{Fashion} Fridays

Here are a few summer trends I'm looking forward to trying out in the next few weeks. It feels like a dream come true to be entering into summer mid-winter. Goodbye four-pairs-of-socks-at-a-time, goodbye layers-and-layers-and-layers, goodbye chattering-teeth and colder-than-ice-toes, goodbye rattling-bones.

Bring on the summer sunshine!

Photos from Cupcakes and Cashmere, The Glamourai, A Beautiful Mess, What I Wore, Sincerley Jules, The Daybook and Sincerley Kinsey.

Introducing...

...the Reaching Robyn Fashion Clutch.

Photos from the Upstairs fashion sale at The Sandton Sun.

Available at Upstairs, Milpark, Johannesburg.

I used to sell vintage.

I used to sell vintage. It’s one of the many many jobs I’ve done over the years (waitressing, bartending, event planning, modeling, cupcake-selling, boutique-launching, fashion-brand-building, craft-making, art directing and wardrobe styling), but more on all that later.

A few years ago I got into vintage – before it became so main stream that you could buy ‘retro-inspired’ clothing items anywhere. This was the real-deal. Beautiful old clothes, made in a time before mass-production, before cheap polyesters and child-labour factories. Clothes made with care and love, and hand-sewn seam lines and beading. Dainty gloves made for dainty hands. Hundred percent silk scarves which are so delightfully soft, with hand-painted patterns.

Clothes that pull in at all the right places – high waistlines, and perfectly penciled pencil shirts. Clothes whose quality and craftsmanship, an d undeniable design have pulled them straight through four decades, five decades, sometimes six, seven, eight decades and into our wardrobes! Will we be able to say that about the items we buy from retail stores today? Will we be able to transport them through the decades into the future? I don’t think they’ll make it.

I have stopped selling vintage now. I don’t like how main stream it has become. It is not something that is truly appreciated by the masses. It’s just the next big fad that you can buy at a store near you. It was always a side business for me anyway – something I sold once a month at the DeerHunter JunkSale.

I had a lot of fun while it lasted though, and I am still utterly in love with the shapes these brilliant clothes create. How flattering they are, how timeless they are, how well made they are.

So last weekend I set up a big sale at my parents’ house – I emptied out endless drawers, baskets and vintage suitcases, all packed full of the items I’d purchased over the years, and attempted to sell off all my remaining stock. I don’t think I realized just how much I had! I’ll probably be having one last sale before we jet off around the world.

I also had some items from my brilliant cousin Joel on sale, and will be selling more of those too.

And then, after that I’ll be letting go. It’s been amazing, buying, building, adjusting, creating all these little vintage delights. But now it’s time to move onto the new. I’ll never stop creating, that’s for sure.

{Fashion} Fridays

Hello perfect little travel shoe. Bright and sunny, nice and comfy. I wish you were a bit cheaper so I could add you to my suitcase.

Available here.

Going good.

It seems wierd. So strange to be getting out while the going is good.

But maybe that's why it'll work this time. Before I've always left because the going has got tough. Before its been about running away. Maybe that scrabble post was not quite what I meant. Maybe I'm only just starting to see the true meaning.

Because this time I don't feel like there's anything to run away from. I have a world here: friendships that grow stronger by the day, a family as loving as they are caring, and work that keeps pouring in. And lots of work makes me a very happy girl.

So I've been very nostalgic lately. Nostalgic for a place that I haven't even left yet. For winter roads with autumn trees. For running partners. And board game coffee bars. Places that are Warm&Glad. Girls night. Dress-up ghost-themed nights, even the really cold ones. Family-filled croissant brunches. Working hard, and long, but getting into the groove. Walking off set at the end of a long day happy, but sad.

It feels like I'm walking away from such promise. Walking away from delicate little friendships that have just started to bloom. Walking away from my new family, where I finally feel like I fit in. Walking away from a world that is home, that is happy, that has its own long streets, its own long paths filled with adventure and discovery.

Leaving is going to be a different kind of discovery though. A discovery of self. A discovery of far-off distant places. A discovery of just how different our lives can be, just as they're starting to get so comfortable and nice and warm and safe.

So I'm not running away. There's nothing bad or wrong or horrible here that I don't want to face. Things are pretty good here. Pretty amazing here. There's no denying that. I'm just going to see the rest.

Introducing...

...the Reaching Robyn iPad Clutch.

Featuring a durable vinyl exterior, padding and magnetic silver clasps this clutch is designed to last. Use it to hold your iPad, or as a fashion accessory.

Available at The Street, Greenside, Johannesburg.

Tuesday {Past Explorations}

My parents bought a house in the mountains a few years ago. It's in Magliesburg, just 50 minutes outside of Johannesburg. They go out there almost every weekend, and this weekend we're going to be joining them there, with my cousins, aunt and uncle.

So I thought this is as good an opportunity as ever to have a look back at a few of my {past explorations} there.

The first one I remember was with my cousin, the ever ameezing Camilla. We got lost on the way there because we were so busy listening to music, and chatting to friends on the phone. Basically it made for a very long journey, but a very good road trip.

Another weekend there, in 2008, while they were still renovating our house:

In Christmas 2009, the whole family gathered together in the now completed house. It was a wonderfully hot summer, and so nice to spend a holiday together.

Looking forward to this weekend!

This Is What Planning Looks Like.

It feels like we've been planning this forever. The ins and outs, and ups and downs of planning a trip around the world. There's been queues for visas, endless to-do lists, hours and hours spent online, a few disagreements, a lot of maps, a lot of numbers, figures and money, money, money.

I always think of the way our parents used to travel - buy a ticket, stuff a suitcase and jump on a plane. And you're anywhere. Anywhere in the world. It certainly isn't that simple anymore. Far from it. Now you've got to do everything to get anywhere. Make sure to dot every 'i' and cross every 't'.

Now we spend almost every Sunday morning in bed, with an iPad and a laptop, and slowly slowly the to-do list gets shorter. And longer. And shorter.

It's going to be worth it though. I know that for sure.

D.I.Y

Inspired by the theme of a recent 'Revenge of The Nerds' dress-up party our wonderful friend Rozanne hosted, I made a whole pile of bowties.They were super easy to make, and didn't take long at all. The only things you'll really need is some fabric and thread and needle.

I do love a bit of a craft project.

I followed these instructions on A Beautiful Mess to make my bowties.

And look how much fun we had at the party. Jees louise, those nerds know how to party. Crazy times.

A Little Box

Hello little box.

Why, you are so pretty and shiny. So white and crisp. And with such sharp edges.

Gosh, box, it is nice to meet you.

I'm a little scared of you box, I must admit. I spent a whole chunk of change buying you today, and now I'm scared to even open you up and look inside. It's a big commitment.

It's the most amount of money I've spent on one little box ever. What if we don't work out? What if you and I can't be friends? What if you're not everything I've ever dreamed of?

I'm just going to sit and stare at you little box. Just for a little while. I'm not quite ready for what you have inside. Maybe I will be in a couple of days, and then, gosh.

Scrabble My Life

I'm a big fan of scrabble, a really big fan. Theo and I have championship games. We get better and better everytime. So this picture could not be more apt. Hopefully we will have many chances to play scrabble along the way, in moody motels and sunny seasides, along misty roads and green shady parks. Oh, the adventure, the adventure! I can't wait.


Photo source unknown.

Introducing...

 ...the Reaching Robyn Kindle Clutch.

Made from 100% printed cotton, each clutch is unique, as no two covers are made from the same fabric. Each cover is padded, and features a flip-open upper-pocket for cables, and a larger under-pocket for the Kindle itself.

Now available from Room Online, an online boutique featuring the best in South African designers. Well worth a visit, if you ask me :)

{Fashion} Fridays

As we head from autumn into summer I'm filling up a folderof fashion inspiration, as well as some ideas for great travel outfits. Theo always says I spend far too much time planning my next day's outfit - but that's only when I know I'm going to wake up earlier than him and don't want to wake him by pacing back and forth across the room. Or at least, that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it!

Back to the fashion inspiration.

I love this idea on A Beautiful Mess, where they've put together a few travel outfits:

And here The Glamourai does airport chic so well:

And here are a few other travel outfits I'd love to try out. Like I said, I'm going to need a very big suitcase.

Compilation pics from a few of my fave blogs, Sincerley Jules, The Glamourai and The Daybook.

One Year and One Month

One year and one month ago, we climbed to the top of a building, overlooking the entire inner city of our very big hometown, and we got married. It was a beautiful, crisp day in May when we promised each other the future.

For this one big day I'd planned everything down to a tee. I wasn't leaving this special day up to a wedding coordinator or planner. How would they ever understand my unique vision? Husband and I both wanted something different, something which would be set apart from the endless farm/country/nature weddings you see. We wanted something to celebrate our city, and how much we love it, and so we pushed right into the CBD. Right into the grotty underbelly of the living, thriving beast that is Johannesburg, and there, in the Maboneng Precinct, where the sparks of inner city rejuvenation are burning so bright, you can't help but be amazed by this 'Place of Light', that is where we knew we could celebrate our love - young, like a new fire itself, ready to gain momentum, ready to start a blaze.

 

 The night went off without a hitch, but none of it would have happened without a team of friends and family who all came together and put their own little touch of magic into the evening - I'll never forget how giving they all were with their time, and how much every little bit they did made the biggest difference.

 

Being married is something you can't really describe. It's a feeling of peace and tranquility though. A certainty. Insecurities, jealousies and worries just seem to melt away. You know you've got it covered, together. And it all started on that one day.

Today, one year and one month later, it still feels just as amazing to be married to my best friend and the man of my dreams.