The Vertigo Affair

The first time I saw anyone rework a white button up shirt like this, it had to be by none other than style maven, Nini Nguyen. It was a few years ago and my love for fashion was peaking, and I saw this immaculate embodiment of style, (with a basic button up? whaaaa!!) I think my heart skipped a beat that moment and I must have vowed to try this look one day. From then on whenever I tried to style a white shirt, my first move would be to throw it all the way back and work from there. Often times than not, it was a total miss. Today however, I would say I hit it in the ballpark with the shirt and skirt combo. What say you?

Here I utilized for the most universally loved color combination, an old faithful, black and white, from head to toe. My shoes are courtesy of my mother, who doubles as my style icon, her closet is my personal mall. Aren’t the swirly stripes on my shoes reminiscent of the vertigo spiral?

For the clothes, I kept the silhouette pretty simple and elegant which gives a clean finish. Even though my dad, upon sight of wearing a shirt like this could describe this style as something alluding to a tout in jest, or he could surprise me and love it. Nigerian parents are truly an enigma. Anyway, the silhouette is clean and there’s ample space to play with style and take some risks. I took a mild risk by infusing the spaghetti sauce sleeve into my look, where your sleeves swing so low they graze your knuckles, in my case, they cover it all up. I found the way it looked interesting and in my case all I had to do was unbutton and unfold the sleeves of the shirt and voila! There is a gentle element of sexiness with the wrist peep show that ensues, coupled with some major leg show.

I got to pose and drink strawberry tea at House43 which houses a cafe, bar, lounge and restaurant. It’s such a pretty and well-groomed environment making it the perfect backdrop for my posing efforts, feted by genius photographer (and director, according to me) Romeo Shagba, Romeo brought out my most comfortable on-scene self with his subtle yet significant directions. It’s great to feel comfortable and fabulous… (the absolute smugness).

In the meantime, you could show me your spin on the uber-slouch button up look, try a waist belt, paired with boyfriend jeans and some dope oxfords OR a body-con high waisted skirt, and cute heels. Visit my Instagram @effygolightly for more pictures from the shoot.

Outfit details

White shirt: Thomas Pink

Black mini skirt: H&M

Shoes: Next

Photo Credit: Romeo Shagba