Flared Zulu Human Hair Hat - Aboriginal Headdress, South Africa

If you have never seen one of these hats, you have probably never been to South Africa.
This style of hat actually started with a style of hair done by the woman in South Africa. They would style their hair in a cone coming from the back of their head. Some were up to a metre long!
After contact with Europeans, this style developed into a removable hat. They would include human hair into the weaving of the hat so that it still remained an extension of the hat-wearer's body. See more African headdresses here.

Sometimes life really gets in the way

So it has almost been two months of not blogging and we have been getting the question lately, "are you guys giving up on the blog?"

Our answer is a huge NO. We love our blog, and using it as a creative outlet for the past couple years has been something that Chelsea and I have always looked forward to. Life has really just been REAL lately, if you know what I mean? I am back in Calgary now for an unplanned visit and this year has just taken a path that I wasn't really prepared for. Positive vibes though, and things are all looking up from here. The road of life is filled with speed bumps, but all we have to do is slow down a bit for them and soon we have passed over. A huge plus side to my unplanned visit back to Calgary is that I have been able to spend time with great friends and of course spend time with Chelsea. Also, how cool is Calgary these days?

We have plans! We are keeping this blog going. So to start off, I have to compare a South African headdress to Chelsea's Canadian headdress design. Look for that design coming this week! and perhaps next week we will be back in full swing of things.

Our Weekend - April 5-7, 2013

So both Chelsea and I have the lucky privilege of being bridesmaids this September! We both did our brides maids duties this weekend - my duties involved driving to Johannesburg to go the Bridal Expo with the rest of the bridesmaids. Before heading to Johannesburg I headed to the farm to see Rog ( see photo 6 - look how cool I am on the back of the truck will all my macadamia friends).  After driving to Joburg we started the night off at Mantra (3), an amazing Indian restaurant ( what made it even more amazing was the fact that we could bring our own booze...). After lots of champers and wine we headed to Mamma's Shebeen and drank far too much more and danced our bridal party asses off. I have only two pictures from that night, and you do NOT need to see those. I also believe there may be a video floating around of me trying to rap the entire "I like big butts" song...

Saturday we woke up with KILLER hangovers and decided that the bridal fair was something we were not capable of doing - so we made appointments to go Wedding dress shopping instead. I think Tanya ( the bride) found "the one". On Sunday, after a big breakfast with the gang, I rushed home to spend some quality time cuddling with my  darling cat on the couch (1) and of course R.

Didn't chat with Chelsea that much since I was away in Joburg but from the sounds of it the weather was quite crappy so she spent some time indoors drinking tea and reading 419 by Will Ferguson (2), then also headed bridesmaid dress shopping (4) on Saturday for her friend Amanda's wedding, and then escaped the cold again on Sunday to go on a date to see Jurassic Park in 3D ( I must be living in a cave, I had no idea this was out? I LOVE jurrasic park!) and then ate at Clive Burger (5).

yumm.. I could really go for a clive burger and beer right now...

Plains War Bonnet - Aboriginal Headdress, Canada

Growing up in southwest Calgary only a few minutes from the Tsuu T'ina Nation, I’ve always been fascinated by Aboriginal culture and, more recently, troubled by the misappropriation of it. Despite having long been a recognizable and archetypal American Aboriginal symbol, headdresses, or war bonnets, such as this were worn exclusively by the Plains People, a group of tribes that spanned a massive region including Southern Alberta. War bonnets are most often ceremonial, worn by honoured male warriors as symbols of success in battle and of prestige, earning a feather for each act of bravery. Despite their cultural significance, war bonnets are constantly misappropriated in fashion and popular culture as discussed in this article, Hey, You in the Headdress! by Chelsea Vowel.

Chinooks - Unique Weather in Alberta

(scroll down! white was a bad choice!)

Growing up in Calgary, chinooks were one of those things I totally took for granted. I just assumed they happened everywhere and was so disappointed when I went elsewhere and learned that they only occurred at home. Chinooks are unseasonably warm winter winds, often raising temperatures by as much as 20 degrees, accompanied by stunning cloud formations called the "chinook arch" which, while appearing menacing, rarely ever bring rain or snow. They may not be as exhilarating as a Lowveld thunderstorm but a chinook across the Alberta prairies is one of my favourite things about home.