Monday 30 June 2008

I have blogger’s guilt…

…but not the usual kind. You know, the “gosh, I’m so sorry I haven’t been blogging for so long, but my boyfriend left me/my dog died/been too lazy to bother” kind of guilt. No, mine is due to a completely different reason. I feel guilty because I blog in English. You see, I am Greek, born and raised in Greece and still living in Greece. And I chose to blog in English for completely vain reasons, meaning I didn’t think anyone - except maybe a handful of female friends - would read my blog if it was written in Greek. And probably I am right. But now that I’ve been blogging for almost three months and I have found out that Greek fashion bloggers – writing in Greek – aren’t unicorns, meaning they actually exist, I feel kinda guilty for my choice. It's like I’m betraying someone here! Silly, isn’t it? I also suspect that most of my aforementioned real-life Greek friends that always assure me they read my blog, actually only look at the pictures. Many have already admitted it. I’m just waiting for the rest to come out.

Sunday 29 June 2008

Want want want!

Jill Stuart Morning Mist Isabelle dress and Miu Miu T-bar leather sandals

Even with a 60% discount for the dress and 30% for the shoes, they're still a whooping € 353.07. I just can't bring myself to press "proceed to purchase".

Wednesday 25 June 2008

Obsessive compulsive, moi?

This in NOT my closet. These last days I have been searching the net for articles and pictures on hoarding, to use on my final thesis for my architecture degree. Here's the 3-part definition of clinical hoarding from here :
  1. The acquisition of, and failure to discard, a large number of possessions that appear to be useless or of limited value (Frost and Gross, 1993).
  2. Living spaces are cluttered enough that they can't be used for the activities for which they were designed (Frost and Hartl, 1996).
  3. Significant distress or impairment in functioning caused by the hoarding.
Also from the same article, the three components of hoarding:
  1. Acquiring possessions compulsively - compulsive buying, or collecting free things.
  2. Saving all these possessions and never discarding.
  3. Not organizing and maintaining all the saved possessions.

A total of 1 to 2 percent of the general population are considered hoarders, though only 25 percent of hoarders have an obsessive compulsive disorder, says here. And some extracts from the aforementioned scientific article on hoarding as a psychological disorder:

Part of the problem for hoarders is that they find it hard to make decisions about what to do with their possessions. A hoarder may feel that something bad will happen if they discard an item or it may feel like a part of their identity will be lost. (...) To avoid these uncomfortable feelings, or distress, a hoarder is likely to choose the "safe" option - postponing the decision, or saving everything.
I think many of the fashion crowd have a tendency to hoard, including yours truly, though not in the level of a disorder. Hard for you to let go of old clothes? Never get around to throwing aw... errh, recycling your fashion magazines? Can't bear to bin those battered beyond repair and *smelly* shoes? HOARDER! Well, I'm not suggesting that your closet should always look like this: (NOT mine either)
That also has an obsessive compulsive feel, in an "American Psycho" control freak way. No, I'm suggesting some level of throwing away or recycling when possible and a lot more organizing. And even - please don't get upset - less shopping? Just a suggestion...

Tuesday 24 June 2008

Eco fabulus

I just spent a good couple of hours - that will be inevitably subtracted from my sleep allowance - going through the archives of Haute Nature blog. It's both about crafting ideas and tips on being "green" as well as fashion, or "trashion" as the eco-aware crowd like to call it. Suits me just fine. Look what I found:
bag made from recycled leather
bench/coffee table made from old (fashion?) magazines
bangles and coin purse made from crocheted plastic bags, for those of us who still haven't started using reusable bags and still bring that $h!t home from the supermarket

Sunday 22 June 2008

Celebrities are my guilty pleasure

I've never done a celebrity post before, but given the time I spend daily browsing sites like popsugar, dlisted, egotastic and idontlikeyouinthatway, it was a matter of time until I did. Both pictures have a link to the original post.
I never was a fan of the Olsens. They always looked too, I don't know, minuscule and children-like. They made great efforts fashion-wise, but to me they always looked like they were playing dress-up with their mum's clothes. But seeing this photo, I changed my mind. Ashley looks perfect. Simple but polished and grown up at last. And Keira. Since I saw "Love, actually" I can't get over how beautiful and cool she is at the same time. I think only she and The Moss could look so stylish wearing this dress.

Saturday 21 June 2008

DIY bikini

Hey, wanna learn how to make your own two-piece bathing suit? The nice people at Expert Village found just the person to show us how and made a series of tutorial videos.
In this free video series, expert Jennifer Crow from Wedgie Wear shows you how to design and make your own custom, triangle-top bikini. She covers patterns and fabrics, spandex and elastic, and much more. You will learn how to cut the bottoms, how to hem the edges, sew on a waistband, fit the elastic into the edges, and how to make it all trimmed and professional-looking. You will also learn how to design the triangle tops, how to sew straps and create professional hems, and how to line or pad the spandex.
She does use a serger at the beginning, but I'm sure it's possible to use just a simple sewing machine and lots of patience. Now, if only I could find the time!

Thursday 19 June 2008

Toy or king?

I can't believe I'm actually going to say that, but not everything is about fashion. I've been working my a$$ off these last weeks helping organize a one-of-a-kind graffiti event here in Volos, the city I'm studying architecture in. It has been really time-consuming and not letting me post about things like dresses and shoes, but I am actually having fun doing it! Color Your Life festival is gonna be held on a beach, writers from all over the world are going to compete in a graffiti contest and every night there will be hip-hop, reggae and electronic live music, all with free entrance. Here's the promotional video my boyfriend and his best friend made:


And maybe I can convince some of the writers to make me a dress like this one from net-a-porter?
Moschino Cheap & Chic
Monochrome graffiti print dress
€476.40
For less than 476.40 euros please?

Wednesday 18 June 2008

This one's for you Winona

Daddy Likey has been on my blogroll for quite some time now. If you haven't visited lovely Winona yet, please DO SO NOW. One of her blog's most popular categories is the infamous Don't Show-cha Your Chocha. You will have to see for your own eyes what that means. Inspired by the ever-lovely Winona and after I stumbled upon this picture that fellow greek fashion blogger Little Stylist had posted, I decided to make a guerilla-style uninvited contribution in the Don't Show-cha Your Chocha series.
  • dress shorter than a shirt, CHECK
  • model clenching tightly legs together for dear life, CHECK
  • random horse on the background sniffing said model's crotch...WTF? CHECK

Monday 16 June 2008

Just a thought

Along with the kiddies' shoes I also brought home from ZARA some serious, grown-up stuff. These delicious plum-colored open-toe rope wedges. Yeah, I like to say it all. You can't see it here, but they also had ankle straps, which we all know undo all the hard work the heels do to elongate the calves. I knew they had to come off immediately. And they did, as soon as I had the chance. Holding the plum straps with the little gold buckles on my hand, I remembered those:
They also lost their little ankle straps, which I had kept. And then, a light bulb popped over my head:

Sunday 15 June 2008

Even a kid could do that!

Ok, I have to share: I had a footwear revelation last week inside a ZARA store. In the kid's department. Are you ready for it? Here it goes: THEY MAKE SHOES UP TO SIZE 40. They do start at a very children-appropriate size 23 (sooo cute), but they reach 40! And they are cool shoes too! Needless to say, as soon as I had this epiphany, I spent some time going around with my eyes fixed on the bottom selves, like a girl possessed. I finally decided on these cream, yellow and gold flat sandals, that give me a strong feeling that they were ripped of some designer's original collection. Maybe Prada? I don't know... If you do, please leave me a comment! But I couldn't either resist these two, well four actually, pieces of cuteness. They were on sale you see... The olive-green flat sandals for 19 euros and the dusty-pink shiny maryjanes only 10 euros. It would be a childish mistake not to have them.

Thursday 12 June 2008

New sunglasses

I got them from department store Attica during my last trip in Athens. They're by Von Zipper and yes, they are aviators like my last pair from Rayban that is slowly falling apart, but in white! And new! I really don't enjoy shopping for sunglasses as I rarely find a pair that doesn't look huge on my face. But as soon as I put them on, I said "I'll take them". Well, actually "I'll wear them out of the store, thank you". Being only 76 euros using a 10% student discount was just an additional perk.

Friday 6 June 2008

When good shopping goes bad

This is the picture of the Mango dress I fell in love with. It is called Zulu and I saw it in the catalogue after leaving the shop two days ago. I vowed to go back as soon as possible and make it mine. It would become my precious. Well, love at first sight doesn't always have a happy ending.
Cue dramatic music, preferably whiny violins. This is the imaginary dialogue between the dress and me.
"What's wrong? You looked so happy when the salesgirl handed me over. You were smiling as you walked towards the dressing room" said the dress. "It's not your fault, it's mine" I answered back. "No, actually it is your fault. You looked so perfect in the photo. So summery and colorful, yet easy to wear. You would look so great with white accessories". "Then what's the matter?" asked the dress. I hesitated for a moment, but I couldn't hold it in any longer. "It's just... YOU NEVER TOLD ME YOU WERE 100% POLYESTER! You deceived me! I had so many dreams for us... taking long walks, drinking cocktails together in nice sea-side bars watching the sunset, even going to nice semi-formal events. But now... Sorry, but it's just not gonna work between us. Goodbye."
Αnd I walked away, just like that. I have to admit, I still think about it. I still wonder if I made the right decision. But, I just couldn't handle a fabric exactly like polyester lining on a dress made to be worn in full summer heat. Just wrong!