Somalian Twins Design: Mataano

Ayaan and Idyl are fashion designing twin sisters from Somalia who came to the U.S. at the age of nine.  They completed college and both were interns for famous fashion designers.  Ayaan interned for Jill Stuart, and Idyl interned for Betsy Johnson.  

By Mataano, htp://visionaryartistrymag.com

The twins' first collection of ten dresses was introduced in 2009. Their brand name, Mataano, is a Somali name which means twins.  How appropriate!  To Idyl and Ayaan, the Mataano woman is a mixture of different cultural influences.  

View the twins' website at http://mataano.com.

By Mataano, www.ciaafrique.com

Till next blog!

Inspiration: African Designers

We're all hearing about the terrible famine hitting the Horn of Africa, which includes Somalia and parts of Kenya.  It's devastating! I decided to look for Somalian fashion designers (I discovered a pair of twin designers, no, not the Olsen twins...) and got sidetracked looking at wonderful clothing by other African designers.  This post is for Somalia and Kenya.  I'll have to follow up on the Somalian designers next week.

When one views fashion from other countries/continents, there's a whole new and fresh look to fashion.  I've got to post pictures from other countries in the future blogs.

by Oswald Boateng, www.fashionjunki.com

by Chichia, http://africabatik.wordpress.com

by Nana Boateng, www.jamati.com

http://reesaspeaks.com

photo by Damien Meyer, www.independent.co.uk

Keep Africa in your prayers. Till next blog.

I Counted 32 Shades of Blue!!

Last week I discovered over 11 shades of pink.  This week I counted 32 shades of blue from a list I found through Google!!  I was expecting to find about 11 shades of blue, not 32!!  Whoa!  I'm in my element.  Blue is my favorite color.  Blue is a shade that gives an air of coolness, airiness (as in the light blues), royalty (the deep shades).  I'm not going to list all 32 shades of blue I found (should I?), but I'll list 16 of them.

1. Sky blue  2. Baby blue  3. Cobalt  4.  Neon blue  5.  Navy  6.  Azure  blue 7.  Denim blue   8.  Prussian blue  9. Steel blue  10. Aqua 

11.  Cerulean blue:                                                          

Vintage silk scarf top, www.stylehive.com

12. Brandies blue:                                                  

Slouch bag, Tory Burch, www.toryburch-shoe-sale.com

13. Powder blue:                                                            

Crochet scarf by I Should Koko, www.etsy.com/shop/ishouldkoko

14. Cornflower blue:

 

Pebble Print flats, www.sambag.com.au

15. Night blue:                                                            

by Donna Karan, www.stylebop.com

16. Periwinkle blue:

Men;s vintage 80s Guayaber shirt, www.rustyzipper.com

Till next blog!

Eleven Pinks and Counting...

Just for fun yesterday, I looked up pink clothing. And just for fun, I googled the different shades of pink.  I found eleven, 
and I don't think that's all.  It seems that 
brand names work on different shades 
and give them enticing names.  So when a woman buys a magenta pink dress for example, the specific shade name gives the clothing even more enticement.  That's clever.

Bare with me as I name the shades of pink I found:

1.  Carnation pink     2. Salmon Pink    3.  Neon pink (I don't think I'd like that one)
4.  Blush    5. Tamarisk

6.    Persian pink:    

http://40smodernhepcat.blogspot.com

 

7. Coral:

www.onestopplus.com

 
8.  Rose pink:

by Catherine Malandrino, www.shopstyle.com

 9. Cranberry pink   9.  Magenta   11. Puce pink
(And still more pinks were added to the list)


12.  Cerise:

www.shopstyle.co.uk

13.  Fuschia:

www.chictopia.com

 Now, this jacket is said to combine fuschia and hot pink fabrics, so:

14.  Hot pink    (Also I found today)  15.  Light pink

Some of the shades of pink look somewhat similar, but I guess the name depends on the mood of the designers and brands.  I may very well do a blog on the different shades of blue as that's my favorite color.  Maybe for next week...

Till next blog!