Untamed Skin

Here starts my first London Fashion Week coverage. 

It kicked off with the opening of the 'Untamed Skin' showcase at the Romanian Cultural Institute. Although very different, the three collections - two fashion capsules accompanied by a jewellery collection - were brought together by the main motif of the showcase - the intricate Romanian blouse. Alexandru Nimurad focused on the historical meaning of blouse motifs, different for each stage in a woman's life, from youth, through marriage, to death while Alexandra Abraham elevated it through intricate leather harnessing. Finally, Vika Tonu's pieces held Queen Mary, the first to have introduced the 'ie' (as the traditional blouse is called) to the royal court, as inspiration. The hearts are a very literal symbol of Queen Mary's own heart, that now resides at Bran Castle at the precise instructions of the Queen. By far, my favourite part and what sold the collections to me was the inspiration, the concept behind them. 

Okay. Now, I know art is subjective and I am fully aware that I do not have the design expertise to judge the pieces. But I have to admit they seemed to transport the traditional blouse to a much darker, seemingly out of this world place. The traditional blouse will always take me to carefree summers in the countryside and happy moments celebrating our country and culture and I definitely did not find this transpiring through the showcase. Having the chance to hear the designers' ideas infinitely helped my understanding but what I ultimately gained from the showcase was a reinforced image of how beautiful our traditional garments are and how no modern interpretation could raise to the same level. But maybe I'm just old-fashioned. 

Congratulations to Alexandru Nimurad and Vika Tonu for the "Best emerging designer" award and to Roxana Gibescu for "Best curator", three awards in the Emerging Designers section doesn't sound too bad! 

The Untamed Skin exhibition will be on at the Romanian Cultural Institute in London until the 20th of March.

The International Fashion Showcase is the only British Fashion Council event that is open to the public, so go while it's on! 

NYFW Street Style

This post is going to be brief and succinct. Fashion month is almost halfway through and I have even had the chance to attend a couple of London Fashion Week events, on which I have plenty of conclusions to draw but not enough time at the moment. I am currently sitting under a pile of cases for my upcoming law test and only have a couple of days to go so writing this post is stretching it anyway. As interesting as this weekend has been, next weekend is even more promising so I'll catch up on fun stuff then.

I was quite sad to see that none of my favourite bloggers were attending London Fashion Week this season, but here are some New York street style shots that I loved. Kudos to everyone that fought against the -17° weather and managed to stay stylish and warm! 

Pictures courtesy of Style.com and ELLE UK

Magic 1/2 Hour

A tripod and self-timer can do magic. I find that trying to look good or dress up never works for me. Any conscious effort and it's almost guaranteed I won't look as good as I could have. Not to mention I have never been an evening person, no picture of mine looks good under dim lighting and make up doesn't seem to sit properly on my skin, which is when getting dressed up is mostly required. But turn on the lights, bring the sun out on an uneventful day and I'll look a million dollars. Frustratingly enough, my best self comes out on random trips to the library or short walks to the supermarket. The other day I was getting ready to leave to the library when I took a short glance in the mirror and saw that what I had on actually looked good. Picture good. So I took out my tripod, did some neighbour avoiding and came up with these shots during what was probably the only sunny half hour that day. That same day I left the library in the pouring rain, that kept going until the following day, so I guess I was lucky. It was funny how dark the sky was and yet how bright those thirty minutes were. No need for editing with these pictures, I love every little contrast and highlight. 

Also, London Fashion Week just kicked off so you will be seeing some sneaky pictures this following week! 

Zara khaki jacket | Topshop leather jacket | Zara turtleneck | Zara jeans | Dune boots

Ripped Seams

Taking winter whites just a little bit further. I have been wearing this coat to death this winter, so much that the lining has started to fall apart. Weirdly enough, I have started to enjoy this worn-out look on clothes, to appreciate all my mother's hand me downs and all the items I found in her wardrobe and thought were passé before. 

Until the weather gets better, I sometimes wear my cape as an oversized scarf and I might actually like it better like this.  

Nothing like starting the week with a walk around Notting Hill, I am so happy to still be surprised by the beauty London has to offer every day. 

Thank you to Diana for the pictures, check her blog here. 

Coat: Mango | Scarf: Topshop | Jeans: Uniqlo | Boots: Zara

Vodafone London Fashion Weekend Blogger

Picture courtesy of http://www.londonfashionweekend.co.uk

I have probably never given enough credit to my passion for fashion because passions must remain passions and it is not very often that one gets to call them a job. Still far from calling it a job but I am starting to realise that it might not be as unattainable as I used to believe it would be. 

Not going to make this a long post but I just wanted to share with you the fact that I was selected amongst the top 10 participants in the Vodafone London Fashion Weekend Blogger competition. The application consisted in writing a review on a British brand's SS15 collection. I chose Burberry because I have always been a sucker for their products and because their runway is probably the most anticipated one at LFW every year. Didn't make it to number one but it's a good enough start for now. In the meanwhile, congratulations to Suzi Smith and I hope to be seeing you at LFW! 

Check out the original post of the winning reviews here. 

If I Ever Write a Book...

If I ever need a cheesy picture for my future book these are the ones I'll choose from. 

Somehow I made this next photo look particularly posey but my boots looked nice and the quality was too good not to post. I kept and kept complaining about having no one to take my pictures here, in London, but a couple of weeks ago my luck changed. I went to Diana's (check out her blog here) flat to help her with an interview and in turn took advantage of her to help me with some pictures. 

This is literally my daily uniform. Jeans, a black top and black boots. I did wear heels, surprisingly enough, only because I like these boots too much. And to go ahead and blurt out a cliche, they are really comfortable, too. They are quite high, with no platform, but I can still walk in them the whole day. Sightseeing would still be a challenge though, my claim doesn't extend so far.  

Thanks once again to Diana for being so lovely and helping me with these pictures, and thank you for finally teaching me the intricacies of my camera's manual settings! 

Coat: Mango | Sweater: Vintage | Jeans: Zara | Boots: Topshop

Making Old Sights New

Slowly getting the hang of the manual settings on my camera so I took full advantage of my one-day trip to Oxford this week. As much as I love the sun, I always find rainy weather to have a certain dreamy charm to it so I was more than happy for the clouds that day. 

I had been to Oxford numerous times before but never got to actually see its history. So here are a couple of pictures I took of the Bodleian library and of other sights around town. I would recommend a trip to the top of the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin to anyone, you get a full view of the whole town for only £4 (£3 if you are an Oxford student) - one which is definitely impressive. Bring a map and you might be able to identify some of the colleges and buildings! 

Anigif

Just a short preview. More pictures coming soon.