HIFA: Festival Fashion Inspiration

Harare International Festival of the Arts is an exciting annual year festival that combines music, drama, the arts and of course FASHION! This year’s theme is to “Switch On”, so as a blogger, it’s my job to let you in on the festival fashion trends that you need to have a lookout for. Now there are so many festival looks and trends to go by, but since the weather in Harare has been a little off lately; with the cold spells and the sudden rain, its sure safe to consider a little incorporation of some warmer gear when attending this year’s edition of #HIFA2014.

The HIFA Festival Fashion Inspiration will be a two part feature that will cover the ladies fashion and the gentlemen’s fashion. The first part feature will cover the ladies fashion, which will be broken down into three stylish segments; Festival Chic, The Reluctant Rebel and Trend Darling (because to be honest there are so many choices to choose from for Ladies fashion).

 

Festival Chic

Festival chic is the epitome of good ol’ fun festival fashion that includes easy breezy summer frocks, maxi dresses and fun circle skirts. Make the most of your summer frocks and minis at #HIFA2014 by pairing them with brogues, vans, espadrilles and boots to keep warm and fuss free whilst jamming to an energy filled concert. 

An all Black festival look is good to keep you warm, especially during an evening concert.

The Reluctant Rebel

Reluctant Rebel reminds me of a free spirit/edgy persona which really encompasses COMFORT as the main factor, whilst still looking good. Reluctant Rebel is what I would like to define as Grunge-Glam (which is a revolving trend right now), from the 90s a la Rihanna and Beyonce’s current fashion forward looks. Channel the fashion by bringing out a pair of cheeky shorts, graphic tees, statement jewellery and flat ankle boots. Comfort pieces are emulated through a good pair of boyfriend jeans, denim vests and long oversized tee shirts. Leather is a big trend with Grunge-Glam, but since real Leather is pricey, opt for the leather look alternative with the leather look jacket, boots and tassled sling bag.

Boyfriend denim to keep on stylish and warm whilst on the go.
Set from Signature Toscie

Grunge-Glam

All sets and photos taken from polyvore.com and pinterest.com

Trend Darling

Trend Darling translates to top trends right now which are crop tops and PRINT! Print is still alive and pretty much everywhere (and receiving more fashionable updates). Bring out your best and personalized print gear a la Tanya Nefertari, who does not disappoint with her print ensembles and 60s mod inspired collection. I’m a big fan of her print incorporation in her designs.

Be inspired to wear a Long print maxi and stand out from the crowd. 

Tanya Nefertari printed jumpsuit and Mod inspired shift dresses to wear at a
festival. Photos taken from TanyaNefertari.com

Crop tops are for the brave; I say this because they are tummy and mid-riff bearing. Look into this trend by opting for a crop top tee shirt or vest with a high waisted skirt, and finish off with tons of bold accessories. If you are a bit self conscious like myself, then add a cover up for your crop top in the form of a denim shirt or a knit shrug. Be inspired by the look below shopped from fashionbombdaily.com

Festival Accessories

Festival inspired accessories are usually two things; bohemian and edgy. Channel festival accessories through floral headbands, braided hairdos, jewel arm parties, long neck chains, John Lennon inspired sunglasses and flat ankle boots. Closed shoes are a must have because you will spend the day rooming around on grass and sand, so comfort is key and keeping your footsies under wraps is the best option. Another accessory to add is outer wear; since the weather in Harare has been unpredictable. Bring along a long cardi, leather look jacket, a sweater and a scarf; which you can tie around your waist for the time being.

Floral Headband and those John Lennon sunnies to match

Other than looking good, festivals are a great way to have some fun and learn something new in the arts department. #HIFA2014 is only around once a year, so make the most of this opportunity and dress up in festival gear; whilst at the same time taking in new cultures and practices from headlined international acts such as Dobet Gnahore and Josephine.

With that said, do share with me which of the looks above best represents your personality this festival season? Leave a comment below and let's get talking. You can also tweet with me @tendaitoscie and have your say!

Yours in Chic and Glamour;

Tendai Sophia

HIFA 2014’s full schedule is available for download on Google Drive and ISSUU. 

First Quarter of 2014: What I’ve Been Up To.

It’s already three months into the year 2014, and I must say it been off to a good start. It’s the first quarter so I thought to share what yours truly has been up to, and to get you geared up for April and the upcoming Autumn/Winter season. To start off I rebranded the blog, I broke down all of my favourite and most sentimental topics about all that is Zimbabwe and Harare fashion into easy and accessible tabs just for you! And I launched a brand new logo, which has received a lot of love, so Thank You. January was an exciting month because I did my first live blog interview with a designer, Natasha Kagoro of Black Excellence and I shared a guest blog article with shoe blogger Linda Dulani of the Shoe Tribe. Furthermore the 2014 Awards Season centred around rising Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o and her amazing red carpet choices, that yours truly had to give a shout out to the African beauty.

February was a super stylish and fashion forward month; I interviewed a young, up and coming male designer Takudzwa Chikumbirike (second male designer on my blog), with his label House of Azalion. In the same month I plaited my hair, opened an Instagram account-yay (@tendaitoscie), and started a new gig as the Contributing Fashion Writer for the digital online magazine, Infinity Magazine; officially launching my rant over #TheGLAMProject styling (yes, its real). In the same month I was glad to attend the Meet the Industry brunch for FWZ 2014 hosted by Shamiso Ruzvidzo where I got to meet Style Maestro and Contributor to Deck Magazine Craig Zoowie (the same feature can be also be found on Deck Magazine with photos courtesy of Tnash Photography). For the brunch, I opted to wear my multi-coloured striped Henry Holland for Mr.Price dress which photographed super well (accompanied with my big cheery smile and my ability to clown my face *hides*).

INFINITY Magazine, current Issue 4

The month of March sealed of that first quarter of 2014 with a girls date to Vault Cosmetics make up studio and celebrating International Women’s Day 2014 with an inspirational article (one which was overdue because I felt I hadn't brought that to the blog for a while now). March was a busy month for me at school so unfortunately I was not able to cover a designer interview, but April will be that month I bring you a new designer.

Speaking of April, HIFA 2014 is just weeks away and what better way to start preparing than getting geared up for HIFAshion’s Trash Queen show, and of course your festival gear. HIFA’s theme this year is to get you Switch(ed) On, and what better way to do that than to switch on to 6 days of fun fun fun in Harare Gardens! Let’s also not forget Easter! It’s the second best family holiday season after Christmas, so lots of food, family, break(ing) and Easter Eggs (also gigs blow up this month, just to say bye bye to the sunny summer and welcoming home-y nights in for the winter).

So that was the Signature Toscie first quarterly fix of what is happening on the blog and the fashion scene in Harare. I’m writing this hoping that this year I will cover HIFA for you, because I’m becoming more and more busy as school slowly draws to a close for me (final year, final sem). So here’s to wishing me all the best and lots of hard work ahead.

Yours in Glamour,

Sophie!