TRENDS | COTTON ON COMES TO THE V & A

Today I received the most exciting news! Yes, Cotton On is coming to the V & A waterfront! Finally there's something that I can afford at the Waterfront (lol) without breaking the bank. Here are some details on their press release:

COTTON ON TO HIT THE SHORES OF THE V&A WATERFRONT    

In a move set to excite the people of South Africa, leading Australian retail brand, Cotton On, is thrilled to announce their new store opening at the V&A Waterfront on 30 May 2014.  The launch will mark the Group’s 100^th store in South Africa.

At 1500 square metres, the new Cotton On store will be the largest in the Western Cape and will offer collections from Cotton On, Cotton On Body, Free and Rubi Shoes. The stable of Cotton On Group brands will deliver on-trend basics and fun, affordable fashion which South Africans have come to know and love.

Since opening their first store in 1991 in Australia, the Cotton On Group has been rapidly growing with no plans to slow down. Now with over 1300 stores in 16 countries, the Cotton On Group maintains its commitment to reach more people across the globe.  The Australian retail giant has been operating in South Africa since 2011.

Free by Cotton On, which launched in South Africa in 2013, will be available at the new V&A store catering to the free-spirited, independent minded boys and girls (9-14 yrs) who have outgrown the kids range and are too young for adults, but want to wear a brand that allows them to express their individuality and have fun with their fashion. Free by Cotton On makes it easier for South African parents who struggle to make a transition from Cotton On Kids to finding a brand that they feel is appropriate for their “tweens” to wear.

“We pride ourselves on the notion that there is something in our stores that absolutely everyone will love. Our aim at every turn is to ensure that whenever our customers walk into any one of our stores, they will leave happy,” explains Cotton On Group Country Manager, Johan van Wyk. The new Cotton On store will open its doors on 30 May 2014, operating daily from 9am – 9pm, and will be located at Shop 146B V&A Waterfront, Victoria Wharf.

See you there :) 

xoxo

Iptishaam 

 

LOOK POST | FLORALS

  Hello Everyone!

 I trust that you had an awesome weekend/week/month so far. I’m really not going to bore you with all my complaints that I have about how hectic my life is at the moment, (LAUGHS). That is actually reserved for a RANT post. 

This look was taken a few weeks back by my amazing photographer- Kiki. Yeah? When last have you heard about her? (lol). She has been as busy as I am so in the meantime Nur takes my pics. Kiki is not my official photographer. I mean, some bloggers has specific photographers out there who are hired and paid to take their pictures for them. To me, that seems more like you are trying to build a brand (which isn’t at all a bad thing) it’s just that by doing this you might be  losing the real essence of what blogging means. 

I don’t know about you, but I tend to take my camera along everywhere, not with the intention that ‘this is blog-worthy’ but when the pictures are eventually taken in really amazing parts of Cape Town, that to me makes the whole idea of being a blogger great.

It is finding that secret spots that makes blogging great, it is the unplanned look-posts, the unedited laughter that makes blogging all worth it for me.

Huh? When did this become THAT kind of post? (Laughs) You see how unplanned and untamed things are? From this might come a meaningful post. (Note: that I am not saying that what I just said is at all meaningful). Hahhaha.

Do me a favor and check out this look post?

Love

Iptishaam

Collaboration | TRENDS | AW'14

Hey Everyone! 
I have the awesome opportunity to collaborate with Firdows Jardine, who is the blogger 
 behind  Fashion House Cape Town. 

This is part one of a 3 series-trends forecast which we will bring you through the course of a couple of months. I love collaborating with different bloggers as it is not only great media exposure for ones blog but it really gives you, as a blogger, a chance to meet really awesome like-minded people who share the same expression of fashion the way you do. 

Anyway, 'nuff about that. For today's trend myself and Firdows interprets the, what fashion scouts are calling, the 'folkloric trend'. In order to interpret this trend one should think: Paisley, Fur pieces, printed jerseys and stockings. Not forgetting, tan skinny belts to finish off the look. 

 For more on this fab bloggers look : Go to FHCT (link)
Tweet her on twitter
Like her page on Facebook

Leave a comment and let me know what you think <3

Love 

Iptishaam

LOOK POST | DENIM,HEELS & that HAT

           Hi Everyone! Happy Holiday! I trust you had a great day.

This is going to be a quickie as I've got an assignment to type up and quite frankly I'm stealing some time over here to share my outfit that I wore today on a little date that I went on with my special someone. 

I love this distressed denim shirt, beige jeggings, grey pointed heels and not forgetting the hat. I adore the hat from Mr price clothing 'cos I feel like it suits my face pretty well. I love how relaxed and chilled this look is. Not too much effort on my side, the hat and shirt shows drama while the neutral basics tones it down a little bit. 

This has become like Murphey's law in fashion language:  Two loud pieces and two neutral pieces to take you from day to night = Perfect outfit <3 

What are some of your laws/rules for dressing ? 

Thank you for reading today <3

xoxo

Iptishaam  

LIFESTYLE | MY RANT

My rant begins...

 

I can't exactly remember the last time I typed something other than a formal assessment task for learners, capturing marks or typing up a last minute assignment. So this feels great to be the 'old' Iptishaam again as I was told a few days ago by my mom that I don't smile that much anymore. This really struck a chord with me because I am a really happy and smiling person - most times. I suppose that being a teacher and a student at the same time has got the better of me and has affected my 'smiling' patterns. 

Being a teacher in our education system is not easy AT ALL. Whoever says it is, I suggest you stand in front of a class of 48+ and try and maintain everyone's attention all at once. What makes my life a little more challenging is that every Monday and Tuesday I have to be at campus until 7 'cause I am doing my Honors in Educational Psychology 'cause I kinda decided that I don't want to be a post level one teacher all my life. Yes, for some teachers that is 'AMAZING' but I am seeking retirement at the age of 40 and hard work needs to happen now. 

So there you have it. This is the reason why I don't blog as much as I want to and HARD WORK is what keeps me from attending those fancy blogger events that I suffer major FOMO from! What I have to realize is that I need to strike a balance with everything that's happening around me. 

Proof that hard work indeed does pay off, if you follow me on Instagram and Twitter, you would have seen that I am on the Deans Merit list. This award is conferred onto students who performed excellently in the year 2013. I am also on this list for the second time (link) in a row. Sure, going to fancy events is great, but academic events is only reserved for the elite in academia, and not just anyone can be invited no matter what media list you're on (laughs).

Okay, my rant is over and I feel better. (lol)

How do you feel when you cannot attend an event?

Thank you for reading today. 

xoxo

Iptishaam

LOOK POST | ONE OUTFIT, DOUBLE TAKE

Hi everyone! 

Lately my life has been super busy:  The endless marking of exams scripts and trying to put time aside for studying has been a roller-coaster ride. It has been so crazy that I don’t always have time to rush home and change my outfits if I want to join my girlfriends for a night out.

Today I decided to put this look-post together for you ladies so that you can get an idea of how you can take one outfit & make it appropriate for two different occasions.

Look type : Casual, relaxed.

For when? Day time, this look is perfect for happy hour with the girls & a trip to the mall.

For the casual and relaxed look I opted for a light boyfriend denim jeans, cream embossed top and embellished sandals. I love these sandals because they’re really comfortable. Also, I tied my hair into a little messy bun so that I don’t look too ‘done up’. (laughs) For this look my make-up is also kept to a minimum.

Look type : Smart Casual

For when? A night out, if you’re having dinner with your significant other straight after work, this look is dinner-appropriate.   

 For the smart casual look I loosened my hair, and scrapped my flats for a pair of these oh-so-comfortable heels. Along with this look you can also add some Ruby woo lipstick from MAC, even a change of bags will turn your whole outfit around!

Thank you for reading, don’t forget to like, share and comment! Your comments always make my day!

Xoxo

Iptishaam

LIFESTYLE | My Graduation

 I walked the long stretch from the cafeteria to A-block, the uphill climb in the library which made my unfit legs burn and gave me a painful reminder why I need to join the gym, the yawning lectures in sometimes over-crowded lecture halls and the confusion as to what to complete in assignments because you have a lecturer with a funny accent, has ALL finally paid off on the 12th March 2014 - The day I graduated.

I always knew that I wanted to teach. Perhaps it was the fact that I had really good explaining skills in high school. Or that's at least what I thought (Laughs). I suppose that wanting to become a teacher is not a subject in which you have to be good at school like studying for a B.COMM degree and so forth. It is true what they say, teaching is in fact a calling. I suppose that is why some teachers can tell you that they've been teaching for like 30 years.  

University, for some of us has been an uphill battle. If you are not use to socializing with people of all religions, cultures and races, I think that it might be somewhat difficult for you to survive Uni. This is what I have learned from being on university (from observation that is). This being said, I have met some of THE most amazing people at university. Seriously! 

One of my best friends absolutely loves opera, this is not my personal choice of music but I have accepted her for that. Just like she has accepted me for my rap renditions of Lil Waynes' PMW. My other friend, is a complete sweet-heart.LITERALLY. I have never heard her speak ill of someone EVER.Whenever she speaks, she always looks for the very best in people. Which is absolutely amazing. Another friend of mine is very much like myself academically, when the lecturer would say that we should be in pairs for something, our eyes would meet, recognizing that the two of us will be doing it together. 

When we do, we achieve THE most amazing marks. Besides achieving such good marks. We make an awesome team and even better friends!

It was amazing sharing my evening with these amazing people. Accompanying me for the night was my parents, fiance, sister and niece. I achieved a Summa Cum Laude (With the highest of three degrees of praise, as noted on a diploma ). 

This shows that hard work really does pay off and the reward is greater than the sacrifice.

Thank you for reading today

xoxo

"Always give the best version of yourself to everything you do"

- Iptishaam Davids

LOOK POST | HOLA SENORITA

Hello & Happy Monday to everyone!

After brainstorming many ideas on what I should entitle this look post, I settled for 'Hola Senorita' which means 'Hello Miss' in Spanish.My reason for settling for this is because when I had a closer look at the pictures it sort of reminded me of a beautiful garden somewhere in Spain (One of the countries on my bucket list)!

Sadly, this was not taken in some pretty garden in Spain but rather at the beautiful Shelleys Goumet cafe 
by the VERY TALENTED AND MOST AMAZING photographer : Fatima Khan-Wise from memrsme (check out her blog)
She is also one of the photographers behind Chroma Creatives designs (check out their website).

I was immensely happy when Fatima agreed to take these pictures for me as most of my pictures are taken by Nur in which I have to remind a week before the time that we will be doing a look post for the following week (Laughs). 

I love the way she works. During the entire photo session I was talking about my blog to her (Laughs), and while these pics were being taken, I thought that me talking the entire time will be evident on the pics. When I received it, it didn't show at all. This does not only show her RAW talent but one can be super comfortable around her as well! 

Dress gifted BY @MrsRogero 
Shoes & hat BY Mr Price fashion
Watch BY Guess
Bag BY Zoom Accessories

I got so much love for you girl. 

TWEET HER 

LIKE HER 

MAIL HER

Have a WONDERFUL & PRODUCTIVE MONDAY!

LOVE

Iptishaam