April 2016 Fashion Illustration

Hello lovelies,

Don't crucify me, please. I know I didn't follow up on my monthly illustrations but I'm determined to work hard on being more consistent. Keyword being DETERMINED. No guarantees. ;) 

To some behind-the-scenes, the 'enter' key on my laptop is not working :(

The few people that know me well know that I love being corporate. But this is Nigeria and we love our African print and love being in our native skirt, blouse and headtie, and so I challenged myself to come up with more native style designs and this is one of the first native designs I sketched.

Now, to this month's illustration; I worked with someone briefly last year and she spent a lot of time trying to make me feel like I didn’t know what I was doing. So, this illustration is pretty much my reply. Hehehe. Beyond that, this piece is inspired by the Nigerian Aso ebi trend.

What is the Aso ebi trend? First of all, Aso ebi literally means family cloth but can also be described as a fabric available for family and friends for an event. The event can be a family introduction, wedding, naming ceremony, thanksgiving, apprenticeship freedom etc. Now, why do I call it a trend? Because there's almost always an event every other weekend, and sometimes weekday, that gets people buying and sewing an outfit either as a family member or friend of the family and possibly a friend of a friend of the family. LOL.

The Aso ebi trend doesn't end with just adorning oneself but goes further because it gives some a sense of belonging; it's sometimes a ticket to getting souvenirs at the end of the day. 

I would like to thank Lawrence, Busayo, Temitayo and Ezra for their help with this write up.

Without further ado, here's the April 2016 fashion illustration.