Tuesday 26 November 2013

Vogue Watches GIVEAWAY

Vogue Watches is a greek company making watches since 1982. The family behind it is actually three generations into the watch business, having started in 1918 selling swiss watches in Thessaloniki.

Today, they make high-quality modern watches with fun design and they have the prettiest website I've seen recently, where you can see the whole Fall Winter 2013/14 collection and campaign, plus a list of the retail stores that carry the brand. They also run a very well-managed FB page, that you can "like" if you prefer your info coming in the social way.

This purple cutie is made with steel and polycarbonate, works with quarz, is waterproof for 10ATM and comes with a two year warranty. Its retail price is €135.

Do you want to win it?

Leave a comment below, saying which is your own favourite purple item or/and what you would match your purple Vogue with. Don't forget to also leave an email or another way to contact you if you win. I will pick the winner on Monday, December 2nd and send them an email. If they don't contact me within 24 hrs to arrange the delivery, I will have to pick another one. This giveaway is only open to Greece and Cyprus residents. Sorry, international readers!

Good luck!

Monday 25 November 2013

Unconventional orange

One afternoon, refreshing cocktails and girls playing dress-up with designer clothes, shoes and accessories. Doesn't take much to organise a fun event, does it? Still, it's never that simple.


A few weeks ago we found ourselves at MoMix, as the guests of Cointreau Fizz Garden

Celeb stylist Alexandra Katsaiti was there too, along with hand-picked items from the collections of our favourite international and Greek designers, in order to help us create our own orange-hued outfits, giving our own interpretation on Unconventional Parisian Chic.

Orange definitely isn't my colour, so one (or two) Cointreau Fizz Cucumber cocktails sure helped to bring on the inspiration...

...along with Alexandra's endless energy and fun attitude.

And fellow blogger Stephanie found her new orange best friend.

Hands down the best-dressed of the evening.

As for my Parisian Chic Unconventional outfit:
I wore my own Celine shirt dress (bought from Troc), a vintage leopard-print silk scarf worn as a hair band, and accessorized with more of Alexandra's stuff: a Pericles Kondylatos statement necklace made with beads and real chantelier crystals...

... and a bright orange Louis Vuitton Epi Leather Alma. The orange pumps on the first pic of this post were by Vassilis Zoulias.

Thursday 21 November 2013

Cheaper, faster and increasingly short-lived


"Both fashion designers and architects create inhabitable structures that protect people. [...] The way buildings are built and clothes are made is also becoming increasingly similar: What I'm seeing now in this moment in architecture -- because of the economical crisis -- is cheaper buildings that will stay for only a short period. And that has a parallel with fashion design."

Wouter Valkenier, Architect

This quote (and photo) are from an old article on CNN about the "Fashion and Architecture"exhibition that took place in Amsterdam back in 2010 (if you want to learn more, I wrote about the exhibition here or check out this interview on Dazed Digital). I revisited this quote recently and I realised it actually makes more sense as time goes by:
Cheaper, faster and ephemeral buildings - cheaper, faster and ephemeral fashion. Mindblowing.

Tuesday 19 November 2013

Red and green

Hmmm, red+green=Xmas? The leopard pumps and floral print on the scarf probably saved the day.

This dress is another one of my trusty ASOS purchases. It is sold out in the length I'm wearing, but those of you who don't like midi length anyways, here is a shorter version. Those of you who have already set their minds in midi length AND green colour, I found three other strong candidates:


But seriously, ever since I discovered the whole ASOS > Dresses > Midi path, I can't seem to be able to shop for dresses elsewhere. I need my dresses knee-length and if you make my life easier finding them, I kinda love you.

Green midi dress, ASOS. Red floral scarf, bag and leopard pumps, ZARA. Lipstick, Ruby Woo by MAC.

Monday 18 November 2013

Knock on wood

My first pair of Swedish Hasbeens is here!

If you remember this post, back in spring 2011 I received a pair of red clogs from the Swedish Hasbeens for H&M collection. Well, I wore them to death. Really, they almost fell apart at some point, but I repaired them as I couldn't stand losing them.

Ever since then, I was always looking out for a black pair of the actual thing on sale, since there wasn't a chance in the world I would fork out the full retail price, and I after a while, I scored!

Braided Sky High is one of their most popular designs, according to their official site. It also costs a whooping 190€ to buy full price, which makes me feel particularly efficient, as I managed to score it on sale at ASOS for a discounted 120€.

They are made from all natural materials in Sweden, which means you have to take good care of them, protect them from water, and be prepared to encounter chips on the wood and darkening of the natural leather colours.

This also means that the leather is very stiff in the begining and you must have the patience to break them in. That's why I am now wearing them around the house with thick socks, which is a style I am actually starting to contemplate getting out in the real world too.


This particular style I got is now sold-out on ASOS, but the Braided Low Wedge in black is available for just 115€ and if you wear 36 or 41 you can also find it here for even less. Plus you can always keep checking here to see when one of the current styles will go on sale.

Thursday 14 November 2013

Christmas shopping, done early and for less

Do you always leave your X-mas gift shopping right to the last possible minute? Me too. Been there, done that, paid the price. Because, if you do leave it up untill the last few days, not only you're gonna have a bad time with all the holiday crowd buzzing around, you're also going to pay way more than you should, just because you have no choices left and you just freak out. You know you will.

So, I decided to dedicate somes afternoons after work this month, to hop into my car and head over to McArthurGlen Designer Outlet

By the way, don't you prefer weekdays to shop there? I've tried Saturdays, but they were way too crowded for my taste. Good thing is that I always find great things from the brands I love, that make great presents too. Since I only had a couple of hours left till closure, I only managed to visit three shops (I also had a frozen yogurt, but I refuse to consider that as time wasted). Without further ado, below are some of my choices for easy, early X-mas gift shopping in bargain prices at 3 of my favourite shops at McArthurGlen:

First stop at Notos Galleries.

I find men the most hard group of people to buy gifts for. Good thing is they usually hate shopping for clothes, so that means they usually welcome clothes as gifts. 
McNeal merino-cashmere men's sweater
49,90  32,44 - Notos Galleries at McArthurGlen

The most classic and safe gift for women is perfume. It is a good idea to have a clue of what the gift receiver prefers - like flowery scents - and even more important to know what she absolutely hates. After you have those down, it's just a matter of connecting the person to the scent.
Flora by Gucci Eau Fraîche 75ml
89,90  44,95 - Notos Galleries at McArthurGlen

Bellissima by Blumarine 30ml
49,24 29,00 - Notos Galleries at McArthurGlen

Of course, the fail-safest pressie of all is this:
Happy Socks in both women's and men's sizes
8,00 4,00 - Notos Galleries at McArthurGlen


Second stop, at House&Travel.

People forget that a suitcase is part of their outfit whenever they are travelling. If you have a friend who loves to travel (or is always nagging you that they would love to travel more) a pretty suicase is the way to go. Keep in mind that you don't have to go big, a cabin-sized suitcase will get used way more.
Delsey hard-shell suitcase with 70's inspired print
199,00 129,00 - House&Travel at McArthurGlen

You may also have a friend that is always bringing home-made pastries at work? Enable them to feed you more delicious things! That's what they love to do after all, right?
Tescoma Delicia cookie cutters
12,95 7,90 - House&Travel at McArthurGlen

Last stop at Papasotiriou Moreforless.
I always leave it for the end, beacause I want to have my time there. It's amazing how many new books I want to add to my collection each time I pay a visit, and how much self-restraint it takes not to bring them all home - my bookcase will leave me if I keep pushing its limits. The ingenious solution I found in order to keep my sanity and books below hoarding levels, was to find great books for people I love and gift them! Take a look:

This is a book everyone is going to relate to. Definite winner.
The Monday Morning Feeling by Joep P. M. Schrijvers
12,80 5,00 - Papasotiriou Moreforless at McArthurGlen

If you have one of those friends who is into avant-garde fashion and is always talking about going to Saint Martins and making her way into the fashion world, this is a great gift to help her build a more serious fashion bookself.
Unlimited: Comme Des Garçons, edited by Sanae Shimizu
71,50 25,00 - Papasotiriou Moreforless at McArthurGlen

Ok, most architecture students already own that, but it's a great gift for anyone who just strated studying architecture or was always interested about it.
101 Things I Learned in Architecture School (greek)
12,00 9,00 - Papasotiriou Moreforless at McArthurGlen

I love historic photos and I love photo books. I also believe many of my friends do to.
The World in 1900: A Colour Portrait
19,80 6,00 - Papasotiriou Moreforless at McArthurGlen

Shoes. A whole book full of shoes and the life of a man who loved them. Need I say more?
Jan Jansen "I live, sleep and breathe shoes"
 31,90 10,00 - Papasotiriou Moreforless at McArhturGlen

Also, if you can't live without your Moleskine planner and have friends with the same quirk, you should know that Papasotiriou Moreforless stocks 2014 planners in discounted prices.
Moleskine 2014 Daily Diary
21,90 19,60 - Papasotiriou Moreforless at McArthurGlen

So, to wrap this post up, I'm gonna be blunt: 

Don't fool yourselves. Christmas is coming up quicker than you'd like to think. For example, McArthurGlen will be lighting their Xmas tree this Friday, November 15th all with a big event and a live music concert. Will you be going? And more importantly, are you gonna do your giftshopping early this year?

Monday 11 November 2013

Goldilocks

Better late than never, so this is what I wore at the Dimitris Petrou A/W 2013-14 show, that took place last month.

By the way, whenever I wear my hair like this, I get so many questions on how I do it. It's actually ridiculously simple. You just tie them up with a hair elastic (like doing a normal ponytail) and tuck them in right on top of where the ponytail starts. I guess I could do a simple video tutorial to show you...

Mustard yellow blouse, SUITEBLANCO. Grey loose trousers, TOI&MOI. Handbag, ZARA. Black necklace, CASA DI MINEA via YOOX.

Friday 8 November 2013

Playing matchy-matchy with Korres

New season releases by Korres are always exciting. The beloved greek company not only strives to renew their basic product collection with new cool hues, but there's always a brand new product (or two) launched, that's so good it makes you wonder how you managed all this time without it.

Rasberry Twist Lipstick is the new addition for A/W 2013-14. It's a buttery soft moisturizing lipstick in the form of a pen, meaning it is seriously easy to use and very comfortable to wear. The 6 limited edition colours are a perfect capsule collection of every lipstick shade a woman is ever going to need. The 3 pinkish hues are great for everyday use (the formula is actually so moisturizing, I'm planning to ditch the lip balm and use those instead) while the 3 more dramatic ones will add colour to all those cold and gloomy nights to come.

Instead of only photographing the goodies sent to me, I thought I'd just play matchy-matchy with some of the prints I'm planning to wear a lot this season. Think of it as practicing for when the time comes to choose what nails and lips go with that outfit. Ready? Go!

MYRRH & OLIGOELEMENTS NAIL COLOUR IN 52 PASSION RED
RASBERRY TWIST LIPSTICK IN DESIRE
NÜMPH DRESS (worn here)

MYRRH & OLIGOELEMENTS NAIL COLOUR IN 58 DESIRE RED
RASBERRY TWIST LIPSTICK IN LUST
VINTAGE DRESS (worn here)

MYRRH & OLIGOELEMENTS NAIL COLOUR IN 80 CLOUDED PURPLE
RASBERRY TWIST LIPSTICK IN ELEGANCE
ASOS DRESS (worn here)

MYRRH & OLIGOELEMENTS NAIL COLOUR IN 63 STONE BROWN
RASBERRY TWIST LIPSTICK IN ROMANCE
ASOS SKIRT (worn here, available here)

MYRRH & OLIGOELEMENTS NAIL COLOUR IN ROMANCE PINK
RASBERRY TWIST LIPSTICK IN INNOCENCE
ZARA TOP

MYRRH & OLIGOELEMENTS NAIL COLOUR IN 31 NUDE
RASBERRY TWIST LIPSTICK IN PASSION
ASOS DRESS (worn here, available here)