French Faves

I might not have the budget but I can't avoid some online window shopping every once in a while. My recent favourites are from French brands Claudie Pierlot and April, May. I love how easy to pull of some of those items look, especially as winter is just around the corner and all you can think of is how to keep yourself warm. These styles are certainly cool and chic enough to rock during the winter while keeping everything practical and easy to pull off. Now, if I only had the budget I would have been happier but for now I'll settle for browsing these collections to keep me warm and inspired before winter starts.

Growing up ... into dungarees

I'm clearly on a roll when it comes to not dressing my age, I thought things will change finally this year but here I'm again, finding myself drawn to all sorts of age-inappropriate outfits. 

Today it was this dungarees dress, I love it so much, even though I know deep inside I probably shouldn't because I'm too old but then again, it was all a case of missed opportunities as I was growing up, somehow I never managed to find one that fit well enough when I was a typical 90's teenager and pretty much hated them as a child. But now, just when I promise myself to try and dress like a grown-up and look like a lady I finally have the perfect dungarees dress.I try to convince myself that it's all OK and that tomorrow I'll try to dress up like a grown up again,but today I just want to relive my childhood again.

An ode to the black dress

Trying to reflect on my fashion experiences over the last six months is quite a bitter experience. To be honest, I can't even think of any actual fashion experiences. It might sound bitter and ungrateful but the truth is that adjusting to life in London was far from exciting and inspiring, especially when it came to fashion. My morning routine which previously included lazy snoozes and sometimes two or three outfit changes before taking a short stroll to work has been replaced with a manic morning routine that lasts no longer than 20 minutes before I set on a manic dash for the train to work. Since I'm a terrible morning person, all this manic running around makes me less than excited to get dressed in the morning, it doesn't matter if I keep thinking all night about what outfit I'll wear, when the alarm clock starts ringing, the only thing I want is extra five minutes in bed and something comfortable and easy to wear and this is where my new best friend the black dress steps in. It's not like I never wore a black dress before, but never have I been so reliant on them on a bad fashion morning as much as I'm now! I feel as if I always underestimated the genius of the little black dress as the perfect fashion cure for laziness and now I just can't get enough of all black ensembles, however it does leave me to wonder if the search for a simple and comfortable solution has replaced the desire to experiment and explore the world of endless possibilities we call fashion?

Monday is not a friend

I'm not going to start the discussion about Monday mornings, this photo is probably a good enough evidence of how a Monday morning feels, messy hair, trying to get dressed in partial darkness whilst trying to snap an outfit photo, even having another arm wouldn't help me to get myself organised on Monday morning. So today's outfit was mostly of the kind that can only be described as 'pick up whatever you spot and get on with it' , a random blue sweatshirt and a black skirt , the sort of lazy outfit that just screams 'oh no it's Monday' but I do love this random sweatshirt to which I added this necklace I got from &Other Stories which I love. I'm actually wearing it the wrong way around but I actually prefer it that way because I love the clasp detail on the back. Nothing brilliant there but it's Monday after all so there's still a long week ahead to make up for a slow and not very exciting start to the week.

Zig-zagging

I spent most of this week in and out of conference and meeting rooms, the dress code was very formal and it seemed as if when a bunch of people who are usually used to wearing whatever they want to work meet in a more formal or business setting they all suddenly become uniformed robots, for the ladies including me it was mostly black dresses or a combination of black skirts and white shirts. Needless to say after spending 3 days   dressed like that I started feeling a little tired and bored and since the weather was still cold and unpleasant the only thing I could think off was this strange somewhat hideous somewhat funky cardigan/jacket .

I have a love hate relationship with it, it's warm and comfortable and definitely looks great over a simple t-shirt for that boho vibe (or whatever you would like to call it) but it was the first time I actually paired it with something more formal, it was a coincidence as I was running out of time when getting dressed  in the morning and decided to just stick with this cardigan and black dress, like it or not, I think by the end of the day with the cold weather I kind of warmed up to it but it's still one of those items I'll always have doubts about. 

A different perspective

It's probably been about 6 months since I started this blog, when I started it I had very different ideas on what I want to focus on and how I want things to look, but has time went by I started looking at things differently , it was partially to do with the blog, partially to do with the awful winter and partially because I felt I was lacking inspiration.

This morning was the perfect time to try and do things differently, I was thinking for a while about changing the way I take photos, I made a couple attempts in the past switching from one style to the other. I'm not a good photographer , I do enjoy taking photos but can't say I'm any good. However I did want my outfit posts to look a little more lively and this morning as I was getting ready to go and meet a friend for coffee (in the snow, in the middle of March!) , I decided to take out the tripod that was left in my apartment when I moved in and try and capture a different view of my outfit to see if I can master slightly more organised outfit photos. I suppose it worked, I'm not too happy with the end result but I'm going to post it any way just as note to myself which I'll hopefully look at in a few months to see how things have changed.

I'm still not sure which direction this will take me but I enjoyed experimenting with something a little different and might try to play around more often with how I take my photos. I guess I needed a bit of a change, so please bear with me whilst I try to figure out what's the next step for me.

old favourites

It dawned on me a few days ago that as my search for a new job is progressing , soon enough I might not be able to carry with my habit of wearing whatever I want to work. Most of the recent places that I sent my applications for are more corporate than the workplaces I worked in and to be honest, although it's still a long process somewhere inside I'm both excited and scared of the thought that I might need to rethink how I'm dressing for work. Thinking about this made me seek comfort in some old favourites hiding in my wardrobe. This outfit is nothing to write about home and I've featured all of those items previously, but those three items might be the best representation of what casual work attire means to me and I think that in the next few months while I keep looking for a job I'll try to go back to my old favourites more often so I can celebrate the freedom of wearing whatever I want to work as long as I can.

Can I be a Marni girl?

My interest in fashion seems to always swerve around the alternate fashion fantasy universes I build in my head, it's quite a strange statement I know but I think a big part of fashion has to do with fantasy and sometimes I'm feeling as if alongside the reality of my day to day adventures with fashion , there is an alternate world of what I would want my adventures with fashion to be and somewhere in the middle there is also a space for what I could see myself wearing but can't really afford, there high fashion meets my need for simple and comfortable items and in that little space there is a special place for Marni with their bold jewelry and accessories, lovely prints and simple cuts that in an ideal world I wouldn't mind wearing on a day to day basis. I seem to keep going back to their website and looking through their collections and with each collection I look at I wish that the parallel universe that is my fashion world of fantasy would to align with reality so I can be a Marni girl. I guess it's always good to aspire but then again, people say reality is what keeps us in check so I guess I can hop back to my fantasy world and keep the Marni girl as my inspiration when waking up in the morning and trying to figure out how to dress. 

Shoe lust - Cheap Monday Cube Pump

A little obsessed with this pair of pumps from Cheap Monday since I've seen them in the London store earlier this week. I really like the combination of the pointy toe and the chunky heel and although I skipped the opportunity to try them on, I'm regretting this a little bit as they definitely made an impact when I first saw them.

I might give them a try next time when I'm in London as they're sort of my combination of a perfect shoe, chunky heel , pointy toe, simple but a little out of the ordinary. Not sure I'll actually be able to walk in them so can't really discuss the practicality but they still leave me very fascinated, at least until I get a chance to try them on myself.

Nili Lotan Spring/Summer 2013

It's probably obvious that I love checking out Spring/Summer lookbooks, especially on cold days when it feels like the winter is never going to end , sometimes browsing through them just makes the wait for warmer weather a little more comforting but it's not very often that a lookbook makes me feel sentimental as this one by Nili Lotan. 

On a very cold February afternoon these looks are taking me back to warm summer days back home when there wasn't much choice when it came to getting dressed, a light and basic pair of sandals, a light cotton shirt and a pair of cotton trousers were the only pieces of clothing that can get you through a day of running around when it's over 30 degrees outside and I guess this is why I love those summer looks so much. These looks seem to take me back to the simplicity and the complexity of living back home, but they also remind me how I learned to dress for the summer the hard way with arguments with my mum about wearing sandals (I used to hate them only wore combat boots in my teens no matter what the weather was) or that ridiculous summer when all my friends and jumped on the corduroy bell bottoms trend when it was 30 degrees outside, so many fashion disasters and funny moments back then that make me long for easy and basic summer pieces.
Now if only I could get a little bit of sunshine and warm weather I'll probably jump straight into one of those outfits from Nili Lotan just because they take me back to those hot summer days back home.

black and blue - round two

I think my slight interest in the combination of black and blue is slowly growing into a slight obsession. I decided to mix a couple of items my friend brought over the weekend to help me with my job interview outfit. The blue jumper was actually not planned to be part of any outfit as my friend was wearing it but the colour caught my eye and I couldn't stop thinking about it so eventually I asked my friend if we can do a trade , she picked up another item from my wardrobe and for the time being I'm the owner (or borrower) of this electric blue jumper which I absolutely adore. 

I couldn't wait to wear it this morning, it was actually meant to be part of my job interview outfit but we felt it might be a little too 'relaxed' for a job interview so I finally had a chance to wear it today with a simple black skirt and this fuzzy bomber style jacket which I didn't really get a chance to wear this year. To spice it up a little I decided to skip my usual chunky shoes and wear a pointy pair of patent leather flats and a matching clutch. I was actually really happy with this outfit as it felt refreshing to play around with different items I usually don't wear or use very often and obviously I was quite excited to wear this jumper my friend lent me and I expect it to be a prominent guest in my outfits until my friend decides she wants it back !

Looking for inspiration - the job interview edition

'We have a job interview request for you' , that's what the overly excited lady on the line said to me when she rang me last Tuesday. When I heard that I lost my concentration for a moment as she was cheerfully reciting the details for the interview. I immediately felt the slight feeling of excitement followed by slight panic. 

The truth is I was really hoping this call would come, my new year's resolution was to find a better job so I can move away from where I live at the moment but things were going slow and I didn't really hear back from any of the places I sent my CV to since January. 

I had to get into interview preparation mode, which also meant trawling through my wardrobe to find my 'interview' outfit. Needless to say it was an uninspiring find and as I mentioned before 'corporate' is not really my favourite look which meant the last time I bought something that can be considered 'job interview worthy' was over three years ago! I had to figure out what I can do with what I have. Naturally instead of digging deeper in my wardrobe I chose to seek some inspiration on the COS and Whistles websites, which would have been my ideal work wardrobe choices, with simple styles and great classic cuts and some gorgeous prints. Unfortunately at the moment those will only stay my 'inspiration' outfits but luckily a good friend who's also a 'corporate' type has offered to lend a hand and pop-over tomorrow to help me go through what I have and hopefully come up with some nice outfit ideas. To be honest, I'm actually quite excited and I'll definitely be keeping those looks from Whistles and Cos as inspiration. Who knows maybe if I do get a job one day I'll be able to afford one of those? 

Laying low

Today's outfit is the sort of outfit I just pulled first thing this morning without giving it too much thought , which to be honest is the perfect way for me to get dressed as I feel that spontaneous outfits sometimes work ten times better than an outfit I spent too much time thinking about. I think this jumper from Sandro hasn't really gotten the attention it deserved and I can't seem to find a good reason why, I mean it's simple, warm and comfy and doesn't require too much thinking, but I still can't figure out why I'm not using it more often, luckily today's cold weather was a perfect day to wear this and it really didn't require more than a simple black skirt and a good pair of tights. I actually think it's probably better than most other items I tried so hard to mix and match to get into an outfit. I'm just thinking whether the constant need to improvise because of the weather is dragging me into this boring circle of failed attempts at dressing up comfortably or whether I should stop blaming the weather and blame myself for not investing more money in warmer winter items? This is definitely something I'm admitting to failing at. I tried to avoid admitting this for so long only to realise I might be making the same mistakes again.

I'm hoping that in a year's time this winter's experience will be a good memory of what I should be focusing on when looking at my winter wardrobe so hopefully I'll spend the next winter with more practical items.

A day of khaki and grey

Continuing my experiment of pulling out items from my 'summer' wardrobe this morning, I found this lovely and basic grey wrap skirt. I was quite surprised I tucked it with my summer wardrobe and forgot about it as it's such a perfect item for the winter! When I found it I felt like I hit the jackpot, I know it's just a simple grey skirt but I remembered how much I loved wearing it last summer. I thought about how perfect it would look with just a simple black jumper and a couple of chunky necklaces or bracelets but then I was tempted to try it on with a khaki shirt for the sake of experimenting and I have to admit I loved the result, unfortunately the photos don't do those two items justice but it's a great basic outfit, and although there's nothing ground breaking about it I think it's a perfect for a casual day at work. I'm really happy I'm enjoying playing around with items I've forgotten about it makes me appreciate them again and keeps me from getting into this magic circle of 'I have nothing to wear, I need to go shopping'. It's such a relief sometimes to know that there's some lovely items just waiting to be worn again in new way to help with finding  some inspiration in the wardrobe and not in the shops! 

Forget the winter wardrobe

ASOS T-Shirt, H&M skirt, Zara Shirt, Kurt Geiger shoes

I find it hard to describe how I'm feeling towards the simple daily activity of 'getting dressed' over the last few weeks, I've moaned endlessly about how sick I'm of the weather and got caught up in what I can only describe as 'the magic circle of un-inspiration' when it comes to getting dressed. My morning routine has become slightly depressing when I'm reaching for my wardrobe and picking something to wear. I usually have something in mind when I go to bed at night but then I wake up in the morning, look at my clothing rail and pick up what I thought would be an amazing outfit , only to find myself moaning about it being too cold to wear XYZ or too short to wear to the office or too colourful for a winter day. This endless stream of excuses just doesn't stop and as result I simply back off and go back to my usual over-piling of jumpers, thermals and throw on a printed skirt to make myself feel a little bit better about everything.
Today I decided I must stop this circle by reaching to the 'summer' shelf in my wardrobe. I thought finding some old gems that have been left on the shelf waiting for warm weather might help with finding the spark.
The black and white print shirt immediately caught my eyes as I forgot how much I liked to wear it in the summer, so I said to myself that no matter how cold it might be this is definitely the sort of item I was hoping to find. From there it was a fairly easy journey to an outfit I was happy about, a faux leather skirt and a khaki shirt  over the t-shirt and there I standing in front of the mirror with an outfit I was extremely happy with for a change!
I'm now really looking forward to see what other 'summer' treasures I can find tucked away in my wardrobe.

A practical bag?

Some days are just not good outfit days no matter what , Mondays come to mind when I think of days like these so instead of the outfit I prefer to focus on the accessory. This bag is a great example of a compact and practical bag that's also quite roomy. 

On most days I carry a giant tote around as it's easy for me to just stuff it with whatever I need without thinking too much but today I've spent most of my morning outside and wanted to carry a small and light bag with only the really essential things I needed. 

I found this bag in the Zara sale, I bought it because I thought of using it as a camera bag, but since I don't often carry my camera with me I debated whether I should keep it. This morning I made my mind when I realised it's actually quite perfect for days I spend outside, running from meetings to trains and whatnot, it's quite light and roomy so I can fit my notebooks and my tablet easily and I love  the fact it looks classic but a little edgy with the metal details on the straps and clasp. 

Uneventful outfit for an eventful day

It seems like peace and quiet are not part of the schedule at the moment, seems like every day I'm waking up to something strange happening and this morning was no different when I woke up to loud banging on my door. It was my next door neighbour that woke up to find his bedroom floor flooded and all the traces lead to my bathroom which meant we both had to wait for a plumber to come over. As I had to get dressed quite swiftly I didn't really have much time to think and rethink what I want to wear, knowing I'll be massively late for work I decided to grab this jumper from Monki that I'm liking more and more everyday and with no time for experiments a simple lace skirt was my first choice to complete this look , it's far from being perfect and maybe slightly frumpy but considering the time limitations and the fact I wore two items I never thought of wearing together I think it wasn't that bad. I didn't have much choice anyway as it was just one of those days in which getting dressed definitely wasn't a priority.  

Full force in monchrome

Zara contrast jumper, Topshop skirt

I couldn't ask for things to get better than they are this Saturday afternoon. I woke up this morning feeling so much better than I did in the last few days, it seems I'm finally starting to shake that flu off and looks like my wishes for the snow to melt and the sun to come out have finally been granted as the sun came out for a short time this morning. 

Feeling slightly more energetic today, I decided it would be good to step outside for some fresh air and to make myself feel even better I decided I'll try out the contrast jumper I got from Zara. Earlier this month I mentioned I was unsure of how I feel about the black and white trend, sure, black and white is simple and easy but I still can't really see myself embracing this trend in full scale and I think this is what makes me love this jumper so much. It's simple, affordable and great as an on trend piece without overdoing it which means it would probably stay a favourite of mine long after the black and white trend is replaced by another trend. 

I've had better days ...

Zara jumper and military shirt

The last few days have been just a bit too much for me, starting with ice and snow on the weekend and continuing with a terrible flu which I just can't shake off. The idea of walking into Zara on my way back home from the GP's office yesterday was an absolutely stupid idea but not surprisingly I was just drown in like a fool.

I actually planned to go there to check what happened to an order I made on-line (a very long story!) but since I spent the last few days in my pyjamas,I was really tempted to treat myself to something new and bright, something that feels like Spring and would help to shake a bit of the winter blues. Since I haven't been to Zara for a while I was hoping that new season items will be everywhere. I discovered I was wrong as it looked like the sale was still in full force and only a tiny section was dedicated to new season pieces, disappointed but still not ready to admit to my defeat I picked up these two very basic items that are probably a sharp contrast to anything that can be considered 'springy', a black jumper and a grey shirt that perfectly represent my mood right now as I'm sitting at home wrapped in layers just wishing for this flu to be over already and for the sun to come out and melt the ice and snow. I already have some ideas in mind for both so I'm really looking forward to getting better and having the opportunity to play around with both. 

The blues and the greys - an experiment

Jumper Monki , Skirt Fillipa K, Shoes Bershka

It was Monday's Whistles inspiration post that drove me to pull out some greys and blues from my wardrobe and try to mix them together. I don't really have anywhere to go at the moment as I'm sitting at home trying to battle a flu so I'm left with plenty of time for playing around. I had those two items in my wardrobe that I've been desperate to try out , the jumper from Monki was a recent purchase which was mean to be returned but I think I'm actually growing to like it although I'm still unsure if I'm a little colour blind or whether this is jumper is actually grey with a beige tone or whether I'm completely wrong and it's actually beige? Grey or not I kind of like it and thought it can work well with this printed Fillipa K skirt which I got months ago and never actually wore because of my usual doubts about anything that's blue. I'm actually quite happy about the pairing of those two items and wouldn't mind wearing these two with my studded shoes from Bershka for a bit of a rock n' roll sort of vibe. I only wish I wasn't stuck at home and it wasn't so cold outside as I would love to put this outfit on right now and go out for a walk.