many realizations and growth. I feel like a new person.

• I have moved continent. I finally took a leap of faith and moved back to Swaziland. I am not yet sure if this is a permanent thing but I know this is where my heart is at the moment.
• I have a new voice. My old posts where always me second guessing myself and what I was writing about. Now I am more confident that what I will share is all me. Doing it Tiwi style.
• I am sure you have all noticed I changed the blog name to Miss Tiwi. That's because Tiwi's closet is now the name of my brand. I felt that the name had out grown the blog and was no longer relevant. 

Thing's I would like for this new phase in my blogging adventure:

• I need to take on the more challenging ideas. when I started this blog it was to share my personal style and what I know about fashion. I want to that back. I am really going to put time into what I write and do. I owe it to myself. My blog has done so much for me. Even through my own inconsistency it has opened new doors and introduced me to new people. So it's time for me to really create what I want to create.
• You will be seeing more and more posts about natural hair, lipstick , travelling. I may try making videos but that is something I feel I need to give more thought.
• More styling and lookbook posts and the old age OOTD posts.

I am excited but I am also ready to put in the time .

So a bit about the pictures in this post. They were taken by my talented friend Tina. 

Check out her tumblr (www.afrobohemian-nomad.tumblr.com)  and Instagram @afro_boheme. 

We took the pictures in my neighborhood, right outside people's houses and using the old local park. This shoot for me was all about hair, femininity and nature. These pictures instantly made me feel confident and they portray how I feel about my future. You know guys sometimes we know things but knowing and internalizing are two different things. The things I am talking about are faith and confidence.  I call these pictures A refreshing, bolder, fearless change.

I look forward to riding this new wave with you my readers. It promises to be an interesting and fruitful journey.

Wishing you a productive and happy week

Shopping vintage for vintage rookies.

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Vintage or retro fashion (as some refer to it as) is something that has become increasingly popular over the past decade and I don’t see it going anywhere anytime soon. Today I am here to convince all you vintage rookies out there why it is a good idea to invest in vintage fashion and come on over to the dark side.

So the first question is 'why vintage'?

The high street these days has us all looking like clones. I don’t know about you but  don’t you like looking different? The way you dress is part of your identity believe it or not. It says something about you . It is a form of self expression.  I for one love standing out. I never used to but fashion became an important part of my identity at some point in my life ( I feel an ugly duckling to a swan story coming up). I like mixing high street trends with my vintage pieces to create a more personal look. Vintage is a great way of making yourself stand out. A lot of vintage pieces come as a one off piece that only you will own. So why not?

Other convincing factors...

Quality: Clothes and accessories from eras past where made a lot differently. The high street as we know it today did not exist back then and clothes where made with longevity in mind. Fashion didn't change drastically every couple of months or weeks so clothes had to last more than one season.  Often times when I look at a vintage pieces I notice that they are well made, with better material and  finishing. A lot more love went into making these things. Why not own some of that love? If an item has lasted that long on this earth and it still has life then surely it says something about the quality. Everything these days is mass produced. The high street is always trying to sell you a new trend and things go out of fashion very quickly. 

Price range

Vintage can be as cheap or expensive as you like. There is really a wide variety when it comes to shopping vintage. From flea markets to high end vintage boutiques. For all you rookies I would advice you to start off cheap especially if you are still finding your style. The good thing with vintage is that cheap doesn't mean less value it just means going to less glamorous places to shop and digging for what you think you might like. Don’t kick it till you have tried it. I once found a 1980s Givenchy jacket for R5 ( this is less than 5 pence  for all my British readers)  in the Manzini flea market.  Vintage stores kind of pick out stuff they think will sell or people will find interesting and high end vintage stores mostly deal with couture pieces or items worn by famous dead or alive people back in the day.  I for one love flea markets. I could live there and when I’m in Swaziland I shop in flea markets exclusively. The shops make me panic because my brain thinks in pounds when I see R90 my brain is seeing £90 and it shuts down on me.

What I think you should look for when vintage shopping?

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Versatility : this is the most important factor for me. An item has to go with as many pieces in my existing closet. This helps me visualise the different ways an item can be styled. If a garment is versatile it means I get maximum use out of the item and for me that is a plus for me.

Unique factor : With vintage clothing you are most likely to be the only individual that own that particularly piece in your area code. ( I can’t guarantee the world sorry). Why not add a few pieces to your wardrobe that will make you have a more unique look. Mix vintage pieces with high street fashion and create something fresh and uniquely you. ( Am I drawing you to the dark side yet.  Yes. No Yes?)

Colour and pattern: Sometimes we give up on a piece of clothing because it’s too big or small. When shopping  for vintage. If it has an interesting colour or pattern  then I say go for it.  Just find a tailor to work with so you can breathe new life into something old and unwanted..

Where to shop vintage for rookies?

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If the idea of diving head first into a loud flea market where you will have to haggle with people doesn't appeal to you. I would suggest trying a second hand shop first which is a bit more organised and less smelly than a flea market.  Also try looking online if physically going out there to buy stuff puts you off. There are a plethora of vintage stores. I have one check it out  here ( cheeky advertisement). But seriously from eBay to Etsy to ASOS market place there are many vintage stores online. This is especially a great idea if you don’t know how to style pieces. Online vintage stores invests a lot of time in styling their pieces to give their buyers ideas on how to wear them.  Get styling ideas from Instagram and Tumblr if you are not sure how you would style a particular piece. There are plenty of options out there.

Vintage clothes shopping is more or less like an adventure. Be open to experiencing new things and all will be well.

Well I hope you enjoyed this post  lovelies.  I really have a passion for looking unique and standing out and I am sure it comes through in this piece. If you have any questions feel free to ask me. For more vintage inspiration follow me on Instagram @misstiwscloset and follow my vintage brand’s account @tiwisclosetvintage.

Have a fantastic week people.

Be a Diva in vintage ( like my fabulous assistants below) 

Tiwi

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Plus Vintage with Tiwi's Closet Vitnage

Hello every body. It's been a couple of weeks but as I always I remain loyal to my love for blogging and fashion. You guys don't know how many changes I have been going through in the last month.

So sometime in January or should I say sometime last Decemeber I had a fabulous brain wave. 

I thought it would be interesting to show you guys how I see vintage. I am usually the face behind the styling and buying but this time I decided to be the face in front of the camera.

 This is exactly how I would dress no jokes. To be honest when I am buying pieces for Tiwi’s Closet Vintage I always visualise how I would style the items. There has to be that connection for me to buy anything. You could say then that I have an emotional connection with all of my merchandise.  Whenever I pick out an item I visualise how I would wear it or how I would style it on another person. So you could also say the vision is what I buy when I pick each item and the vision is what I pass on to my customers.

As with anything fashion related there is usually a lack or limited amount of a plus size presence.  At the time of the shoot I wasn’t thinking “hey let me wave the plus size flag”. I was simply thinking let me share my style with fashion lovers out there. However I have noticed a lack of plus size wearable vintage out there so this one is for us plus size ladies.  All the clothing you see ( minus the shoes and ccessories) Will be available on our etsy shop. 

( CLICK ME FOR TIWI'S CLOSET VINTAGE)

 We offer worldwide shipping .

On the day of the shoot it was raining and cold. The shoot was in Leeds and believe me my hair was not working with me. I had actually only just taken out my crochet braids the day before and didn't really have much time to do anything with it. This is my hair after it has been deep conditioned and washed. I decided to go with my hair in it's bare natural glory ( what choice did I have) and I  can honestly say I am happy with how it turned out. 

My photographer for the day was the lovely Kinga Kopcaz. She is an amazing and patient photographer. I worked with  her on the last Tiwi's Closet Vintage Lookbook and I wasn't disappointed this time either. 

And here is what we achieved together:

Photography credits: Kinga Kopcaz http://www.modelmayhem.com/kingakopacz

Being a modella even for a day is hard work don't get it twisted. For all you aspiring models posing is no joke. I tried my best and I would love to do this again some day. Who know you just might see another one of these again. 

In the last two years I have become a doer instead of just a dreamer.  I am challenging you to do the same. Don't keep all those great ideas in your head. Make them a reality.

I hope you enjoy this post as much as I did. 

Happy weekend 

Love , your modella

Tiwi