Black girls in brown a combination that was often looked at as something you shouldn't do if you were a brown girl but I've been seeing the trend a lot lately and I love it.
For the longest period of time my closet had absolutely no brown tones in it. I hadn't bought any brown tone clothes darker than a cream but as time goes on and my personal style has evolved I've gravitated towards the browns that I used to be scared to wear. I looked for pieces that were classic and sophisticated to add to my wardrobe.
Basically this whole outfit (besides the hat) I've gotten from various thrift stores down south. The 70's style leather coat I got last summer at a Goodwill in my hometown in South Carolina. The turtleneck I bought this summer from a Goodwill in Jacksonville Florida as well as the purse. The pants I got a couple of days ago from a trip to the consignment store in South Carolina, and the shoes I got from my boss here in Atlanta who had no use for them. Crafting this outfit and putting all the pieces together was exciting. Essentially this outfit was a year in the making, and just like this outfit figuring out your personal style takes time and maybe different environments (but that could just be a me thing).
When thinking about places to shoot this look, I was thinking about places where I could simultaneously blend in to the environment and stand out. And this abandoned Chinese food place not far from me is what came to mind. The dark shade of red and yellow of the restaurant compliments the look by adding a pop of color bringing out the richness of the browns in the outfit. But also the demure olden nature of the restaurant and the vintage look to the outfit allow me to blend in to the environment around me. I also edited the pictures to have some yellow/orange undertones and pumped up the richness of the colors to really take home the vintage feel.
This hairstyle which I'm coining as "Suspended Chain Braids" was inspired by this Janelle Monae look. She had been a hair inspiration of mine ever since middle school and when I fist saw her "Django Jane Braid" I wanted to do something similar but in gold, with chains and in box braids since it aligns more with my style. I first did this style back in 2019 for AfroPunk New York and have done it a couple times since then. I always get a lot of good feedback and compliment from others when I do this hairstyle and it is now apart of my go to in my protective style rotation. Since I've often gotten so many questions and requests for how I achieved this hairstyle, I filmed a little tutorial on my newly started channel that you can find and watch below!
Lately I've been creating more content on my Instagram so you should follow me there if you want to see more of what I'm up to. I also uploaded my first YouTube video which you can find below!