OATH

It’s funny how you live in anticipation of your birthday and once it’s gone, feels like the whole year is done…then it’s just routine until New Year’s Eve. My birthday falls slap-bang in the middle of the year so it sparks two thoughts; 1. Whoa, the year is nearly over and 2. What have I done with this year!?! …. So basically joy and panic all in one go.

This year I decided to spend my 27th ( O_O ) birthday in my favourite city, Cape Town and just enjoy being there. I had no desire for a big birthday bash blowout or a mountain of presents or a squad of people, just everything that mattered. Over my last two birthdays, I have noticed that they are getting smaller and smaller. I just hope I don’t get to that stage when I forget it all together. But I think it’s a part of growth when you just reflect on life and appreciate rather than getting roaringly intoxicated and emotional. I chose to collaborate with Tegan again for another look post and our first in the Mother City. We have now shot in 3 cities; Port Elizabeth, Johannesburg and Cape Town….I say we take it abroad now Tegan, what you say? This look was shot as I landed in Cape Town, on the eve of my birthday. The challenge for me was deciding on a location. It was alittle daunting as I wasn’t familiar with the city in that “know-the-best-locations” sense and I had a clear vision of how I wanted it to look. Eventually we decided to go for simplicity and strong architectural lines to highlight the pattern of the dress. I had only one thing I wanted to wear on this day…this beautiful OATH shift dress from South African designer and my friend, Rich Mnisi.

It is actually funny how our relationship came to be…stemmed from work bump-ins then my admiration for his unique work and then his winning personality. If you have been following my Instagram account, you would have seen that I have been wearing OATH to almost every fashion week this year and end of last year. I can honestly say that OATH speaks to my style as it is so loud and unconventional but smart. Rich’s designs are so SMART! There is a special intellectual property that is required to make the prints he makes and think so far outside of the box to the point that it is shocking but devastatingly beautiful. This dress is from the OATH A/W collection that debuted at #MBFWJ earlier this year. I love this strong Ndebele design print. It reinvented the typical play on African prints, making it not that “typical” African traditional attire look”. Rich started off designing menswear but quickly added womenswear to his portfolio. I always loved taking his masculine designs and adding a feminine spin to them as it is how I would wear an OATH item in my every day. When we shot this, the weather was bitterly cold, so I added a poloneck underneath as to not take away from the silhouette and look of the dress, by covering up with a coat but not compromise warmth. I added some leggings for good measure and accessorised with a bold clutch for a pop of colour. The aim was not to overshadow the dress but to make it my own and complement it. This is definatley one of my favourite items from the collection and cannot wait to share with you more from this phenomenal designer.
You can shop this dress at the OATH Studio online store shop.oathrm.com and follow the brand on Instagram @oath_rm & @rich_mnisi. Tag us your best OATH looks on Instagram with the hashtag #MondaysWeWearOATH

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Photography: Tegan Smith
(Instagram: @tegansmithphotography)
Outfit Details:
Dress: OATH by Rich Mnisi/ Poloneck and Leggings: Woolworths/ Clutch and Shoes: Mr Price/ Rings: Lovisa (see my review on these in my June Favourites post here)
Beauty:
Lips: MAC Mineralized Rich Lipstick in Glamour Era mixed with MAC Viva Glam Rihanna Lipstick/ Nails: Essie Nail Lacquer in Style Cartel