Less is more . . .

Pattern Style with Yoliswa Dube
I SAT patiently in the departure lounge at Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport as I waited for Air Zimbabwe flight UM332 from Harare to arrive and just couldn’t stop fighting with my thoughts.

A few minutes before this inner turmoil though, at the security check point, I had paid close attention to what people were wearing and couldn’t help noticing this one guy.

I guess I wasn’t the only one looking around. As I put my shoes and belt back on, this young man said to me: “I know your face from somewhere”. I was shocked to say the least. Lousy pick up line, I thought to myself.

But I smiled and said hello, more like the penguins in the animated movie Madagascar who are famous for the lines “just smile and wave boys”, I smiled and exchanged pleasantries with this guy.

We sat in the departure lounge and as we waited, he said he needed a beer to “detox” because he’d had a rough night.

It was around 8AM and probably too early to start drinking, but then again who am I to judge. So we talked. Actually, we got along pretty well, but I was insanely distracted by this young man’s jewellery.

Before we even begin to talk about the accessories, which looked authentic and expensive by the way, he wore a jersey on shorts and flip flops.

There is everything wrong with that — wearing a jersey means you’re feeling cold, it doesn’t make sense pairing it with shorts and flip flops. And don’t get me wrong, these were nice pieces of fashion but they were worn in a rather odd manner.

For arguments sake, let’s assume this guy left the house thinking it was warm and wore the jersey as an afterthought after he discovered it was quite nippy.

How then do we justify the loud jewellery? He wore a huge gold necklace like the kind 50 Cent would wear back in the 90s, an equally big gold watch, a gold bracelet, gold studs and gold rings on most of his fingers. Here is a pimp, I thought!

It was way too much jewellery for the shorts and flip flops and just a tad much for anybody really. This guy would have looked really hot if he’d stuck to his shorts, T-shirt and flip flops and just the watch.

The minimalist approach to fashion always makes a big difference in giving you a clean and polished look. The less accessories or colourful pieces you wear, the better they will look.

Women usually over accessorise and it’s a problem. They think they will look better if they wear a little bit more make up. They think adding a bit more jewellery will enhance the outfit and the overall look. If anything, it makes you look over emphasised, like you are trying too hard.

You don’t want that. What you want and need is for your sense of style to come off as “effortless”. This would mean if you are wearing big earrings, you don’t need to wear a necklace — a watch or a bracelet would be just fine.

If you need to wear your necklace with matching earrings, try as much as possible to do less or nothing at all on your wrists. This is quite a common problem among many brides. They want to wear a piece of jewellery on their heads, busy earrings and an equally busy necklace and bracelets on either wrists — it’s just too much, you don’t need all that.

Where you think your neck is bare because you’re wearing a boob tube or a low neck line, go for the necklace. You certainly don’t need it on a dress with a high neck line.

In essence, just a little jewellery will go a long way. Ladies, there’s absolutely no reason why you should be buying foundation every other week.

Even if your skin isn’t fair, you don’t need to drown yourself in tonnes of foundation, mascara and lip stick. In fact, it has become trendier to wear as little make-up as possible and look as natural as you can.

That matte face, the kind that people walked around in when they applied vanishing cream which made them look whitish is outdated.

Now, your skin needs to look alive, healthy and well-moisturised. You need to try it and see how bright you will look.

Less make-up equals a more beautiful you and less accessories, a more polished looking you!

Feedback from last week’s “Keep the good smell …”

Well researched article, I’ve learnt so many things I had no idea applying Vaseline could help me smell nice for longer. — Tendai

Hie Yoliswa, interesting article. — 0713047***

I just finished reading your article, quite informative! Keep educating the nation my sister. — Swikani.

• Until next week, flaunt your pattern and style and don’t forget to drop me an SMS/WhatsApp on +263 774 492 700 or drop an email at [email protected].