The One&Only And Other Cape Town Bits

Long time! Today, I wanted to blog about something I should have a long time ago...

Yesterday, I caught up on some WWD reading and learned that the billionaire investor Sol Kerzner hosted what seemed like a fab party in Cape Town to celebrate the opening of his One&Only resort there. (Looks like the property is scheduled to open later this year.) Well, Kerzner certainly brought the big dogs out. Nelson Mandela was invited (not sure if he actually attended), Thandie Newton was in the house, Bebe Winans, Hugh Masekela, Robert DeNiro and Grace Hightower and Mariah Carey were all partying it up in the new space as well. I've been to the One&Only resort in the Bahamas and folks, it is SICK. Simply beautiful and you don't have to want for anything while you're there.

Reading about Cape Town's newest luxury hotel made me think back to my own stay in the Cape last fall. I lodged at the 12 Apostles and it too was SICK. My friends and I had no idea we were going to be staying at such a posh spot when we first booked the trip but once we were there, people thought we were a singing group (real talk). They just couldn't imagine seven young Black women being able to afford the 12 Apostles. (That's a whole 'notha post.) Well the 12 Apostles has a top of the line spa, movie theater, 3/4 restaurants...all the bells and whistles. We got a GREAT deal (told y'all I don't like paying retail, that includes my vacations) and were practically treated like royalty during our stay. Now it looks like the 12 Apostles will have more competition for those taking a holiday on the Cape.


This is one of the 12 Apostles restaurants I ate at during my stay in Cape Town last fall.

But you know what? There's a lot of poverty in Cape Town. Still. PLENTY. I saw miles and miles of shanty towns while visiting and it made me SICK at times to be staying in such a SICK hotel. Poor me? Nah, I'm not about to have an American guilt trip moment -- it is what it is and I don't regret my stay but I am grateful that I managed to dontate to a worthy cause while I was visiting. One of our tour guides told me of the volunteer work she does with orphans and although I didn't know the woman from Eve, I believed she was sincere. I whipped out a U.S. $20 bill and gave to it her right then. In hindsight, I should have given much more. She called me at the hotel later on to thank me again and assure me that the money would be put to good use. Then an email was sent to me from an administrator of the group she works with, Little Angels to thank me. I'm sure lots of similiar orgs exist in Cape Town but now Little Angles holds a special place in my heart. Mr. TK and I plan to go to Cape Town in the near future (he's still salty he couldn't go with me in September) and I hope that we can spend a couple of days doing hands-on work with Little Angels then. In the meantime, I'll donate what I can, when I can. Orphans and foster children have a special, special place in my heart whether they live in South Africa or the South Bronx.


An example of a shanty town in Cape Town. There must be hundreds of them.

So if you consider treating yourself to a stay at the Cape's new One&Only or 12 Apostles, I'm sure you won't be disappointed. But just consider checking out Little Angels too. Tell them an American lady sent 'ya. ;-)

Get Shorty: Victoria "Posh" Beckham's Fab Haircut

Happy Monday! Despite not accomplishing everything I wanted to this weekend (when do we ever), I had such a good time: ate at a cool Brooklyn restaurant that helped me relive my recent South African vacay, partied at a friend of a friend's bday celebration in a sexy little nightclub (I rarely party on the weekends), caught up with some of my favorite folks on the horn, worked on a story and even chillaxed for a bit. Pretty productive all in all.

But this post isn't about my weekend, it's about hair! Victoria "Posh" Beckham's tresses to be exact. With all that is going on in the world, the specifics of Victoria's new-ish haircut seems trivial but I really wanna know how you guys feel about it. I'll be honest that I was a tad late to learn of her cut since she debuted the look during Spring 2009 Fashion Week in NY when I was on the other side of the world. Never one to shy away from risks, Mrs. Posh has long been a chameleon when it comes to her strands. Some people are still debating on whether she or Rihanna are responsible for the infamous bob trend of 2007. (I'm leaning towards Victoria myself.)



Well, the reason for this post is as much as I'm feeling Beckham's new 'do, many are saying that she went too short this time around. I beg to differ. And something tells me that before long, copycats galore will be rocking the same cut. True trendsetters are rarely understood in the beginning. Read what the glamazon had to say to London's Telegraph about her hair:

"You know, I just like to change things up. I get bored very, very quickly and I just fancied a change."

I so dig this chick.

What do you think about this new cut? Love it or loathe it? Leave a comment and let me know.

P.S. - I must come clean and admit that I might be bias since I cut my hair super short earlier this year. Too bad I don't have a hairstylist on call like I'm sure Posh does to help me on bad-hair days like today...

My Very Own Fashion Week in South Africa

So as I mentioned, I traded in the Bryant Park tents this season for a jaunt in the motherland. My usual recap of the NY shows will resume in February 2009. In the meantime though, I advise those of you who want a fresh perspective (beyond the celeb rehashing) of what went down during Fashion Week in NYC to check out Robin Givhan's blog here. She also covers the Paris and Milan shows. She didn't win that Pulitzer for nuthin' honey.

In the meantime though, I thought it would be cool to compare what I did in South Africa last week to what I would have been doing here in NY had I stayed home and share it with you. By the way, a post (or 2) on the trip itself is coming - I'm still uploading photos and getting my life back in order. *sigh*


THE TOP THREE WAYS SPRING 2009 NY FASHION WEEK IS MORE LIKE SOUTH AFRICA THAN I THOUGHT...

1 - I always do a lot of people watching at the shows. What folks are wearing in the tents and the off-site venues is practically as important as what they are wearing on the runway.

1b - I did a whole lot of people watching on my vacay. From the time I left JFK (the airline stewardesses on S.A. Airways were rocking these funky scaves) to the moment I boarded my last flight in Jo'burg.

2 - Everyone at the shows was buzzing about the upcoming election I'm sure. Really, how could they not?

2b - I had no less than three in-depth convos with native South Africans about Obama. It reminded me how much the rest of this world is watching and are anticipating November 4th as much (perhaps more) as we are.

3 - For me, going to the shows is obviously about trend spotting for the next season but it is also a way to get inspired about well...everything. Runway is typically driven by fantasy (things are scaled down considerably for retail) and after viewing a few shows I get all sorts of ideas on everything from how to decorate my kitchen to trying out a new haircolor.

3b - While Cape Town was certainly the more cosmopolitan part of my trip (Madison Avenue has nothing on the V&A Waterfront), I was styilshly inspired by the safari and game reserve leg of my journey as well. God makes no mistakes and the way colors and textures blend and contrast with each other in nature is brillant. Not even the best trend forecasters could pull it off. It is no coincidence that designers are always claiming to get inspiration for their collections from "the bush", huh?

P.S. - My Freakum Dress update and the long overdue Italian Vougue recap posts are coming soon and very soon.

Greetings From Cape Town!

Hey, hey, hey!

It has been a minute since my last post (my bad) but I've had a lot going on over the last week. I had to get ready for my (insert drumroll here) vacation to South Africa! That's right, I finally made that voyage I've mentioned many times before on this here blog. In a word, I am PROUD.

I plan to post a full report on this trip when I return to the States next week. It will be complete with pictures, links and maybe even a video - I told y'all I have a new camera so watch out! Because my girl Cocoa brought along her handy laptop, I had a moment before dinner to check my email and decided to update PPT a lil' bit. Despite the weather (it is kinda cold and raining here), I am having a ball. Today I went to Cape Point (where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet), went to a warm penguin beach, read up on Nelson Mandela at a museum and checked out the V&A Waterfront. And there is still so much else to do and see. I am pumped! Later in the week we are checking out Jo'Berg.

Well, I gotta run. It's time for me to get changed for dinner. I know that I'm missing NY Fashion Week but this is SOOOOOO (yes, I needed all six o's) worth it. Besides, I'm getting a good dose of international style right where I am. Don't worry, I'll blog all about it.

Life is good. Rain and all.