The GLAM Project Collaboration with Concrete Jungle NGOSIKADZI

The GLAM Project is my blog styling venture, which focuses on affordable, fun and chic fashion straight from myself. It’s something that I’ve been working on for quite a while now, and if you check links on the blog and on twitter, you can see a lot of my outfit posts have the hashtag #TheGLAMProject. The GLAM Project is really my story of styling clothing in an economy where fashion is linked to a lot of cheap imports, expensive goods and the tailor becoming your best friend to alter and design your preferred clothing. This is where The GLAM Project comes in, I try to link all of the fashion problems I face and create something exciting out of the negative – I don’t believe in turning a blind eye to something that could be potentially good; if and only IF you choose to change it.

With The GLAM Project I channel that through fashion, by mixing and matching, scouting around town for good finds and sometimes giving in the sacrifice to invest in a good piece that lasts long in my closet. So The GLAM Project is really my journey to creating classy, sophisticated, edgy and chic fashion in the streets of Harare. 

Earlier this month The GLAM Project took on its first collaboration with Concrete Jungle NGOSIKADZI (renamed from Concrete Jungle Fashion) to bring you two of Ngosikadzi African print dresses in Dutch wax African print, with the fabric texture being Kitenge from East Africa. Now this is a first blogger style collaboration so expect it to be super fun, affordable, chic and directly to YOU! The dresses in question are in two modern styles; the classic wrap design embodied by renowned international designer Diane Von Furstenberg (DVF), who introduced the dress in the 1970s. The tent dress is the second dress from Ngosikadzi that has a V neck slit at the back and embodies a 60s shift dress silhouette.

For each of the two dresses I will be giving you 3 looks in the following categories; a casual look, glam look and a quirky look – which runs down to a total of 6 looks. These looks will be flowing onto the blog for the rest of June and into the month of July with fun tips and suggestions coming from you!

Since African print is a really big trend right now, it’s only feasible to incorporate it into the winter season with fun and feminine ways of layering, which will also show bits n’ pieces of my personality.

With that said, my mission for this GLAM Project is to show support to our own designers and the textile industry, so any queries or questions OR how you wish to be featured on the blog as an emerging/upcoming designer, do email me or Tatenda with signaturetoscie@gmail.com or Tatenda with cjfashionzim@gmail.com.

The Wrap Dress – Casual Look

This wrap dress is absolutely super cute with the bold print and the little heart details. The fabric is a bit light for the winter season, so I did some super layering with a chunky knit cowl neck from Edgars, which picks up the strong red and purple detail very well. I let the dress speak for itself by toning down the rest of my look with a black peplum jacket, black stalkings and black ankle boots to keep warm. My personal favourite sunglasses to finish the look, and a bold watch to add a personal touch. What’s beautiful about the wrap dress is its timeless factor – it’s a go to piece that comes in many silhouettes, whether flared (like this one), straight, A-line, knee length or maxi long; as well as in different sleeves (this one in particular is sleeve less). You can take it from day to night, from the office to the happy hour and should be an important piece in a woman’s closet just like the LBD and LWD.

Yours with The GLAM Project,

Tendai Sophia!

My Weekend Ensemble: Edgy + Chic

This week it’s a second round with the ankle boots from Sapatos. I’m always looking for something that complements my character, and these wedge boots completely fit the bill. I wore this look on Sunday, which was also Father’s Day; due to internet connectivity and load shedding I couldn’t post anything on Instagram for my dad, but I will honour him in this post by saying he is the BEST dad ever! A lot of the times there is more emphasis on women’s groups, organisations and celebratory holidays, but if you take a closer only one day a year is set aside just for the men, which is Father’s Day. To which some men out there are pretty cool dads! Kudos to them!

So my ensemble this week is Edgy + Chic; I was thinking of black and accents of grey, something fun and warm yet still chic to wear to church. I paired a black cape peacoat, with ankle boots and a vintage black and grey pullover from my mom’s closet. The original idea to this look was to add a black scarf, but instead I switched it for a bullet grey neck piece from bling bling, and finished off my accessories with a yellow watch and matching gold chain bracelet. These jeans are my favourite pair of denims right now because they have a loose fitting to them, which comprehends the boyfriend jean trend (which I adore). I absolutely love the faded hue detail over the overall blue shade of the denims, and they are super comfortable too.

Quick tip: you can accomplish the faded hue bit by scrapping an old pair of denims with sand paper. Best trick in the book!

So Sunday’s look embodied an edgy-chic persona with the blue jeans, black detail, choker neckpiece, pullover stripes and wedge ankles that complete the chic look I was going for.

Still on the topic of Chic, myself with #TheGLAMProject have teamed with Concrete Jungle Ngosikadzi to style two African pieces for your fashionable convenience. One a tent dress and the other a classic wrap dress in African print. These style posts will be rolling out all of June and July, so I’m excited to experiment with some of my closet styling tips, and get you in on personal blogger fashion!

But all the same, do remain Gorgeous,

Yours in a Cape coat and choker neck piece;

Tendai Sophia

My Weekend Ensemble: Print Skirt + Ankle Booties

I wrapped up with the school in the past week, exams finished, now I wait for the fate that my results will bring but I surely hope for the best. In the past week and during the weekend, I have been using my time to read up on some of my favourite SA blogs (Superficial Girls, Baked The Blog and Mr Price’s In The Fashion Loop), trying to find ways to inspire myself to give you and the blog the best content relatable to Harare (I think I’ve succeeded in keeping the blog tres local and talking about Zim fashion, and making my outfits also relatable). So my main focus is to make the blog better especially with the photos. It’s been two years on and still my main goal is to give you high definition photos; which I’m still working on – cellphone photos aren’t making the cut for me anymore (hence I’ve opted to slow it down on the outfit posts). So I’ll keep you posted on that endeavour.

So my student life is temporarily over (Although I miss it already), but I guess it means more time to work on the blog. I’ve quite a few posts already lined up, one which is way overdue on Mafikizolo’s Nhlanhla recent fashion (did you see her evening gown on the MTV MAMA’s 2014 show?! Gorg, right!). Anyway onto the business of the day, is a style post with my vintage print skirt (that I believe is a 2 in 1 because it’s a midi skirt on which I altered the hem into somewhat a circle skirt, but still looks like a midi..) and ankle boots. I pretty much broke a fashion rule with the wedge ankle booties, because apparently tiny girls can’t rock a thick shoe due to our tiny calf, but I still went for it because I love this boot. I bought this boot in Sapatos at @JoinaCityZW, and I love it for its classic black colour and the fabric detail in the front and extra points on its comfort.

For Sunday’s look I paired the boots with the print midi skirt, nude blouse and caramel-inspired (brown) blazer finished off with a Mr Price woven belt. Sunglasses are from a FAIRLADY issue back in November 2013. The boots were a part of my Winter Preparation kit, where I acquired myself with three distinct and must have pieces this winter; the statement coat, knit scarf and ankle boots. Now we all know Sapatos Footwear and Luggage is a part of the Signature Toscie fam (big fan we are), and it’s exciting to note that Sapatos in collaboration with “With Love Foundation” are bringing you Fashion Forward ZW. One winter night of a fashion show at @JoinaCityZW on Saturday 5 July 2014, which launches my good friend Blaque Excellence’s S/S 2014 collection. Tickets start at $20, for any more information do contact @Fashion4wardZW or info@nailamanagement.com.

Now as noted, this blogpost is entirely about #MyWeekendEnsemble, which is another good inspiration to help you rock print skirts this winter. Yes, the weather is taking a turn for the cold in Harare.

With that said, I leave you with pictures of my weekend look.

Yours in New booties and Vintage prints!

Tendai Sophia!

The EcoCash Shopping Revolution

Mobile money transfer or mobile banking is the modern medium to take care of all your expenses and financial figures, straight via your cellphone. You can pay bills, pay for social outings (such as lunch), pay for your groceries and/or shopping, take out items on laybye and even pay school fees! All these benefits straight through your cellphone (makes you wonder if you might need a bank account; which of course you do for transactions outside your cellphone). Mobile payment platforms have become easy, fast, efficient and affordable, with Zimbabwe having mobile networks branching into mobile money transactions. Popular being EcoCash, OneWallet (Netone launched mobile money first before Econet by the way), and just recently TeleCash and NettCash. Now this blogpost isn’t in anyway biased, but I’m more familiar with EcoCash services of mobile money transfer, which has prompted me to write this post.

Why mobile money and shopping? Well to start off we are increasingly living in a materialistic world, with the personal brand, shopping as a plus factor (that can make you gain more), and technological advancements increasingly creating new innovations towards our seriously globalizing world. With that said, shopping has become much more efficient with mobile money transfer; I’ve a scenario where I purchased a jacket straight through EcoCash! No fuss, no queuing and no service connection problems (well service disconnections cannot be entirely ruled out), but my point is if you are obsessed with your phone, and your life rotates around your cellphone then having either EcoCash, TeleCash or OneWallet should be something you should look into (if you haven’t already). Since I’m quite familiar with EcoCash, I’m able to deposit, withdraw and transfer money (send money to a registered or non-registered EcoCash user), and have the option to utilize EcoCash Save - which is a smart money platform to save cash, watch it grow and cut down on loans.

I remember I was quite naïve with the idea of applying let alone having something called mobile banking in my phone; I asked myself what’s the fuss all about? Err…you could still save and put money in a bank account. Another factor was I was a student, why would I want to chuck my pocket money, if my intention was to directly consume it?! But I had my ‘AHA’ moment when a former employer urged me to apply for EcoCash, that’s when I realized its relevance. Heck I can now buy airtime from my phone!

So back to shopping, major retailers in Harare have EcoCash biller codes to make it convenient for their consumers to shop; top of my list being Jet Stores, Edgars, Truworths, Wardrobe Mix, Passport; pretty much any clothing retailer you walk into offers their consumers the facility of mobile payment/mobile money transfer, with the two most popular being EcoCash and TeleCash. EcoCash agents are pretty much scattered around Harare, so making withdrawals and deposits is not limited - although best advice is to make transactions directly to the service provider for personal reasons or if you wish to be safe.

According to TechZim, there is now a EcoCash mobile Android app on Google Play Store.

Mobile money transfer/payment services is one of the many technological advancements we receive and enjoy today to cater for shopping, bill payments, withdrawals and saving. Rounding up the group with bank accounts, credit cards, debit order and laybye services (which is another blogpost in the works). The ability to pay for goods and services in Zimbabwe is increasingly becoming innovative for consumers.

With that said, have you registered for a mobile money transfer service with your service provider? Sound off, and have your say on The EcoCash Shopping Revolution.

Stay Gorg and Glam with,

Tendai Sophia

EcoCash Merchant and Biller at Topics First Street.

EcoCash Biller Code at Truworths Sam Levy.

Mannequins in Topics First street Harare.