A MAG is a Modern African Girl, so no subject is taboo. My purpose is to share things which may interest a MAG.

This week's contributors: Lydia, Doré Fasolati, this week's subjects: Pocketed pockets, Fashion meets politics at Nigeria election campaign, Pharrell Williams as Creative Director at Louis Vuitton, I am who I am.

Pocketed pockets.

We love having somewhere to put our hands when we are standing. We love the comfy feel pockets bring to a pair of trousers or a dress. We like the way the fabric moves and hangs around them. And pockets are super practical too, offering an easy place to stash essential items or things we are using temporarily.

Pockets weren't so much influenced by fashion as they were a practical tool for daily life. They were important to women because it was a means to hold possessions at a time when women's right to personal property was legally constrained; it allowed them to keep the small amount of property they owned secure. Small. Utilitarian. Inconspicuous.

The pocket doesn't exactly engender a lot of attention from designers, stylists and the fashion world as a whole. Pockets are a small but important component of western clothing. Despite their deceptive obscurity and utilitarian nature, pockets are sensitive to fashion.

Back to Life Enrichment and Engagement I have to admit, when I find a dress and it has pockets, while still fitting well and looks flattering, I do feel relaxed and confident. Fast forward to 2020 and pockets are now just as likely to be added to clothing as a design feature as they are used as a place for storing valuables. Check out the types of pockets and how it’s becoming mainstream in our next episode.

Fashion meets politics at Nigeria election campaign. Ahead of tomorrow's (Feb. 25) vote, political rallies and campaign events have become catwalks for colourful locally printed fabrics, twisted into elaborate dresses, tunics and headscarves. Party colours are mixed into traditional dresses and wearing elegant spins onto traditional dressers and hats are vote winners. Party T-shirts and caps are old fashioned. Our next elections are end of next year, get ready.

Pharrell Williams as Creative Director at Louis Vuitton men's wear, replacing our own (sort of) Virgil Abloh who passed away too early last year. Who would have thought it? Next thing will be Lionell Messi as creative director at Tesla, or Ken Ofori Atta heading the New York Stock Exchange. I always felt Pharrell tried to look the odd one out, so maybe he can indeed breathe a different air into Louis Vuitton. Tell Hubby to get ready for a change in his garde-robe.

But let's think a bit further. We now see fashion houses buying football clubs, fashion houses teaming up with visual artists to re brand their stores, and now fashion houses teaming up with musicians. Are they desperate to stay relevant? Or are they desperate to hit the headlines? The big ones have billions to spend on fanciful ideas, but, mind you, it's die hard business out there. So these seemingly frolic acts have board room and shareholders’ approval. Meanwhile there are big shifts in who is the top fashion brand, Gucci recently had to cede the first place to Prada, and Balenciaga is out of the top 10. So expect more very unusual news.

I am who I am, and that means I have curly Afro hair. Many want to straighten that (or simply replace it with somebody else's hair, I hear some of that hair is from dead persons). But beware. We know Ghana is a dumping ground for cheap poor quality goods, and if your dress or shoe or gadget does not last, well you knew what you were going in for. No, you didn’t. Amongst those cheap goods are also cheap body care products, most of them full of chemicals which have long been forbidden in the developed world because they cause cancer, hormonal change, what not. Recently the US National Institutes of Health Studies checked on 33,947 women aged between 35 and 74 and found that 4.05 % of those who used straighteners regularly eventually got uterus cancer, as against only 1.64% for those who never used them. Clear? Right? Straight?

Lydia...

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