UJU for the cool

Newish Belts

The reason that I say newish, is because they’re new for me, in reality the age of these belts is probably about 30 years or more. One of them even had a sticker on it for $8.

I got hold of them two summers ago when I was rooting through the closets of my grandmas house and came across a plethora of sweet belts that used to belong to my grandpa. Unfortunately he was about a size 38, so I could really only wear these belts  if the trousers that I was wearing fit perfectly, which really defeats the purpose of a belt. I took them anyways, thinking that I might one day put on some weight, and would need some new belts.

However, I really did not want to wait until I put on weight, or come to think of it, put on weight at all. So recently I had been thinking about how to shorten these belts, and the best that I could come up with was to cut it in half, take out some of the section, and then sew it back together, creating an unsightly overlap. I didn’t think that this would work so I left it. It was only when I came home for easter and my dad had talked about how he had removed the bit by the buckle, shortened it, and then sewed it back in place, leaving no trace of the work that had been done. I thought this was genius, so as soon as I got the chance, I shortened four belts, that I can now actually wear.

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Crew Laptop Case

So I figured this will protect it to an extent, but what I also need is a case that it can slip inside, that has a little bit of padding in it to save it from small drops and the such. When I was at the Apple store I looked around but didn’t see anything that I felt justified spending £30 on, so I figured I would just make one.  When I got home I found an old rugby shirt in my closet that I didn’t wear anymore and just started cutting it up.

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MacBook Pro Baby

Yesterday I made one of the biggest purchases of my life and bought a new MacBook Pro. I have been wanting one of these for years now, and finally the starts aligned meaning I had the money to buy it, and the reason to get it. With my student discount, it came to £850 which is still a ridiculous amount of money so of course the first thing I bought to go along with it was a case. I decided to get an incase, clip on skin, that protects it from bumps and scratches that permanently stays on the laptop, because with past experiences, that is what causes the most damage to them when I am carrying them around.  I went for an opaque case that wasn’t too obtrusive and so you could still tell what laptop it is (because thats the point isn’t it?)

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To Vintage or Not to Vintage

I’m actually very fed up of the word Vintage being thrown around recklessly. Today was just the final straw when I overheard this statement in a conversation between two individuals, “I bought this vintage scarf from H&M and some other vintage bag from peackocks.” Just to elaborate, vintage in regards to clothing means clothing that is originally from another era. So this item of clothing would have been previously worn and probably belonged in an era that is not the present. A piece of clothing passed down from your grandmother which she owned when she was 18 is vintage, a scarf, made in columbia last month, brand new and purchased from H&M is certainly not vintage. If an item of clothing looks vintage then its just that, it looks vintage or has a vintage feel…that will be all. On that subject some wonderful vintage pictures I came across today….

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4ballerinaswithmachetes

hey guys,

well aren’t the uju team all lazy bums for a while but no worries we are back….

I’ve always had an eye for photography and have always had a secret love for it….did my first shoot of my pals the 4ballerinaswithmachetes…..check this out and some feedback would be very nice too:)

add me on my photography facebook page the name is Malenyas malenya

© Petronila Osodo.

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Prague

Prague was the first time I ventured into Eastern Europe, Bucharest being the second. Unfortunately I don’t know as much about Prague as I do about Bucharest because a local did not show me around Prague. So this is really just a few photos of what we did and what we saw in 2 days.

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Holy Mary Mother Of Zion.

The Best Band You’ve Never Heard.

WARNING: BEFORE YOU GO ANYWHERE, AND IF YOU HAVE SPOTIFY, START HERE: Fat Freddy’s Drop

Right so it’s probably about time to write another long article about one of the bands which has been ever-present in the music I have been listening to for the past year, Fat Freddy’s Drop. They come and go in phases of transition, but still literally get better every time I listen to them. Why? Probably because they’re all very talented musicians, each bringing an interpretation of their respective instrument that is not only as fresh as the dew on your front lawn in the morning, but bordering on pioneering when combined. But it’s more likely that it’s because their interpretation of Jazz, Soul, Rythm & Blues, Dub and Reggae (not to mention Funk, a cheeky bit of Disco and some infectiously cool Charleston-esque breakdowns) makes for one deep ocean of sound to drown yourself in.

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Its All In The Family

The Original Mr RAS

This Christmas, we were looking through old photos that my dad had scanned in to the computer. I came across some great old photos of my grandpa (the original Mr RAS) that I just had to share. I always knew that he had great style, but it wasn’t until recently that I really appreciated it. Below is the photo that motivated me to write this post.

Pink blazer with tortoise shell glasses, the guy is rocking it.

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New Years Cuff

To begin this decade,  I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year. I was inspired to write this post sitting on the train on the way to watch the London fireworks.

It begins with one site I like to follow pretty regularly, The Sartorialist.  Scott Schuman (The Photographer) concentrates on the small details in what people are wearing and set up his website to show what he believed “was a disconnect between what I was selling in the showroom and what I was seeing real people (really cool people) wearing in real life“. Visiting this website has made me spend more time really looking at what people are wearing, and try to imagine what Scott would say if he was writing about it.  With that in mind I was pleasantly surprised to look down at my cuff on the way up to London and notice that it was perfectly layered – shirt, jacket then coat.

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Desperate Breaths

Desperate Breaths Into The Mouth Of A Dead Movement And A Rather Sterile Tribute to Jack

It’s been over fifty years since the publishing of Kerouac’s seminal On The Road, having played as much a part of the Beat Movement as it’s legacy forms a piece of legend for anyone who idolises the past and present of what’s hip and cool today. About three weeks ago I set about myself to undertake a spontaneous and poorly planned road trip to the most foreign regions of the great and often barren nation that is Australia, my peers likening it to the journeys travelled by Kerouac in the post war era across America. The plan was to hitch hike to the Northern city of Darwin, over 3000km by road from my home in Brisbane, I brought with me just over $150, an overnight bag and a satchel filled with journals. Whilst I did not seriously consider myself a modern day Jack Kerouac, the parallels between his adventure and mine were becoming very clear, oh but how the roads had changed in half a century- and they were soon to bare their glaring differences.

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