Look of the Day: My Best for the African Fest

This past Labor Day weekend, I attended the 27th Annual African Festival of the Arts here in my beautiful city of Chicago. You can check out my photography and coverage of the event here. Anywho, the look I went for was pretty simple for this event since it was chilly that day. I hand painted an image of the continent of Africa (including the "Middle East" that many have forgotten or didn't know was a part of Africa) with the Most Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey on the back of a vintage leather Stephanie Andrews vest I grabbed from a thrift store a few years back. I had this image in my head so I decided to paint it on the vest, since I barely wear it. I could easily grab a new one anytime. 

Along with my customized vest, I rocked a White Stag white, long-sleeve blouse, Highway Jeans high waist jeans, my favorite black pleather waist belt, and vintage red and brown Dooney and Bourke mini purse. To accessorize, I rocked a pair of blue jean earrings I made, a cowrie shell choker, a Nubian Luxuries Brand rastafari color wood necklace, and a chunky, warm color bracelet my best friend bought for me from New York. Plus you know I had to pick the afro out and rock it. Although I didn't want to do a lot with this look, I still wanted to evenly showcase my love for gaudy jewelry and bright colored accessories. 

For shoes, I turned these ol' dusty Converse Chuck Taylor sneakers into a pair of "Pan African 11's". The Pan-African red, black, and green colors with a pop of gold which really made the shoes stand out. These jawns are hand painted and designed by myself with a bowling shoe style. A Basquiat styled crown on the right shoe, and the African continent on the other. This was a real clean, classy look I wanted to go for because I didn't want the outfit to overpower the design on the vest. This is so contrary to what I wear when I go out and about, but yes I can definitely tone it down when I want to and my style will still be the same.