HO-HO-Holidays - Part Un

As this blog post goes up I'll be up in the air flying to Dubai & then to Karachi with Isaad & Lyali, inshallah. And indeed, drinking that wine (not very inshallah of me) & watching those Bollywood movies (if you'd read my last blog you'd know what I'm talking about - yes, great idea, please subscribe right away - "namaste" in advance, as my dear friend, AW would say;). Nadir joins us there a couple days later & I always go get him at Karachi airport with my brother-in-law. It reminds me of the time we were dating (Nadir and I:) and we would get each other from this very airport when we returned from our respective business trips:) Shocking, I know, but I did have a fabulous job which involved traveling too ... once upon a time (please refer to the About section of the blog:)

Given the time of the year, I decided to dedicate this post to one of my favorite things - playing dress-up. I re-created, along with my stylist for the day, the very chic, Marisa Perel, four looks in this photoshoot, based on the four favorite outfits of mine that I wore to some of the parties N and I attended this holiday season. Although, we don't celebrate Christmas per se, we as a family definitely celebrate everything leading up to the big day. This year, I even had these pretty gold lights put up on the trees outside our house. Soo pretty & festive & honestly they fill my heart (& our home) with joy.

Okay, so Part 1 because I'm breaking up (that sounds like a I'm going through a break-up but oh well, sticking with it) the four outfits into two posts. The two outfits featured today are more conventional - a pretty red dress and a very sparkly holiday-y (made that up) skirt with a psychedelic top. Part 2, coming up in a few weeks covers the other not-so-conventional but REALLY chic dresses - well one's a dress! Piqued your curiosity, perhaps?? 

Oooh, how exciting - as I'm writing this I received my Emirates online check-in email. Counting the minutes till I'm back with my family. But back to work now...

This red, Monique Lhuillier, dress reminds me of a 50's Mad Men-esque one with its narrow wasp waist and voluminous full skirt. I normally avoid this silhouette since I'm a wee bit conscious of the fact that it makes me look wider in the hips. However, in the spirit of embracing who I am in every sense of the word along with the impeccable design and fit this dress embodies I not only wore it but flaunted it along with my favorite pair of Charlotte Olympia gold heels and my favorite (I know, I have a lot of favorites) Larkspur & Hawk necklace.

My second look is a sweater and a skirt. Sounds boring as hell put that way, right? It's anything but ... My sweater is by Libertine, whose brilliant creative director & designer,  Johnson Hartig, has taken on a rather witty stance on fashion. His version or idea of fashion very cleverly encompasses art, travel, pop culture, design, history & punk rock as its main sources of inspiration. I'd say that till about 5 years ago, I would have NEVER imagined pairing a bold whimsical sweater that had tongue & cheek text (Best Source Of Vitamin.chic;) imprinted on it with a sparkly multi-colored metallic striped A-line miniskirt. But I fell in love with this Delpozo skirt months ago and waited till it went on sale & finally acquired it 2 weeks ago! Delpozo, founded in Madrid, Spain has a modern, architectural aesthetic with volume, color, silhouette & intricate embroidery among its salient features. Josep Font, the uber talented, creative director at its helm was originally trained as an architect but later studied fashion as well, so it all falls into place, doesn't it? And since I was already on this colorful bonanza of a journey with this outfit  I topped it off with an almost 4 year old pair of pink silk pumps and my delicious green (literally & figuratively) Edie Parker Kale clutch.

A very special shout out and thanks to my longtime friend and make-up artist extraordinaire, Marisa Perel (Riss), for styling this shoot and of course, for my AMAAAAZING make-up.

And of course, to my favorite photographer, Ricci Cande of Rust & Flourish for ALWAYS getting what I want at our photo shoots without me having to articulate it. Love you ladies 😘😘

Thank you for stopping by and I look forward to hearing from you!

Always the stirrer, Sobia