CHILDREN AT PLAY...I DESIGN FOR AND DRESS UP KIDDIES TOO

Tshimologo is such a wonder infront of a camera and away fro it because she is such a joy-filled, playful, adrable and talkative little girl. Whe I made this outfit for her I already had met her before and knew what kind of a dress she would enjoy.

Because her mom, Kentse Madikgetla personally loves clothes I knew her daughter will not be much different. I made her a Xitsonga-inspired tutu dress. Her outfit is rather a four in one outfit. You know how children can get when they play. They will make you wish you packed in extra clothes to change when they soil themselves so this outfit solves that drama.

As you can see the above pictures the outfit is a tutu dresss with a touch of Xitsonga on the top and when you peep through the tutu you can see the full Xitsonga dress. On the picture below she is wearing a top and a skirt.

Below here on the following picture she is wearing the outfit as a 3-piece suit with the top, overskirt to make top longer and shorts.

She can also wear just the top and pants as below. This actually makes this outfit a 5-in-one rather than just 4-in-one.

If you want to make it a typical girly-dress that is not a culturally-inspired outfit you can mix match the tutu skirt with another plain top as below.

Tshimologo is such a princess as you can see

A Beautiful Princess

It was such pleasure taking Tshimo's pics. She is such a natural

SHANGAAN SHOW OFF

If you were to ask any black South African person, "What is the most colourful cultural wear?" they will tell you Shangaan which is also called Tsonga/Tshitsonga. They not only have colour but their fabric also has floral motifs.

Okay I need to make a correction on  the words I used above thanks to a friend who read my blog, Mkateko Baloyi. She said: " I wanted to correct you on the Tshitsonga spelling, it is actually Xitsonga u are probably mistaking it with Tshivenda. En when we are dressed we say we are wearing Xitsonga not shangaan en when we do use the word we say Xishangani mara there is a certain way of saying it. "

So let me rewrite my opening paragraph:

" If you were to ask any black South African person, "What is the most colourful cultural wear?" they will tell you Xishangani which is actually called Xitsonga. They not only have colour but their fabric also has floral motifs." The title "Shangaan Show Off was written just for the ring and emphasis through aliteration of "Sh". No offence intended.

Aplogies to all my Tsonga brothers and Tsonga sisters for misusing and msipelling your cutuaral words. We learn everyday right?

I am not inteding to blog about cultural wear which is what I bog about on www.faithspeaksfashion.blpgspot.com, I wanted to share on this beautiful Shangaan inspired outfit I made for Kentse Madikgetla and a matching outfit for her daughter.

Kentse is not a Tsonga woman but wanted to wear a Tsonga-inspired outfit to honour the Tsonga wedding she was going to attend.

PUTTING ON THE DRESS...MY NIECE WOULD NOT

Whoever said little girls love all things frilly, glliterry and dressy must meet my adorable 4 year old niece Omolemo. She is not at all a tomboy but loves running around and kicking the ball with my nephews Onke and Samukelo. This is only because they are not that far older than her. Omolemo loves her pants, leggings and shorts. She has no issues with girly T-shirts with girly cartoons and motifs but a dress is an absolute NO for her.

I made a creame white girly dress with a touch of shimmer or glitter on the overlaying lace and a little flower motif for my other niece Mpumi. Mpumi was too far to fit the dress when I made it so her mom who's my sister said it would be small her. She said I must give it to Omolemo. I thought my mother-in-law was joking when she told me Omolemo will not put on a dress. I showed the dress to Omolemo and she opened her beautiful big eyes wide and plainly refused to wear it.


We tried to convince her how beautiful she would look and the baby girl would not budge. In order to make her agree to it we made her best friend Onke who is a six years old boy to try it on. "No don't start with cross-dressing statements. We pray for our children and my brother grew up playing dress up with us and he was ok." Omolemo was not sold on the dress until I showed her a Seshoeshoe kiddies jumpsuit. A huge smile shone on her face! She immediately stood up to put it on without hesitation. She was so excited and posed and modelled for us. She was so excited about the dungarees she forgot she hates dresses and did not mind trying on the dress. You should have seen how she enjoyed the dress on her. She even posed like a model, a side I have never seen of my niece. She even sat on the couch like a girl.

Look at those big beautiful eyes and smile

She then put on the dress

Please note that we could not make Omolemo take off the clothes she was wearing to try on these clothes. So please look at the dress as if you cannot see the black long sleeve top.

And then the girl came out and posed!! I hope she comes through for our wedding as a flowergir

ForeverFaith Couture…”Designed To Fit You”

ForeverFaith Couture is a fashion label and an image consultancy owned by Faith Monchusi. I am ForeverFaith Couture because I am the brand, the Fashion Designer and image stylist. ForeverFaith Couture designs, dresses, does personal shopping and styles individuals, designs and styles image of events and business premises.

ForeverFaith Couture’s slogan is “Designed to Fit You”. By that I mean we design clothes and give you a personal image, design, plan and style events and design and style the image of business premises to fit the character and message the individual or company wants to communicate. Our motto is Everything Couture. We are all about individuals, companies, and anyone who wants to be couturegeous. That means being so extremely and uniquely gorgeous, as well as being couture in that sense and extremely well mannered and sophisticated. The image we help you establish is intended to communicate someone or business that is on point with what is happening and what people are looking for.

We do not only design, dress and style but we also hold one-on-one consultancies which will be growing into group meetings, workshops and seminars, fashion days for individuals, people getting married, small businesses, event organizers, etc in which style, how you present and market yourself and all that is necessary to help them stay on point with presentation, communication and marketing.

A FAMILY AFFAIR- DRESSING THE NGUBENI'S FOR A WEDDING IN THE FAMILY

Mother of the Groom, Mrs. Ngubeni Dressed by ForeverFaith Couture, hat ForeverFaith Couture, accessories by ForeverFaith Couture, bag and shoes by Fikzozo

 

 Youngest Daughter and sister of the groom, Duduzile Ngubeni wearing a lilac ForeverFaith Couture ruffle dress, shoes model's own

 

Second daughter and sister of the bride in a ForeverFaith Couture dress with a detachable waistband, accessories by ForeverFaith, shoes model's own

First Daughter and sister of the groom, Fikile Madikgetla in a cerise ruffle dress by ForeverFaith Couture, bag by Fikzozo, shoes model's own.

 It was great working with these four beautiful ladies. I remember how stressed the mother was as I had already made her dress and I said I do not like it. I went back to buy another fabric and wow...God came through and helped me make the dress in just a day. We serve a miracle-woking God indeed.

My friend Florina, whom I gave the name Flawless Flo for her flawless look and her character, is a beauty and nail technician. She did the ladies' manicure and pedicure. She did went all the way to do their nails at home as part of her special service.  

                                        
                        Flawless Flo wearing Flawlessness on her face