Just before we headed off to Marrakech, I found myself in Zara in Covent Garden looking for a few additional pieces for my summer wardrobe before I met for dinner with my friend Yasmina to discuss and plan our Moroccan adventure! While I was looking, I saw one of the shop assistants stroll past me wearing this very tunic and instantly fell in love (with the tunic that is, not the shop assistant!). Within minutes I had purchased it and changed into the dress for my dinner date! It remains one of my favourite buys of the year and is the dress that gets the most complimentary comments when I wear it, mainly I think down to it’s beautiful design, colour and pattern.
Apart from anything, it is completely versatile and can be worn all year round day or night. The fabric of the tunic is incredibly lightweight so perfect for the warmer spring and summer months with sandals but in the autumn or winter you can also wear a vest underneath it for an extra layer of warmth, tights and knee high boots. The shape of the dress means that it will also suit women of all shapes and sizes too as is a loose fit with a flattering tie waist. They also do the dress in different patterns and colours too so worth taking a look below this post at the other options available.
A Mini Adventure in Marrakech
Safe to say my dress was one of the first things I pulled out of my suitcase to wear when we finally touched down in Marrakech. My partner and I had arrived there to do a post wedding shoot for Yasmina and her husband Darrin. They had married in Marrakech late last year but wanted some extra special photographs as had not had the time on their special day. As Yasmina is also a yoga teacher she wanted some dramatic imagery of her practicing her yoga, so leaving Darrin behind to shop in the markets, we headed out towards the Atlas Mountains to see what we could find. It was on our journey that we discovered an amazing building sat alone high on a hill with nothing but a winding dirt road to reach it overlooking a vast sweeping landscape. Looking like some sort of dramatic Moroccan castle with it’s huge and imposing structure, it seemed a possible photographic location too good to miss, so we decided to drive the 1/2 km up to its door with a slight sense of nervous excitement and curiosity as to what we would discover about it when we arrived.
As we pulled into the large dusty circular entrance at the top of the hill, we found ourselves surrounded by well tended gardens and flower beds but a completely deserted looking building apart from one hire car parked empty outside. Like extras out of a haunted house movie, we approached the large wooden door which stood temptingly ajar. We couldn’t help but step through it into what can only be described as a secret paradise beautifully unfinished, with a stunning courtyard filled with flowers and and an empty stone swimming pool just waiting to be filled. It was then that we realised that we had entered a hotel that was either in the process of being restored or that had possibly been recently built but was yet to be completed. The style of the hotel was so traditional in style with white patterned tiles floors, aged wooden doors and beams, dramatically high ceilings, long corridors and exposed wiring in the many clay baked dusty rooms, that it was too difficult for us to tell for sure. We walked through the empty entrance hall and down the long corridor that led to another corridor and stairs calling “Hello” and wondering if we would discover the occupants of the mystery car outside.
It was then that we heard faint voices and saw an old Moroccan man casually dressed pass through an upstairs door onto the sun terrace above followed by three Western looking men. We approached them warmly and Yasmina spoke in Moroccan to the old man while we stood anxiously awaiting translation of their conversation and whether we would indeed be allowed to take photos inside. To begin with things seemed hopeful as he said goodbye to the three Germans that had, like us, been lured to the grand hotel on the hill out of curiosity and been shown round by the old guard. However, as we began to change in a room out of sight of the man in preparation for our shoot he began to get spooked by the thought of us photographing there and getting in trouble with his boss. Sadly, we were asked to leave which was painful as the photo opportunities inside were breathtaking. As we left back through the large wooden door the man was distracted by yet another car of tourists pulling up and walking into the entrance hall for an impromptu tour so we cheekily grabbed the light and managed to fire off just one shot of me standing on the steps at the entrance before we heard an angry voice come to chase us away! Undeterred, we jumped in the car and headed away further down the hill from the hotel, just far enough to be out of sight so we could take some photos of me for the blog followed by some beautiful images of Yasmina and I doing yoga with the hotel as a dramatic distant backdrop on one side and the Atlas Mountains on the other.
Once we had got what we needed we drove back down the winding dirt road to the main road and back to the city after what can only be described as ‘a mini adventure’!
The End.
Oh yes, there is that stunning dress from when I met you! It’s gorgeous. This looks like such a wonderful place to visit. I am completely jealous, even though you were shouted at 🙂 still, it was worth it for these photos!
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Haha Melissa! Sometimes you’ve just got to go for it to get a great shot! 🙂 x