Fritz Kalkbrenner - Facing The Sun

dedicated to Laurens

a little bit of summer in the middle of winter

Elle Brazil - November 2010

Model: Caroline Trentini

Photographers:  Zee Nunes & André Katopodis

Stylist: Susana Barbosa

sting's daughter

stumbled across this again the other day, and it's still one of my favourites... 

perfection?

On Monday night Blake Lively attended the launch of  Lorraine Schwartz’s “2BHAPPY” jewelry collection, wearing a Versace dress, and accessorizing with Lorrain Schwartz's jewelry and Christian Louboutin heels...

Blake looks simply stunning, and the total look radiates utter class, style, elegance and orginiality. It may be a bit of a risk , but this one really paid off! Serena van der Woodsen would be proud ;)

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beauty essentials

The harsh winter months can dry out your skin, but luckily there are several products that can help ensure your survival! There are a few beauty essentials that I simply could live without, and these are two beauty products that I ALWAYS have with me, especially throughout the dark, cold wintery months.

The Elizabeth Arden cream, created in 1930 by Elizabeth Arden to soothe skin, was an instant success and is considered by many to be a beauty classic. What makes it so effective is a combination of petrolatum, a skin-soothing beta-hydroxy in one of its first cosmetic uses, and vitamin E. The name and eight hour claim, came about thanks to a remarkable performance - a loyal client used it to treat her child's skinned knee and "eight hours later" the skin was all better.

 The Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour cream is a cream you can use for pretty much anything and it helps sooth, restore, calm and help relieve chapped, cracked, dry skin, as well as soothing roughness, redness and minor skin irritations.

The Elizabeth Arden lip protectant is a lip balm enriched with emollients, protective sunscreen and vitamin E, moisturizing, softening and smoothing lips.

Both products are available at most drugstores, and may cost more than your average lip balm or skin cream, but are most definitely worth it! 

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Mumford & Sons

The soundtrack to my winter... 

fusion

Leopard print + ombre + jacket = Givenchy 

monday morning inspiration

kasia struss by hugh lippe

crave you.

love this song...

dedicated to faybia.

Starting Young...

 

I came across the photo above on The Satorialist and  not only is this little boy a real cutie, but his sense of style is at a level of sophistication beyond his young years! 

Sometimes I feel it is a little obvious and a little sickening when parents have overdressed their child, and they can end up looking too old for their years, too overdressed and too boring, but I feel this kid has got the perfect combination, very well-dressed and yet not too over-the-top!

So adorable! 

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the xx

the xx have been around for a while now, but their music never bores, and their album is one of my favourites. the perfect music for pretty much any occasion. 

these are some of my favourites 

Unexpected

Some inspiration to kick-start your week...

On paper Kanye West, ballet, hip-hop and feathers probably shouldn't work but somehow it really does. Even though I'm not the biggest fan of Kanye West himself, I admire anyone who has the confidence to try something different, and who can "think outside the box" and I believe that his audacity to take risks has really paid off this time! 

Sit back and enjoy this feast for both your eyes and your ears....

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be stupid?

 Perhaps some of you have seen Diesel's 'Be Stupid' advertising campaign. It was released in the beginning of 2010, I know that throughout the year I have spotted many of their adverts dotted around Amsterdam and other cities, and they never fail to grab my attention!

The advertising campaign has been pretty controversial, as not only does it appear to have nothing to do with the actual brand of clothing, but it seems to be encouraging people to act stupidly, something which is usually, and supposed to be advised against...

 However, since seeing the adverts I've been meaning to figure out exactly what their intention was with this advertising campaign, and I stumbled across their manifesto:

Like balloons, we are filled with hopes and dreams. But, over time a single sentence creeps into our lives. Don’t be stupid. It’s the crusher of possibility. It’s the worlds greatest deflator. The world is full of smart people. Doing all kind of smart things… Thats smart.
Well, we’re with stupid. Stupid is the relentless pursuit of a regret free life. Smart may have the brains…
but stupid has the balls. The smart might recognize things for how they are. The stupid see things for how they could be. Smart critiques. Stupid creates. The fact is if we didnt have stupid thoughts wed have no interesting thoughts at all. Smart may have the plans… but stupid has the stories.
Smart may have the authority but stupid has one hell of a hangover. Its not smart to take risks… Its stupid.
To be stupid is to be brave. The stupid isn't afraid to fail. The stupid know there are worse things than failure… like not even trying.
Smart had one good idea, and that idea was stupid. You can’t outsmart stupid. So don’t even try. Remember only stupid can be truly brilliant. ( Source from Diesel )

 Even though I am not usually one to advocate for acting stupidly, after reading their manifesto I sort of find myself agreeing with the notion of sometimes actiny stupidly. They seem to be using smart as a metaphor for behaving rationally, safely with their defintion of stupid, which seems to imply that acting stupid would be doing the opposite, and would be referring to living and acting in the moment, without worrying about consequences ad simply just enjoying yourself, which I know is some advice I should probably take...

Either way, I admire their different take on advertising, as instead of advertising the brand, their seem to be advertising a different attitude to life, not something you see everyday...

What do you think? Good advice and marketing, or just plain stupid?

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P.S this post has to be dedicated to Sascha who has the whole 'stupid' attitude totally worked out, even though it doesn't always turn out too great ;)

Love for Lanvin

The 23rd of November, and the launch of Lanvin for H&M collection is fast approaching!! Fashion insiders and fashion lovers (including some friends of mine) are getting very excited for this hotly-antipacted launch, and today the excitement was further fuelled by the release of a taster video, shot by fashion photographer David Simms and staring top models Natasha Poly, Hannelore Knuts and Tati Cotliar:

 

Below are some of the dresses I already have my eye on...

And as an absolute accessories addict, I was super excited to see what this collection had to offer, and I was not disappointed! Below are some favourites...

And my ultimate favourite  has to be this purse! And my birthday is coming up quite soon (hint hint)

(image courtesy of http://afashiontale.dk/2010/11/02/lanvin-for-hm-%E2%80%93-the-collection/)

To see more look here.

I love love this new collection, and cannot wait till it hits the shops! The mix of bright colours, quirky details and interesting shapes makes this a wonderfully artistic collection, and hopefully it will bring a bit of something different to the highstreet! 

Enjoy!

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