• Drinking: Blackcurrant ginseng & vanilla tea.
• Listening to: MIA
• Wearing: My white converse, as all good South Africans seem to, & my grey wool pencil skirt, grey sweater tights & grey sweater vest, topped with my grey cloche. Yes, this outfit looked as depressing as it sounds, so I added a mustard-colored cardigan. Now I’m just a British schoolgirl, or something.

Hello, cheri. I’d like you to meet Sivu, the cool, queenly looking lady you see pictured above. I ran into her at the craft market where she works in Cape Town, selling art that to me didn’t feel half as creative as her clothes. An artisan of attire, once we started talking she confided her interest in modeling and told me of shoots she’s been involved in before.

What first caught my eye was her accessories. I stopped to compliment her earrings when I noticed each ear was ornamented individually with earrings that weren’t a set, but somehow still went together. When I asked her about it, she told me she’d lost the other half to one pair but instead of tossing the remaining piece she paired it with one that worked with it. And work it she did.

I’m always the first to admit my sense of style errs on the side of unconventionality, so of course I admired her bold move.  Once, while in the Southern Cape, some of the CT kids told me I fit the Cape Town mold. Actually, in their words, they said my style of dress was “Cape Town Weird.” I chose, & still do, to take this as a compliment. And if that puts me in the same class as Sivu, I’m more than alright with it.

Be Inspired.