Culture Box

There comes a time in life when you just feel like getting all dressed up and stepping out to grab some attention, even if that attention means getting checked out for all the wrong reasons.

It’s like when we turned up for an afternoon hang with friends but for some strange reason decided to wear a little black mini-dress and stilettos and that necklace which actually weighed more than the entire outfit, including the clutch purse tucked under the arm; pretty much, this sums up “getting checked out for all the wrong reasons”.

The public eye can be so brutally critical sometimes that it pays to just play it safe when you are stepping out. Know the old saying about sticks and stones breaking our bones but words never hurting us? Well that is not always true; a stare can be nerve-racking and difficult to ignore.

Those who have felt it can testify that there is nothing sharper than a Guyanese stare, and people here have a tendency of looking and whispering at the same time; some even criticise out loud.

But on the upside, it sure does feel good to have someplace to go where we can wear what we like; make a personal fashion statement.

Who cares if the woman sitting across the room hates your shoes or has a problem with the shade of pink of your skirt when you are at Guyana Fashion Weekend?

It is one of those rare occasions when it is okay to mimic the looks of those women and men in the glossy magazines — who are absurdly fabulous looking — without considering that maybe the look is not quite you. Perhaps it is not, but the image of you in an enviable outfit sure does look right and feel so too.

Guyana Fashion Weekend is upon us and some of us are sitting around wondering whether to go or not to go, and if we do what to wear. If nothing in the wardrobe is saying power and the wallet/purse is not saying much either, then we might have a problem.

The thing about the fashion weekend is that we finally get the opportunity to say we are stepping out to an event where nothing we are likely to wear can be considered “too much” or “too scary”, since a few of the designers already have that covered.

No matter how ridiculously high our stilettos are, or how tight the male jeans look at the bottom, fashion weekend will offer a warm welcome. Though we can just ignore the whole fashion craze and go looking ordinary, something about that just feels so boring. Why go to fashion weekend looking like Sunday morning at Bourda Market, when you can show up and be mistaken for one of the models? Now that is something to write home about.

By the time this is published, the fashion weekend would have officially kicked off at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) ground, but if you missed an opportunity to “work it” on the red carpet and show off the hot new clothes there is still time tonight and tomorrow. It may mean digging a little deep into your pocket, but why not? With everything from wedding receptions to cocktails being turned into casual affairs these days, there are fewer places left to play dress up. You can either go looking fabulous to the fashion weekend, to church if you so desire, or you can simply leave it for the wedding day itself.

(thescene@yahoo.com)