About
Every Moment is a Memory
Embracing Femininity Through African Style!
Elegant Axxents was formed from in 2009 from the vision of a mother and daughter with a love for African waist beads and a desire to share that love with all women.
Wearing waist beads is a form of self expression through adorning the body. Our goal through our line of accessories is to encourage women to express their femininity, embrace their body's beauty and enhance their style.
Our line of accessories continues to grow from Anklet Beads, 7-day Bracelets, Wooden Jewelry, Handbags, Wallets and Beaded Sandals; all meant to accent any outfit for a stylish and complete look. Please continue to visit our site and enjoy our products.
About
The idea for Elegant Axxents began when I was a young child. My mother ensured that I wore my traditional string of beads around my waist for protection and also to shape my body. Somehow the beads seemed to nudge me into moving my lower body a certain way that, over time shaped my body and gave me a more elegant appearance. My beaded string also served to secure my lappa (African wrap skirt) when I first began wearing one.
Every 4 to 6 months my mother would add extra beads so that my string was never tight. She would add more blue beads than any other color and, as I grew taller and larger, she would inter-space the blue with white and yellow and the occasional black. The blue was to keep me calm and observant so that I could easily gather knowledge of anything that could be learned in my environment. The yellow was to facilitate my understanding of the meaning of new things that I was learning. The white was to soothe my temper and equalize the effects of the other colors. The black would keep away unwanted outside influences.
When I reached puberty I wore two strings of beads each strung completely differently from the other. When I became an adult I chose my own colors based on what I wanted for myself and wear these mainly at night. During the day, I wear the strings of colors that match whatever outfit I wear that may expose the beads.
Now, tradition aside, it has become fashionable to wear waist beads of single or multiple colors. The ankle beads that were traditionally worn by the young African girls during their coming of age ceremony have also become fashionable as well, although not as widespread as the waist beads.
I travel frequently to Africa, mostly in West Africa where my roots and extended family members are. This gives me the opportunity to choose a wide variety of the latest designs of beads. The beads are strung in Africa on site and to whatever specification and length I require.
Eventually, we want to move to the external waist beads, which are much larger and with a smaller variety of colours. These are far more expensive and would probably require them to be worn with garments of African material: print or woven. Stay tuned!!!!