Ms. Aikasha is wearing yet another original Ms. Aikasha dress. This time, its a heather grey cotton/poly knit maxi dress with an exaggerated shawl collar, high side slits and cargo pockets, Vera Wang brown leather peep toe booties, Tous leopard print calf hair and leather bag. Her orange/brown 'tissue' silk scarf, acrylic, wooden and ceramic coordinating  bangles, Michael Kors tortoise shell watch, silver drop ball earrings, and Cynthia Rowley orange "geek" goggles, complete this very elegant, yet  office ready, look.

 

I can feel the change in seasons – my body reacts – I just want to sleep all the time. Years and years ago it  didn’t make sense to me. I honestly had no idea what was going on with my body. Granted, being pregnant most of my early adult life, I slept the first three months of each pregnancy. However, at another point in my life, I wondered if I was slipping into depression. But, as time went by  and I became more attuned to my body, I began to realize it was my body’s natural way of adjusting to the change – so now, I welcome it – and close my eyes every chance I get!! Once the transition is done, I'll be back to my usual 18-20 hour days, 4-6 hours sleep.

I spent most of the weekend at my mum’s house – the house we moved to when we first came to America from England more than 30 years ago.  It’s a big, beautiful colonial house and is sorta still home to me. My mum still treats me like “her little girl” when I visit, which I welcome since I’m constantly mothering and babying my children and grandchildren – oh, and by the way.......... I slept like a baby!!

Tip: 'Body con' dresses on a mature woman, require a little help - unless of course, you're Naomi Campbell or Christy Turlington! Be mindful and invest in a good slimmer. There are numerous brands: Spanx; Underwhere?; Yummie Tummy, etc., and there are several choices, from half slip, waist chincher, thigh shaper, full slip etc., etc., etc. Take the time to try a few on and see what feels best. Then try it under your favorite 'body con' dress .........wow!!........what a difference!!

Ms. Aikasha is wearing a My Michelle teal floral strapless ruuched dress, Joseph A.black silk shrug, Manolo Blahnik teal suede pumps and her large cream Mazzini leather bag. A brown necklace (stone unknown) along with a turquoise beaded necklace, green/blue coloured earrings, three rhinestone bracelets, and Etro gold/tortoise shell shades top off this “not quite done with summer/almost ready for fall” outfit.

 It’s Friday? Already?? Yes!! And believe it or not………..I’m at a loss for words!! I usually have sooooooo much to say that I have to constantly edit my text to avoid rambling, but right now, I’ve shot a blank. So I will be brief……..

I wore this strapless dress earlier this Summer with sandals. Here, with a cardigan and pumps is how I use a summer dress for fall – getting more value. Plus, I just love the way this dress fits me!! Of course, not all sun dresses are as "multi-season" appropriate..............

 

Tip: Shoes require upkeep. I highly recommend having your shoes heeled regularly - you don't want to be the woman "clanking" through Grand Central Station because you've worn the heels down to the metal core and the leather around the wrapped heel is curling upwards. Eeeww!!

Tip II: Pointy toe pumps need even more care - they also need to be "toed" - the sole of the point tends to wear much sooner than the rest of the sole, so have your cobbler do just the point to help prolong the life of the shoe.

Ms. Aikasha is wearing an original, Ms. Aikasha cream linen and silk knit tunic, black ribbed leggings, Oscar de la Renta beige alligator peep-toe sling back sandals, and a large cream Mazzini leather bag. Large mesh gold earrings and an armful of mixed media bangles accessorized today’s outfit.

A little back story about this tunic: It used to be a floor length sleeveless gown/dress with ruffled tulle inserts in the side slits. I wore the dress to a wedding (and was accused of upstaging the bride – that wasn’t my intention, honestly!! I felt terrible). The likelihood of wearing the dress again was slim to none – so I removed the tulle, cut the dress to its current length, and used the parts I cut off, as the vented sleeves you see here………….voilla!!

Note: Though I'm notorious for adding the "pop" of color - sometimes it's just fine to be be neutral. Don't force it - if it doesn't feel right, then it's just fine.

 

Since I didn’t go to the office yesterday, I knew I’d be challenged today so I stayed up late last night “dotting every ‘I’ and crossing very ‘T’” in preparation. When the blackberry isn’t enough, I connect remotely to the office via my laptop so I was able access and handle quite a few things. It's rare that I'm out, but when I am, upon my return there’s usually a minimum of 20-30 missed calls, a plethora of voice messages, and far too many emails to count. That’s my morning……….gone! I was determined to get a handle on my work and still make time for swim – and I did!!!

Ms. Aikasha is wearing a Fubu denim skirt suit, Moda International (for Victoria’s Secret) tailored white button down shirt w/French cuffs, Michael Kors tan & gold leather sandals with suede platform, and Coach Limited Edition gold leather tote. Accessories included pearl earrings, a strand of pearls, Marc Jacobs white oversized shades, and Michael Kors tortoise shell watch.

 

 

Tip: When wearing a 'teeny tiny' skirty (like this one) opt for boxers instead of a bikini or thong, for all the obvious reasons :)



Miss Alosha and I at Fort Hamilton, NY

My youngest daughter, Miss Alosha, was sworn in to the US Air Force today. Deep down, I really want to just keep her home with me, but I had to give her my full support. I’m so proud of her!! She’s incredibly smart – she graduated Valedictorian from middle school and high school – so I trusted her decision was an “educated” one. Most of my tribe had either work or school, so Ny, Mo, and myself went to Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn, NY where the ceremony was taking place – and stayed with her until she boarded the Air Force bus that took her to the airport. I’m a bit of a crier, but I did pretty good and I think she was proud of me.

Ms. Aikasha is wearing an E. Steve cream rayon knit babydoll top, Celebrity Pink blue skinny jeans, June red short sleeve cropped leather jacket, Cynthia Rowley red nubuck peep-toe sandals and Roberto Mengoni red foil leather tote. Accessories include red glass and beaded bangles, large cream faux ivory drop earrings and Michael Kors  brown tortoise shell watch.

Note: The plan was to go to the office when I was done with my daughter's ceremony. I had a fleeting suspicion that it would take longer than expected and I wanted to spend as much time with Alosha as possible. Hence the jeans..........

Tip: As the weather cools, it's the perfect time to layer. Layering always looks great in the magazines and it's fun to experiment, but winter requires more serious gear and summer makes me want to go bare.  

Tip II: Enjoy you kids!! You never know when they're going to decide to leave or how far away they'll go.

My weekend was busy as heck! I felt the hours slipping by and I just wasn’t being my usual productive self. I think it was  because, partying Thursday night and Saturday night, braiding hair, cleaning house, back-to-school shoe shopping, church, going out for dinner (16 of us!), cutting birthday cake – like really? How much is one woman supposed to do?........and still look amazing doing it J. It wore me out! I dragged myself to the office and proceeded to knock myself out………..                                                                              

I did receive two incredible compliments though, that made all the time an effort put into updating and maintaining this blog, totally worth it. My boss’s wife stopped by the office on her way to dinner last Friday (Sep 7^th). She looked amazing, and (true to form) I told her how awesome she looked! It blew me away when she said “Aikasha, when I was getting dressed, I was just thinking about you – you inspire me”. I was deeply touched.

Then, yesterday (Sun Sep 9^th) my daughter Ny said – “I know you dress for work every day but I would never see you, until now that I get your daily updates. Mummy, you inspire me to dress up”. I thought, “Awwwww”.

Note: I'm not sure exactly if it's me or if it's my computer, but I may have inadvertently published an unfinished post - and if you received it, then I apologize. I promise I will get better at this :)

Note II: Notice the circles in the dress fabric, the wooden circles on the shoes, and the brass cirlce on the bag - they just all came together over time.



Ms. Aikasha is wearing an original Ms. Aikasha long sleeved hooded "polka" wrap dress, Nine West red/grey/black, patent leather sandals with wooden heel and large wooden detail, Roberto Mengoni large red foil leather tote with large red brass buckle. 

I got in Friday morning, September 7th at 3:15am and finally made it to bed by 4:00am. Can you believe I woke up before my 7:00am alarm? Ouch!! So I started my day by responding to a couple emails.......

I needed an outfit that was going to help lift this ‘tired’ cloud that was looming over my head – this is what I came up with - and got some great responses! 

Ms. Aikasha is wearing a Transit navy blue polyester slip dress, Vera Wang brown leather ankle wrap/peep toe booties, and Tous leopard print ponyhair/brown leather bag. Accessories include an armful of coordinating bangles, large mesh hoop earring, turquoise necklace, and a gorgeous featherweight silk orange & brown tie-dyed oversize scarf. The outfit was really all about the scarf!!

Tip: Whats Sexy?  Clothes that imitate lingerie (like this slip dress)…….What’s Not so Sexy? – wearing lingerie as clothes. Of course there are exceptions to every rule – but I think underwear and sleepwear construction/manufacturing is what differentiates it from clothing.

Note: As I was getting dressed this morning, my granddaughter said “Grandma – you’re wearing a slip to work?....and that’s it??”. I was tickled that she even knew what a slip was – then again, she is my granddaughter!!

Tip: I love scarves. they can take even the most basic outfit to the next level. I will throw on a scraf in a mad minute and wont think twice!! I find silk scarves to be most versatile - they're not as bulky and you can wrap them in various ways - even tie a "tie" which looks great with t-shirt and jeans or with a cotton button down.

Ms. Aikasha is wearing an original Ms. Aikasha off white, 100% linen ‘circle’ dress, Gucci wooden mules, and Tousleopard print ponyhair/brown leather bag. Accessories include oversized tribal print fabric earrings, purple iridescent silk scarf and an armful of ‘mixed media’ bracelets

My daughters - From left: Losh, Ny, Nyash, Z, me, Ade & Mo inside Mas La Grillade
 

So the plan was to celebrate my eldest daughter, Z’s, birthday. We had 8:00pm reservations, but there had to be “just a little drama” to hold things up bit – at one point it seemed the whole trip was off!! Finally, 8:00pm became 9:00pm, so I worked until 8:45pm, then jumped in a cab and met up with six of my daughters for dinner downtown.


 A friend of ours upscale restaurant – Mas, La Grillade  - was Z’s choice of venue, and we had an absolute blast!! The food was amazing, the wine and cocktails – incredible, the place is just gorgeous and the company could not be matched!!

After dinner, three of my girls – Ny, Nyash, and Losh – went home, but, Z, Ade, Mo and I went dancing –DLV Lounge in the famed ‘meatpacking district’. It was “Fashion’s Night Out” debut, so all the clubs were jumping and the lines were long. Z’s stylist friend got us “in” and we danced until 2:30am. Then, we went home – completely exhausted – but we most definitely got our “dance on”!

 

It’s my youngest son’s first day back-to-school tomorrow. He’s 13, so I decided he could go by his self this time. Well, while braiding his hair tonight, in not so many words, he expressed that “it would be weird” if I didn’t go with him, so – there goes my morning!

 

 Ms. Aikasha is wearing a Zenana Outfitters white racer-back tank (which fit’s amazingly – I love the cotton and spandex blend), black pinstriped mini-skirt with lace trim (which I added), Coach green/blue snakeskin pumps and (of course), Coach wicker/snakeskin/leather Limited Edition Bonnie handbag. Accessories include a large hammered silver and jade necklace, hammered silver earrings and a plethora of coordinating bangles.

Note: I found the blurry picture above artistic - so I posted it.

Tip: This blurry pic showcases the effectivness of wearing a racerback bra with a racerback top - sorry it's not clear :(

Tip II: Black & White - so simply basic, but so palatable. I personally like to drop some color when wearing black & white - it just works for me