Guys, you know I'm a social networking freak and when I came across what I'm about to share with you I was simply outraged!! Remember back in 2008 when Matthew Williamson did a Spring Summer collection of "Ethiopian Inspired Traditional Dresses?" well its back again! This time Urban Outfitters!! Not shedding a lick of recogintion they have this dress on their site titled "Vintage '90 Linen Dress" Im sorry what!? Last time I checked it was called a Zuria. I guess its cause im from Eritrea and a fashion enthusiast that this news rubbed me the wrong way! So anyways, I was on twitter when I heard the news and shared it with my followers, THUS! the power of social networking whisked me away to a page that looked like a petition (whoooop whooop!!) Im simply writing this post so members of this blog can show a little support and sign the petition too!! The link is righhhhht here:
This is a traditional Zuria or Hager-Leb Dress worn by Eritrean and Ethiopian Ladies
And here are some photos from Matthew Williamson S/S 2008
And here is the photo of the Urban Outfitters dress:
I would like to S/O Lolla Mohammed Nur from St. Paul, United States for tweeting me her concern and creating the petition! I wish her luck in bringing light to this fashion injustice!
If you have any questions hit me up on twitter (@sewitums), follow @lomonur or comment on this post! The petition takes a second to virtually sign!
Ahhh Balmain! So this blog post is another DIY shirt, something similar to the Celine Shirt from my last post! After looking at such a beautiful ready to wear spring 2013 collection designed by my hubby Olivier Rousteing, it made me look back at the other pieces before his beauty took over! So Christophe Decarnin did his thing at Balmain for like 9 years, and his last collection included this gem. The tank goes for like a gizzzilion dollars... close to $1500..So I decided to make my own, it's actually from SS11 if you wanna check it out!!
My Balmain Inspo...
So this is what you'll need:
Sorry y'all was super excited to use this new 3D filter app on my phone. But thats the white tank top!
White tank top! Mines an old one from American Eagle, racer back
Paper (something a bit more stronger than regular paper but thinner than cardboard, like you know that kleenex tissue box type of cardboard? That!
Sharpie Marker
Some paint (navy blue and red)
Paint brush
Scissors
Total Time: 2 hours to complete and a day or two to dry!
Step 1: Draw stars on your paper and cut them out (cut a few cause they'll eventually get soggy from all the paint.
Step 2: Either laying your shirt on the floor or have it hanging (like mine) visualize the center and tape it straight down and to the right *leave an allowance for the stripes at the bottom* I left 5 inches!
Step 3: With the cut outs in hand plop some blue paint in a cup or paper plate and saturate your paint brush.
Step 4: This part is actually fun, you pretty much place the star anywhere in the area you decide to be your "50 states"and paint over the star, pretty much stenciling your shirt. When the stars are done it should look something like this:
Step 5: Now once the stars are complete, instead of having bright red stripes run across your shirt, mix it in with the blue giving it that deep red almost purple but still red colour. Mix that with some water for your first stroke to see if you like the shade. Your consistency should get thicker when you've got the right colour!
Step 6: Let it dry!
Alright. so the next two photos are just a closer look on the 'distressed' look I was going for!
