[ GLOBAL FASHION OLYMPICS ] WT's Top 5 Opening Ceremony Uniforms

You couldn't have a Parade of Nations without a Wandering Threads feature on global style choices, it just wouldn't be right. In fact, even whilst watching the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony on Friday night my own friends were making predictions for this here post. So here we have it: a compiled list of Wandering Thread's Top 5 Opening Ceremony Outfits, featuring the teams whose uniforms most successfully captured an essence of their own country's traditional spirit whilst maintaining a contemporary sense of style. And before you mention it, yes I am unfailingly rooting for Team GB, but I have to hold my hands up (along with the rest of the country) with a 'WT*?!'. Should have left the job to Stella, Next. 

All images by Yahoo Sport. Graphics by Wandering Threads.

5. Mexico
In true Mexican spirit, the team paraded party spirit for the occasion. Donning brightly coloured ponchos and garishly embroidered and appliqued shirts, the Mexican team certainly radiated festive energy. It may not be Olympic chic, but hey, it's authentic, its colourful and it got a great reaction from the crowds. Viva Mexico!

4. Spain

From a distance, looking almost like a parade of Spanish national flags themselves, Spain kept true to their country colours with a coordinated red and yellow ensemble. Paying attention to detail, the women's yellow jacket and pleated silk skirt uniforms were accessorised with red waist belts and traditional Spanish patterned, fan-shaped cross body bags, whilst both genders wore custom printed neck ties. One of the few European nations that just managed to steer away from the dull 'flight crew' look, Spain comes in at number four for its traditional inspired embellishments and custom designed accessories.

3. Cameroon

At number 3 is West Africa's Cameroon. Clad head to toe in traditional dress (also worn on a daily basis by many Cameroonian's), the team's heavily decorated women's kabba and men's boubou's, embellished with sunset hued embroidery against a stark black background, really set the team apart. Ethnic style props to you Cameroon!

2.  Indonesia
Renowned for their skilfully crafted batik, its no wonder the Indonesian team chose to dress their female team members in brightly coloured version of the wax-resist dye technique. Paired with a smartly tailored red silk Kebaya, in keeping with the colours of their national flag, Team Indonesia certainly created a winning combination of contemporary meets traditional.

1. India
Mixing traditional brightly coloured Indian dress with an air of tailored western chic, India definitely stole the show with their elegant choice of an (auspicious) canary yellow/navy sari, turban and suit combos, despite the gatecrashing red jumper and jean glad random 'leading' in the nation in front! 

Which country do you think most successfully combined tradition with contemporary style for the Opening Ceremony? Leave your comments below!

[ AFRICAN OBSESSION ] FAIR + true

1. Fair Trade African Print Ruched Skirt 2. Fair Trade African Print Trousers 3. Fair Trade Bold African Print Dress 4. Upcycled Vegan T-Bar Sandals 5. Hava Fair Trade African Print Bikini  6. Upcycled Vegan Pattern Espadrille Shoes 7. Fair Trade African Print Peplum Top 8. Fair Trade African Print Round Neck Jacket 9. Fair Trade Floral Bustier Top 10. Fair Trade African Print Maxi Dress

Possessing a penchant for brightly coloured ethnic fabrics, it goes without saying that I'm totally in love with African prints. Lucky for me the fashion world's gone Africa crazy this season, with both the shops and the web positively bursting with eye-popping hues and over sized prints. Of course you can take your pick from the gazillion options out there, but why not get something a little more authentic, and while you're at it make that choice an ethical one?

A label that happens to tick all three boxes (contemporary and super stylish, check. Ethically produced, check. Use of authentic, traditional fabrics, check) are London based label FAIR + true. Their range of Kanga print (traditional fabric from East Africa) and Kanga inspired maxi dresses, beach and swimwear, tailoring and footwear are created using organic or sustainable materials such as soy, bamboo, tencel modal or organic cotton and are produced locally in London or in Kenya and Malawi under Fair Trade schemes, making special efforts to support local communities. Ethnically ethical statement pieces at an affordable price - what's not to love?

Click the links above to purchase FAIR + true from Fashion-Conscience.com or visit their website fair+true.co.uk

FAIR + true also utilise traditional textiles from both Nepal and Vietnam, examples of which can be seen above in vegan footwear products 4 and 6.

[ PINTER LUSTINGS ] Ethnic Style Inspirations

Just a few more of my favorite picks from my Pinterest Ethnic Fashion board. Reiterating exactly what it is I love about ethnic inspired design -  vibrant colours, geometrical patterns, in-your-face bold prints and innovative use of jewellery making techniques. What I wouldn't give for some tips from those Masai Mara....

All images sourced from Pinterest.com
 
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[ TRIBAL BRIT ] Burberry Prorsum SS 2012

1. Woven Raffia and Printed Wedge Pumps 2. 130mm Wooden Beaded Sandals 3. Avonbrook Key Fob 4.TribalPrinted Woven Silk Dress 5. Hepburne Orange Ochre Bag 6. Woven Leather and Raffia Ballet Flats 7. Linen Cropped Jacket 8. Printed Silk and Cotton-blend Dress 9.Campanula Scarf
 
Ask me how I'd some up my personal style in as fewer words as possible and the answer could only be 'tailored bohemian'. Bit of a juxtaposition, I know.  By nature I may be a travel centric, ethnic style obsessive and hoarder of printed scarves and oversized gypsy earrings but by nurture I just can't bear scruff. Hailing from a quintessentially English town where blazers, starched white shirts and perfectly knotted ties were essential state school uniform, I spent my teens being chased by my mother wielding an iron and a bottle of shoe polish. Well, after 24 years of hassle over creases and frays all that fuss has certainly paid off and I've grown to appreciate the art of a perfectly shaped lapel and an impeccably ironed pleat.

Que the above from Burberry Prorsum SS 2012. A label that epitomises 21st century 'British cool', Burberry's typically British tailoring is continuously injected with an effortlessly youthful edge that, season after season, unfailingly appeals to both the young and the mature. First guesses as to why I'm head over heals this season? Yup, you've got it: Britain meets exotica aka 'tailored tribal chic'.

This collection is all about 'celebrat(ing) things that take time to do' as Creative Director and all-round fashion genius, Christopher Bailey puts it. Typical trenches and faultless tailoring embellished with beaded geometric patterns, raffia trims and boldly coloured block prints. This collections handcrafted, African touch is definitely pushing my ethnic obsessive buttons, and more importantly, hitting the nail on the head for spring's tribal trend too. This seasons footwear and accessories go straight to the top of my thread lust list. Long live Burberry! 

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[ NEO AFRICAN J-PEG GENERATION ] LaLesso SS'2012

I've been a LaLesso obsessive since my days trawling through ethical shopping sites looking for chic, sustainable style at Sublime Magazine, when I first discovered Lalesso's beautiful collections of floaty, yet fashion forward, Kenyan inspired beachwear. Ethical ethnic - my kind of label.

After falling in love with the vivid hues and eye-popping prints of the traditional Kanga fabric of Kenya, designers Alice Heusser and Olivia Kennaway founded Lalesso back in 2007 as a fashion forward ethical brand that not only produces perfect summertime threads but enrolls the help of some of Kenya's poorest, yet undisputedly able artisans and craftspeople. 

Recruiting beach boys and Masai tribesmen to hand carve beads and buttons from coconut shells, 5 years on and they're still up to the same tricks, but this year they're turning fashions heads with a neo-Afrian chic.

The SS'2012 collection, aptly titled 'The Neo African JPEG Generation' works in the usual bold Kanga inspired digital prints and warming brights into its capsule collection of effortlessly worn shrugs, kaftans, hot pants and maxi dresses, all with a dose of fluorescent detailing. And to top things off, this season the Lalesso girls have teamed up with jewellery designer Jennifer Kinnear whose collaborative collection, designed specially for Lalesso, combines recycled brass, bone, horn, wood, fabric offcuts and of course, that essential dose of neon.

Click below to watch a behind the scenes interview with the designers from their SS'2012 lookbook shoot outside Cape Town.



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[THREAD LUSTINGS ] Holst + Lee

i{Thread Lust} Holst + Lee by wandering-threads on polyvore.com

(Top left to right) 1. Holst + Lee Four Strand Necklace 3. Holst + Lee Double Tiered Necklace  7. Holst + Lee Plate Necklace

Whilst I'm sunning myself on the beaches on Vietnam, back in the UK you must all be snuggling up to the fire, wrapped up in your woolens or maybe even splashing about in your wellies (sorry, did I go to far)? OK so enough of the gloating, I just wanted to give you all a mental picture and cast your minds forward to the myriad of style possibilities awaiting us in SS'2012. Take these Holst + Lee beauties for example, what more could and ethnic style junkie want of a summer accessory than vividly coloured, oversized, tribal-inspired statement jewellery? Can't think of a thing.

Hailing from the beautiful south (of the USA that is), designers Natalie Holst and Rochelle Lee met whilst working in the NY nightclub scene, of all places. Naturally the pair are flaunting their jewellery line all over New York right now, having accessorised runway collections for designers Yigal Azrouel and Mara Hoffman. I'll definitely be adding these to my SS'2012 wishlist (emphasis on the plural). 

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[LE AFRIQUE C'EST CHIC ] Australian Vogue December 2011

Whilst combing the shelves of an English language bookstore in Vientiane, Laos, a few weeks ago, my eyes were immediately drawn to the colourific, tribal-centric December issue of Australian Vogue. On its cover, the beautiful Isabel Lucas festooned with brightly beaded tribal inspired jewellery, her head overtyped with a somewhat unusually ethnic-patterned 'VOGUE'. Evidently, I snapped it up and being pleasantly surprised by the plethora of sunshine ready apparel and summery shades (reminding me that yes, back home you are all suffering through -2°C while, thankfully, the rest of the world is not), I have promised myself that from now on I shall endeavor to purchase an Australian Vogue through the bleak and dreary English winters.

 

So, in aid of my timely discovery and its coincidentally ethnic theme I thought I'd share some of these blazingly colour saturated shots from my favorite editorial of the issue, the African inspired Le Afrique C'est Chic. Shot by Max Doyle and starring model Kate Fogarty, stylist Naomi Smith fuses vivid graphic prints and dazzling statement jewellery from the likes of Diane von Furstenburg, Emilio Pucci and Burberry Prorsum to create this eclectic blend of tribal chic. My favorite - the artfully styled printed silk head wraps! I could use one of those to tame this unruly hair of mine! 

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