When Brands Reclaim Their Narrative

Why #LoveMyCarvelas Misses the Mark but is Unsurprising

Black youth have made industries out of OK brands that weren't checking for them for generations. It's a part of blackness, to make something out of nothing, to make your own symbols and darlings. My father and his brothers wore Adidas slides and Kappa suits. By the time he was working, Crockett & Jones shoes became his staples. None of those were designed with him in mind. Who would have imagined Italian leather moccasins resonating a world away  in the townships with black kids and their cool older cousins?

Five Years of Nomali from Soweto

I bought a domain. You are reading this on nomalifromsoweto.com and I never really thought that would happen. A couple of months ago, I bought a pre-designed theme. Nothing fancy. It was on sale. I saw it and thought I might as well since I was yet again trying to redo this blog's look and I wasn't quite sure if the two column situation had ruined the design forever. Buying this current design was easy because I knew it would be a way for me to stop overthinking and over-tinkering and wasting my data.

When You Are Fat, You Get Excited About a Pair of Jeans

This is my second pair of jeans in four years. Jeans were never really a big part of my wardrobe growing up because I hated bootleg jeans with a passion and the whole low-rise thing the 00s had going on made me feel bad about my fupa (fat upper pelvic area/mkhaba and love handles). Or whatever. But by my late teens -- first year -- I began wanting jeans in my life. I remember, in first year I had a pair of jeans my mother had bought for me when I was, like, 15, taken in because I'd lost weight and alterations don't cost as much as a new pair. Anyway. Back to my new jeans and going jean-less for four years...