my style- country strong

yesterday at my grans, my cousins and i decided to dress up and have a fancy lunch. lol. being in the country, sometimes one has to get creative with their time. this is what i wore :)

the backdrop is the kraal at my grans place. it will be  quite difficult to post for about two weeks after today, i'm going on holiday with the family. if i don't get to squeeze one more post in, i wish you and yours a delicious new year!

thank you for all your support of candychampagne. it really means so much to me and words can't even describe how much i appreciate it! see you in the new year for more sweetness and fun!

all my love,

khanya

i wore:

black felt floppy hat - yde

black & white striped top - zara (organic cotton)

burnt orange shorts - mr price

black platforms - rage

photo diary - ntombi yom'xhosa (xhosa girl)

december is always a busy month filled with family gatherings and traditional ceremonies. this december was a month of weddings and imigidi (initiation ceremonies for young men). my family knows i am quite camera crazy and normally i have two camera's with me at every function. here a few of my favorite pictures :)

perhaps one my my favorite images. an abandoned hut in our village

the view i see everyday. picturesque beauty

my grandma...94 years young and blessed

what i wore to my cousin's traditional wedding

the skirt i wore. made from material we call ijeriman or shweshwe

traditional dancers. i love what she is wearing

recycled material has never looked so chic

i wore:

leopard print sunnies- mr price

coral blazer - carducci

crop top - hand made

skirt - hand made

pumps - mr price

my cousin's wedding was so much fun. his bride wandile (the name given to her by my family) is from namibia and speaks damara/nama. it was such a interesting merger of cultures. the language she speaks is strangely cool and i'm sure isixhosa sounded the same to her family! i had originally wanted to wear a turban to the wedding, but my gran told me that it would be inappropriate for me to wear a turban to a traditional ceremony because they are reserved for married women. so since i'm unmarried, my head must be bare so that any potential suitors can know that i'm not taken! haha!

i hope you have had an amazing december so far!

xxx

create nails that make headlines

if you'd like to make headlines this holiday season by letting your fingers do the talking, you're going to love this! 

what you need:

a glass bowl

vodka (you only need a little bit for this so the rest is yours! lol)

light shade of nail polish (white, soft pink, soft blue, grey - go wild!)

clear nail polish

nail polish remover & cotton swabs

square pieces of newspaper clippings (or the phone book)

how to:

1. paint your nails with the light shade

2. use cotton swab to fix any messy bits. usually i take a shower afterwards

3. once nails have dried, paint over light shade with clear polish/top coat

4. let your nails dry

5. pour some vodka into the bowl. dip your nails in the vodka then cover the wet nail with square piece of newspaper. do that for each nail

6. once you're done, add another layer of top coat and you're done!

your headline stirring nails should last about a week!

have fun with this, let me know how it goes and please send me pictures (kmashalaba@gmail.com)

xxx

my style: tangerine turban

last week i spent the day at my mom's office. this is what i wore :)

(tangerine turban - from scrap material, elephant earrings - accessorize, white tank top-atmosphere, maxi skirt - mom's closet, shoes-rage)

hi! you look great...can i take a picture of you?

hi candy lovers! :) i've been having crazy withdrawal symptoms from not taking street style pictures in what seems like yeeeeeaaaarrrsss! it's a lot more intimidating asking strangers to snap them in their stylish gear in towns other than grahamstown. it's been a challenge for me, and has really pushed me out of my comfort zone. i'd always considered myself pretty daring and able to approach people of different walks of life, but lately, especially with street style photos, i've become ridiculously shy! maybe it's the cancer (my star sign) in me coming out finally (although i'm a cancer, i've always told myself i was a leo) or a symptom of what has been the hardest and most testing year i've ever had in my 22 years of life. either way, the only way to get inside a pool of what seems like cold water is to cannon ball in or dive in. 

i've realized that so many opportunities can be missed when you're too afraid to step out of your comfort zone which only leads to regret. so i'm challenging myself this year already with the task of jumping of out my comfort zone with my hands in the air, knowing that if i can accomplish just this small task, everything and anything else is possible. i'm looking forward to the new year and i wish you and yours a beautiful christmas full of love, laughter and joy and hoping you push yourself out of your comfort zone next year!

all my love

xxx

this is your life...

grahamstown street style: like a deep blue sea

mpumi

i adore her loose top. the material is gorgeous. the color is delicious. the buttons are amazing! 

mpumi is always so well put together, nails never chipped, hair always right, outfit always amaze - i'm a little jealous cause i've never seen her have one of those 'i-don't-care-what-i-look-like-on-campus' days. i'm also loving all the rings, i also like wearing a lot of different rings at the same time.

rhodes 4th year fine art exhibition (part 1)

a few weeks back, the final year fine art students at rhodes university has their exhibition. they had been working on the body's of work their entire year. rhodes really does have incredible talent. i took a few pictures of some of my favorite artists. enjoy!

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warren canning

warren's oil paintings are really very unique. in this particular body of work, warren created aerial views of buildings and locations. what was really cool was that by scanning the barcodes next to each painting, you could see exactly which location was painted. incredible right?!

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calypso ray

this was absolutely one my favorites. calypso's body of work was inspired by people dealing with mental disorders, and how the simplests of tasks can seem incredibly difficult. calypso also had a video playing in which she used her feet to light a candle with a match, shave her legs and open a beer bottle with a bottle opener. really very incredible!


"drawing from my own experiences and hardships, dis-order is a collection of metaphors dealing with the invisible disorder that only the sufferer experiences" - calypso ray

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kate brook-hart

kate's work was also one my favorites. i couldn't take more pictures because there would literally be hundreds of photos (and you can check out the rest on her website). kate's work was inspired by the mechanisation of the nation (south africa). it looked and broke down south africa's current political situation, capitalism in south africa, the every day lives of south african's and south africa pre-and-post-democracy according to kate (and public opinion). it's not sinister, but rather realistic. brilliant!

get ahold of the artists:

warren canning: warren's website\ warren@bauhaus.co.za

kate brook-hart: kate's blog\ kate's website\ brookhart.kate@gmail.com

calypso ray: calypso's profile

inside story world premier

last week thursday (world aids day), my mom and i went to the inside story world premier at killarney mall in johannesburg. i know when people hear of a movie about hiv/aids they tend to switch off, but this movie is really different! i'd considered myself pretty educated when it came to hiv/aids, but this movie showed me how ignorant i was but also taught me so much. it focuses on the science of hiv in the body - i'm talking about atoms and everything- from the date of infection to living with the virus and how your body works to fight it. the story line is also amazing, with a proudly african cast. the movie is directed by south african rolie nikiwe. inside story comes out in february 2012 in theatres across the world and i really encourage everyone to watch it when it comes out! but for now, you can check out the inside story website for more information 

i tried to snap a photo of some of the cast, director and producers but there was such pandemonium after we'd all seen the movie

producer aric noboa, actor seth zimu, director rolie nikiwe, producer harriet gavshon, actress kendra etufunywa and actor kevin ndege mamboleo

my mom and i after the movie, on our way to the after party at hush!

have a magical monday! 

xxx

grahamstown street style: sweet love vintage

cebisa

i love her style, she always looks amazing e-v-ery-day! she's a thrifter and she got her awesome velvet body suit with lace detail (i hope you can see it) for R20 in king williams town. her awesome grandpa jersey is courtesy of the sunshine hospice right here in grahamstown. don't you love her style?

i keep thinking about how much i'm going to miss this place next year... the energy, the people, the scenery. grahamstown is a really amazing place...

the story of a shoe

" few people know how to take a walk. the qualifications are endurance, plain clothes, old shoes, an eye for nature, good humor, vast curiosity, good spech, good silence and nothing too much"

 -ralph waldo emerson

these vintage brown leather ankle boots are my friend suvania's. i loved them from the moment i saw them. she got them from her mom - once again proving that ALL the best items can't be bought in stores anymore! they are beautiful shoes and i found myself trying to figure out where su's mom wore them, what she wore them with or even where she got them!

what would you wear these shoes with?

my style: ebony & ivory

i found these pictures when i was going through my pictures. they were taken in port alfred when shibu, lauren and i spent the day there a few months back. i still had hair then! i've never actually worn this dress out, cause i get a little self concious that its a bit short but i had fun taking pictures in it

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(earrings - selfmade, vintage white dress, zoom black ankle boots, shibu's black bag)

i love this bridge so much. thank you to lauren for having such an amazing eye for all things

awesome.

i feel like i look so strange with hair! haha, what do you think?