Chimamanda featured in New York Magazine's style issue

Photo: Christopher Anderson

 

 

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Writer
“I do think dressing up can be an act of graciousness and respect not only to yourself but to other human beings with whom you interact.”
Why did you pick this outfit? This—mid-length, sleeves, high heels—is my favorite silhouette, the silhouette in which I feel most comfortable. Not physically comfortable, by the way—as I quite happily wear clothes that inhibit breathing (this dress does not, though)—but emotionally comfortable.
Where did you get this dress? My mother bought the fabric for me from Nsukka, where she lives in southeastern Nigeria. I designed the dress, and my tailor Razak made it in Lagos.
Do you prefer being dressed up or dressed down? Dressed up. Perhaps this is a consequence of being Nigerian, where we take appearance seriously, or of having been raised by my mother, for whom dressing up is almost a moral imperative.
Do you get complimented on your clothing a lot? At a recent event in Paris, a woman from Martinique wearing a gorgeous headwrap said to me, “You own your style.” Which pleased my vanity very much! I think I give more compliments than I get. I have a policy of “never admire quietly.”  

See what she rocked today in her ''Today I'm wearing...Closet Diaries''

''Speaking at the Emirates Festival of Literature in Dubai, I am wearing a Roksanda Ilincic dress, a Zara vest and Manolo Blahnik shoes. My belt is from Target''