Minimal Style Hacks: Best Way To Style African Prints + Ankara Bomber Jacket

One of my biggest minimal challenges has been styling Ankara prints.

Coming from a country with a rich culture, with so much love for colourful aesthetics embedded in almost every aspect of lifestyle, it is quite difficult trying to hold on to my style choices and principles. Coping with minimalism in Nigeria isn’t quite as I dream it, as many brands don’t know or understand what it means yet. Most fashion designers, especially focus more on using Ankara prints, which largely limits my chances of hitting good brand partnerships – for which I can’t blame them, right? I mean, every business wants to make money, and they’d rather focus on trends and what potential customers are likely to purchase.

Today, I decided to make a little twist on my strict minimal rules to show how I’ve decided to style Ankara prints outfits.

There isn’t much story here… basically…

Pair with minimal basic colours. So instead of using a pink or yellow body-con dress to style that Ankara Kimono, go with a black or white or any other basic colour. You can also choose to use only Ankara prints that feature minimal tones like the print I opted for, for my birthday #ootd.

Another interesting method is creating different unique outfits by pairing one piece of clothing with different items from your wardrobe. For instance, in this post, I changed the look of this outfit just by changing my shoes.

I have to come to terms with the fact that as an African woman, it is difficult and almost impossible to stay away from Ankara considering it is part of who I am – my culture. I just had to come up with something.

So I hope you stick around to see how I will be styling African print outfits… and don’t forget to ALWAYS share your thoughts with me.

For this post, I wore this perfectly finished bomber jacket from Cresita Clothing. I paired it with a short cami bodycon dress. Then, to spice up the look to create different looks for different outings, I paired them with a canvas, a wedge shoe and a slingback. These footwears, to me, also reflects what kind of woman you are or the mood you are in.

Are you the everything formal chic? The slingback is your girl. or the ‘don’t stress me up’ kind of lady, then the canvas is definitely your go-to. Just maybe, you are the kind of girl that loves to walk on heel all day, but you like your comfort while at it, the wedge is definitely for you.

So how would you wear it?

I’m wearing: Bomber Jacket by Cresita Clothings, Short Cami Bodycon dress, White Canvas, Paris black wedge and Atmosphere short heel slingback.