Blogspiration: Layllah Style

Hey loves, can I be the first to say that I am happy to see the end of this week! TGIF Fo'Real! Anywhoo without this turning into one of my many infamous venting sessions, I must focus on the good and celebrate the magic of each day.

One of the many things I have planned to do on the Black Diamond Series is to showcase some of the blogs where I draw inspiration, so anything fashion and non-fashion related, including design, decor and any other cool and creative element that tickles my fancy.

This week the focus is on fashion. Enter Kay Lynn and Cari Rene of Layllah Style. I discovered these two amazing sisters a few weeks ago on Instagram... for those of you who don't know I live on the 'Gram! Kay Lynn and Cari Rene are just bomb! I literally cannot get enough of their style. These girls know how to work monochrome and literally anything leather. And can I just say looking at these ladies gives me the realest kind of body envy, legit!!!

They even get me to the point where I wish it was Winter time over here so I could pull out all my leather items shamelessly without having to worry about baking my internal organs from the Summer heat!

Check out more of their style here or check them out on Instagram @layllahstyle.

xoxo

Online shopping is your new best friend!

Brand new start to a new week, go forth and conquer dear friends. I have been meaning to put up a post about online shopping simply because someone asked me to and because there is still so much scepticism around it in the South African market.

I personally looooooove online shopping, finances allowing I probably wouldn't even bother entering into physical stores anymore if I could just shop online all the time. I have made some awesome purchases online from shoes to bikinis, even some really useful pairs of spanx! Online shopping boasts a variety of different styles and unique pieces if you like to stand out from the crowd. My go to sites are RunwaySale and Spree.

Some of my many online shopping purchases that made me very happy!

Speaking to a few of my co-workers about online shopping, some told me they think I am a nut job for shopping online and taking such a gamble with my "hard-earned" income. I was showered with questions like "is it safe?", "what about sizes?", "do the items look the same in real life?". 

Look in all fairness, yes, there are risks involved, virtually anything in the 21st century has some risk factor! I have seen many people absolutely enamoured by their online goodies and I have also seen people quite disappointed with their online purchases. So I am going to offer some tips for the timid online shopper.

Number One, only shop on websites that are accredited and legitimate with have proper terms and conditions that you are prepared to be obligated to, read the fine print. 

Number Two, online shopping calls on you to be more vigilant and take responsibility for your payments as most of the time you'll need to use a credit card. Investigate what form of payment the site requires. Some websites allow you to make direct payments into their accounts and then just furnish them with proof of payment. When using your credit card you will be asked to provide certain standard information, which is basically the same questions that are asked of you when making any online credit payment. So your 16 digit number on your card, the expiry date and the CVV number at the back, anything outside of that, proceed with caution.

Number Three, online sites contract with the banks and secured payment platforms to ensure that online shopping payments are made safely and securely, making sure you are notified of the activity in your account and that your money isn't being deposited into the wrong hands. 

Number Four, when choosing sizes, do not lie to yourself! If you know that you have been struggling to fit in to your size 8 jeans, don't now go and order a pair of jeans in that same size because they will also not fit! Know your size and be honest with yourself. A lot of these sites also have bust, hip, and waist measurement indicators for certain items so that you can have more confidence that the item you are buying will actually fit. The same rules apply to shoes. 

Number Five, the magical words... "if you are not entirely satisfied with the item, you may return it within 30 days". Yes return policies apply to online shopping too. A friend of mine bought shoes online from Spree and they didn't meet her expectations, she returned them almost immediately. The Spree team was awesome and very helpful to her and within a matter of days she had her full refund. So if you buy an item online and you don't love it, you can return it without much hassle. 

Number Six, from an administration perspective I would recommend sticking to local online shopping sites so that if you run into any problems, it will be easier and cheaper to communicate with the site support team. Plus delivery costs locally are generally free or very low whereas delivery costs from an international online shopping site are far more expensive.

Number Seven, most importantly, there is this incredible thing that happens once a year called Black Friday. For those of you who live under a rock and don't know what Black Friday is, its a day where online stores have the most ridiculous sale ever, I'm talking 75% off markdowns, sometimes more... I scored an LBD that was originally priced at R500 for R100! Do not sleep on this!

I hope I have inspired you to at least consider the prospects of mouse-clicking your way to a fun new wardrobe. From RunwaySale to Spree to Kapsule Online Boutique, the online shopping industry is growing at lightening speed, don't get left behind!

Change those shoes or nah?

I hate to start off this post with a cheesy line but there is infinite truth in the old saying "the only constant in life is change" and boy are there changes in my life. Yes this is indeed another post about change. I recently started in a new department at work and it hasn't exactly been smooth sailing... in fact its been a hot mess! I am hopeful though that things will get better, in fact they have to improve.

On top of all the changes at work, I am moving out on my own for the first time ever. Its a scary change but also so liberating and probably way over due. I have found an adorable little apartment that just screams me all over, it also screams responsibility even louder! This is one of those moments in life where I am putting on my big girl pants.

In all of this confusion, I think I have been getting all kinds of confused. I bought a pair of shoes the other day on a whim, total impulse buy, and I honestly have no idea how or what to wear them with! I am stuck between keeping them for when I find the perfect outfit or returning them and picking something a little more simple. Help!

While I figure out what to do with these shoes, I will leave you with my song of the day... Sugar by Maroon 5, the music video is the cutest thing! 

xoxo

A journey of a thousand miles

Firstly, happy new year everyone, hope the year has got off to great start for all of you. I am really positive about 2015 for a whole lot of reasons.

Secondly, I know last year was a total bust for me when it came to blogging. I made a whole bunch of excuses even resorting to blaming technology for the lack of content. Well I'm not going to make any excuses this time but I will be honest in saying that I lost my motivation to blog last year. I just struggled to talk about shoes and clothes when there are so many real issues happening in my community, let alone the world. Call it a crisis of conscience if you will.

I was involved in a lot of corporate social initiatives at work last year and my eyes were opened to some serious issues. Scary illiteracy numbers in my community, choicelessness amongst teenagers and a very poor understanding of legal rights among far too many within the country.

I found myself rolling my eyes at the posts of some of the elite fashion bloggers, questioning why they even bothered to have any actual text. In light of the shallowness of the content, they may as well have just posted pictures!

As the year went by I kept bumping into people who would ask me why I wasn't blogging anymore. I would often give wishy washy excuses as to why but I was so taken aback that people were actually reading my little blog. It surprised me and also touched me.

At some point I even considered shutting down the Black Diamond Series. I kept debating with myself whether to even continue blogging. I thought of all the hard work my friend Simba put in to help me out with the layout and all the technical stuff that was beyond my understanding... Thanks a mill Simba! I figured I owe it to him, myself and all the people who actually took the time to visit the blog to try once more.

So here we are,  the blog may take a few different directions this year contentwise and God forbid I may blog about something else other than clothes and shoes. Brace yourselves...

I re-commit to the Black Diamond Series and I ask that you continue to kick me in the butt when I get distracted and fall off the wagon!

xoxo