Styled By April #OOTD African Lapa Style

April 06 2014 – April Clark

Last September, I fell in love with designer, Stella Jean her bright colored African - South American inspired collection was brilliant.  I love her mix of prints and bold styling concepts.
From Stella Jean's website
From Stella Jean's website
Her swimwear line is chockful of African prints. i decided to uses her collection for today's #ootd inspiration. 
I dressed up my African Lapa skirt with a jean shirt and printed wedges for a casual look.  African Lapas are typically worn by West African dancers for ceremonies.  

Lapa is a “Pidgin” English word, or a mix of words from two languages, that translates to “lap,” or a piece of cloth that covers the lap. One to two yards in length, lapas, also called “wrappas,” are worn around the waist and hips.

You can make your own lapa very easily.  Ebay and Etsy are great places to find African fabric.

It is a large piece of fabric (Size: 171cm (66") x 104cm (40" but can be up to 4 meters in length) that is tied around the waist as follows:
How to tie or wear your African wrap-skirt
Starting with the wrap, ensure that the embroidered end (if any) is on the outside flap.
with your legs apart (to give you room for walk-steps), hold the two ends of the wrap - with the embroidered end on your right;
tuck in the left side to the right side of waist, making sure that the top end of it sticks out above the tuck; 
take the right side and wrap it towards the left side of your waist;
pull the left and right ends towards the back and make a knot as tight as you need;
pull the layers from the bottom so that the bottom edges are even.
You can wear the wrap long (waist-ankle) or short (waist-below-knee) by wrapping the skirt long or short. SOURCE-http://www.africastyles.com/resources/articles/wrap_skirt.html 
African Print Skirts come in modern silhouettes. Pair African printed skirts with chambray shirts, crisp white oxford shirts or for a bolder look a funky graphic tee with a jeweled necklace. 
 
Check out this modern African print dress from Zara.

PRINTED CROSSOVER DRESS

Ref. 2431/550

59.90 USD

zara.com

 

SHOP MY BLOG-- click the link "African Prints"

Stay tuned, because I will be posting about more African printed items!  

 

 

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