STYLE: Intentional Layering (Ankara With Isi Agu Print)

I’ve drafted this post seven times and I am not even joking. I don’t know what angle to come from because my thoughts are not exactly coherent at the moment. Style? Marriage? Family? Layering? Parenting? It’s everything. Actually, it is about everything that I have come to realize in this 7 years of being married to the love of my life. 

Yes, on this day seven years ago, I handed wine to my husband and became traditionally married!

The Art of Intentional Layering 

Not to sound cheesy but I am so thankful and blessed to be married to Kachi. I’ve heard a lot about the “7 year itch” and how it’s the year where most marriages are tested. I TOTALLY get why. By year 7, most couples probably have two children. And two children really does change a marriage in a way that one child doesn’t.

However, for me, I can truly say I’m more in love with my husband now than I was when I gave him the wine to drink in my father’s village compound seven years ago and I can’t wait to see what the future will bring for us!

We definitely cannot celebrate our marriage without celebrating the three magnificent blessings entrusted to us that bind our love even more: Our children. When I look at them, my heart feels so full. I am simply overwhelmed with the thought that my husband and I are given gifts of this magnitude. Two beautiful girls and a lovable boy. Two sweet girls and a special boy. Three wonderful souls to protect and love.

Is Matching Outfits in Marriage Cheesy or Powerful?

I always knew we’d be that couple.

You know, the ones who match outfits, laugh at inside jokes, hold hands and show up at events like a walking love song. Literally. 😄 It has always been my dream. I knew I wanted to experience the love that’s very visible and vibrant. Soft and rugged. Deep and aligned. All that.

And guess what?

God gave me that…. and more.

🤍

Kachi and I have been beautifully matching outfits from the day we agreed to be committed to each other and stay together forever. We match not just in clothes, but also in purpose, in passion, and in vibe. Ah, it’s the little things that make the biggest impact. I love love love it for me.

WWW—What We Wore to Church: Ankara Family Style

From solo slays to squad goals. Now see what the Lord has done!

Once upon a time, it was just me showcasing my Sunday outfits on the What I Wore blog series, finding moments after church service, and setting timers on my camera. Now? It’s the whole fam! A family of 5!

How to Be Lovely and Stylish (A Very Quick Guide)

Hi Lovelies. How are you doing? I know… This was meant to be a Sunday-Style post but some other responsibilities have had the best of me in the past few days. It’s better late than never, isn’t it? 😉

Style + Lovely = Stylish Loveliness

😍

I have a gist for you but let’s get straight into today’s post. 

What does it mean to be Lovely?

adj. love·li·er, love·li·est

1. Full of love; loving.
2. Inspiring love or affection.
3. Having beauty that appeals to the emotions as well as to the eye. 
4. Enjoyable; delightful.

n. pl. love·lies

1. A beautiful person, especially a woman.
2. A lovely object. Dictionary source

I love these definitions.

Every Christian, young or old, should be lovely. The question is, are you lovely? Would the people in your life say, "Wow, she's a lovely person." I thought I'd share the above definition of the word lovely because it really captures what I believe a lovely person should be - full of love, inspiring, having appealing beauty (both inside and out), enjoyable and delightful.

The work of loveliness ultimately starts from within and, among many other things, is revealed in the following ways:

1. The way you style yourself 
2. The way you speak
3. The way you carry yourself

Hold that thought while I show you what we wore to church last Sunday. By we I mean, my lovely family and I. 

STYLE: Decide What Story Your Family Will Tell

I’ve mentioned a couple times or twenty that What-I-Wore Sunday feature posts have been a little bit of a challenge since I moved to my husband’s church. Thankfully, today's post-church pictures turned out better than usual; our faces didn't scream, “I am hungry and I want to go home!”

Decide What Story Your Family is Going to Tell

Everyone who knows me know that I love the fabric called Ankara. I practically live in it. You should come visit me sometime and see the wonders my family does with the fabric. The beautiful colours and patterns inherent in Ankara is how we want our family story to be. 

Bright. Vibrant. Colourful. Attractive. Glamourous. Expressive. African. Bold. Versatile. Unique. 

You know what I mean. All those good stuff.  

I like to imagine my children being asked, what do you like about your family?

STYLE: Embrace Femininity with Blue

Why is pink often linked to girls and blue to boys? Ever pondered this? Just considered it today and was super surprised by my findings. Huh!

Happy Style-Sunday!

Let Girls Wear Blue 

Can you remember the day somebody else was wearing the same outfit as you? There was probably a time when you were out at an event, or at work, or the mall, or at school, or in the church and you suddenly noticed that someone was wearing an item identical to what you were wearing. Maybe the same dress, jacket, shoes, t-shirt . . . etc.

How do you react to such wonderful moments? For me, I ALWAYS acknowledge and appreciate them. I can also take it two steps further to create a style post out of it.

I have reacted a couple of times (see here and here) and I'm doing it again. It feels so good!

STYLE: I Can’t Wait To Start Matching Outfits With My Daughter(s)

Trends come and go in fashion, but some trends seem to stay forever. One of those styles that have been around for several years now is “twinning”, or like I prefer to call it, “matching” — simply wearing outfits of the same colour/fabric/style combinations with two or more people at the same time in the same location. This can be applied to friends, siblings, lovers, and family members.

I loovvvvveeeet! 

Mummy and Daughter Matching Outfits

Matching outfits is my thing. It’s so much fun to do. It gets my creative juice flowing. It takes a lot of time sometimes, but hey, the positive feeling it gives outweighs the cons. Amongst other things, I believe it fosters the feeling of closeness and intimacy.

As a Christian single lady, I matched outfits with my mum, brothers, friends, colleagues, and even strangers (coincidentally, lol). 

Then I got married, I haven’t stopped matching with my husband ever since! 

See 100 Times I Matched with My Husband 

Now, I’m a mother of two girls, tell me, what do you expect? To keep matching, of course! Haha!

STYLE: You Don’t Have To Buy Maternity Clothes (Stop Wasting Money)

I’ve come to discover that being pregnant is an interesting season— emphasis on “interesting”.

What’s interesting during those 40 weeks can be so out of the ordinary — it's nice to do things so you still feel like yourself throughout the season. For me, that meant holding onto my personal style, even though I couldn’t wear most of my clothes anymore.

Maternity Clothes Without Spending 

Can you wear regular clothes when Pregnant? — and the answer is absolutely YES! In fact, I make it a point to wear non-maternity clothes while pregnant. Not only is it totally possible to wear non-maternity clothes while pregnant, but it is also flattering. You can find regular non-maternity clothes that will accommodate a bump to be just as comfy and supportive as maternity clothes, and that you can continue to wear postpartum.

Judging by my imposed sedentary lifestyle, I spent a lot of my pregnancy in my birthday suit. When I was clothed, my go-to pregnancy looks were the same clothes I have always had in my wardrobe: I actually wanted to buy new clothes that would grow with my belly but I find most maternity clothes are pretty expensive and not that cute. So buying too many pieces I probably won’t wear again just didn’t make any sense to me. I decided to explore creative ways to wear non-maternity clothes as a mum-to-be.

It was challenging at times, but it turned out to be the same kind of strategy I used to repeat my clothes without anyone knowing.

STYLE: Ankara Maternity Outfit Ideas For Couples That Enjoy Matching Beautifully

Deciding what to wear is hard enough as it is! When it comes to matching outfits with your spouse, there are lots of things to consider. .

Couple Maternity Outfit Inspiration

I promised to share how Kachi and I were consistently matching our outfits throughout our pregnancy journey. Well, here it is. 😊

Dressed Up For The MACH Show This Sunday

Happy Style-Sunday Sweethearts! It feels so great to be able to go to church again at such a time as this. We had to shoot an episode of the MACH show immediately after the church service and I didn't want to go through the hurdles of changing outfits. This is What-I-Wore.

The MACH Show Style

I had started this paragraph with "My husband and I have a YouTube channel. . ." but I deleted it. Then, I wrote "Kachi and I create videos on YouTube. . ." and deleted it again. I didn't want to sound like those women who'd seize every opportunity they have to rub their marital status on our faces. Lol. But, isn't it incredibly surprising how life changes once marriage happens?

Marriage has been such an amazing experience. I am so grateful for it and my passion for promoting the Kingdom marriage increases daily. A healthy marriage gives the world a beautiful picture of the gospel.

Based on this understanding, Kachi and I birthed The MACH Show — a Kingdom marriage series where we have great conversations and fun times with godly couples.

What I Wore To Church Today (After Lockdown)

Woo-hoo! Happy Sunday Sweethearts of my blogosphere! How are you doing?! Guess what's back? Going to church is back! 'What-I-Wore to church' is back! And Sunday Style posts are back! I am so. . . excited!

Church After Lockdown

First, let me take off my mask to show you pictures of what I wore to church today.

Your guess is as good as mine; I wore (more than) a touch of Ankara to church this Sunday. Ankara is my happiness plug. (Lol. What does that even mean?). Whatever. I am always happy to wear the most beautiful fabric in the world. Yeah, I said that.

STYLE: When It Becomes A "Jean" To Go To Church

The normal me would have started this post with a greeting like "Happy Sunday Sweetheart!" but today is not a normal Sunday. Who would have thought that going to church can turn out to be a sin?

Going To Church In Difficult Times

We are not permitted to go to church till further notice because the government has mandated everyone to maintain self-isolation and social-distancing to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Social distancing and bans on large groups mean regular Sunday services are not feasible. Churches have had to adapt to a world with coronavirus;

Some have moved to live streaming their gatherings, some have posted videos church members can watch later while some have devised a means of splitting their services into batches of a 50-member congregation (fifty being the advised maximum number of a crowd gathering in this time).

STYLE: Gangster In Action

Yo! Happy Style-Sunday! What's up? What's poppin'? What's goin' on? Picture me saying all that with two fingers up in the air while rocking this look. Lol. We've got a gangster in the building. Yo!

Gangster For Christ

Right. There are a hundred and one negative definitions of who a gangster is, but who says you have to choose any of those? I am particularly thrilled by how Urban dictionary carefully defines it:

A GangstaforChrist is someone who has, and will endure anything to bring light into the darkness, and bring christ (to) the lost.

Look at that! Just look at that!

My!

I know I am a straight up G. I am a woman on the move for God. Nothing is going to get on my way, I mean nothing. Nothing is going to stop me from giving out light. Nothing is going to stop Heart Rays. Nothing!

STYLE: The First Tip For Couples Matching Outfits Together

Happy Style-Sunday! What's popping? I have got a headache. It's either as a result of my headwrap or my new weaves being too tight. Phew. Anyways, I will be fine.

Let's talk about matching outfits. Do you think couples that dress together stay together?

Matching Outfits With Your Spouse

I can't say whether it is more of a natural phenomenon than a conscious effort to start dressing in a matching and harmonious fashion when you get married.

However, what I can say is you may intuitively or subconsciously want to match your spouses style so that you can mirror them better and sync with them; Adding to the fact that couples that stylishly match outfit look very cute together. Thanks to its focus on complementary and cohesive aesthetics. After all, how do we expect to look well-dressed if our outfits are clashing?

STYLE: A Mismatch Ankara Challenge

Long time no style post. Since the last one, I've not had a good reason to show off an outfit. Partly because I have been wearing the same set of clothes; as my style goal for the year was "Wear What You Already Have". Thanks to a colleague who challenged me by saying, "Amaka, you claim you like Ankara. Can you wear Ankara from head to toe?"

Mix and Match Challenge

And to think that I was struggling to make this outfit look great makes it very rewarding and joyous. What trips me most is that none of the Ankara fabric is the same. The earrings, skirt, shoes and bags have different prints. I simply played around with green and orange platelets. What I think I normally wouldn’t do.

So here is the trick: If you’re wearing different printed pieces, keep some form of continuity going on by choosing prints in the same sort of colour scheme. Making sure they complement each other will help your outfit look more put together. I discovered that a head to toe printed look can have the potential to be quite busy and overwhelming. So you have to break up a head to toe printed look with something basic like a plain white top, a plain black top, or any plain top or a plan belt.

STYLE: Can Purple And Red Be Worn Together?

This is not the most interesting colour combination I've ever put together, but at the same time it's something I would easily throw on to work once in a while.

Red + Purple Outfit

Once upon a time, there were certain colour combinations that were considered “fashion don'ts” in the style dictionary. Navy and black, gold and silver, and yes, today's duo: purple and red. But those days are far behind us.

Now you can wear whatever suits your mood, taste and personality.

However, sometimes the weather affects your mood. But when that happens, let your taste and personality win!

Last Wednesday, the weather affected my mood. It rained all night till the early hours of the morning. Knowing there’s nothing worse than getting caught in the rain unprepared — Slogging around in wet shoes, windswept hair and a totally drenched ensemble is no way to spend your day. It’s just downright unpleasant.

So I respected myself and wore my red sweatshirt on my midi purple skirt.

How To Wear Your Scarf As A Jacket (In 5 Easy Steps)

Happy Sunday sweets! How was church today? It's the first Sunday in the month. Be grateful for where you are already in order to get to where you want to be.

Thought to show you what I wore to church today. 🙂

First of all, you need a long rectangular scarf. Check your wardrobe and look for the longest scarves. Then pick one. 

The pretty leopard print scarf I’m using here is about 70″ long x 26″ wide. The longer the scarf, the larger the arm openings will be. The width of your scarf determines how long it will be on your body, aka where it will hit: waist, hips, thighs, etc. Mine is 26″ wide and therefore, a fairly long jacket. The fringe on the ends of your scarf creates a fun detail on the front of your jacket.

Now the steps . . .

STYLE: The People In Your Picture

Hi Sweethearts of my blogosphere! It's been a minute. How have you been? How is it going? I'm doing fine myself. Hopped in to say hi and thank you for being here. :)

People In The Picture

My intention is to share another inspiration of 'what I wore' but something else seems to be happening to this post. In the course of taking personal pictures for today's 'Sunday-Style' post, the location was hijacked by some Boko Haram, yes the bombers showed up (please take the pun likely, lol).

I see my script changing. . .

Well, this story has to change because there are other people in the picture. I am not the only one in it.

So, the hard truth hit me badly:

It is not about you.

What I Wore: The Truth About How Long It Takes

Hi sweethearts of my blogosphere! Happy New Month! Glad we made it into the second half of the year. Thankful for life and everything else.

It's Style-Sunday!

Long Ankara Skirt

Like I told you here, I am writing a book. For now we'd call it #HWMH. And writing HWMH has not been easy.

Writing a book, a fictitious story about your life in a way that will interest anyone other than your mother is not a joke. In fact, “this happened to me” and “here’s what I think” posts can be boring if care is not taken. . .and can even make you appear as a narcissist.

But then a blogger like yours truly comes along and hopefully wishes to eloquently share her own personal story about her thoughts and life — style, career, relationship, everything. Only she’s not writing in retrospect, with the insight of knowing how her story will end. Instead, she’s telling this tale as it unfolds.

Fashion As Freedom Of Expression

Happy Sunday! Today's Sunday-Style post was inspired by a case which transpired between Falz, a Nigerian music artiste and MURIC, a Muslim society for having dancers wear hijab in his video. (It's in the news! Read here.)

I personally think it is a case between the freedom of expression and the freedom of religion. Both freedom is inextricably entwined but freedom means different things to different people. 🤔

Anyway let's talk style, shall we?!

Freedom Of Expression Through Style

First of all, how is freedom and style connected?

If

freedom is defined as: the power or right to act, speak or think as one wants without hindrance.

And

style is defined as: the manner in which something is expressed or performed.

Then we can say

if someone has the freedom to act as they want, this would include being free to express themselves through whatever medium they like. . . through their own sense of style.