//317/ South African Longboard Championships 2013

Some impressions from the contest which was held in Longbeach and Muizenberg, Cape Town

Over the past week the South African Longboard Championships were held in Cape Town and I had the pleasure (and honour I suppose, but mostly pleasure) of taking part in them. Longboarding is like the more stylish older brother of shortboarding, and is possibly one of the most beautiful, enjoyable sports to watch. The SA Champs provided a platform for some of the best longboard surfers in South Africa (and the world) to show off their skills. Even though I failed epically in my own surfing (I lost both my heats), I went down to the beach every day to take in some of fantastic surfing transpiring in the water.

Apart from the surfing, the contest was a great success in terms of organisation (thanks to some very hard-working people...so much for the stereotype of lazy, relaxed surfers...). Everything ran super smoothly and one could pretty much predict when each heat would be to the minute. Longboarding also brings a kind of calmness to the beach (as opposed to shortboarding which, I find, is more aggressive) which made for a good atmosphere and attracted many spectators. I hope you enjoy the photos...their a bit blah and don't really capture the atmosphere too well but I also made a video which I will post shortly that captures it better.

//314/ Summer in Cape Town

Dalebrook, Cape Town

//Summer is on its way out, but its memory remains...

//311/ SS2013RTW Paul Smith

Paul Smith Spring/Summer 2013 Ready-to-wear 

//Since Garance Doré expressed her fondness of Paul Smith and since the Paul Smith shop opened in Cape Town, I took a look at the 2013 spring collection and found it rather appealing. Sure, it's not particularly creative but I kind of like the preppy look with a twist.

//Peroxide Blonde

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//310/ Dress: The Book-Neimann Marcus

Neimann Marcus Resort 2013 Book
Model: Sigrid Agren

//Some beautifully designed but rather simple clothing available at (luxury retail department store) Neimann Marcus. My favourite? The pink bell-bottom suit, naturally. Bell-bottoms will make a come-back, watch this space.

//Peroxide Blonde

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//309/ Dress: I've been quiet

From Mungo& Jemima (skirt), Pedro's Eyewear (sunglasses), KalkBay Ko-op (dress), Frankie's (vintage designer dress), KalkBay Ko-op (H&M dress)

//I hereby present my new purchases and my fantastic photoshop skills. Like 'em?

//PB

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//308/ Streetstyle 046

//I kind of like this really plain dress...to an extent it goes in the direction of the nurse-like dresses that Jil Sander presented in the spring ready-to-wear collection of last year (below).

//299/ Dress: Frida Aasen for Nasty Gal

Nasty Gal Holiday 2012 Collection

Styling: Stevie Dance

Model: Frida Aasen

//Another beautiful collection by Nasty Gal.

//PB

//295/ Photography: Dreamy Avenue

Avenue St Leon, Bantry Bay, Cape Town

//I wan to live in Avenue St. Leon.

//Peroxide Blonde

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//294/ Photography: Sea Point

//A pretty magical photo I took of Sea Point from Bantry Bay while I was staying there. But as magical as Bantry Bay can be, staying in the deep south of Cape Town will always be the best. Happy Saturday!

//Peroxide Blonde

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//290/ Photography: Clifton 4th

// Clifton 4th, Cape Town

//It's a wonderful, crisp saturday morning in Cape Town and here is one thing you could do today: nothing, on Clifton 4th. 

//And if you're still in bed....which I am absolutely not.....read about Marlene's H&M x Margiela experience on Spruced. I'm not sure I support these High Street x Designer collaborations either and I would most certainly not pay $350 for H&M, ever, under any circumstances. However, it is quite an interesting discussion: whether these collaborations are a good thing. While it might be nice for the person on the street, I don't quite understand why the big design houses do it...I feel it compromises their brand's reputation and renders the small understanding of luxury that we have as irrelevant. 

//And on the topic of luxury: I am sad that it is becoming increasingly more accessible and therefore practically non-existent. An interesting quote by Costanza Pascolato on how the luxury market has changed : 

"Luxury was something that was rare and expensive. Now a days, it’s only expensive because it’s not rare anymore."

//Have a fantastic weekend.

//Love

  The PB

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//287/ SS2013RTW: Dolce & Gabbana

Dolce & Gabbana Spring-Summer Ready-To-Wear 2013

//Here are some of my favourite looks from the 80-strong Dolce & Gabbana collection. Despite the fact that there were so many different looks (some I haven't included here, such as the horizontal stripes or the ones with lace), Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana managed to maintain a strong brand identity and that is what I love about Dolce & Gabbana. They consistently re-create the Sicilian woman, either lively in colours and prints or regal in black. One could consider this predictable, but I feel as though they manage to innovate in spite of sticking to the same theme.

//Also, this collection is unapologetically spring.While with some spring-summer collections it is difficult to identify the spring in them, this one is so bright and skimpy and simply unmistakably spring.

//More on the collection on OOOK.

//Peroxide Blonde
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//285/ Photography: Lion's Head

Lion's Head, Cape Town

//Finally I have had my film developed and there are some fairly lovely photographs. Here is a small taste.

//Peroxide Blonde