Wednesday, April 30, 2008

REROCK

Hi Everyone!
Soooooo it’s already midweek – ‘hump day’ as some call it.
How is your week so far? Hope all is going well.
My week has been cool so far actually. Thank God.

This past weekend I hung out with one of my very good friends, so throughout the weekend, she kept on mentioning a wedding that she has to attend this weekend. Each time she brought it up, she kept on getting upset. I was seriously wondering what all the trouble was about until she asked me if she could ‘repeat’ an outfit she that she’s worn to a previous event. I just started laughing but it led us to a longer discussion…..

The rest of this post was written with my tongue firmly planted in my cheek! You should read with the same flavour! Enjoy…

So what do you guys think about repeating outfits?
It might seem like a trivial question but its getting serious!
Especially now when we are at the age when lots of our friends, sisters, brothers etc…are getting married. Plus you know the ‘event mania’ in Nigeria. From Turquoise Ball to ThisDay Awards to the Future Awards to Deola Sagoe’s fashion show…everyday another event and you are expected to give them a brand new outfit each time! It ain’t easy!

It’s as if there is an unwritten rule about ‘repeating’
You might roll your eyes and say ‘ohhh that is so high school!’ but how many times have you been on facebook looking at Cornelia’s wedding pictures, then you spot Lara and you are like ‘ahhhh isn’t that the same outfit Lara wore to Jummai’s wedding 2 weeks ago, why is she wearing it again now?, eyah I heard her dad lost the election, maybe money is tight’
Or you are click to bellanaija.com and she puts pictures up of the 3 times you have rocked the outfit (lol…oops I won’t do that again! Ok maybe)

Okay, I am not really talking about shoes or jeans or tees or even bags (especially all you bagaholics – after spending 1500 $s or £s on a bag, if you like wear it once! The joke is on you!). The point of contention is mainly dresses.
So would you wear the same dress you wore for one wedding to another?
Should there be a time gap between when you first rock an outfit and when you ‘rerock’ it?
Give us your opinions; I know many of us have wardrobes full of gorgeous dresses that we feel we cannot wear again.

So here are some tips from my friend who inspired this topic, let’s call her Mrs O
Mrs O’s 5 tips for ‘ReRocking’

Get your pens and paper ready!

  • Avoid taking photos – when you see a camera run! You know you have plans of ‘rerocking’ that dress so you don’t need evidence spoiling your show
  • No facebook! – If by some chance, you managed to get caught on film/memory card, warn the over-zealous photographer not to put it on facebook.
    Some readymade excuses at your disposal include ‘ohh I don’t want to be so out there’ ‘my pastor said I shouldn’t put my photos on facebook’ etc…
    If someone insists on putting it up, sharply untag yourself and delete them from your friend’s list. lol
  • Accessorize – Ok so you are ‘rerocking’, accessorize differently. You mustn’t pair the dress with the same shoes, bag, belt as before. Ah ah…it aint that serious
  • Wear the outfit to an event with a different ‘crowd’ – So you wore the outfit to your mom’s 50th birthday party with all the oldies, you can ‘rerock’ at your friend’s jewellery exhibition. You can also try the geographical ‘rerock’ Yes o, so you rocked it in Lagos, there is still Accra, Jozi, London, Maryland etc…rerock!
  • Finally, this one is very important! When you are ‘rerocking’, please rock the outfit with confidence! You see people looking timid because they are ‘scared’ someone will ‘catch’ them wearing the outfit again! Hells no, were they in your office when you were working for your money? Nope. Therefore ‘rerock’ with swagger!

For some inspiration, here are some celeb rerockers!
Photo Credit: concrete loop




That’s it!

66 comments:

Anonymous said...

woohoo! I'm first!
Er so im supposed to be studying but im watching music videos on you-tube. Bella, i blame you :)

Anonymous said...

uhmmm, actually what happened was dat... i rerocked an outfit on saturday, same shoe, same clutch. but different jewelry and scarf sha.....
i did not feel like spending a dime on d occasion since i was invited by a friend really and i did not even know who's party it was! so y waste money?
As women, we real go thru a lot of crap. but plsss, as bella said, no one was there was i was making my money and no one should tell me how to spend it on what to wear.
ladies rerock ur outfit with confidence..lol

but am in the states and its gonna cost at least 200 dollars for a new traditonal attire.... dats expensive sha

littleangel4christ said...

on point! most especially the tip abt 'rerockin' wit different accessories.
Good job bella...

Sweetcakes said...

Yep! I like Mrs. O's tidbits...i don't re-rock outfits with the same crowd. you'd be surprised how many times u can wear an outfit to several "different" occasions.

SKINDEEP 101 said...

am mad dat sannaa literally RE-ROCKED dat outfit, unapologetically. Damn she could have done without the boots. LOVING ur post, how do u seem to come up with new things to talk about. LOVING IT!!

Anonymous said...

nice one bella, had a good laff :)
I will rerock with serious swagger henceforth

Hawt said...

lolz...Bella u really crack me up.d one dat trips me d most is the 2003/2007 rerocking(see photos)...lol.can't stop laffing.i mean she had enuf time to have gotten sumn different. feeling u on d differnt crowd and geograghical rerocking lol...i've tried it and it worked for me.
u rily rock Bella!

Jen Juma said...

Eighth!!!!

Thanks for the rerocking tips...

Anonymous said...

bella i like this topic of rerocking!
while i think there is no big deal in rerocking expensive shoes and purses, i think some babes find themselves over-rerocking dresses because they don't shop according to their pocket sizes....
my point is, a student (whose monthly income is 1200) that spends $400 on a dress should not be justifying rerocking. there are nice dresses for all budgets so instead of haveing 1 over-priced dress you can have 4 nice dresses.
and please, some dresses were made to be worn once... :( if it has like 10 different colors and it stands out then it probably should not be your every-wedding dress.

shhhh said...

thanks for this post, although it mainly concerns women i feel the need to chip in. your friend's points are spot on. if beyonce, sanaa lathan and co can rerock[and i assume they are richer than 95% of the women reading this] i feel it is fine. also sanaa should be given credit for rocking the same outfit 4 years apart. it means she's in shape. later

Anonymous said...

who cares,jo? i rerock ouitfits.no big deal
sassycassie

The Life of a Stranger called me said...

Thank you bella naija. I was considering rerocking some of my wonderful tops, but was alittle scared..lol.. With Pride I will NEXT month..lol..

Anonymous said...

lol. meagan Goode's pics look like a "before and after" weightloss pic.

good pointers bella...ave always wondered o. U can get away w/ re-rockn accessories or casuals...but dresses r kind of a big deal....imagine spending $400+ on a dress and u only get to rock it once? ees unfair nau.lol

Nma

Zena said...

abeg,

beyonce rerocked, I'm rerocking, you just have to give the outfit a time out... ,

and I'm feeling Mrs O's comments, hell yeah, make sure u untag every picture of that outfit on fb. Loved it!

Unknown said...

funny enough, i dnt mind re-rocking....well maybe because i hardly go out...lol....so no one actually remembers what i wore the last time they saw me

Anonymous said...

I blame facebook for us not wanting to rerock..lol

Anonymous said...

I think the key to re-rocking is "Different Crowd, Different Accessories". And dodge camera's of facebooking psycho's like no tmr!

Anonymous said...

Ooooo! I am actually quite embarassed for the celeb re-rockers. I hold them to a higher standard. They shooulda followed Mrs. O's rule #1.

For the rest of us reg. folk. RE-ROCK ON!!!

Anonymous said...

Ok Bella! Thanks for the shout out! I have to put my 2cents in so here's how I feel.... The shame of wearing the same outfit TWICE OR MORE and being spotted in it is an insecurity ALL women need to GET RID OF. I struggle with that and thanks to stores like Primark I can buy my disposable baffs and keep it moving. I really pray for the day when that spirit will be cast out because it CostS $$$$ money to buy new outfits! AMEN! Its a big EGO TRIP and I NEED to come off it. WILL I BE THE FIRST TO ADMIT?

Anonymous said...

I definately rerocked an outfit I wore to a wedding in the US in Naija this past december. Surprisingly,there were few people from the same US wedding that were also at the Naija wedding. All the same I rerocked it with diff accessories. Fortunately for me I've moved to another state so I intend to rerock all the old ones I've worn in my former state......

Anonymous said...

Money no dey fall from tree.........I'm going to rerock over and over again

Mr.Fineboy said...

HILARIOUS!!! "My Pastor said I shouldn't put my pics on facebook." LMAO. I loved this post Bella. My cousins and I refer to rerocking as "giving them the remix." LOL.

Anonymous said...

MR FINE BOY!!! What are you doing hia? Better update that ya blog sharpishly!

WeirdGurl said...

http://weirdbabe.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

ok bella i feel your tips. However, the best way to "rerock" is to buy classy "Timeless" outfits. you're right about the idea that putting a lot of gap btw rerocking and accessorizing.

Dith said...

wow! This lady they call Bella Naija should get out of my head! SERIOUSLY!! LOL. i was thinking d same thing cos i had (cos im not going anymore) this event coming up and i was thinkin "GOD another unncessary spending on a new dress when i have dresses i have only worn once."
but u kno wat i re-rock my thing with no shame jare and ur friend's tips are right on point!. change shoes, make-up, hair, something so as not 2 look exactly d same" but above all CONFIDENCE. Let me tell u sumtn someone can rock a rag and make it look sexy, it is really all abt how u carry urself.
y is that a celeb would wear sumtn and look trashy in it..while another does the same and looks FLY in it....double standard?? not so much! even if what u have on is hideous pple wouldnt necessarily YAB u, lol but maybe just say well she commited a faux pas but evry1 does abi??

ok let me get out of here. lol

Dith said...

and d facebook thing was a recent intervention 4 me 2. cos i was thinking of deleting pictures just so i could be able 2 re-rock the outfit. lol then i thought..how trivial of me. i might still delete them sha. lol
i need 2 take a break from pictures 4 real. lol

Anonymous said...

Whoaaa Megan looks soooo....different..Like dang..Beyonce sort do too..Sha I usually notice people wearing the same thing over again and its mainly cuz of facebook, i can rerock outfits ooo i want lie i do be rerockin but wit different crowds...

jak said...

Bella, have you heard about Naira earrings? They are supposed to be a Naija identity accesory. I thought I had seen it on your blog, but apparently not. Have you heard about them? I so want them badly. Please let me know.

Thank ya!

P.S. about rerocking - i so do not care... so it ain't a bother for me to rerock. especially if I really like the dress. I actually want to wear it as many times as possible coz I love it so much.

Fausset said...

you can def. rock the same handbag, i mean, but def. clothes..lol i totally agree, hide when u see a camera cos its def. going on facebook or sum website esp. if its flashy, to be on the safe side, wear black, its the safest and pple dont really remeber black outfit....

Anonymous said...

ok. i dont think there's anything wrong in rerocking....i do it sometimes, as long as u leave a given lenght of time b4 d outfit is worn again and accessorised different most importantly. should be good to go. Any1 who has the guts 2 come 2 face u 4 wearing d same thing is a goat. When people like beyonce are repeating, y shldnt i. As for Sanaa, she shld have worn different shoes all she had changed was her hair..bad bad bad..3/10.lol. Ms O rock ur outfits babe.

Anonymous said...

im very fond of rerocking lol. in fact all of my pictures on facebook show me rocking the same like five-seven things lmao!
i don't care, maybe it's because i have tons of clothes but always gravitate towards the same stuff, or maybe its because i dont actually go out that much. put very few of my pieces is iconic or eye catching so i can always mix it up, though i choose not too. laziness i guess

Anonymous said...

LOL! Bella this is why i love you. You always talk true...I have had that kinda problem that your friend has...and the reason is FACEBOOK! Ahh before the days of facebook re-rocking was not a big issue, you could re-rock and there would be no real evidence, now, all these tags and profile pics and comments, mehn its tuff! haha

Naija Sutra said...

i understand bee though, i rerock my tees every once in a while. i dont rerock outfits for special occassion though cos i take my time to design each. but for tees, rerocking is a definite do.

Anonymous said...

p.diddy is being inducted in the hollywood walk of fame on friday. i hope he invited nduka obiagbena, it will be good. in appreciaton of thisday music festival.

Anonymous said...

""When you see a camera run""…..lol

But how wil they know you were there……at the party…??

chetablog said...

Bella, please do not send more of our women into the arms of ministers and Honourables (sugardaddyism) just to maintain their fashionistaexpress card. Let them re-rock if it was nice the first time around. Meanwhile, it looks like Amaa outshone the Genevieve magazine party this year. I hear the Pink Ball was better attended than the tourquoise party.

MissBalance said...

Hmmm! It really is a big issue, this rerocking thing. Right from secondary school, u were expected to have something new at every party, get together ... and there sure were a lot of 'em in A'Hall!!But when ur not dependent on ur parents, it's up to you to define and straighten out your priorities. I absolutely love Sanaa for that rerock!!! And taking a cue from India.Arie and Akon, "i am not my ... u fill that in suitably" or even her Video track. Keep judging me by my rerocked clothes if that's what's important to you, while I'm having a great time.
Say with me V-A-N-I-T-Y!

Anonymous said...

i will so wear an outfit one million times over.....but to diff parties with diff crowds!!!

Bookie19 said...

I don't mind re-rocking...I mean i cant spend do much money on an outfit and wear it only once..Im not balling like that..

The only thing i have a problem re-rocking are my natives...i dont know why..
When i buy aso-ebi for someone's wedding, I have a hard time wearing it again to someone else's party..I dunno why. I have a whole lot of naija outfits that i only wore once

Anonymous said...

@Bookie19,u are so right. I also find it difficult rerocking my asoebi outfits. I only get to wear them the day of the wedding and that's it.....I need to get over that s***. Afterall, i only buy asoebi that is not cheap, so why waste money only to rock it once. It also depends on the sewing...if i dislike the way the outfit looks on me, then its a done deal. It ends up in the bottom of my suitcase.
You can't go wrong with a black dress tho, cos u can accessorize any which way you like and still get compliments. I am for rerocking anyday but i remix the accessories so it's not so obvious.

Like a pp mentioned, some outfits are meant to worn once....esp if it is too flamboyant.

Anonymous said...

I hate it when pple use celebrities as excuses. So many said "if pple like Beyonce and Sanna are re-rocking, then y shouldn't I?"

pple pleaseeeeeeeeee, re-rock if u want, it's ur money, y should anyone tell u how to spend it?

bumight said...

you already said all I wanted to say, if you already rocked an outfit and its on fb (esp if you gt mad comments about how dope it was), abeg rerocking is out of it!

I definitely rerock, esp if its with a different crowd!

Blossombymi-le said...

So far as you look hotter than before, thats alright with me! lol x

SPEECHgirl said...

hi Bella
so i wore this dress to a wedding today
and let me just say i cannot rerock it oh cos i must have been snapped in a million pictures

so, heres the thing though, WHAT HAPPENS TO THOSE OUTFITS THAT STILL LOOK GOOD BUT CANT BE REROCKED?
where do they go?

QMoney said...

Bella,dat post was sooooooooo on point.facebook is causing too much chaos but am still soo addicted.
its even worse wen wat u are "Rercoking" was sum1's aso ebi...arggh,then u are doomed!LOL
Really,if u have sumtin really gorgeous then one has no choicexcpt to notice it a 2nd time but as u said,different accesories and stuff will dod trick!
fine boooooooooy,are u still in dis blogsville?my friend go and update jooooooooo!!
c yah

Anonymous said...

Rerocking is so in! I dress to impress but would absolutely have to be comfortable in what I wear no matter how impressive.
I'm not a fashion rave of the moment person but I make sure my combos turn out well.Rerocking is in for the duration...lol

Anonymous said...

OMG, thanks for this post Bella. Ve actually been disturbed by this particular issue esp since am almost a paparazzi freak!!!! I complained to a friend and she was like, who cares....it shows the dress belongs to u! But i still wasn't feeling it.
All points noted...

Anonymous said...

Great Job Bella! Now tell us what to do when we turn up at the same function wedding etc wearing the same outfit as someone else. It even happened to Mrs George Bush at a state function. In her case it was 2 other ladies. She went to change during the event;-) Now if it's a friend we can pretend we did "and co" or "Aso-Ebi" but what if it's someone you can't stand ;-)

Kira Aderne said...

all look are fabulous!


a kiss and a hug,
see you,
Kira

Anonymous said...

kai Bella you are the queen of tatanfo!! lol!!
How did you catch so many pple

RouGe EMpiRe said...

hahahha....bella nice one! i think toni from GIrlfrends rereocked best, well maybe im just being biased cuz i love her but yea...rerocking is sooo not me! nd bout that facebook thing...good point but i cant help it cuz i love the camera so i rather not rerock cuz i kno i'ld definitely b on facebook.LOL

Vera Ezimora said...

Bella, I'm assuming you're talking about traditional outfits abi?

Rerocking is a must ooo, but the biggest rule for me is: wait a longggggggggg time b4 rerocking & do NOT rerock with the same crowd. If possible, do it in very different vicinities.

Anonymous said...

Catch other videos on
http://www.9javibe.com

soupasexy said...

i totally understand this, i dont rerock and my friends think its cos i got money but..nah! well i've been kinda broke lately and my eyes are open too..i'm going out tonight and i'm totally rerocking my outfit. i wore it last year though in june..so not too bad..lol

uNWrItten* said...

lol..i love this post because me and my girls always have problems re-rocking outfits because of facebook...its horrible..lol

Original Mgbeke said...

LMAOOO. I must confess that I am one of those people that will see Lara and say 'AH ah, didn't she just rock this outfit..' but then again I put the time gap into consideration. Re-rocking the same exact outfit a month later is like ehnnn. 6 months later is definitely an Ok.
With that said, I personally find it very hard to rerock but I have been inspired by this post. lol

Bubblegum Thug said...

i will re-rock to the death. If i feel like wearing the same outfit 2 saturdays in a row, i will. The whole re-rocking thing is fickle, and pple wonder why money cant stay with them, or they are doing chasing money just to get dressed to show off to pple that dont care about them half the time. no no.

Dont let the clothes make u, make the clothes.
The wear the aso-ebi once is a wasteful lifestyle, as far as i am concerned sha.

Anonymous said...

love your blog....

Uzo said...

Re-rock with pride - Make sure the events are not too close together time wise and mix up the accessories...

Anonymous said...

i will rerock and rerock again, i do not care! why should i waste money on clothes (or material things for that); like you said nobody was there when i was busting my behind at work. and what happens to the clothes i can't rerock, give it to the salvation army? i don't waste money like that, there are other things i can do with my hard earned money, like paying down that student loan, that credit card, your car or putting it into an IRA.

omotayo™ said...

ok see, there's just no reason why beyonce should be re-rocking a tshirt!
that said, those pics were paparazi pics so she wasnt rocking the shirt to actual events, which is ok :P
and some of those other re-rocked dresses werent so fab, so why re-rock when u can jus re-buy??

ok but to 'you' regular people...lmao... different crowds is def what to go for when re-rocking. and if u go to an awards/fashion show or something and rock the same dress to a high profile wedding u can always be like 'oh i was only modelling it the other day... this deola sagoe one-of-a-kind is now mine!!'
hvent tried that b4 tho. it works mostly with magazine shots to real life rocking.

oh, and no matter how much money you have or how hard u worked, you know when you're re-rocking and it never feels as good as the first time u wore that dress.....

omotayo™ said...

ooh and you can always just exchange a dress you wore once with a friend who only wore hers once too, and re-rock with style! but nt at the same time oh. that way you an pretend you both happened to have the same dress

Anonymous said...

re-rock for life i beg,no wonder young girls do all sort of thing s 4 money,why can t one re rock? i re rock without apology if u can afford to buy a $500 outfit every wk , congrats ,[i consider it wasteful though]if not re rock anyhow u like just as i do

isha said...

true talk, rerock with confidence, change up the accessories, etc etc. if you don't think you're looking fly, then no one else will.

Anonymous said...

talk about 'high maintenance lifestyles'. u know I and my friends were talking about the same thing last weekend. after the Turquoise Ball we had a lil' thingy the next day and my friend wanted to repeat the same jacket but we were scared if the crowd was goin to be the same... lol