Montag, 31. Oktober 2011

Harper's Halloween

photocredit: fashiongonerouge.com
"Another day and night nobody needs, another day to spend money on useless things like vampire teeth and bloodpaste." 
This was my thought when I realised that Halloween is close to show up again. But what if this "event", which has its origins in the US, is celebrated for nearly an incredible week? This is what happens when you live in London. You think you go to a normal party on a Wednesday night for some hip hop beats and all you get is a fully decorated room with scary dressed people (I'm not joking) and other guests being all dressed up (pictures of that evening to be uploaded the upcoming days). I wouldn't really mind how long this whole halloween hype is going to last, if there wouldn't be all of that pressure you feel when everyone around, including your friends, is dressing up and getting all excited. That's why I obviously saw no other chance but to treat myself with some goodies from Ad Hoc .. this time with vampire fangs instead of the regular crazy stuff. 
So what's all that Halloween celebration about?! It's just another day/night/week (for those hardcore Londoners) to get drunk, invest money in useless stuff and then take it as a reason to celebrate at least something. Just like Valentine's Day. Or any other day we never get a reasonable answer for its existence. I guess it's quite funny to dress up and see who else is trying to let out the slutty nun/vampire/police officer babe/what so ever in herself.
Pictures will follow.

Dienstag, 25. Oktober 2011

Another day of summer

Just found those pictures from another day spent at a lake in Austria back this summer. It was just some weeks before I moved to London that they were taken and I remember this time with pleasure.

T-Shirt: Urban Outfitters
Shorts: A&F
Loafers: Prego
Shades: Ray Ban

Sonntag, 23. Oktober 2011

H&M + Versace. What's the hype?

picturecredit: fashiongonerouge
Okay, got it. Everyone's talking about the H&M collaboration with lovely Donatella lately and since (from bit to bit) pieces of that collection were released, I got the feeling of a bloggerwave gone mad yesterday. What's all this hype about? It's not the first collaboration H&M is doing with some high-end designer and it's not the first one, which again doesn't let me queue in front of some store the day the collection is buyable. I mentioned it once in my blog (unfortunately in German when Lanvin released first insights of their H&M collab), but can't resist to repeat myself: To me, it's by far nothing to get too excited about with those collaborations the Swedish retail clothing company is doing over and over again. It's way too obvious for the normal customer that they actually try to make you buy those clothes just because it says "blahblah Versace/Karl Lagerfeld/Viktor&Rolf/Jimmy Choo/Matthew Williamson blahblah".
From an H&M point of view it's perfect: You have millions of girls and women and even the one or another man queuing in front of your store just because you were smart enough to set up that whole idea of making everybody feel a little more "superior"/"exclusive" once in a while. It's just clever because there's no other retailing company (as far as I know) that has such a collaboration "tradition" with high-end designers than H&M does. (and if you want to say "Topshop" then please think about that having models like Kate Moss designing some things is not the same as designers - both in the fashion industry, both important but not the same).
I'm not saying that I'm not curious about how different pieces will look like and especially how they actually look on me etc. but still: Are you people out there serious about going crazy just because the shop you usually go to to buy your basic stuff is finally doing another collaboration? Since I can remember (and I guess I remember from Stella McCartney onwards) H&M fatally failed in transforming a designer's characteristic into their image and above all into real-life-customer-buying-habits (no, this doesn't make me sound more intelligent nor does this word really exist...). Quite honestly I have to tell that some of those pieces, including jewelry, show some kind of Versace-look but still I guess it's nearly impossible to compensate the main intention of H&M (selling clothes for a certain price and therefore having a certain quality) with an high-end designer's image just for one collection. Okay, it won't look like this to the average customer walking into a store and being all excited about the fact that Versace's actually that cool to give you, as the person next door, the chance to wear Donatella's idea of a collection for a much cheaper price than you would normally pay for something that says her last name. 
I always thought that once you pay for something that obviously doesn't say Zara/H&M/whatever, you also pay the name. The image. The whole feeling you get the moment you slip into the clothes. (not trying to generalize it too much). But I think this is what H&M wants to make you feel: A certain kind of luxury. A lifestyle. And a feeling of something special mixed up with the known, normal. 
H&M guys did an amazing job in this but still it doesn't get me personally. Why in God's name spending "a bit more" on that stuff just because it says someone else's name as part of a collaboration? Does it automatically guarantee another manufacture? Does it mean  that nobody will wear exactly what I'm wearing when I'm heading to the next party? (it wouldn't for a pure Versace peice either but H&M will be more likely to show up on the average styles of girls on the street, right!?). Are you seriously going to throw on this bicoloured flowerpower dress including the matching leggings? It may be a matter of taste for some people, but then again it may be a matter of having lost the brain while shopping. I'm honest: Some of those pieces even attract me (like that "leather"dress Abbey Lee Kershaw is wearing). But will they look and especially feel the way they appear in those glossy pictures (and worn by Sasha Pivarova, A.L.Kershaw, and Daphne Groeneveld all having superduperbodies and the right photographer to photoshop)? 
I can't answer right now. Yes, the pictures are all great but I'm highly critical towards that "why again"-release of a huge branding firm which shows how extremely dumb the average consumer itself can be. Dumb like a sheep. And in this case we're probably talking about a huge herd of sheeps. 

Freitag, 14. Oktober 2011

Cirque Du Soir

This week started off with an amazing night at Cirque Du Soir on Monday. Never been to the club before, I was absolutely surprised by everything. The atmosphere, the people, the music, the whole setting - It really all made an impression of a circus and it topped all of my expectations. With all those little "show acts" by the artists being part of the whole club staff, I just got overwhelmed by that night.
I love London. 


Dress: COS
Belt: Vintage
Heels: Zara
Clutch: Yves Saint Laurent
picture above from: http://geeksndfashion.blogspot.com/

Mittwoch, 12. Oktober 2011

Bricklane

picture above retrieved from http://geeksndfashion.blogspot.com/
My third Sunday and second time spent at Bricklane with  Gentiana from http://expressurcreativity.blogspot.com/ , Julia from http://geeksndfashion.blogspot.com/ & Nikki (having no blog so far ;)). Seems like this is the place to be on usual Sundays.. . Full of fashionable, crazy people and never boring, we wandered around ending up in some undergroundish club. Cool atmosphere, cool end of last week. 

Montag, 10. Oktober 2011

Balmain SS2012 ... back on track!

picturecredit: style.com
I couldn't be more excited when I saw the first pictures of the Balmain show in Paris showing up on the web. I've been making it pretty much clear to all my readers that I had some serious doubts about Decarnin's last designs (click here, here or even here) before he left back in February (although I've been rethinking my negative commenting about the collection here... it's not that awful from a current perspective). And there I obviously wasn't the only one. So after his sudden disappearance, half of the outer fashion world was left with a big question mark and after Olivier Rousteing was named to become the heir of Decarnin's Balmain-baby I was absolutely curious what the 25 year old will present for SS2012. He surely couldn't get off with that certain Balmain-look defining itself from sexy bodycon and glittery loose dresses and that hint of rock'n'roll-meets-luxury-chic together with cool casualness. But surprisingly he added some details changing the whole Balmain-impression we got the last seasons to a way more positive outcome than expected. Moving away from simple, questionable details and the whole trashy appearance Balmain slowly became under Decarnin, Rousteing brought it back to higher standards. No paper clips, needles, pins or other office equipment holding together trousers and jackets. No cheap futurism and no badly destroyed shirts & jumpers. "Thank God! Balmain's back!" my inner voice shouted.
Precious embellishments from golden to shiny black were lovely sewed on white and I just get that feeling of a powerful combination between gold and white (which keeps a challenge since the possibility to look cheap is really high) for next year's summer season. I'm still undecided about the denim meets gold version but I guess I'm able to work that out until next year. A definite pro for a casual yet sexy way to go out and dance the night away. An undecided con for a "...seriously?" in my head and the terrible trap of a runway-goes-everydaylife , therefore looking just not as it originally was supposed to be. I'm also not in for those high waisted pants. They look gorgeous on that skinny thing but will they do the same on me being just 169 cm tall? I doubt it... I always feel like I'm wearing some diapers when wearing such short highwaist-stuff and especially I'd do so when the shorts would be as white as they are in Rousteing's version. However, that shouldn't distract from the main intention of the collection: Showing the world that Balmain's on its way of recovery. Suffering from inspirexia (that horrible disease designers tend to get - they just simply lack of any inspiration and therefore fall into a fashion-drought), it seems as if we are literally reaching the golden years again.
Another flashy detail is that massive belt holding together blouses and bottom down skirts or high waisted shorts. Reminds me a little bit of Versace's earlier version and adds that lovely oldschool flair.
Overall I can say that Roustaing's homework has been done. Reaching higher spheres of fashion designing again yet putting things on low-key mode, I give him an A for his runway-debut.

Sonntag, 9. Oktober 2011

Chasing Pavements

I guess this week was the last week of a warm London and guess what! I can't wait for the cold season to start again (and for all the idiots complaining about the weather on Facebook). So this is the very last outfit showing me in some pants without freezing, tights or some flu as a result of posing like this.
+ I finally got the bangles (one of them in those pictures). The bangles I've been asking Santa to bring last Christmas and the bangles I've been asking for on any thinkable give-Anna-a-present-occasion. And since nobody heard/read/guessed my wish, I just bought them. From me to me. A neverending lovestory.

Blouse: Topshop
Shorts: Zara
Sunnies: Vintage
Loafers: Topshop
Bag: Balenciaga
Bracelet: Hermès
Necklace as Bracelet: Tiffany & Co.
Ring: Vintage

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