#eeny eyeglasses

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2024 Favorite Looks

This was the beginning of the end of my weight-loss maintenance, which lasting three years was beyond the regular trend which is at least a third shorter. I settled into a good weight but not the ideal one like at the start of the year.

In the look above I finally debuted my African kimono purchased the summer before at AfroPunk I didn't have the confidence to wear it because I wasn't quite sure how to wear it. I paired my orange fishermen pants with it and a pair of my Havianas, African fabric head wrap, my springy bracelet and my EENY gold tinted glasses. I was looking very regal and commanding as I visited the farmer's market with my nibling.

I have always loved a monochromatic look just reaching deep into the shades of one particular color. I am so happy that I have enough blue to do just that. Its not a color I always choose but it does look good on me.

This look was built around a classic dashiki. I wanted to see what I could pair with it that I hadn't previously done before, I usually wear the dashiki alone with not much adornment, know that the colors and textures can play by themselves. I love what I came up with this day, it was fun, playful in a very urban chic way.

A friend had briefly stayed in my home while I was away on my sabbatical she noted I totally have a thing for orange. Orange just compliments the browns and yellows in my skin tone perfectly. It has a lovely contrast and its a color that really pops on me. I paired it with my African wax print head wrap. An African printed bag I also copped in Ghana with a tie-dyed vest a local African designer made and this old pale yellow French Connection short-sleeved shirt and my fisherman pants which are now a staple of my summer looks. And on my feet the Donald Glover designed New Balance in a very tangy yellow.

I had bought this three-quarter shirt as a potential look for AfroPunk where I decided to go in a different direction for that day. I wanted to offset the yellow and orange with a bright red head wrap of some of my grandmothers old velvet fabric. My necklace from an artisan in Accra, bright red gloves to pair with my head covering, black hakama pants purchased directly from Japan and my No Bull fluorescent runners. Flashy but comfortable. EENY stopped me to get some video, even though I wasn't wearing a pair of their glasses I had paired my now prescription glasses that I had mopped at Rainbow.

Lastly my Orttu tangy yellow jacket, my bumble-bee blue scarf purchased in a Dollar General in Florida, the plaid flannel pants I had the local tailor make before he retired back in Panama and these Adidas sneakers I barely ever wear a cacophony of colors with a very blue base which tied his look together nicely.

[xtrablak674]

Blossoming Style

I am not Erykah Badu, albeit I am greatly inspired by her entire energy, I didn't come into the world completely formed around my sense of fashion and style. My inclinations were hidden in the substrate of my subconscious and as I became more myself it slowly rose to my conscious mind and outward facing public persona.

The one thing that really cements this is seeing how pieces I have had for a long time have changed in how I present and wear them. Its such an organic process and it happens so subtlety that its hard to notice the changes. I had recently come across a trove of images from 2007, that is seventeen years ago, lets say that again, seventeen years ago, nearly two decades! I have put together collages showing these pieces then, and how I rock them now.

This demonstration is so important for those just developing their personal style, its good to see that most of us don't just arrive at our destination and that there are many stops along the way to get our LOOKS to where we want them to be. I am still jealous of people in their twenties who seemed to come out fully formed, for some of them its access to wealth that allows this exploration and others are just naturally creative using what little they have to put together great things.

2007/2013

On the left I am wearing this vintage polyester seventies shirt with one of my necklaces bought from a Brooklyn-based artisan. Off-hand I can't remember what else I was wearing but we will focus on how I later paired this shirt with some yellow jeans, tan suede boots, a bunch of bangles and another Brooklyn-born necklace with amber and ivory. I am also noting my go-to bracelet this orange-beaded piece that I bought in Miami that fell apart a few years ago, I still have the beads, just need to meet another jewelry maker.

There was a nice refining of my style, earlier I would be more simple in my approach to accessories, later I would layer more colors and textures with a look. I am also wearing Warby Parker eyeglasses in later image feeling more comfortable utilizing my glasses as an additional accessory and not just a eyesight enhancing tool.

2007/2022

I snatched up this Jean Paul Gaultier haute courtier top at the Century 21 on 86th Street in Brooklyn way prior to its closing. I think this was my second Gaultier top, I really loved this one because on me it felt very African. In two-thousand seven I paired it with these wooden beads purchased at Atlantic Antic. My hair is also notable in this first image because my locs were curly, a style I haven't really rocked in years.

In two-thousand twenty-two, similar to the first set of images I have really leaned into accessories. I am pretty sure in the first shot I was wearing a pair of premium denim jeans, and my go-to Puma Black shoes that had similar color as my beads with these golf-shoes sole.

In the modern take with the Gaultier top I am pairing my newly acquired wide-legged pants from Nubian Hueman a company I think based out of DC that was vending at AfroPunk. Italian boots from Corrente I had bought online from an LA boutique. One of the beautiful neck pieces I had acquired in Accra in Ghana from a local artisan. A scarf by Zhuzh also copped at AfroPunk bundled around my neck in a way I had observed a friend wearing his. A silver cuff with a red precious stone I got while in Jaipur - India. An orange Coach ranger pack from their outlet, eyeglasses from Brooklyn-based Black-woman owned EENY Eyewear and this cobalt clip on earring of my grandmother, that I later gifted to my niece after this photoshoot. Last but not least lets notice that I did a reverse French braid with my locs just for this mini-shoot.

Whew, a lot going on here, but as you can see even with out over-layering I have learned how to really elevate a look but also tie the pieces together with my unique aesthetic which is clearly very African, Black and urban inspired.

2007/2022

This coffee-bean rayon shirt from Mardana made in NYC, I purchased in a boutique in Chelsea of all places. On my neck a jade necklace probably from some local vendor, my hair in an updo and I can see this is before I lost my watch in Elmina and one of those rubber rainbow bracelets left over from the pride parade.

In the twenties I bought back those wooden bead of mine, now suspended on copper-wire by a local artist I had re-string them for me. My go-to Havaianas the only open-toed foot wear I will wear. And the pants I purchased from the late Harriet's Alter Ego which had a shop on Flatbush, anyone knowing her work would know these pant's patchworks were the mastery of Hekima who is still bringing her beautiful pieces to the world.

I am wearing a brass bracelet gifted to me by an actress on this Broadway show I was working on and a cuff from Benin that I purchased in Accra. Once again finishing off this casual look with Warby Parker glasses.

2012/2022

Wow finally a piece from Gureje who used to be my go-to Black designer for pieces to wear to my gallery openings. I had him custom make this suit for me back in two-thousand twelve for a string of openings I had. A one-night only solo exhibition at Soho House courtesy of Bombay Sapphire, then my debut in Art Basel Miami courtesy of Rush Arts Gallery. I also had good company because the late Melvin Van Peebles also had one of these made for himself.

In twelve I barely had any shirts to wear with this suit and wore a linen blue and white short-sleeved shirt with it. As you can see I wasn't even at a place where I could fully realize my beauty in this suit that I need to be at my high-school weight to wear. I would also feature this suit at the Brooklyn Youth Chorus Gala in 2014 where I slayed!

But I want to focus on how I bought this look back in 2022, pairing this very upscale suit with sneakers from Diverge a turquoise turtleneck from Paul Frederick a beautiful brass necklace with turquoise beads from a shop on Instagram and tortoise colored glasses from Warby Parker.

I took something classic and made it urban, fun and modern. I put together the ensemble in mere seconds and was getting compliments all day as I was out and about in Coney Island with my niece.

Not going to wax poetic about these African fabric throwaway pants that I purchased on a roadside in Accra. I say throwaway because they literally cost little to nothing and were only probably meant to be worn a few times and thrown away but from 2013 to 2022 these main one of my favorite warm-weather bottoms. Versatile in being able to be paired with just about anything.

This is my one takeaway for everyone who is developing their personal style, have fun, and most importantly always be YOU in whatever you wear and you too can be iconic in your lifetime.

Links

https://www.warbyparker.com/

https://www.c21stores.com/

https://nubianhueman.com/

https://shopzhuzh.com/

https://www.eenyeyewear.com/

https://harrietsbyhekima.bigcartel.com/

https://www.gureje.com/

https://www.brooklynyouthchorus.org/

https://www.diverge-sneakers.com/

[Photos by Brown Estate]