VFNO

So, this happened...

You know how sometimes you participate in a random raffle or giveaway and you are lucky enough to be the winner? That never happens to me. Never ever. In my 20 years of living I have never won a giveaway and God knows I’ve signed up for my fair share of them. That was until this Tuesday.

I had completely forgotten about Vogue Fashion Night Out (despite the two reminders I had set on my phone) when my best friend let me know she was coming to London especially for it. And, because the best things happen when you least expect them (I do love a cliché every once in a while), the 23^rd of September turned out to be my winning day. I got to win a gift voucher at Aldo and then won the House of Fraser Twitter competition. It might not seem like much but for me this pretty much makes up for a whole life of losing strikes. I remember that when I first started blogging I was overwhelmed by the thought of being noticed. I couldn’t understand how the bloggers I followed had managed to get such exposure when there were thousands others doing the same thing – how could you get your own voice across? And even so, did I have a voice or was my blog just another one of those that would eventually fade into the background? To be fair, I still haven’t figured that out and I think only time will be able to give me the answer to this question. My point, however, is that on Tuesday I realised how much being in the right place at the right time matters. Is it only good luck? Maybe.

                Here is a compilation of some pictures I took while we were out, I truly had a great night with my friends and wanted to share it with you. I’m really glad there are fashion events widely available out there, where people can get a taste of this industry without requiring a formal invitation or 10k followers on their social platforms. Fashion week is amazing but still holds a sense of exclusivity which disappears at VFNO so I definitely encourage giving it a go next year – who knows what will be in store for you?

Hope you have a great weekend! :)  

Sit Tight

Vienne Milano by mariadinca featuring a black dress

                It might sound strange but ever since I was little, tights have been a very controversial topic in my life. Every winter meant that, when temperatures would drop, my mum would whip out thick ass tights for me to wear underneath my clothes. By the time I was 12 I had an impressive collection of patterned ones - stripes, butterflies, you name it. People couldn’t even see them if I was wearing trousers but it seems like my mum had embedded the idea that whatever I wear I should do so for myself from very early on. #deep.

Anyway, I digress. By the time I was 13 I got over tights and started embracing the cold that came with my decision, I had grown up. Then, around 17, I figured that I was a strong enough woman to wear tights underneath my trousers without feeling stupid instead of suffering in the cold. Point is, I’ve always had a strange relationship with tights and I believe they can be very confusing for many people: they tear, irritate your inner thigh and pop out from your trousers at the waist when you sit down but we still wear them. When I was about 5 years old, my grandfather came to pick me up from kindergarten one day with orders from my mum to change my tights before leaving. Being a man, he didn’t catch the changing part and we had a half an hour fight (I was quite feisty at 5) over why I shouldn’t be wearing two pairs of tights. I won in the end.

Needless to say, this incident tainted my experience with tights. We still get along but I now go back to them when I feel like wearing a dress in the colder months. I’ve been back in London for a while and even though it has been surprisingly warm outside we're slowly getting back to British weather. So when I was contacted by Vienne Milano to style a look featuring their hosiery, I thought it was an offer that couldn't have come at a better time. So here is the look I created - pretty basic, a lot of black (as if this were coming as a surprise) and a little pop of colour with a baby blue coat. I’ve been eyeing a black leather backpack for a while so here you have featured the upgraded version - vintage Chanel - of course. 

 So... what are your thoughts on tights? Friend or foe? 

London Fashion Week

Last year I posted inspiration from the Fashion Week I hadn't attended. This year I'm posting pictures from the Fashion Week I sort of attended. I was actually in London during Fashion Week this season so I decided to go around Somerset House and take some pictures of the fashion scene around there, maybe meet some of the bloggers I've been following for a while. However, I decided to go there on the worst possible day - the day Burberry held its show in Kensington Gardens. Needless to mention there was no one there, apart from me and a couple other people that probably hadn't got the memo. Memo or no memo, there were a couple of pretty cool outfits that I spotted around so I just thought I'd quickly slap them on here. I haven't been feeling very inspired lately so I am slowly trying to get my mojo back and get back into a blogging routine (if I ever had one haha).

Inspiration #18

                Sorry, I know I said I’d be away for a while but here I am, again, bugging you. Halfway through moving all my stuff in the new place and I’m starting to think about how to make it more cosy and warm. Plus, I need to keep busy until my internet arrives. Surprisingly enough, there are as many things that my room in halls had and this flat doesn’t as there are the other way around. Anyway, I started my Sunday morning with a little bit of Pinterest inspiration and thought I could share. Hope you’ve all had a great weekend!

Golden Times

                If someone would ask me to attach one word to my life I would say “change”. Everything around me is moving so fast that whenever I stay too long in the same place I feel like I am wasting my time. My biggest craving is variety. When I left London for the summer I was freaked out about what I was going to do for three months in the same place. Summer had always been my season, three months of travelling, excitement and new experiences. This summer, however, wasn’t shaping up to be any of those things. Between work, stressing out about my new flat and sleeping I didn’t know which one would break me down first. None of them did, obviously.

Now that I’m back in London what I do realise is that there’s something so sweet about familiarity, something often overlooked. Every time I go out I look for someplace new and exciting, something I have never seen before. My friends and I often complain about going to the same places every time. But what is wrong with that? As fun as discovering new things is, sometimes it’s better to just go back to what you are used to. There’s nothing wrong with wanting everything to be the way you know it to be. Nothing wrong with being scared of the unknown.

This is my way of saying that I will be away for a couple of days, due to... changes. So while I am trying to figure out how to make new things familiar here are some pictures I shot a week or so ago. We caught the golden hour, my favourite time of day, and the pictures turned out stunning. Can’t wait to experiment some more with my camera; test different lightings and moods. Let me know, what do you think?