CULTURE
The Fashionable one www.nomadstyle.tumblr.com, English
Who? Carla Mallari co-founded Nomad street style blog with fellow Virginia Commonwealth-Qatar alumni Ahmed El Sayed three years ago now, but she has been running it on her own for the last couple of years. What? Nomad* Style was Qatar’s first street style and fashion blog. As it states on the website, “It’s [sic] aim is to capture the best-dressed and the stylish inhabitants of Doha, no matter where they are from. It would like to encourage all to express their individuality (whether cultural or not) through their clothing.” It’s great for fashion inspiration as she snaps the most stylish around town. Why? “I thought it would be a great idea to celebrate Qatar’s multicultural mix and diversity through fashion,” Carla tells us. “I wanted to break stereotypes on how people live in the Gulf, whether you were an expat or a local.” Her favourite thing about it all, though? “Meeting people from different walks of life. After having asked all the fashion-related questions like where do you shop, where did you get your style from, etc, I love asking the question ‘so, what brings you to Doha?’ Mostly everyone’s answers are because they wanted to try something new and experience a different lifestyle.” 28
FACT QATAR JUNE
What next? Carla also has a clothing line called Cala Mari. Her background is in fashion design and she would like to expand this to incorporate street styles she’s seen. “I put together one-off pieces for my own independent clothing line,” she says. “It would be great to see the various traditional wear thrown into one collection – a mixed bag of nomadic influences.” u
Carla’s Top Tips
• If you’re to blog about anything, make sure it’s something you’re passionate about. Adding new entries wouldn’t be such a chore if it were something you care about. If it’s a topic that excites you, your readers will have a more pleasant time visiting your blog. • It’s one way to express yourself and what you are enthusiastic about. You often discover something as you go along. It’s a great way of learning by doing.
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