What's hot and happening indoors for 2013

Home Trends 2013

As it is much colder now, we tend to spend most weekends and evenings, indoors. Here in the Vaal Triangle it is especially so as I have noticed that people here like to entertain at their homes and don't really go out for dinner that often, only for a special occasions, end of the month treat or business meetings it or maybe after work drinks ... So your living space has to be homely, easy on the eye, equipped to ensure that you are comfortable, able to entertain, and just happy inside it. For me this also means my home has to be welcoming and a place of relaxation! Even though we are still renting, you have to make your living space your own and every so often I rearrange the furniture, add new colour, and pieces to my home for some newness. I like large floral prints or geometric prints, grounded in classic colours with highlights of bright colour, vintage pieces and wood finishes.

This picture just captures the botanical trend for 2013

So here is my take on what is hot in the home and garden for 2013, why gardening also? Because, well, my gardening is done indoors ... as I am living in a flat and need as many plants as possible for oxygen and moisture as there is so much air pollution here due to all the large industries and the dry climate!!
While we are on the topic of indoors and entertainment - we even have a little indoor golf set up with a 'target range' and the rubber balls are kept in a little leather vintage golf ball bag. I insisted my Sweetheart gets the rubber balls (less damage is done that way) and it took me quite a while to warm up to the idea of hitting some balls INSIDE the house ... but it is quite cool though. But I won't tell him that EVER :).

The Indoor golf set up

The target (a pipe with target print out stuck on top)

In terms of the trends I am not breaking it down separately into winter and summer, as there seems to be an overlap constantly of the themes. Retailers are also incorporating the themes/trends into the home ware at the moment but in winter there is chunkier, heavier weaves or knits in darker rich colour versions and in summer much more lighter summery colours, fabrics and textures are used. This is to ensure that it is seasonally relevant. I also went to see what is happening locally at the major retailers such as @Home, Mr Price Home, Boardmans, Woolworths, Sheet Street, etc. There is also beautiful antique and decor shops in Parys (Free State) that is worth a visit as it is not far from Sasolburg, and I also found inspiration and direction from our friends' homes and a few other websites.

Owls are big - Mr Price Home had a similar weathered ceramic owl for R69.95. (I want to get it for my mom for Mother's Day, she loves owls)

Home and decor trends:

Major themes:
Modernist monochrome
Tribal with inspiration taken from Morocco, Navajo nation, and Africa
Travel
Botanical and animal (where nature comes inside to play)
Country living
Pretty boudoir (@home has a whole bath range of this, along with cosmetics packaged in beautiful bird cages)
Industrial/loft living
Vintage (To give ornaments an antiqued or weathered look forms a strong part of the vintage theme that is still gaining much popularity).

Vintage binoculars I inherited from my mom's side, I don't know the story behind them but I love them. 

Another vintage piece is granny's kitchen scale in mint!

Some observations:
I noticed that there is a strong move towards hand made products especially for home ware and furniture. Products are labelled 'hand made' and there seems to be more of an appreciation and popularity for this type of product here, people are also willing to pay more if there is craftmanship to it or if it funds impoverished groups that makes these products by hand. Interesting to note that there is a lot of focus on DIY and the there are these handmade door knobs or handles available at stores.

There is a collective consciousness among people to buy only products from a sustainable source, with a focus of green living and eco friendly products. Thus to buy products that are made from waste materials and process in which it is made must not have a negative impact on the environment. Bamboo is also gaining much popularity due to its anti-bacterial properties, readily availability, it is light weight and functionality is used in a variety of kitchen products. We got our friends a bamboo snacks (for chips or nuts) bowl with handles and they love it.

I also noticed that many of the retailers offered 'affordable art pieces' that people seem to enjoy, in terms of printed canvass boards ranging from a seductive Marilyn Monroe, to a picturesque scenery to New York City. There were even white statues (baroque inspired) that caters for everyone's taste, especially for those with the taste for the theatrical. Wall mounted words such as: 'home', 'love', 'peace', joy, etc. are very popular here and are either in white, wood or bright red/purple - just saying I noticed it...Storage trunks are huge, sold everywhere and they are especially hard to find at antique shops as they are popular. Chunky knit or faux fur blankets and throws are still hot for winter!

Positive words very popular decorations here in Vaal homes

Major colours observed:
White (the entrance of Mr Price Home, made a strong white statement story), and black remains your classic colours. Bright bold saturated colours, emerald, indigo blue, mint and pink (pastels tones), red, naturals or nudes combined with a bright colour, cream, warm naturals/browns, teal, raspberry, yellow, purple, coral, jade and nectarine.
In terms of your metallics it is brass, pewter and gold.

Finishes & trims:
High gloss (lacquer), leather is huge, texture with print combinations, antiquing  weathered & cracked ceramics, quilting, crochet, wood, iridescence, feathers (guineafowl and peacock). Ceramic and wood combinations.

Prints:
Large floral prints, wall paper prints (70's especially), biggie best inspired prints (different block prints on duvet sets), computer generated graphic prints, houndstooth and snake skin (I saw a snake skin tray at @Home for R139). Forest critters such as birdies, owls, animal influences, and elephants (yes we do have elephants here in the Knysna forest made famous by novel called Circles in a Forest by Dalene Matthee) and butterflies.

In terms of furniture, collapsible (to be easily stored) and multi-functional furniture is popular specifically to flat dwellers with limited space.

Gardening trends:
Interesting to see the amount of faux plants available such orchids, flower bouquets, big roses and even ferns in pots. And these plastic plants look super real, I couldn't tell the difference ...
But back to real gardening, how exciting is this?! There is a big trend for windowsill potted herbs and veggies for the flat dwellers! These plants are potted for convenience and plant food bottles is best and easiest to feed them every second week or so, while off course watering ... I am so excited about this as my windowsill herbs are flourishing ... My ficus bonsai tree (it is a type of ficus tree I think) is doing well and also my Japanese Cycad. The reason I am so happy about it, is that I do not have my mom's green fingers and it usually takes a miracle for it to grow when left in my planting incapable hands. To note on herbs, micro herbs and small organic leaves are popular, all of these are available at Woolworths Food. So, if you can plant and grow your own you would save yourself quite a trips to the store and money.

Herbs from my windowsill garden, yay!

The herbies made even little blossoms, how beautiful is the basil and the coriander! Oh admire with some coffee in hand!

Planting and growing indigenous plants is becoming popular and most nurseries stock a good variety of these, which my Sweetheart's mom will love as she just plants indigenous trees, herbs, veggies, pretty much everything! Air plants are also popular and drought tolerant plants (I need to get some of those for here) as well as organic gardening and urban farming. My cousin in Midrand has his own little sustainable veggie and herb patch, he doesn't need to go to buy veggies it seems as he has got everything from leeks, peppers to potatoes in his backyard. So jealous...

Again conservation and always keeping the environment in mind is still key, so saving water on using more efficient irrigation systems such utilizing rain water from your gutters is key. Our friends are totally on trend in this regard as they even have sensors on their home garden irrigation system that senses when it rains as to whether to water the garden or not. DIY landscaping also hot right now, so design your own garden space and then it just needs to be maintained. In terms of flowers for the garden people opt for a mixed bouquet, and fragrant flowers (English inspired gardens). And for the kiddies in your garden, create a fun, learning garden to teach children on texture, smell and to cultivate a love early on for nature and all things green...

And that is all I have to share on the home and garden. I hope you have enjoyed and found some inspiration from this information.

Have fabulously stylish and creative week, even when you just at home :)

Bouf
xxx

Ladies fashion trends for Autumn & Winter 2013/14

A stylish yet dark, textured and vintage winter awaits!

So it has been a bizzles two weeks where I neglected my rendezvous blogging (for last week). I have also been blogging on my food adventures on my other blog that is on Food24 called Bouffilicious and have still been Zumba-ing & spinning up a storm at the gym - made some good friends at my classes. I wanted to do a post on Autumn & Winter 2013/14 trends as winter is in full swing here in the Sasburg but in all honesty I've been avoiding anything with 'winter' in it. It is really starting to get so cold here much colder than what I posted about a few weeks ago ... I did not realize it could get this cold in the Bushveld. However, the heater is in full use again, we set up our electric blankie and the fan has been packed away for a few months. I am not really feeling so fashionable, as I find it very hard to get out of bed and having to swop my cozy eskimo like jammies for proper public attire! We are eating now warm spicy oats in the morning as oppose to our yogurt and fruit.  Soups have become the dinner of choice and a little glass of Van Ryn's every so often in the evening keeps the bones and cheeks warm :)

Zuppa for two!

It is quite sad that I am blogging on a Saturday night and not out somewhere being young and reckless, but my Sweetheart is at the Metallica concert in Johannesburg with the boys, you know mosh pit and all those fun things ... if Vancoke Cartel was the opening band for the Jozi show then I would've so been there! And a girl can only dream to see Atoms for Peace or Radiohead in the RSA, will we ever experience Thom Yorke or John Frusciante on a local stage? I highly doubt it ... good news though. I actually won something for the first time - the winning letter in the Taste magazine and I got myself six bottles of NON-ALCOHOLIC bubbly! I'm not gonna lie, was slightly disappointed about the non-alcoholic part (taking all the fun away) but that's okay... because if I feel like some bubbly during the week I can have me a whole bottle (minus the hangover & judgement over having a whole bottle) and fool myself into thinking I'm been having the good stuff. Hoping there is not too much sugar in it, though :) Oh, and I am working on starting up my own business in the Triangle, which I am very excited about it.

Fair Isle in the berry tones

Here is my interpretation of the main trends and key items for Autumn & Winter 2013/14 for ladieswear only, based on what I've observed at the shops, being worn by the peeps here, magazines and online.

Burgundy ankle boots at Woolworths

The main themes for winter that stood out for me, are:
Regal (Heavy embellished, and statement pieces especially on the jewellery. Think gem stones and crosses)
Vintage  (The roaring 20's has made a come back influenced by the film The Great Gatsby and there is also a Victorian slant)
Grunge (but pretty)
Russian Princess (A Russian folk and bohemian gypsy like story)
Heritage (Of English countryside and forest inspiration)
Sporty
Military (This is still strong)

In burgundy with pointy shoes, they have studs at the back...not looking so hot right now without make up 

Key Colours:
Colour combination for the season has to be - Black and gold! Everyone is wearing it and it is in all the stores.
Burgundy, red, berry tones, teal, forest (bottle) green, fatigue, spicy colours (e.g. thatch, burnt orange, rust and warm browns), cobalt blue, violet purple, and metallics like gold, bronze, rose gold and gunmetal. Black, white, cream, chocolate and nudes are still key classic colours.

Finishes and trims:
Bejeweled, , encrusted, enamel, vintage, leather (patent/shiny), mother of pearl, pearls, studs, brocade, spikes, quilting, chunky chains, embellishment, lace, studs, buckles, textured, faux fur trims and embroidered.

Printed leggings at Woolworths

Prints:
Houndstooth, Russian rose florals (e.g. big bold florals), animal print (e.g. leopard), checks, fair isle,  tweed, and animal placement prints of wolves, tigers, owls and serpentine. Skulls are still popular for the grunge story and geometric prints for the sporty story. Colour blocking is still key.

Hoo hoo ...who's looking so hot right know in an owl jersey!?

Shoes:
The cuban heeled boot, ankle boots (in a variety of colours), the calf length boot, military inspired boot, toe cap detail on heels or flats, studs, pointy toe shoes, high top wedges (the wedge heel overall), metallic high tops or sneakers, and loafers.
Oh and bags - it still looks like the shopper, the bowler bag and the cross body bag. For glamour wear the box clutch is key.

The toe cap on the the pointy shoe

Key fashion pieces:
The coat (in a bright colour or military style and double breasted), capes, layering pieces (like tops or sweaters), chunky knits and sweaters, the sweater dress, sleeveless shift dress, peplum styled dresses and skirts, printed pants & leggings, leggings with leather insets, and skinny jeans.
Also tops and dresses with detachable fabric sequin/pearl collars are looking hot and popular. Slogan shirts are still every where and in demand.

Felt floppy hat, chunky knit scarf & stack bangles

Accessories & jewellery:
It is a watch season and for the ladies the watches are oversized and bling-ier than ever ... they have charms, floral motives on the face, diamanté, tort, leather, gold chain or laquer straps. I really like Marc Jacobs' range the most, even though I am just a plain old Casio Baby G fan, I love my baby yup yup!
It is also a hat season again with the following as key hat must-haves: The riding cap, the cloche all the way, the felt floppy & fedora hat, the leather cap and the beanie! The hats have from lurex to bow trims. Another accessory for the hair is the wide aliceband covered in fabric with trims and also the embellished clip.
Outfits are finished off with printed scarves, chunky knit scarves and plain colour pashmina's in the season's colours.
This season you must get yourself some leather gloves, at once!
To wear on your arms - Bold and encrusted cuffs, stack-able metal bracelets (plain & design) and charm bracelets. The ears are not going bare as statement clear crystal stone chandeliers are to be worn. For around the neck go with statement necklaces, collars, chokers, pendants, and gold chunky chains. If you don't wear gloves, keep those fingers fashionable with an encrusted ring (go animale, especially a feline diamanté encrusted ring), or cocktail ring.
Brooches are back, so go check either mom's or grandma's jewellery box. I have gotten some from granny...
Don't forget about the legs! Over the knee socks with welt detail (at top of sock/cuff) or bow trims, and cable knit tights. Higher denier (decitex count) tights in solid colours are popular and also in your geometric or floral designs.

Michael Kors watches

Textured top with pearl collar at Truworths

Statement necklace at Foschini

I watched a few Michelle Phan videos last week, I really enjoy her videos ... though her latest videos are mostly on new spring/summer looks in soft pastels or brights, I am embracing the winter with dark, rich and spicy colours. I got very excited about make up for winter (as I do after one of her episodes) and I tried smokey, smudged eyes with some burgundy eye shadow. As burgundy is so hot right now! I enjoy BioNike make up products as there are no chemicals in them, helps for my sensitive skin and is super moisturizing and off course it's Italian! You cannot go wrong with Italian brands like Mazzer, Simonelli and BioNike! I got the burgundy eye shadow colour 'marrone bronzato' (nr. 08) and I am loving it! Also, with the cold comes the redness and dryness - skin horrorooorific! As my skin is super sensitive and dry, I used my whole Clarins Hydra Quench product on my face in about 3 weeks! But we got to keep hydrated and moisturized especially in winter.

Burgundy eye shadow BioNike

So here are the make up and hair trends for the season.

Bang baby bangs!

Make up & hair: 
The messy hair up-do is hot (thank goodness for me, mine updo's are always cra-cra :), braids, bangs (or known as the fringe) and the sleek ponytail. Hair colours that are huge is the ombré effect (brown & blonde), bright reds, and grey, yes grey, it's cool to age sooner...

Braided winter hair style

On the make up - copper eyeshadows are key, plum or red lips, the 60's cateye (so eyeliner is your best friend) and matt nude nails. Oh and the smokey, smudged and grungy look for the eyes are hot with just nude or pink lips.

Smokey and smudgy eyes

Copper eye shadow

I love the cateye and the 60's dramatic eyes!

Plum and red on lips & nude on nails

And that's me, I hope you find this quick trend overview, interesting and useful. It seems that most of the trends for 2013 will carry onto 2014, which means a lot of saving on your wardrobe costs! But I will always try to find an excuse to get something special...you know just to update!


Have a sizzling hot week :)

Bouf
xxx

Friends are the best!!!

I love my friends very much, they are amazeballs and super amazing people...
Here are a few reasons why they are just so darn great and make my life a lot more interesting!

They are a little cra-cra!

They are girls and guy, who don't mind hanging out in their bathrobes

When the beats are pumpin' they break it down like it's hawt!

They make you little avatars of yourself (even though it makes you look like hippie) 

They go a little ape sometimes...

They send you pics of the mountain when you get homesick

They send you kitteh funnies all the time!

They make fun of you after you told them that you smashed the floor at the gym!

They send you puggie funnies and cuties :)

They drink...

They hang out with giant pandas - you've got to love that

They have the cutest little puppies

They chat up a storm - we catch up on all the stories from the weekend on Monday lunch hour

They set your desktop picture with a cute puggie!

They got your back and they stick together...

They wear the big girl panties as one!

They play-play surf as one!

They wear a giraffe jumpsuit as one!

Friends are the best - they make you laugh, they stick by you when times are tough and it's just great to be a good friend to someone else too!

Bouf
xxx

What's going to be hot for Spring & Summer 2013

A Beautiful Spring/Summer season awaits for us for 2013!

So winter is slowly creeping up on us here in the Vaal and I am writing to you over a cup of hot chocolate watching the sun from outside my window grow weaker and weaker each day. The chocolate and creamy eats make me dread winter as its not very healthy and I am still going to have to brave the cold in the mornings to gym it off (still stiff from yesterdays pump class though:) ). Temperatures here drop to below 0 and I don't want to think about the likes of freezing cold weather that creeps into the core of your bones - I would pick the wind and rain over this in Cape Town any day! For these reasons,
I thought it appropriate to keep my thoughts summery, and would like to share some trends that I found interesting for Spring & Summer 2013 for girls and ladies fashion - the winter trends can wait...I just want to stay hot for winter I'll worry about looking hot later!

Too much of chocolate in winter!

I quite enjoy browsing through Snapette, www.squidoo.com, justfab.com, TheBestFashionblog.com, H&M, Next, M&S and a few other websites that always inspire me.  There are also A LOT of fashion blogs out there that eat, breath, sleep just fashion 24/7 with the most amazing and informative posts on a whole 'nother level. For me it is interesting and I like to observe what people are wearing and also what local fashion forward retail stores like Truworths, Edgars, Woolworths, Foschini, Mr Price, Identity and Jay Jays are offering! These stores are great sources and usually hot on the trends; I enjoy magazines such Vogue, Bazaar, InStyle, Glamour, Style Magazine and a few other magazines inspires one to shop!

One of my favourite things to do was on every Sunday or other when it would be raining to go to Exclusive Books at either Canal Walk or Cavendish, have a mocha and read through all the International magazines while my Sweetheart would be working on his laptop. I really miss that of Cape Town, we only have a CNA and Bargain Books here not such as BARGAIN, I'd say...but I am digressing back to what's hot right now, well what will be for us in about 4 - 5 months.

So summery and cute - from Soca girl

Trends for the Girlies:
I noticed that there is a lot of inspiration taken from President Obama's to daughters, Sasha and Malia. It looks like they brought back the pinafore dress and midi dress.By the way little girls are even blogging (I wasn't even computer literate until high school) ... there is also this cute site with fashion for girls by girls called www.fashionplaytes.com. and I like www.tweengirlstylemagazine.com.

PRETTY PINK!

The predominant themes that stood out for me is tribal, resort, great outdoor escape, pretty pink, soft grungy and bright graphic. There is also a lot of focus on denim friendly (as in the denim shirt and lots of shorts) with a focus of tops and accessories that can be worn back to your denim. There is also very bright colour skinny jeans and jeggings (stretchy jean like leggings) that come in a variety of Aztec and other tribal prints, floral and graphic prints. The frill top looks like a key item that creates a peplum look. I also saw some long shorts like borrowed from the boys that was quite big in the 90's (also in fashion for ladies), they look very sporty...and one pieces. There is a focus on different levels of blue but overall blue is a strong colour, yellow, red, white, navy and black, pink and emerald green.

Tribal is hot and hi-tops!

In terms of prints there is strong focus on tribal then spots, stripes, camo and large florals. Oh and animal is still there leopard and zebra in a variety of colour. In terms of accessories there is the printed or textured cap and stack bracelets like friendship bracelets with positive words of love and hope on them. What's hot for your footies are gladiator sandals, smoking slippers and brogues to finish off the look...oh and hi-tops!

Stack bracelets

It's a zebra innit with trendy tort wayfarers and gold tie! The cool dude was spotted at Ackermans.

In terms of novelties, I must say I was surprised to find so many pandas and tigers on girls merchandise locally but it looks like the panda is finally becoming popular! Yay, it comes in panda! I do hope they bring out some merchandise for adults with panda prints on! And still looking for the right wolf shirt :) Girls do have all the fun...so not fair!

Panda love at Ackermans

Panda panties at Mr Price!

So Le Cute at Mr Price!

Ladies Trends:
Here is a list of the biggest stories or themes that stood out for me:
Pretty lady-like (there is also a pretty grunge slant to this)
Classic 60's
Monochrome
Bohemian (there is got to be some love for the Hippie folk but I love the maxi dresses)
Flashback of 90's (brights and mix&match with that signature crop top and high waist shorts!)
Tropical
Tribal (called 'Modern Tribes')
Sporty (with brights and graphic print, 80s inspired)
Resort (your nautical look)

Got to love the 90's - crop top, high shorts and printed cap coming back again!

The following colours and finishes/textures are huge (and it is a helluva list so prepare yourself): Emerald green, Cobalt, Khaki, White, Nudes, Yellow, Nectarine (yes she is still there but not as bright as lady Tangerine Tango), Fuschia, Pink, Coral, Metallics (specifically gold & silver), Shell iridescence, Textured Jacquard, Cork, Crochet, Lace, Straw, Quilting (by Chanel love their beautiful shoes & bags), Chains, Studs, Tortoise shell, Floral applique, Sheer, Colour Block, Buckles and the Asymmetric Zip (on a leather skirt very grunge).

In terms of prints there is still a lot of animal, snake, florals, minimals such as birdies, skulls, stripes and tropical prints that is a continuation from last summer season.

Pretty vintage lace dress

Key must have pieces:
The crop jacket, printed skirts and shorts, distressed denim, skinny jeans, dress tunic, sleeveless elasticated waist dress (maxi & midi length), sheath dress, high waisted skirts and pants, new linen trousers, crochet vest, shell tops, crop top, Boho maxi dress, pinnafore dress and the white shirt.

The crop jacket, high waist short and crop top in nudes and white

Denim also hot right now for the ladies and the crochet vestie!

Cute summer sleeveless dress

Printed short skirt and white shirt

Sporty 80's inspired snake print jacket, skirt set with colour block clutch and heels

Key must have Shoes, bags and accessories:
Shoes - Gladiator sandal, wedges, kitteh heel, flats, smoking slippers, hi tops, colour block heels, tote bag, espadrilles, and heeled sandals.
Bags - It is a bag season, so shoppers, clutch bags, leather satchel, colour block clutches, and messenger bag.
Accessories - Tube scarf, printed or textured cap, military hat in fatigue, metallic stack bangles, thong bracelets, metallic hair clips, retro wayfarers,  tassel earrings, statement earrings, waist belts and double belts, floppy hats, cuffs, bibs and chain collars.

Valentino gladiator sandal

Valentino green bag

Beautiful gold heel

Tube scarf 

But wait there is more you need to know what to do with your hair and what about make up? I know information overload ... but here comes the beauty trends.

 

Bouffants are big for the season and literally!

Hair trends:
Wait for it...wait for it the bouffant she is in - thanks to Oscar de la Renta, as well crimping is back from the 80's and messy up-do styles! Yay for me! Side parts, bangs (also known as fringes) and ponytails tied low at the back is huge.
If you are a platinum blonde that you will be hot right now for summer 2013! No so much the red heads it seems...

Platinum blonde and strong eyebrows are hot!

Make up trends:
Pink is the colour of the season - on the lips, on the cheeks and around the eyes!
For the lips - Matt bright lipsticks are everywhere.
For the eyes - Natural lashes is the order of the day (with defining and seperating mascara trending but some say differently...), blue eyeliner and eye shadow (aqua is a hot colour for this), shimmering metallic eye shadows, and strong defined eyebrows. Oh and emerald, smokey green for the eyes.
For the body - Tinted lotions still seem to be popular.
For the nails - The name of the game is nude, go for nudes that match your skin tone!

PINK!

Now that was a mouthful ... Hope you find this helpful and entertaining!

Have a fabulously fashionable and so hot right now weekend (weather-wise also)!

Bouf
xxx