The hunt for what to wear

As if it isn’t bad enough that the whole of Lagos is out on the roads today (as if today is the only day you can show u care for your loved one), it has to be raining as well!!! I am looking out of the window of my office building, and it makes sense to just chill in the office till late then go home anytime soon. If I leave at my usual closing time (6, 6:30) I probably will not get home till late anyway.

I am really really pleased. Today I finally got something I like for my girl’s wedding at the end of the month. Actually it’s the engagement ceremony, she did the civil thing on Friday (see ‘You go girl!’). I like to look good, but on this particular ocassion, I have to look wicked. You see my girl and I are flatmates, we have been friends for over 10 years (imagine) and are practically family. So you can imagine that all the older people there will really be on my case especially since I would be showing up sans boyfriend/engagement ring! Looking good I reckon will ensure that each admonishing would end on a nice note ('my dear time nlo o, se kia so gbo ka ba le wa gbeborun ayo. Ma worry oko e mbo so gbo? Lace e yi ma fine o, you look very nice')

I decided to enlist Aunty K in my hunt for the perfect lace. She sells lace fabric and gold jewelry, and I called her last week to see if she had any lace fabrics in the colors I wanted to buy (chocolate/coffee brown). She said she didn’t have, but her friend just got back from Austria and she has good stock, so off we went on Sunday to check it out. The lady sells out of her house in Apapa and she apparently is doing a booming trade. I got to her house like 1, 1:30pm and left at 4 pm! We spent 20 mins picking something that would go with the aso-ebi and the remaining time we spent gisting! Aunty K is a real sweetheart, she is old school o, but she is a ‘pally’, you know the kind you would go and confess all your sins to when you were younger cos she just knows how to calm your parents down and make a bad situation bearable. And she can gist! When I am in the mood I can make a formidable gisting partner myself! Her husband is a real character, but she manages him well and they are really amusing to watch together. These ladies are not my gang, (aunty K has 2 kids in the university) so it was really interesting talking to them. We talked about all sorts, the lace business in Nigeria, Baba Iyabo, bird flu, how not to declare to any oyinbo person that you have malaria when you are in their country (quarantine, straight!!!), the merits of travel health insurance, the proper way to use Betnovate C (it was the bleaching ointment of choice in Nigeria awhile back!) etc. I had fun. I didn’t really like what I picked but it was the best thing she had considering my constraint; the aso-ebi and the fact I am the laziest thing in the world. Foraging in Balogun market for lace is something I would rather not do.

Back home, after spending 2 hours in front of my mirror in the heat (PHCN had struck) trying to convince myself that this was the best combination to wear, I gave up and decided to enlist external convincing. I packed everything up to go show Sis in the office on Monday. Sis took one look at the combination (the aso-ebi is orange, black and gold; the lace is black and golden yellow) and told me what I already know ‘aburo this thing is way to busy’ (so much for the convincing). I explained my issues to her and like a proper fairy godmother, whipped out her phone (the modern magic wand) and rang a friend. Her friend has a shop in VGC, Sis asked her to send what she had in my price range to her house and she said she would bring them to the office to show me the next day (today). She told me she had been shopping in this very shop a couple of weeks back and that she had seen one nice French lace which would go nicely with my aso-ebi, I hold my breath. I saw the lace today and like a true fairy godmother my Sis has read my mind, lovely lace and very much within my budget! And the lady selling the lace said she would let me have a selection of coffee brown lace so I can pick for my mum (I call her princess atimes my mum that is, and she has vehemently told me she will not wear black to a wedding). You cannot imagine the relief I am feeling; now all I have to do is find orange accessories (shoe + bag), but knowing me, I may just wear my everyday black slippers, after all I know I will be running up and down, best to be comfortable doing that, no point suffering away in some exquisite but extremly uncomfortable shoes as I am being admonished on my marital status!