So my AP weekend started late Sunday afternoon but I managed to throw together this look. My outfit is an Ecoté flower print skirt and bralette set from Urban Outfitters(last summer). I complete the look with retro jelly shoes from strawberry, however from the neck up steals the show. Not very often do I wear makeup, but I beat my face for this day. With a cat eye, gold glitter around my eyes and highlighting my cheekbones, a mixture of lime crime Black Velvet and Polly matte lipsticks, and purple eyebrows. For my hair I did the 6 buns/bantu knots I posted about in this tutorial, topped with a gold headdress from, you guessed it, Urban Outfitters. My large Basquiat earrings, which I purchased at Afropunk fest 2012 from Rockers Closet, add to the fun extravagant style expression the festival always calls for.  |
| Photo by @nigerianrebel |
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| photo by @nigerianrebel |
Now, for my experience. Deciding to attend the festival was very last minute but I still had intentions of having fun. I told my sister to get dressed, she threw on my sunflower skirt, a black crop top, and some jewelry and colorful makeup of her own. Our looks were coordinating and we were ready to go. We entered on the side just outside of the park where all the food trucks were and spent some time waiting on line for food. Once we got our food I noticed it was about 20 minutes until Janelle Monae's set on the main stage on the grass(the larger area). So we headed over there, and layed out our blanket to sit and eat. However, eating was interrupted by dancing while the DJ was playing a mix of classic as well as contemporary R&B, Hip-Hop, and Reggae. The park was flooded with beautiful Black people in african print, and colorful outfits, expressive hairstyles, flowers, abundant accessories and STYLE. The fashion at AP Fest never disappoints. The music never disappoints. Food trucks are great, but those prices are disappointing. But what threw me for a bit of a loop is that they switched the stage Janelle Monae would be performing on. My sister pointed out to me that hundreds of people were heading to the other side, I asked someone and found out that her stage had been switched and then she started her set, right on time. I just assumed they were behind schedule and had to make some last minute adjustments so that Monae's performance would be timely. However , this kid of mishap has happened at Afropunk before and I often hear that the festival is disorganized in various ways. It does not take away from the fun, but I hope Afropunk can work harder in the future to make sure that their audience and staff are all properly accommodated.
More from my look:
I left the festival around 9pm to perform to an Afropunk Afterdark event at The Nuyorican Poet's Café featuring Rudy Francisco and Jasmine Mans. The show was opened with live music from the band "Low-key Nice" a collection of musicians who have played with Jasmine before. Then our host opened up the room and brought me to the stage to perform 3 poems. The night was as impressive as expected. Rudy and Jasmine went back and forth with two short sets each, of course there was music and the atmosphere was unforgettable. Though my Afropunk weekend only consisted of 6 hours of fun, It was very enjoyable.
