It Continues...

I am inspired!!!! I actually have comments on my blog. I was so excited to read the first one, I had to send the person an e-mail. And yes, I loved the buzz I got from the first comment! Thanks a bil!!! I see I’m going to enjoy this!

Back to blogging!

It’s amazing how throughout my life, the things I hated the most were the things I ended up doing. Check these out:

• I always hated Mathematics but I ended up studying Economics in university (which I loved by the way;
• I hated Business Studies in secondary school (because my balance sheet could never balance in Junior High) and I worked in an accounting firm. As if that wasn’t bad enough, I had to write the professional accounting exams (ICAN) …and my balance sheets still did not balance;
• I could not stand Clothing and Textiles in school. I chose Food and Nutrition instead and HEY!... look at me now… I’m studying Fashion Design.
  
  

Need I continue?

But one thing I knew for certain was that I loved consulting! As far back as I can remember, I had always wanted to be a consultant. I recall being the first point of call when people had issues (and no I’m not psyching myself). And I thank God, I have been lucky! Since I left school, I have worked in consulting firms. And to me…. Going into fashion is still some form of consulting.

Leaving my office was a tough one! I loved my job!!! I loved my office!!! I loved the people I worked with!!! But I knew I had to do this. I didn’t want to go through life, living with the “what if I had” syndrome. What’s the worst that could happen??? I go back to accounting she?...if my dream goes up in smoke which it won’t by the grace of God.

So I packed my bags and left for Cape Town, about a month late for classes. I had to wrap up on certain jobs in the office and yah… I was a Valentine’s Day consultant as well. Despite spending my Easter holidays in school, I never caught up…till now. Don’t even let me tell you what I went through in the first month. Errr…. Actually let me give you just a little of what I faced:

• My bank draft took 10 days to clear;
• I stayed in hotels for the first 2 weeks, changing hotels 3 times. Cape Town is a tourist city. February is right in the middle of summer. The weather was excruciatingly hot! There was a design exhibition in Cape Town and all hotels were fully booked!!! So I had to change hotels 3 times lugging my excess baggage (about an excess of 20kg including 30kg of my mother’s baggage allowance – YES I came with my mother and NO I am not spoilt!) all over the place.
  
  Needless to say the first Sunday, there was a power outage. Yes o, they took light in SA! Thank God I was not stuck in the shoe-box of a lift.
  
  
• Accommodation was something else. I finally found somewhere to stay but I had to leave ASAP. Spent only a month. I mean the rules were just too much! I had only 20 minutes in the bathroom!!! Moi? Female??? 20 minutes??? I thought it was ludicrous. Don’t let me even start with the rules.
  
  ETC. ETC. ETC.

Of course being a Nigerian didn’t help too much because trust…. people were wary of Nigerians and frankly our reputation here is not fantastic.

School was something else. I came right in the middle of classes and had to sew my first skirt which of course I messed up since I couldn’t even thread my machine. And I had story boards to complete. Storyboards??? What on earth are those??? Oh did I mention the 15 apples I had to draw, the figures I had to sketch, the 5 9-head fashion figures, draping with calico….. blah, blah, blah.

Please don’t even let me continue. I’ll give the gist in bits.

Enough of the past for now.

Last week was Cape Town fashion week. Yup! I had a very long weekend!!! Thursday (Women's Day) through to Sunday. I spent the whole weekend sleeping (which of course is one of my hobbies I must admit)! I did not do a thing!!! Ah.. well yes I did. I watched the movie "Vacancy". I feel so sorry for myself. But hey I deserved the sleep! I hadn't slept for days! I mean I was up for several nights, not sleeping a wink, working on my belt for Business Studies, my 3D fabric refabrication, my storyboards, my technical drawings, etc. Then I'd go to school and be wasted throughout the day! Those of you who went to Ife know what I'm talking about. Jacking all night, going straight to the exam hall and pouring it all out. Thank God we do not have exams here.

Yah as I was saying, Cape Town fashion week. Guess who was here. Our very own Deola Sagoe!!!! I was tripped!!!!!! Sadly though, I did not see any of her designs because I was misinformed about the times for the shows. I got there after her show. But just seeing her name on the schedule was good enough for me.

The show I saw, however, was really inspiring!!! My goodness those models are S-K-I-N-N-Y!!!!!! It must be illegal to be that skinny! I mean one model kept adjusting the bodice of her dress! Now being a budding designer, I’m not sure if I should blame her for being unprofessional on the catwalk or the designer for showing off ill-fitting clothes.

BUT all in all, it was a pleasant experience!!!!!!

Seeing that I may go on all night, I have to stop here and continue with my assignments. Business Studies for tomorrow and Technical Drawing for Thursday. Y'all don't want me to lose 25% for late hand-in or ZERO for hand-in after 24 hrs do you? Yup stringent rules eh? Now I'm back to burning the late night wax, trying to keep up with school work. To top it all up, I have the flu. It has refused to stop raining here!

Y’all have a wonderful evening!

The Beginning...

Why am I blogging, you ask? I dunno. I've been on other blogs and found them quite interesting, entertaining and my current link to Naija since I'm away from home.... for now. So I thought to myself, why not start something yourself?! To be honest, I always wanted to do some freelance writing and this is my chance to do so. So here I am.... doing what I always wanted to do... and hoping someone out there reads it with encouraging comments - which will definitely urge me to write more. Don't worry, I'll spice up the page with pictures and stuff shortly.

So where do I begin? A bit about myself I guess. Ok.... here goes...

I'm a graduate of Economics from OAU, Ile-Ife. I worked in 2 consultancy outfits for a total of about 5 years before I got this brainwave and decided to change my field to Fashion! Yup... Fashion!

How did it all start, you ask me? Well I’ll tell you. It all started when my tailor wrecked my clothes. I was furious! How can a tailor who has been sewing my clothes for all of 2 years (… and counting…) wreck my clothes? She has my measurements and I have gained a maximum of (…what…) 5 kilos since the 1st set of clothing.

And an idea began to form in my head. I thought to myself…. “Wait!…. I can make these things myself. After all, I know what I want and can picture it in my head.” All I need to do is learn how to sew. And that’s how it all started.

It wasn't easy, I tell you. I can neither draw nor sew. Believe me, even a straight line without a ruler seemed an impossible task. I tried to go to a sewing school here in Lagos but it didn’t quite work out so I decided to look offshore and decided on South Africa. I bought myself a book “Drawing for Dummies” (the last copy at Nu Metro, Silverbird) and "Figure Sketching for Fashion Design.

Now, here I am, almost 2 years after conceiving my idea in a cold environment (it's winter here) studying a 3-year undergraduate degree in Fashion Design in a place I know absolutely NO ONE!!!!

Some people look at me and think I’m crazy. “How can you…” (they ask me) “leave that promising career (yah I worked in one of the Big Four accounting firms and had only about 3 more stages of the ICAN exams left), decide on Fashion. Fashion!!!” My supervisor in University sent me a text message saying… and I quote “I feel so worried about this your choice of career. How did you arrive at it?” {Come to think of it, I have not responded to his text message. I had better do so sometime this year!}

To be fair though, I have received only encouragement from people. A few laughs here and there, a few harmless cynical comments and a few wide-eyed stares. But hey… life is all about risks and I took my first major one, armed with lots of faith in God. And the 1st year is almost over with me still in 1 piece!!!!

It has not been easy I tell you! The sleepless nights (literally), the assignments, the challenges, etc. One thing I know... it has been an eventful year for me. I'll tell you more as time goes on.

And so my story begins... with a name. My name is Tope (or Temitope as they call me here). But y'all can call me TWayne! ... (the TW in block capitals)