Lydia's Weekly Lifestyle blog is for today's African girl, so no subject is taboo. My purpose is to share things that may interest today's African girl.

This week's contributors: Lydia, Pépé Pépinière, this week's subjects: Trendsetter of tomorrow, the Gen Z era, Le Tandem French Restaurant, and Child marriage is to be banned

Trendsetter of tomorrow, the Gen Z era Digital Dreamweavers: In a world increasingly dominated by digital spaces, it’s no surprise that Gen Z designers are leveraging technology to redefine the fashion industry. Max Chen, a 21-year-old virtual fashion designer, is making waves with his boundary-pushing designs that exist solely in the digital realm. His creations blend virtual and physical fashion, blurring the lines between the two in a way that challenges traditional notions of what fashion can be. Inclusive Innovators: Diversity and inclusivity are at the core of the Gen Z ethos, and this is reflected in the work of designers like Aisha Patel. At just 19 years old, Patel has made a name for herself with her gender-inclusive streetwear brand that celebrates individuality and self-expression. Through her designs, she is challenging norms and helping to create a more inclusive fashion industry for all. Retro Revivalists: Drawing inspiration from the past while putting a modern spin on classic styles, Gen Z designers are breathing new life into vintage fashion. Luca Santos, a 20-year-old designer with a passion for 90s aesthetics, has garnered a dedicated following with his retro-inspired collections by blending nostalgia with contemporary design elements, Santos is redefining what it means to embrace timeless fashion in a world constantly evolving with innovation and style. His unique approach celebrates the essence of the past while infusing it with the vibrancy of the present, capturing the attention of a generation eager to rediscover the beauty and significance of retro fashion in a fresh and exciting way. Luca Santos represents a new wave of creatives reshaping the fashion landscape, bridging the gap between past and present with their innovative visions and reinventing classic styles for a new era of self-expression and individuality.

Le Tandem French Restaurant has moved from Makralo Street, near Giffard Road (Burma Camp Road), Accra to 108 Nii Nortei Nyanchi Street, Airport West, Accra, and added a Boutique Hotel. We wish them as good a performance as at the previous location. The new place is a bit more intimate, but they carried the whole big bar to the new place, that alone is worth the visit. Mr Laurent, the proprietor, also carried his entire wine cellar, and the old bottles must have gone to the top, because the Kir Royale, (Cassis and Champagne) had a Champagne “off” taste to it. Laurent immediately opened a new bottle and served a fresh Kir Royale, and this one “passed”, but looking at the non-expanding cork after opening, this bottle too was a bit overdue. I just hope he doesn’t have too many bottles of this. In blog nr 78, 15th December 2023, I spoke about wine corks. Laurent's strong point of course is that he immediately changed the bottle, not trying to defend what did not warrant defense. The menu has not changed, neither has Chef Cook François and everything is still excellent, as usual. It remains worthwhile to ask Laurent if there are any “hors carte” (not on the menu) items, which sometimes gives nice surprises, like moules au crême, one of my favourites (mussels with cream). Watch out for the “Le” in front of the word “Tandem”, these Le-s and La-s most often cost a lot of money.

Child marriage is to be banned. For a girl below 18 years to get married is called child marriage, and since 1998 this has been illegal in Ghana. The penalty for doing it anyway is 500 GHS and/or 1 year in prison. We've all heard of some Al Haji marrying a girl of 15 or even younger, and we condemn it. But some say that if a female has had her first flow she is fertile, thus she has become a woman and is not a child anymore. Today, in Ghana, we still have some villages where the above is applied, and there, one can still see girls (women?) of 13 and 14 years old proudly carrying their babies on their backs. Of course, we are against this, and so is the world at large, including our Moral Lawmaker, the United States of America. The same people who claim that if we don’t allow men to marry men they will withdraw their aid, are also against child marriage, Rightly so, or? There is a little problem here, 4 of the 50 states of the USA have no minimum age for marriage, and cases are known of girls of 9 years old getting officially married, complete with a picture in the papers. Things are changing though, and for example, in 2019, the state of Utah raised its marriage age from 15 to 16 and Virginia became the first state in the south to ban child marriage (minimum age 18 years old). Washington and New Hampshire also passed bans this year. You can check all this through one of the search machines. The Bible has a story about throwing a first stone. Personally, I am indeed against boys of less than 12 years old marrying boys of that age.

Lydia...

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