IN CONVO - with Aisha Baker of 'Baked The Blog'

Aisha Baker is quite the delightful blend of coquettish and sophisticated. Her unassuming petite build belies a powerhouse personality with a healthy dash of good-natured humour. Aisha arrived wearing a denim cape draped over patterned tights topped off with a straw boating hat, wisps of hair just visible underneath. Clearly just another stylish morning on trendy Kloof Street for this well-known blogger. She mentioned that she made an effort to be on time as she knew she was meeting two Joburgers - and of course, she wanted to make a good impression. She certainly managed to do just that over the course of our breakfast. 

The lovely Aisha Baker of
bakedtheblog.com

Almost immediately, even before the first cappuccinos had arrived (red latte for Aisha), we launched into a multi-layered conversation spanning health, beauty, lifestyle, celebrities and of course, fashion and all things style-related. Aisha confessed that she was not quite sure what she was going to say to us while on her way to meet us concerning why she started the blog initially. She expressed that it has become a platform of expression for her: a place where she is able to let out her passion for writing and fashion. Baked the Blog is really an insight into her life on different levels. Her posts range from more personal and almost diary-like entries to the slick professional magazine-type spreads. Anyone who has been on to see it (and you really should if you haven't) will admire the simple yet sophisticated layout with a focus on the visually captivating images. An invitation to be drawn in and then to simply revel in the journey. In many senses, this summarizes Aisha the person as well: down to earth yet effortlessly stylish and instantly captivating. 

We had a lovely breakfast with Aisha while we were in sunny
Cape Town

Aisha discussed an upcoming project with us, and her excitement was palpable. 'Beauty School' will be launching on Baked The Blog soon and this is a concept that Aisha is particularly passionate about. When talking about the word 'beauty' and its meaning to her however, it became instantly clear that this is not a girl who has a limiting, constricting view of what beauty is. In fact, her views on beauty were far from conventional and incredibly refreshing. Aisha spoke of integrating the various elements that add to beauty and distilling those to create something beautiful. For her, this includes not just the usual suspects such as the fantastic make-up and hair but also a focus on the internal elements that add to beauty. Aisha spoke about nutrition and its role and mentioned her homeopathic influences which have encouraged her to better understand how what we put into our body affects what we see on the outside. 

Of course, it's not always easy; Aisha's love for pastries and 'baked' goods doesn't exactly assist with temptation when on a gluten-free diet. Aisha also placed an emphasis on moderation and a common-sense approach: she is certainly no fad diet girl. 

Aisha's sense of humour kept Krishen giggling throughout!

Aside from the world of blogging, fashion and lifestyle, Aisha has both feet firmly on the ground. She has taken over the management of the family-run business which specializes in embroidery and she is currently working hard to ensure that the business is successful. This is a full circle moment for her in some senses as her earliest inspiration comes from a family member and her namesake: her grandmother was a bespoke seamstress and Aisha's first love for fashion emerged from seeing her grandmother's garments bring joy to others. 

Aisha's grounded nature means that she also has her roots very firmly planted in South African soil. Although she loves travel and discovering new places, she has a passion for her home country and for a sense of family connection. We shared our mutual love for this crazy, wonderful country and reflected back on some proud historic moments. There's no place she'd rather be and we couldn't agree more. 

Enchanting and engaging - a total pleasure to chat to

After a wonderful breakfast - Aisha stuck to the gluten-free bread while we devoured the wonderful coconut bread at Manna Epicure - we felt as though we'd known her for ages. Aisha related the story of a recent meeting where the person meeting her brought along only a notebook but no pen. A few minutes into the meeting, once Aisha had made an impression, the person rushed off in search of a pen as she realized that Aisha is definitely someone to be taken seriously. This is most certainly true: she is an innovator and a pioneer in addition to being an enchanting conversationalist. And it's only just begun, we foresee great things in Aisha's future. The cliche couldn't be truer than in her case: dynamite certainly comes in small, very fashionable, packages. 

We loved Aisha's easy sense of style
and radiant smile