Making Modern

Goodbye traditional. Goodbye cute. Goodbye figurines. I've long fallen in love with the clean, modern lines and geometrics of these ceramics.

Penny Wise

These aren't exactly pennies. We don't have that sort here on the Rock. They are actually $10 and $5 coins. And let me hasten to add that the idea of saving in a bottle at home appeals to me only because money happens to look good against glass. Agreed?

The World's Iriest Fashion Week in the Trendiest Island City - Kingston!

Just when I was beginning to worry that boutique sales would crush custom creativity, events like Fashion Block comes up, takes over Knutsford Boulevard and restores the confidence and relevance of locally designed and made fashions.

Fashion block is an annual fashion show which takes place in New Kingston, showcasing the collections of local designers on the longest catwalk in the region. The fashion show on this catwalk of all of 120ft running down the backbone of the boulevard's dual carriageway marks the climax of a Saint International-created Style week Jamaica. The event's biggest achievement is making the designs accessible to simple, common people of the streets in the streets - no discriminations, no cover charge or entry fees. It also affords design enthusiasts, dressmakers and tailors with that high fashion sense, edge and plenty of unique creativity the possibility of sharing the platform with other big names as Dexter Pottinger, Les Campbell and Yola Grey. Out of this has come names as Pablo Palair and White Skky who have used the opportunity to spread the respect and acclaim they enjoy on the ground in the dancehall into the mainstream.

This year's collection I loved the most were that of White Skky, Pablo Palair, Dexter Pottinger and of course, the very fierce HOD (Head Of Department). The unapologetic swagger of White Skky was a dancehall hit revealing sharp interpretations, all a celebration of white. The designer who is known for styling the likes of the King of the Dancehall - Doctor Beenieman also welcomed the artiste on the catwalk as one of his models. Designs from HOD included accessories of javelins and clubs. He also put a fierce twist on the headscarf reminicent of retro days of the 50's and 60's, khimar - the muslim headgear, veils and at times even the guillotine. Little wonder then that the 21-year-old designer's entire collection was bought by a fashion house in Paris and is due out next spring.

Of course no Fashion Block could have been complete without music and a concert of some sort. New artiste Chino decked out in a striking Les Campbell belted out some of my favourites: Protected and Never Change. And wherever there is Chino, there is rising star Laden who served up Ina Life with just the right level of hype. The dancers on the ground did their moves and there was even a chorus carrying the tune of Britney Spear's Circus, hmmm. Fashionistas were also on hand. But the real fashionistas stood straight in their stilletos and platforms for the whole 3 hours.

Weekend Finds

What should have been a slow, quiet day of sleeping on the beach - in between a few rounds of dominoes - turned into a weekend of running around town, making two very good finds.

I recently thought it would be nice to collect in one special place those sweet lines that have tickled my fancy, altered my perspective and inspired me in one way and others. Just some little treasures I find in songs, in an email, or read in a novel or poem. So while my collection had begun, I still hadn't found a notebook special enough to save them. Part of that was perhaps because I had certain specifications for the book I wanted: size -18.5cmx13cm, unruled paper, textured hard cover. I had even contacted a finehand bindery to have one custom-made, that did not get very far. Then it appeared, when I least expected.

Lying beneath is a cross-section of two squares of decorative paper I also found in the Liguanea Drug and Garden Centre. I love the sense of nostalgia captured in the designs. It reminds me of that special romantic charm of old handwritten letters from vintage times, written in French and rich in sentiment. There is a fair variety and the squares retail at a mere JMD$50 (-USD$1). Thinking on them gets me loving this Monday.

Now to get the perfect pen. I was hoping for a black Pilot but none of the places I've been into lately seem to have this brand -at all.

Wish. Think. Create. Boldly Make Your Statement.

The energy in these rooms gives a nice burst of inspiration. But a little deconstruction will reveal that they came about from simple ideas the designers were confident enough to put together. That, and of course, a good photographer to record it. Have a confident weekend.

Bookmarks

Gone are the days, it seems, when books are left spread, face down to mark where we paused. Laminated bookmarks are very popular but these bookmarks are simply special and inspiring.

Taste the West Indies

During my student years, I was urged by a friend to have a read of The Lonely Londoners. Now some seven years later, I finally forced myself to read the first page. That was enough to keep me turning. It's a funny novel which represents the experience of West Indian migrants in the old city of London. It's a wonderful read, and if you ever really wanted to understand or really try out the West Indian accent, it should help with that too.

You may also like:
Run Big 'Fraid and other village stories by Errol Lee
Flying with Icarus by Curdella Forbes
Fool-Fool Rose Is Leaving Labour-in-Vain Savannah by Lorna Goodison

Do cozy up with one or all one of these fine weekends.