Second Annual Caftan Cavorting at Art Basel

I know it has been FOREVER since I have posted but now that I am EIC of LookBooks I am posting there as well as Tweeting, Tumblring, Instagraming, Facebooking and clucking like a chicken. Anything to get the word out about our awesome content!

But for Art Basel Miami this year I decided to keep the caftan tradition going and I had two new ones made in Harlem and brought my Dishdasha I bought in Dubai. They were a hit! And so were the one piece bathing suits I wore under them.

Day One: My classic Moroccan caftan. Keep it minimal at the start. Don't scare the people.
 Day Two: Scare the people. One Russian woman at the pool yelled, "Oh ma gawd I zought you were going to shoot me!" How sad that a white robe makes people think of terrorism. Read a book people!
 Day Three: This John Bartlett number is always a crowd please. The cut is perfect and the camo print of his beloved Tiny Tim is epic. (Note my friend has a dress with a cat print. Cats and Dawgs!)
 Day Four: Serve them Harlem realness. Nobody was really prepared for this one. I have dreamed of having a caftan in this fabric since Obama was sworn in. I saw it all over Harlem but it dissappeared before I could buy some. Luckily I found one spot in Harlem that still had some. Yes I did!

 Day Five: Tribal Mask meets Liz Taylor. This is another print I found in Harlem. I really should have washed it before wearing it as the dye was so intense that when I sweated I had blue streaks running down my arms and legs. No matter! As you can tell, Morgan from Saturdays is a big fan.
And that's it for now! I can't wait to swan around New York in these this summer.
Feel free to send me pics of your favorite caftans. I need inspiration for next year!


It was a caftan-mosphere in Art Basel

This year when pondering what the hell I was going to wear for five days in the heat of Miami at the kookiest art/fashion event of the year I just figured- LETS DO IT!
All caftans.
So I rolled up the following:
  • My first caftan I bought in Egypt in navy with red and white embroidery which apparently is a woman's wedding gown

  • The black djellaba Rod and PHJ brought me from Morrocco

  • The African one I had made for Chloe's wedding in Botswana

  • My newest one from John Bartlett with a camo print of his late and wonderful three legged dog, Tiny Tim
The result? The best idea ever! All I had to do is roll out of bed, throw one on and head out, bathing suit underneath. At night I would add a turban and voila.

Laure, one of the owners of The Webster informed me that they are called Boubou's in West Africa.
YAY a new name!
Djellaba
Caftan
Boubou


Now I have to find four new ones for next year. I'm not too worried, John and I are already talking new prints and there are a load of spots on 125th Street that can whip some up.



Now if only I could get one lines in cashmere for this frost freeze. Pringle of Scotland are you listening?

PS- Billy Farrell is totally responsible for coining 'caftan-mosphere' as you can see here: