By Ngozi Ufere
The MAMA (MTV Africa Music Awards) is one of the biggest events celebrating contemporary African music and its contribution to the rest of the world. The 2014 MAMA which held in Durban, South Africa, was packed with Africa’s finest creative and talented people. The event provided us, fashion lovers, way more than fifty shades of style to gaze upon and it is my fashion duty to input my subjective two cents.
Here are my picks of the best and worst dressed female celebrities at the event.
Best dressed
Bonang Matheba
Bonang slayed on the red carpet with this elegant, green cut-out a-line dress showing her beautifully toned upper-body. Cut-outs are the rave of the season, but they have the tendency to go awfully wrong. It doesn’t give full coverage so the cut-out fabric has to be impeccably positioned; it therefore has to be custom-made to fit the wearer because everyone’s body is unique. The only reservation I have is the mono sleeve; its makes the simple outfit look a little too dramatic and costume-ish. Her hair which was pulled back in a sleek-updo was perfect, also complementing her choice of minimal makeup and jewellery.
Efya
From head to toe, Efya looked glamorous! They say less is more; this orange-reddish mermaid-cut dress is definitely proof of that. The intricately detailed neckline gives the outfit a statement look. I must confess I didn’t like her hair at first; I would have preferred a side-swept curly hair to the updo she opted for, but the more I looked at it, the better it looked. Her choice of jewellery, the chunky bracelets, completed the look perfectly.
Worst dressed
Dija
Unfortunately, Dija is my first choice for worst dressed. I love dija’s style, I think she inhabits the space where girly and tomboy intersects – something I can relate to – but this outfit didn’t do her body justice. Her petite frame was literarily drowning in all that fabric, I honestly wonder how she was able to drag all that weight around successfully because it seemed to be weighing her down. The first thought that came to my mind after seeing her hair was, “OMG, this reminds me of the movie, ‘The Ring’”. Remember the scary girl that would come out of the TV screen, from the well, with a bunch of hair in her face? Yes that girl. If she really wanted to cover her face, I would have preferred her wearing a mask. However I do love her sneakers!
Dorcas Shola Fapson
Shola is a beautiful woman with an amazing bod, but this outfit is a total fail. First off, it isn’t appropriate for an event like the MAMA’s, it is an outfit fit for a Friday night out to the club. She would have gotten away with it if it was a longer dress with better fitting at the chest area or better still a completely different outfit. Maybe chandelier earrings would have giving the plain outfit a bit of ‘oomf’, but I honestly don’t think that would have made much of a difference.
Which is your favourite MAMA’s red carpet look?