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Turns out I was happy last thursday


Again actual conversation. Again it was me saying (this) ridiculous sentence. 
It is so easy to forget how happy you are just after one crappy afternoon that doesn't go according to your expectations. Nothing doesn't have to happen. And even after years of experience, or if you want living, I cant seem to remember that happiness is not something achieved and than maintained.
So don't worry cause  this silly thought has passed soon. Today I am sitting in the sun eating pomegranate my neighbour gave me and feel super happy. Like there is nothing in the world but rainbows and ponies... and pretty girls in pretty clothes... but this is pretty much the same thing.

This is not for you, this is for me



Recently I read quite a good article on a lovely blog about lingerie and people wearing it and not wearing it an how lovely it is (though I doubt she had something like this in mind).
It is an interesting subject: can't say am where I would like to be in this area (I think it goes together with the shoes issue), but I do have to say I have a fair amount of pink things. Wink wink!
But what always surprises me is when I see who are those people who have a lingerie fetish: I've had a pleasure of witnessing a fair amount of otherwise repressed individuals having exquisite collection of sexibles and it had nothing to do with actually having sex. It was just about wearing pretty sexy things (hence the title) I love the idea of people wearing something like this under their everyday clothes in everyday, mundane, situations. Someone standing in front of you in the que...
I don't like overtly sexy people (although I strangely like, wait for it, Katie Price). I find this to be a sign of insecurity, in both man and women (though maybe not gay ones, they have different rules- straight people are more... straight), so when I see someone who is demure on the outside and wears something like this underneath, I find it so very cool.

Word on cat eye

 

Isn't cat eye the most flattering look ever... I don't think I have ever seen someone look bad with it, which can't be said for smokey eye (Two words: Taylor-WTF-Momsen). 
Cat eye is sexy, stylish and always in. It ads glamour in an instant... It doesn't cry for attention. It's demure. It lifts the eye. I could keep going, but I just made a drawing. 
Tell me how do you imagine this girl looks: What is she wearing? Where is she?


Girl meets boy

There is an editorial in this months french Marie Claire in which every single page is me. 
EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. It's very french, so girl is very done and undone at the same time (which I love love love). But one major thing about it is that there is a lot of boys clothes; Jacket and a skirt, or wide legged trouser and a tiny tiny blouse. 
At the moment (and this is a reoccurring theme throughout my life) what I love most is wearing something very boyish and than something utterly feminine. Like boyfriend jeans and red lipstick. Or, white shirt with skinny jeans and heals (this is fantasy option... in reality it is going to be my gold ballerinas)
The contrast between these makes me giddy...

White winter hymnal


This is a post on cold. And fog. And rain. At 6 30 in the morning.
This is basically a rant.
First of all, just want to say I have a great job that gives me great comfort and freedom in work. But twice a week I catch a bus and get down to the company so I have to get up really early. This by itself is still not  a problem.
The problem is, that when I get up and go, it is brutally cold and during winter it is still dark outside. And the place I go to is enveloped in pretty much perpetual fog which doesn't lift before noon (on a warm day).
Days are getting shorter and autumn is in full swing (although every once in a while I will still notice, half surprised: - Oh look, the leaves have started to go yellow. Constantly behind!), so I know the above scenario is fast approaching. When the alarm goes off, first I try to think of a reason why I don't have to get up. By now I have a rule not to trust my brain in these situations, as a lot of crap starts to make sense. Then I get ready in a flash as the apartment got cold over night as well, and in about 7 minutes am out the door.
And than the cold starts to bite my cheeks and trying to get under my coat...
Everything about this mini trip is depressing. The children's hospital I pass and a crying kid at 7 in the morning. The Central bus station where I catch my bus, with its beggars and winos and invalid pigeons (seriously; 1 in 2 pigeons there is missing a leg, an eye or both!). The women who work at ticket sales. The bakery with exchange office in it (WTF?). Everything.
I figure I will just have to find something about this to make it cool. Suggestions are very welcome, as my depressed panic is getting the better of me.

Caped crusader


Last night my mother is flicking trough french Marie Claire, and keeps going:
- This is what we wore as girls... and this too... and trousers like this... and capes... and colors like this... and like this.
For the record, am not a big fan of the seventies. So any of these is not on my hit list. I don't like those colors. Or the shapes. Nor the hats. I know I might lose readers over this, but I quite hated the entire Marc Jacobs spring/ summer 2011.
But I like me a cape. There is something little bit eccentric about it, little bit removed from the pragmatism of a coat. So here is a drawing of a cape, the way I would wear it.
And yes, this includes the dog!

Gym on my mind


For a while now I have this need to go back to the gym.
You wouldn't think it when you see me, but I am a gym bunny. No really, I am... Its just that am lazy. And friggin inertia screws me over and over again.
On my good days, though, I really like yoga and going to the gym. Love the energy it gives me and how ever I might look am light on my feet and firm (this is bit of a overstatement...maybe firm-er is a better word).
And yoga is basically the only thing that makes my brain shut up. I think I love it for that hour of silence it buys me.
Nothing more to be said on the subject I think. I should just start going again and that's it...

Life according to hair


First I’ll shampoo twice, leave the conditioner for 5 minutes and then rinse the life out of it (this buys me at least 20 more minutes of non greasy hair). When it’s about 70% dry I’ll start to blow dry it. In one inch segments of course. I don’t use any mousse or spray as this just seems to steal my precious “good” hours. Doing the back of my hair is also a great triceps workout as I hold a 2000 watt blow drier in the air for about 7 minutes.
After this I have about 10 to 15 hours of good hair and about 15 more hours of OK hair (from there on it's either again from the beginning or ponytail).
This is basically the way I organize my life: Most important events have to fit in that 10 to 15 hours of  good hair.
Mostly I just crave volume. Why, you ask?
Oh I don’t know. Maybe cause my hair is missing a gene and wouldn’t curl if her life depended on it, so it just lays there... straight and flat. Or cause I like a hair that frames my face, or has any kind of impact on my silhouette. Or maybe because trends may come and go, but voluminous hair is always there.
Or...OR... cause after all is said and done, straight or curly, voluminous hair always looks better than flat hair.
P.S. I would just like to state for the record, that despite all I just said I do like my hair and I think it has many wonderful qualities. I wouldn’t want it holding a grunge! (Don’t laugh, this is completely possible and anyone who ever had a bad hair month knows it).

Lets dress like it's 1991


I've noticed a lot of nineties looking ads this year and am loving it. Probably because of the psychological connection to my formative year (yeah, yeah, am applying Freud on me reading Grazia and Gioia when I was 10). This is probably due to Jil Sander, camel coats and (in a very weird way) Prada (am thinking Krizia and Neckerman, but God knows why).
But this is nothing new, as we all know fashion is cyclical. 
Thanks to this am probably gonna reuse all this drawings in about 10 years time. Might finally have time to have kids then. Fingers crossed camel comes back!
P.S. The drawing is of this years Chloe ad. 

Sweet dreams


 

Me and shoes are like teenagers and sex: I like them but I don't do them. Metaphorically speaking my looking at pictures could be considered masturbating.
Maybe it has something to do with the first ever post on this blog, but on the other hand I know women who wear shoes I dream about and are definitely not grown up.
Drawings are of some of MiuMiu shoes from this collection, worn over socks (I really like this trend)...


Fuck I should grow up!


This year's favourite Burberry looks

Do the sexy

 

Remember that Horst photo from the thirties, Corset for Vogue. I had a major crush on corsets since I was a preteen. They seemed to be something so utterly feminine and sexually liberating, that I felt they belong to some other species. It acts like a highlighter pen for female shape. So not only do you have breasts, you have perfect full bosom. Not only do you have a waist, you have a tiny wasp like waist. This off course makes ones hips perfectly oblique to give you a feel and a look of a Minoan snake goddess (for those of you who don’t know, please google it... It doesn’t look good in my layout).
I had one in high school (Corset that is, not a Minoan snake goddess). My mother gave it to me (?!?!).  It was white and almost virginal, but a corset non the less. I used to hide it even from myself as I would blush at the tought of such sexual proactivity. But on one occasion of having no clean bra I discovered its powers over both me and him. From then on I used this excuse of “laundry day” whenever I wanted power in that relationship (though this wasn’t that often as I have a complicated relationship with power).
These days my fascination with them is mostly fashion related, as they went mainstream and you get them everywhere. Loved them at Dolce & Gabanna this year, all in white. Love them in all the fifties trends. Spring fashion trends were full of corset as outerwear and underwear. Good year to do sexy!

Neon lips


Every single season it is excitedly reported that it is IN.
It is THE thing to wear."
It was eveeeerywhere on the runways" they say.
It is usually pared up with a similarly unwearable trend like extreme smokey eye, weird hair and/or blusher from cheeks to your temples.
This alone is not the problem: after all runway is not reality and it is not suppose to look like it. That's why we love it, right! But as reality proves every season, we just ain't gonna wear it!
I do like it... It gives any look instant edge! You can do everything from harajuku girls to future romantics. I love it most in, surprise surprise, its pink incarnation (I was never brave enough to wear it though, as I believe it requires a certain kind of lips: symmetrical, proportionate, maybe a little quirky. Mine, are not.).
But on the other hand, orange version completely baffles me. It's one of those things you can always find on discount even after sales season is gone: BECAUSE NO ONE BUYS IT! (It's usually there with brown lip gloss, and some other obscure shades that have missed it's season, poor babies).
So here is my little ode to neon lipstick, the eternal next big thing.

Is it allowed to be sad on a fashion blog?

I am not entirely sure. On one hand I read plenty of them, and no one ever is... But on the other hand, I didn't hear about it being a big NO. So here it is.
It all started yesterday afternoon while coming back from work. I saw a granny begging and, above everything else, she seemed sad... After that, all I could see around me were examples of decay and growth next to each other in even the littlest of things. For dinner I had my drugs of choice: tomato soup, cheese, chocolate and wine (don't ask about the soup... I have a thing for soups). Watched Chelsea lately. All by the book, but nothing seemed to help. I was just sad. So I skipped posting as I didn't think this was proper.
But here I am today, still sad. I am sorry if this is killing someone's buzz, but unfortunately I cannot help it at the moment. Am thinking soon am either gonna repress it or find out what it is, and it will pass, and am gonna be back to posting cheerful drawings of pretty ladies.
Today, though, I am sad.

Visible structure


Strange thing happened last night when I was drawing this girl.
I don't know how other people do it, but when am drawing on my computer the process is pretty similar to drawing on paper. Most of the times, first I do a rough sketch to get a feeling of proportions and shapes, erase it all and than make a real drawing.Of course there are those magical days when lines seem to just pour out of my hand without knowing and I think maybe something is gonna become of me. On computer I usually do this on a separate layer and then either just hide it or delete it before exporting.
But this time it seemed to look better with the structure visible (of course, correct me if I am wrong) and I decided to leave it. I thought about this long and hard, pressing the little eye in Photoshop over and over again...visible... invisible... no, visible... no no, invisible... i don't know... invisible... no no... and on and on like this for many more goes.
In the end I decided to go with visible. For an experiment if nothing else.
Now am gonna go all Sesame street on you, and leave you with a little moral of the story on polished life and the structure underneath; although rough and ugly on its own, it might be the thing that gives us depth. I know in this case it helps that it is pink, but still...

Summer in the city


There wasn't much of this last summer. For me at least. Somehow I managed to miss it. 
Sometimes in late August I realised its not June anymore. I was at the beach only twice (one being a quite a special experience on a nudist beach, of which you'll probably hear sometimes later) and the other with my dear Ana. That was great... Painting toenails on the beach... Trying to keep the Italians away... talking nonsense... reading Glamour magazine's silliest articles... just super light. Apart from that my summer was just your average summer in the city (remind me later to post another illustration of Maggie on this subject, its quite lovely). But there was one thing that was great: eating watermelons in the afternoon heat. I love watermelons and I ate them almost every day, but on some days everything would be just right and it would be juicy, sweet and cold, and the day would be hot and dry. And there was nothing better than to sit there in my undies eating watermelon, all sugary and refreshing. 

Antibiotics


This is an actual conversation. Clothes is imaginary. Although maybe it would be better if it was the other way around, but there you go... That's life for you! If only all my conversations looked this much in season. Also you know I was thinking, if I want this blog to go well, I really should acquire a more stylish life... 

Eyebrows

 

So I get up this morning all chipper as usual, (not completely untrue) and what do I see in the mirror. I see that my eyebrows are a complete mess!!! I was mortified... I felt like I was walking for days with a poppy seed between my teeth and nobody told me. WTF... how did I get here, how in the name of god, did I miss this or better yet ... Why?
Anyway I took care of it then and there, but not good... Not good at all!

Anxiety attack

So yesterday I went for coffee with my dear friend and I tell her about my post (you know, the Corinne Bailey Ray one below) and this conversation happens.
I swear, my life seems scripted at times (someone once told me it seems to be a series of funny sketches)... or maybe I just watch too much TV and have started to think in sitcom scenes... Anyway, who cares, its fun!


Corinne Bailey Rae

 

This is a thought and an image that passed through my head last night. I know I will probably curse this one in no time (as it happens with this kinda wishes)... But I just love her last album The Sea and it's a kinda thing to listen to when you're either broken hearted or in mourning. And I am neither. These emotions are almost necessary to hear those songs and feel them as they are.
I suppose I could recycle some old hurts, but that just feels like wearing old clothes... and I suspect would bring on another set of (uncool) problems.

Internet beauties

Lately, unfortunately, I haven't seen anything interesting around, but Internet has provided infinite source of beauty. Here is a few things I've done while either just looking at whats up around or fantasy shopping (mind you, since I've been kicked out of American Express this is mostly the case).
This is a drawing of Heidi Mount I've seen at Cafe mode blog (they have some of the best photos around). I loved loved loved this one. The color, the look in her eyes. Frankly I don't think I've done her justice in my drawing.


This one is a girl on Urban Outfitters site... Isn't she the cutest. My little sexy geek! I can just imagine her, she would be all in her head in everyday life but completely unhinged in bed...


And here I just loved loved loved the way she is a rock chick but with lots of pink blusher and pouty lips. I don't know who she is, but I saw her at WhoWhatWear.

Mulberry...

...but say it like Homer Simpson says doughnuts... muuuhhhlberrryyy !!!
That's how I say it cause this is how they usually make me feel... They make me crave, they make my inner Buddha flinch. Ah... but so worth it.
Anyways, here is a lovely pair of blue ankle boots from this season that are on my wish list.