By Gloria Haguma
Doreen Faith (DF) is a UK based Ugandan fashion designer. She is very passionate about fashion. We caught up with her and she shares her style story below.
1. How many vintage items do you have in your wardrobe?
DF: That would be my fur coat which is over 6 years old now bit still looks ad brand new every time I wear it.
2. What is the one thing people don’t know about your wardrobe?
DF: I have a lot of fabulous old clothes which look like current purchases. I am very good at keeping my clothes tidy.
3. What is the one item that has stayed in your wardrobe longest?
DF: My Miss Sixty distorted jeans which I’ve had since 2007; they still look trendy regardless of any season.
4. What is your most prized fashion item, and for how long have you had it?
DF: My camel coat from Mango, I’ve had it since December 2010 and every time I wear it, it still looks as brand new as it ever did when I first purchased it.
5. Do you have a fetish for trends?
DF: Not really. I’ve learnt not to follow fashion trends and have rather become a style conscious person. I don’t feel the urge to be seen in all the latest fashion trend. I have a discerning attitude so now days I only invest my money on quality pieces and classic fashion.
6. How much of your fashion choices reflect your personality?
DF: I only buy clothes that reflect my personality.
7. What is the one item you can never have enough of?
DF: My number one fashion craze is high waist pieces. I love anything high waist in any form; let it be skinny jeans, pants, skirts, shorts or even wide leg trousers, there are staple in my closet and it has become a tradition to wear them any season.
8. What are some of the irritating fashion trends you notice with Kampala men?
DF: Unfortunately I don’t live in Kampala and every year when I return home I don’t really notice or pay attention to how the men dress. No one has really caught my eye, style wise.
9. Which Ugandan celebrity do you feel need to hire a stylist, to turn their fashion sense around?
DF: That’s a tricky one because I don’t know that many UG celebrities but I have just recently learned about a musician called Sheebah Karungi, I quite like her music, I think it’s dope. I also noticed that her style is a bit all over the place so maybe she could do with a bit of professional styling to revamp her image.
10. Which international celebrity would you swap wardrobes with?
DF: I am a stylist to my anatomy, every now and then I like to reinvent myself. So I love my style and wouldn’t dare swap it with anymore else.
11. What is your emergency outfit?
DF: My skinny jeans do the magic all the time. I could just throw on a stylish top or leather jacket and am good to go.
12. If you were to auction off your bag collection, how much would it go for?
DF: My handbag collection is very timeless. You know what they say about classic things; they never go out of style. So I would make some pretty good bucks.
13. Which designer brand dominates your wardrobe?
DF: My Celine & Missoni classic sunny shades which I love very much, also my YSL tribute classic black sandals.
14. Which is the one trend you can never ever try out?
DF: The sneaker wedge trend, it’s too diluted by the masses so I vowed to never be part of it. Also those beige ladies heeled ankle boots that are flooded all over Instagram. What makes it sad is when someone posts a picture and captions it: “rocking my Timberland boots”. Well, here’s the truth diluted people; Timberland doesn’t do ladies heeled ankle boots. The only heeled style that Timberland does is the ankle wedge heels. The rest of the shapes and styles are imitations which don’t even have brand’s tree logo.
15. In the fashion world, the skimpy items are what are viewed as sexy. What is your view on this?
DF: I wouldn’t say in the world of fashion but rather entertainment because it’s where majority of the female musicians feel the need to dress in scantily clad clothes as a way of being perceived as sexy and staying relevant in the music biz. Think of Kim kardashian before she met Kanye. She used to dress sexy-classy but now her style is just all over the place. By the way I am not a Kim fan, just in case people are wondering. I just like to make reference to her style.
