Shots of Red

After confessing how nervous I was to post last month’s outfit post and receiving an overwhelmingly positive response via social media, it’s a little ridiculous that I’m once again nervous about posting this little outfit. Thank you so much for your kind messages, tweets and comments and encouraging me to continue with outfit posts. Kudos to style bloggers, I doff my hat to you.

So last week, while out for a walk I had a little accident. While admiring the scenery my shoe got caught on something and I tripped, luckily instincts kicked in at this point and I put my hands out to break my fall. I should probably point out that I went for a walk in Harrods, the ‘scenery’ I was enjoying was handbags and my card was in my hand and ‘accidentally’ found its way into a card machine which was handily around to ‘break my fall’. And that is the story of how I accidentally bought Saint Laurent’s beautiful lambskin monogram satchel. I didn’t intend to buy it you see, it just happened.

 

I’m actually super glad I had the unintentional foresight to buy myself a little treat. Since Friday, I’ve been experiencing the Brexit blues. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten political on the blog but it has evolved to reveal a snapshot of my life and it’s safe to say Brexit has heavily impacted my life. To say I was devastated at the result of the referendum is an understatement. It seemed so inconceivable that the majority of the country would vote to leave the EU, with its benefits for travel, free movement, trade and the economy. But the unbelievable happened. Hearing the result announced on Friday morning felt surreal. Since then, the days have been unfolding like a nightmare and watching the country I call home slowly unravel has been heart-breaking.

Since the result of the referendum was announced, the prime minister has resigned, the Labour party has launched a coup to get Jeremy Corbyn out, the pound has twice plunged to a 31 year low and the FTSE has plummeted. The economic and political implications have been swift and far reaching. On a more personal note, the increased racism across the country is extremely worrying. There’s a distinct sense of nervousness in the air, both from people of colour like myself and the many Europeans who call London home. The result has acted like validation for xenophobes which until now, have remained as an undercurrent rather than overt. Repressed racist and nationalistic viewpoints are now spilling into the fore, with reported racist incidents up 57% since Friday. That’s reported incidents, which are often a small percentage of actual occurrences. The national flag has gone from a symbol of pride to a threatening sign in one day. I’ve afraid for myself, other people of colour and Europeans who call the UK home.

I’m taking comfort in the fact that the result was announced just days ago, everything from emotions to economics are volatile at the moment. Hopefully the dust settles and my home returns to the place I know and love – happy, hopeful, inclusive and welcoming. Until then, we have no option to adopt the very British mentality of ‘grin and bear it’. Or keep calm and carry on. And in that vein, I wanted to share a little outfit post featuring the bag that has been making me smile despite the post-Brexit chaos. It’s funny how inanimate objects can elicit such joy.

As with my previous outfit post, I’m wearing lots of old favourites along with the cherry red Saint Laurent bag. And yes, you would be correct in thinking that’s a genuine, vintage Michael Jordan jersey. During my teens, I was vaguely into basketball. Until I started dating a guy who was majorly into basketball. Suddenly, I became a Lakers fan, Kobe and LeBron were the best people on Earth and I found myself watching street ball matches and And1 mixtape tours. I found this Jordan jersey some years later at Rokit Vintage and had to snap it up. The jersey is a little oversize so I paired it with a pair of Miss Selfridge jeans that I customised myself. They were distressed before I got my hands on them and I slowly began deconstructing them until they were more holes than jeans! I finished my outfit with bejewelled heels from Rupert Sanderson. His Showgirl heels are literally my favourite shoes right now.

Next outfit post is coming in a couple of weeks, I’m hoping the world will be a much happier, settled place by then.