The Sunday News
I EXPECTED this year’s Valentine’s Day to be as exciting as it is for a child’s first time at a fare or carnival, but alas it was almost uneventful, as that of a corpse in a graveyard.
This year there were very few reds in the city streets and I fear that Valentine’s Day has become unpopular in most people’s lifestyles, perhaps or rather because of the economic hardships faced by the country.
I do, however, anticipate that we do get by, as we have always had as a country.
Prior to the “lover’s day”, I had spoken to a few boutique and shop owners about what they had planned or had to offer on the special day.
For most businesses the day was characterised by the usual dull and redundant activity, while others introduced innovative ideas to ensure that people celebrate the holiday, even way after the date — 14 February.
One shop within the CBD, which is well-known for coming up with innovative ideas to celebrate various holidays, actually hired the services of a South African designer to tailor special outfits on request for those that had dinner plans.
The owner of the shop, Stanslous Mupundu, said the idea behind introducing such ideas, was to accommodate the saturation of customers, as some goods and services required advance notice, as they were hard to get during the holiday.
“We as Great Expectations, experienced business even though it wasn’t as busy as the other years, Valentine’s Day is one of the most popular days of the year and we sought to spread love through fashion and of course other gifts. Over the years it has grown unpopular because the concept had become monotonous. People have grown tired of the usual chocolates, card and roses.
“We hired the services of a South African tailor who was on call, designing special outfits for customers upon request,” he said.
While that was the case, other people spread the message of love through fashion with the popular colour being red.
You never need an excuse to buy heart patterned clothing and accessories or be clad in red from head to toe but Valentine’s Day is the perfect occasion to make a fashion statement.
I saw a number of people that really made fashion statements with the colour red.
Valentine’s Day is particularly much more interesting for the ladies, as they have more opportunities to play around with outfits.
One lady that really stood out in my books wore a one-shoulder dress, which is really trendy at the moment.
The silhouette is simple but the one-shoulder design and body-hugging satin offered a seductive appeal.
Some shied away from the usual red dress and decided to go black. I thought this to be very interesting, as they added a bit of some colour to it with red wraps or scarf.
While many opted for racy apparel such as dresses or blouses others decided their hearts were in shoes.
Ladies love shoes and I guess nothing says sexy like a pair of red high heels.
With so many people making a fashion statement, I understand others considered making a statement with their undergarments, of course to their partners.
What you wear underneath your clothes may be just as important as the clothes themselves.
People, women to be precise that planned on a night of steamy passion with their lovers or partners got matching red lace undergarments. That will definitely ignite the fire of your love.
The few that love getting into the festive spirit of every holiday had so much fun with fun heart shaped accessories like a big heart shaped headbands, hair barrettes, heart print t-shirts or just painting their nails bright pink or red.
Nonetheless the day still had an impact to those that follow it.
Anyway most people don’t really know why we celebrate Valentine’s Day every year on 14 February.
The truth is, there is no answer that everyone can agree on. But legend has it that years ago, there used to be a priest named Saint Valentine who performed marriage ceremonies despite a ban from the Roman emperor. When he was thrown into jail for this, he fell in love with the jailor’s daughter and sent her a love letter signed “From Your Valentine” — a phrase which is still used to this day every February.
Till next week, let’s keep styling.
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