Union Jack- Who do you think you are?

Oooh, it's such an exciting time to be British aint it. Oooh the olympics. Oooh the Jubilee. Street parties, days off work, cheese and pineapple on a stick, bunting and booze. Don't it just make you all warm inside? Well no actually, but that's just me.

I'm worried about tube delays and rising prices. Gormless tourists and crowbarring the idea of patriotism into every piece of useless ephemera; but don't mind me, I'm just a Londoner; we're sour it's what we do. I'm sure the rest of the country is thrilled at the prospect.

However, when it comes to vacuous stuff like fashion, and design on a broader sense, I find all this British hoo hah actually quite fun. The main thing I like about the queen is when she gets her glad rags on. I like the aesthetic of a British souvenir (aside from an I love London jumper; which all clearly need to be burnt) The sparkle, the pomp and ceremony; appeals to the magpie in me. Its bizarre and lol and British.

 But I do feel like people are taking one thing too far. And that's the union jack.

One good thing about all the BRITISH things happening this year is that I do feel normal, decent British people have been able to reclaim our flag from the racists. The pesky BNP did a bit of re-branding to a flag that is pretty good in the iconic stakes. Racists are pretty good at that; just look at the swastika. For ages those stripes represented the bitter aftertaste of the British fish and chips; not the fried delights of the main meal. But perhaps with Kate and Will as our new representatives and all these dates in the diary, being British means something better (at least for now) and red white and blue is back in favour. Actually to say it's 'in favour' is a massive understatement; it is bloody everywhere.

If your buying your lunch in M&S and the content of your sarny is slightly British (ie. contains cucumber) it's emblazoned with it. Not to mention if you fancy some strawberries. If you open a newspaper, look at an advertisement, turn on your television, oh yes; it's there. Its there, but it's not there. Its meaning is getting watered down. It's become twee; executed in muted pastels, printed on crafty cushions and hung from bunting. Without trying to sound like the racists that squirrelled the flag away to their dingy dwellings  in the first place; that's not the way I see our flag.

For me, the last time I saw this piece of design used successfully and appropriately to personify the country it represents was stretched across Geri Halliwell's boobs at the 1997 Brit awards. Now that depicted a britain I recognised. She literally may as well have been on a seaside postcard. That union jack summed up  page 3, sugary tea and chips from the paper. The pervieness, the gaudiness, the tack. As much as we try to represent a Britain that's got it's shit together and is prepared for the world to bowl into it's capital for sports day, really we're all just in it for the piss up. Whether you're from the royal borough or moss side; if your British, you're more likely than not brassy, pompous or batshit cray or all of the above, and we've got a suitable flag to prove it.

It's nice that waving around a conglomeration of colours and lines doesn't mean you hate immigrants as much as it did, but I vote we save the flag for things that really represent this crackpot of a nation. Leave the bunting up, but find another way to advertise clotted cream.

Archive: Go With the Fro

Originally featured on The Real Runway Beauty Focus February 29th 2012

It's a lazy Tuesday morning, and I'm taking a brain-vacation on the Daily Fail (don't even try and tell me you don't do the same on a caffeine-low) and amongst the it-girls, soap stars and Kardashians my eye is drawn to Thandie Newton. Always stays safe on the red carpet Thandie Newton. Flawless skin Thandie Newton. Elfin beauty Thandie Newton. yeah…sure. As I begin to read the oh-so-subtley worded right-up, my fashion ears prick up, and I notice yet another example of a hair trend I've been noticing more than ever recently- the natural fro. Thandie has given up the chemical straighteners so her daughters don't feel pressured or ashamed of their natural curls, and to set the example that natural is better. Firstly…that is hella cute. Secondly, babes…fro's are seriously in right now, what an excellently well-timed act of altruism. 

Solange Knowles; my favourite human being.

Whilst plodding the streets around fashion week, I couldn't help notice that the fro was out in force (its something I would notice, as I myself sport a do something akin to Scary Spice circa 1997) and not just on the street; some of the most influential fashion darlings of the moment are getting in on the action.

My immediate reference point to this would be Solange Knowles; DJ, model and sister to Patron Saint Beyonce, she's definitely one of fashion's current obsessions. Sitting front row at fashion weeks, and the front pages of magazines, her eclectic aesthetic, and expert execution of the 'print block' makes her a favourite with the fashion pack. And her fro is now exception. Moving away from the lace-front route of most black women in fashion, Solange cut it short and started again, and now has an ample eau natural fro to show for it. The results hark back to the 60's and 70's, compliments bright colours and a mixture of prints; everything that fashion's going crazy for right now.

Another fro-conoseiur, and street-style photographer favourite is Wonderland magazine editor Julia Sarr-Jamois. Her colours are always bright, her mane slightly more untamed than knowles' or Newton's and her voice, decidedly fashion forward. Jamois isn't a popstar or an actress, she's knows her shit, she's a cross-section of the 'fashion woman'. This works to show that the fashion industry is going to take reference from within, and the black woman makes up a tangible, influential and aesthetically rich part of the industry, it's no wonder the hair is getting bigger. We saw Meadham Kirchoff's quaffed luminous fro's sauntering down the runway last season and every editorial seems to be brimming with curly locks; this all has to come from somewhere. 

As the afro crops up more and more on the street, the runway and the magazines, it kind of warms my heart that Thandie is showing her daughters to embrace their curls, (it's not always the easiest thing to do in the awkward years) After all the hairstyle crosses trends, race and gender and symbolises something decidedly fun about personal style. 

I'll end with a sentence I mostly regard with disgust and cringeworthy aversion when it gets used in fashion; but with regards to this style, I feel like it works: "If you've got it, flaunt it."

Peplum Pride

I feel a little short off the mark here, but my goodness, aren't peplums everywhere? No, but like really. I'm a serious advocate of the charity/vintage shop, so sometimes my vision gets blurred when an 80's shape comes back to the mainstream, because its been in my field of vision constantly, but this one really is back.

About 6 months ago it adorned catwalks, and editorials alike, taking on many manifestations, but the celebrity wearer started off as somewhat vanilla. Kate Middleton (not hating on Kate fyi) donned a grey one, Victoria Beckham pouted in a pencil skirted one, and aside from causing Kate's sizeable fanbase to embark on yet another mass shopping pilgrimage to Reiss, it didn't, on the whole make for a lasting trend.

This is probably because Kate kind of needs a peplum. She's a skinny lady, and a pencil skirt is not always the skinny lady's friend. The key to a pencil skirt, is not actually resembling a 2B. So not everyone could relate. A trend like the peplum needs the sex factor to get it across the midriffs of England on a larger scale. We need a sexy-fied connoisseur, we need to see how it fairs on a girl with some meat. aka we need to see how big it's gonna make our bums look. 

Then somewhere along the line, Liv Tyler wore the Peplum. Beyonce wore the peplum, Queen of the derriere Kim Kardashian wore the peplum; the nation was hooked. The peplum style is not going to make you look skinner. No no no. The gathered fabric around your middle, kicking out at the waist makes your bum look big. No two ways about it. And the width of your hips in comparison to your waist can look batshit cray. But who says this is a bad thing? 

Turn on every TV Channel, and we see round bums and cinched in waists, the hourglass is back people. The peplum trend is the final look embracing that, and the nation loves it. And having exaggerated curves  in a controlled way feels good. It exudes sexiness, and we're even starting to see this in editorial. The peplum goes hand in hand with the crop top in terms of styling for magazine editorial, and we're seeing skinny minis like Miranda Kerr and Raquel Zimmerman radiating with accentuated curves in magazines that wouldn't have dained to shoot such cleavage or ass before. 

It works because women feel attractive, and men find it attractive. With so many variations to the style, everyone can find a way of incorporating it so it compliments you. As long as you don't end up looking like a lost ballerina, the peplum, in my eyes, can do no wrong. 

Cat-Eye Crazy

My take on Kim Kardashian in Tom Ford's Nikita

OK, so I'm a freelancer. I work from home quite a lot, I have a little studio area, a nice big desktop, a slightly battered laptop and area where I draw and run NKOYO. I'm very lucky I can do this, but as any fellow freelancers know, this sort of set-up can cause lapses in judgement when it comes to a little light entertainment when a tea-break rolls around. Hense my obsession with the Kardashians. This isn't even a piece specifically about the Kardashians, but I feel like its my day in court when it comes to justifying my overall credibility. 


The Kardashians are (in the words of a male friend) everything that's wrong with the world. A shameless display of wealth and celebration of vacuous stupidity, a false representation of life and what should be important...but, I admit it, I'm obsessed. Its cringe-worthy decision making at it's peak, its 72 day marriages, its tantrums, its Birkins, Loubitouns and fake lashes. Its my guilty pleasure. Shoot me.


So it pains me to say that I gleaned what I reckon will be one of this summer's best accessory staples from none other than a Kardashian. It was Kourtney (she's the cold-hearted one.) And the trend was Cat-eye sunglasses. Sure, the Kardashians weren't the ones that pioneered this trend, durr, try Norma Jean, but I love how these 50's throw backs are making a come-back and having a re-work. This generation of cat-eye, are worn to complement the contrasts of the season. Not so much all, out retro, Sandra-Dee, more Rizo with a dose of attitude. The brights mixed with fluoros, the leathers mixed with drapery, the class mixed with trash (hense the Kardashian.)


From a weekend away in Paris I've seen the Kardashian sister's favourites Tom Ford's Nikita in countless windows, and on countless a lady slurping a coffee outside a boulangerie. This didn't surprise me, as they kind of surmise Paris in a spectacle; classic chic with a modern twist. They really are my choice investment for the season. 


If Tom's are a bit pricey, try River Island's for £13 squids. 

Welcome. My name is Alice Nyong, and I am a freelance writer. I have been writing mainly fashion related content for various lovely outlets for a little over a year. As well as my scribblings, I am an illustrator and print designer, with my own accessories label; NKOYO. 


Drawing pictures was always my first priority, but fashion has been a love since before I can remember. After finishing a gruelling, yet career defining internship at a major fashion house, I took time to explore my love, and try and find my place in it. It was through this process that I stumbled across writing.


I worked as a presenter and contributor to an online fashion site, and the creative director was all about anti-bullshit. He sent out a group email asking for a piece about John Galliano's Parisian anti-semetic controversy and I had a go. The nature of the response it had was such that I got the hunger to do more, and began to write lengthy and semi-provocative pieces about fashion issues as I saw them. Not necessarily as an outsider, but certainly as a a sceptic. 


I joined Ellen Grace Jone's team at The Real Runway as a contributing writer soon after, her no-nonsense outlook was, and still is the perfect fit; if I've got an acid tongue then I'd say her's is nuclear. As well as fashion week reports, and reviews, she encourages me to run free, and question and find humour in the craziness and hoopla. It's gorge.


Now I write for Ellen and other publications, but I have other things even Ellen doesn't wanna have to wade through. So this will be a place for me to archive some of my favourite pieces since I started writing, and to create pieces that belong here; in my own space. From where I see it; fashion is vast, encompassing, highly influential, subjective and above all; well funny...it deserves to be talked about.

nyongalice@googlemail.com