The Rise of ‘fashionable’ Tattoos

Barbara Maregele

Getting first tattoo

Tattoo body art is proving to be a growing ‘fashion’ phenomenon among international celebrities. Stepping away from the conventional norms of society, ‘celebs’ are encouraging their fans to express themselves in this unique manner.

The perception of tattooing has changed over time and is no longer frowned on by society as before. Tattoos have come a long way from the bodies of old sailors, prisoners and rebel biker gangs, to the bodies of young teenage girls.

“I find that my clients are becoming younger and most of them come with a picture of a celeb’s tattoo that they want done. It’s mainly the older, more mature people that have a story behind why they want a specific tattoo,” Aston Pieters , a local tattoo artist, said.

Miley Cyrus

Surveys done by kids health.org shows that the tattoo trend is growing and younger teenagers are being influenced into this by well-known celebrities such as Miley Cyrus and the infamous ‘fashion pioneer’, Lady Gaga. 


For most the procedure of having a tattoo done is extremely painful, it is advised that when choosing to have one, make sure you won’t regret it as for most, it is permanent.

“Most people, coming in for the first time have something small done, and ask me how painful it will be. Depending on what they’re having done and the size I explain that it is different for everyone,” Pieters said.

Pieters explains how he ensures that his shop is clean and hygienic as this eliminates any chances of infections and contamination of his sterile equipment. 


An inspector makes annual visits to his shop in order to ensure that he abides by the constituent health regulations.

Nikita Williams, a 19-year-old accounting student, describes her first tattooing experience as being exhilarating yet painful. She doesn’t regret having it done, but said it will be a while before she considers another one.

“I was so scared at first, when they first came with the machine I thought I was going to faint right there. The first five minutes were extremely painful, but after that you just go numb and wait for it to be all over. I don’t think I will ever regret my tattoo, but I don’t think I’ll be going again anytime soon,” she said.

Pieters says that in order to keep up with the latest tattoo trends, he follows the Tattoo Convention to find out how he can improve as an artist and to update his regular clients with the latest developments in the body art industry.

The Tattoo Convention takes place around the world, it provides tattoo artists as well as the tattoo addicts a forum to express and show off their body arts. For the first time, India will be hosting their first Tattoo Convention later this month. This shows how this culture is transforming and being accepted in a place where it was viewed as taboo and immoral.

Royal bride and royal guests show off their designs

By: Thandi Bosman

The day couldn’t come fast enough but before Prince William knew it, the day came when he had to exchange vows with his now wife Catherine Middleton, better known to the world as Kate Middleton.

The pressure was high and royal wedding planners to the royal guards had everything time to the last second. Brittan together with the whole world was looking forward to April 29, but the fashion world was waiting in anticipation for a true look at the wedding dress.

Kate Middleton walking towards Westminster Abbey  

Photo: CBSnews.com

Kate Middleton kept her wedding dress and the designer a secret until the big day. Designer Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen fashion house designed the dress and kept the dress plain and simple with an elegant touch of lace. Middleton looked like a princess on her wedding day and by choosing, a British designer to design her dress gave her thumbs up for British fashion. Burton became creative director of the Alexander McQueen label in May 2010, after McQueen’s suicide in February that year.

David and Victoria Beckham   

 Photo: telegraph.co.uk

Victoria Beckham, who is pregnant with her fourth child, wore one of her own designs and to compliment her midnight blue tunic dress she wore Christian Louboutin killer heels. Her hat was by Philip Treacy, and a simple ponytail to complete her look. Her stunning clutch bag was also from her own collection.

Her husband David Beckham accompanied her by wearing Ralph Lauren to the wedding. Pinned on his suit he wore his OBE medal, which he received in 2003. Matching his wife, he also wore a Philip Treacy hat, which he preferred to carry, keeping his hair in style. The couple complimented each other in every way and looked beautiful.

Sources:

www.guardian.co.za

CBSnews.com

telegraph.co.uk

Mixed traditional wear in demand

By: Ntebaleng Shete

Designs with a traditional flavour are a must wear these days. Traditional wear mixed with western fashion designs are suitable for different functions. Many would wear them to funerals, formal gatherings, weddings and traditional ceremonies.     

Mixed Traditional Dress

“Although there are those who prefer their traditional wear unmixed, for the past three to four years we got many orders who want them mixed’’, said Monza Ngekwazi a fashion designer at Lookout Hill ,Khayelitsha. Ngwekazi says they still need recognition as small businesses.      

Ngwekazi says there are few tourists who buy their designs and of them, they buy those with more traditional flavour and beads.               

                                                              

With beads, they make beautiful accessories like bangles, necklaces and earrings, also with a western taste.

Traditional Xhosa Dress - unmixed

Phetho Ntaba a radio personality says she adores the new designs. “I wear them to different functions.” Ntaba says the youth of today do not want to wear the heavy old traditional wear that requires one not to wear shoes at all. They like traditional but mixed with designs that speak to today, they want to wear them with high heels and they always want to make a fashion statement.

She also acknowledges the fact that these kinds of designs are expensive, they range between R800.00 and R1500.00.                                           

A Model through the Lens of a Camera

Thandi Bosman

Photo: Infinity Models

Modelling is a demanding job with awkward hours and busy days on the road. Sometimes you are awake before the sunrise, because you need to be at work early.

This is the busy life of Sigmonne Adams. Some days she works half days, other times she is required to be on set the whole day. “Sometimes they need the sunrise in the background so it would mean I have to be on set by 4am for hair and makeup.”

Being on set early can be tiring but as a model, what you have to do and where you have to be is not up to you. “Shoots can last from 1hour up to 9hours, depending on the job and its requirements, also how long the model takes to get the perfect shot the clients need.”

She is not just a pretty face. Sigmonne, who grew up in Paarl, is now studying Charted Accounting at Stellenbosch University. She is bright and confident and has fun every time she is on set. “I’ve always loved the camera, for me it isn’t anything strange because you are posing in front of a ‘professional’ team, which is so much better than posing in front of people you actually know personally (friends and family). All the photographers I have worked with are very friendly and professional.” She laughs and adds: “I honestly have fun whenever I am on set”.

Sigmonne juggles two lives: student life and modelling. You need to have good time management and you need to know yourself well and make sacrifices to catch up with work. “It does however take a lot of my time, so weekends and evenings I have to put in extra hours I had lost out on.”

With all the modelling Sigmonne has done already, her portfolio is filling up. She has worked for many places like, Edgars, Foshini, Ackermens, Cosmopolitan and YOU magazine. She has also worked for an Irish advertisement, the Maybelline New York calendar campaign and Revlon. She is currently short listed for an Allan Gray commercial.

In every job criticism and competition comes your way. “I have learnt how to face criticism and to turn it into constructive criticism. I have also learnt how to handle denial, because you may be the most beautiful woman yet the clients are looking for some specific look,” Sigmonne explains but adds with a smile that her agent keeps her positive.

Many models in South Africa are not well known and Sigmonne explains, that unless you are working in the industry names can sound foreign. “So to a model it would be like ‘omw there's Charlbi Dean’ where as someone who is not a model would be like, ‘who's that’.”

Right now, Sigmonne feels her “modelling has to take a backseat” and her studies is her “number one priority”. “If anything major comes my way I will be blessed but for now I am concentrating on my degree.”

Men's Fashion Today

Photo: Runway look

By: Reginald Witbooi

With the winter approaching, a lot of men will turn shops upside down to get their hands on the latest fashion statements. But where did fashion for men start and where is it today?

Fashion is mainly influenced by the Europeans and Americans, especially this season. What sets South Africans apart is our multi-faceted approach to design, coupled with the cultural diversity that encapsulates fashion in South Africa.

We have become renowned for taking inspiration from the big international fashion houses and making it our own: playing with textures and colours to  cultivate our own style.

Men’s fashion interest these days tend to lean more toward vintage/eclectic styles, and then of course the old tried and tested, more sophisticated, Italian style of dressing, which include nude colours, cottons, leather shoes, boots, cardigans, trenches etc.

South African fashionista, Hyren Peterson says ladies fashion can be summarised in just one word, “wearable”.

But, when asked about men’s fashion he’s quick to elaborate more: “From white wing collars to retro-influenced trends, men’s fashion has been born, changed and reborn time and time again. The colours, fabrics and patterns are constantly reappearing as men’s position in society gets altered.”

Peterson believes that the reason women love fashion and the beautiful and the sometimes “unwearable” creations they see on the runway can be linked to women’s love for chocolates, and taking care of the kids.

“This has designers making clothes that look deliciously beautiful, but also practical and wearable.

Peterson also has interesting views on how women’s fashion differs from men’s fashion.

“When it comes to the men versus women subject in fashion, there are different schools of thought. However, what many may not realise is that the differences in men’s and women’s fashion more often than not merely highlight the similarities.”

Peterson also lends advice: “some men have female shapes while others have tapered waists and then there are some that looks like they’re storing a spare tire, just in case their car breaks down. Keep this in mind the next time you pick out a shirt boys!”

Sources
http://www.usca.edu/
http://www.lindyhopping.com/

 

New on the horizon for Ali Adam

By Leandi Claasen

Ali Adam

Dubbed by the media as the rising star, Ghanaian fashion guru, Ali Adam, whose designs have been gracing the catwalks of Milan, has launched his first men’s collection on 21 April, in Paarl.

The Ghanaian, whom many in the fashion industry has come to know as the man of many cultures, is also proving to be a man of many words, a reality that comes to rest in an interview where your anxious attempts to question are met by an unyielding urge to steer the conversation in the direction Adam wants it to take.

So, in a bid to exercise the trick of receptivity – you shut up, put aside the list of questions you’ve prepared so vigorously in advance, sit back, and allow him to indulge you. And indulge you he does…

Adam, whose name is synonymous with fusion, the Euro-African style that epitomizes his creations, describes his new men’s line as “colourful, fresh and powerful”. He says that it will make men feel like they are “President”.

Adam has always worn his own designs – “when you see me looking good you will know that I’m wearing my own designs,” he says – but has never officially launched a men’s collection, until now.

Adam says that he wants men to become part of the “universal language of dressing”. “We live in the modern world. There are no rules. Every man should have a bold piece in his closet,” he explains.

Speaking on the promise of Adam’s new line, local dressmaker, Hill Wags, says that Adam has incorporated the vibrant and intricate embroidered fabrics that dictate his ladies collection into his male line and is set to change the norm of black and grey at the office.

With this collection Adam promises to bring sexy and masculine together. He says that the energy put into creating this line is evident in all the garments. “If my garments could talk it would say, ‘take me,’” he yodels.

Hailing from his Paarl studio, in Dwars-in-die-weg centre, he speaks candidly about his plans to design for the locals.

“Though I have a solid international client base – socialites from as far away as Washington DC, New York, Switzerland and the Netherlands… I also want to design for the working class.”

In answer to the question, why South Africa, Adam explains: “every designer dream of living in a place where they can find inspiration, I find inspiration here every single day."