Sunday, 7 April 2013

Who doesn't dream of an XLCloset?


I'm a firm believer that style has no size. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying everyone looks good in everything. If that was the case, there would be no fashion magazines, blogs or personal stylists - no one would ever need them. But I do believe that everyone should be able to wear what expresses them, regardless of their size.

Over the years I've discovered a numerous amount of fashion blogs written by curvier or plus-size girls, or if you prefer, fatsion blogs, like Le Blog de Big Beauty, Curvy Girl ChicJay Miranda, Cupcake's Clothes, Garner Style, Fat Shopaholic, Girl With CurvesNadia AboulhosnCoco Curvy, Fatsion Daily, Nicolette Mason and many many others.


Right, fatsion, as in fat + fashion. And why not? Notice that I wrote "written by" and not "written for". Those girls are really stylish people and they offer true fashion inspiration. Personally, I have been inspired by their outfits numerous times.

However, the thing that always sprung in mind while enjoying their musings, was this: Where do all those girls (especially the significantly bigger ones) actually find all those cute clothes? I mean, if the majority of us complain that we can't find that exact cut of a cute dress we are looking for, what chance does a plus-sized girl have?

Here comes the internet. Yes, these past few years it really got that simple for people looking for something the high street won't cater for.. Since I'm writing from Greece and most of my readers (those who are left at least - hi mum) are Greek, let me introduce you to one of my latest discoveries:



XLCloset is an all-Greek online shop for plus-size women. The difference (at least the one I'm interested in) is that it is actually cute. Seriously. No mumsy aesthetics in this one, no sir. Having the 30-year experience of Greek plus-size brand Vertice behind it, xlcloset.gr really knows the plus-size fashion needs, but still manages to keep a young, refreshing and stylish look-and-feel that immediately lets you know these won't be your mama's clothes.



There you can find about almost everything a plus-size girl would look for: Clothes by DinaXL and Vertice sized up to 62 GR (28 UK), bags & accessories by DOCA and also a great selection of jewellery. And they're no noobies either, being on the e-commerce bandwagon since 2011.

Wait, let me just show you:


The first feel


I just love it when an e-shop's first page is all bright, colourful and inspirational style-wise, yet it totally works practically as well.


The clothes

It has everything. OK, being a hardcore dress-and-skirt girl, I would love to see more dresses, but still, it has jeggings, people!


The accessories

Don't you agree that it's the accessories that really make or break an outfit? I mean, most days I'm in a black top and khaki skirt, and then it's orange scarf, beaded necklace, colourful shoes, hello world.


Last but not least: Shipping is free for orders over 50 and you can still find most of the clothes at the real-life Vertice stores, if you need more help in deciding your size and asking for style advice. And yes, of course you can find XLCloset on Facebook too. You're welcome.

Sunday, 24 March 2013

Purple and lilac reverse french


What do you do when you have some much-awaited time in your hands? You add colour to them as well!


Meet KORRES nail colour in Blueberry and Spring Lilac, both from the Lilac Cool pack available now at pharmacies.



Let me get something straight here - this ain't no nail tutorial. Still here? So, here's my two cents on doing a reverse french mani:
  1. Chose two colours of the same hue, it sorta looks more put together this way.
  2. Do two coats of the light one. Lights always need two.
  3. Don't drink coffee before doing the dark line.



What? Did you expect round stickers and shit? Nope, those fuckers were done freehand baby.

That's why you'll only see my left hand in this post. Cause I'm right-handed and, well, you know...

And if Spyros doesn't mind, why should you?

Thursday, 7 February 2013

KOOL birds fly


Yeah, many of you already know I work at KOOLFly. Well, if you know me that well to be aware of my professional whereabouts, you'll probably also know that I am a sucker for those things as well:

1) The danish brand Νümph
2) Cute prints
3) Flowy dresses belted at the waist
4) Online shopping

So really, there's no need for any further explanation, right?


Kaya bird-print dress by Nümph via KOOLFly.


Wednesday, 30 January 2013

I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore




Sales is my favourite time of the year. Thank goodness it comes twice, unlike Christmas.





Got these amazing ruby ballet flats by Jil Sander off The Outnet a couple of weeks ago.



Given the fact that I wear my red-coloured flats almost more than my black ones, these may not last long. But they will sure get a pretty neat cost-per-wear.



Tuesday, 1 January 2013

Happy New Year



New Year's Eve this time found me in a completely different place than all the previous times. A casino near Iowa City in IA, USA.

Change is good. It's the push you need in order to take some distance from the hectic life that you're living and re-evaluate things. Yes, I'm talking about myself.

This past year I've been far more absent from this blog and the community around it, than I'd like to allow myself to be. I missed deadlines, post opportunities, fun events and moments with my blogger friends. Most of the time I was just too damn tired to even turn on the laptop when I came home at night. Just like the phrase I like to use from time to time in a pathetic effort to excuse myself, I'm so backblogged it's not even funny any more. 

But life is life, work is work and this blog is still just a hobby, just like it started out to be in the first place and just the way I want it to be. And that's why I won't give it up. Because I don't view it as something that needs to be done, but as something that I enjoy doing, whenever I have the time and energy.



That's why, as time passes, we have to learn how to say no to the not so important and irrelevant stuff, in order to have the resources, energy and inspiration to say yes to those things that really matter. And I guess that's my New Year's Resolution.

Happy New Year!

Saturday, 22 December 2012

Gingerbread architecture at The Sweet Spot

Some days ago, at The Sweet Spot pastry lab, where all the magic happens, several bloggers got together to take their chances with haute patisserie. Just to get an idea, here's Claire's post at KOOLFly (yeah, my pics) and Stella's post at Shopping Therapy.


This is Zoe Vidali, the youngest of the mother-daughter duo behind the pastry shop:


She's making the most basic house design, one that you can also make at home with this recipe here, found at The Sweet Spot blog (in greek only I'm afraid).

Just imagine what an architect/pastry maker could make... Blows my mind!



Extra tip: If you're not big on the architecture from pastry thing, you can try a ready-made ixe cream cone and turn it into a Christmas tree, just with some green coloured royal icing and sprinkles.


Since gingerbread house making was a little out of our league, so we started off by decorating our own Christmas trees...

Well, you know me. If I decide to make something, I'm gonna make it good!

You can friend The Sweet Spot on FB to keep all these sweet things popping up on your stream or find them IRL, at Andrea Papandreou 39, Halandri.

Tuesday, 4 December 2012

Notebooks I gave away and liked

You have certainly bumped on them on the internet at some point.


Archie Grand notebooks have been all the rage for quite some time now. What I hadn't realised up until now was how many damn different styles there are.


I mean, there are 62 of them!



These above are just a tiny selection of favourites.
ARCHITECTS I MET AND LIKED? Yes please.


And here is the best part: The cool guys over at Archie Grand headquarters in Sweden have sent over these two SECRET AGENTS I MET AND LIKED babies seen in the pics above, to give away to you! Perfect timing, with that Skyfall craze (watched it, loved it) and all this Christmas thing coming up around the corner.

So if you too want a little early present from Santa Archie and Mr Bond, please do leave a comment below, saying which one of the 62 notebook designs is your favourite and adding your email address, so I can get in touch with you if you win. Note though, that I will only be giving away the SECRET AGENTS ones. And hurry up, as I will draw a winner next Monday, December 12th, at 10 in the morning.

Good luck!

UPDATE: Sorry for the delay, I've been travelling around a lot (namely, from Athens, Greece to Iowa City, IA) so my blog scheduling went out of the window. So without further ado, the winners are... [drumroll] ZlatkoGR and mr_switters! 

Congrats guys! Just check your inbox for details on how you will get your notebooks.

Thank you all for participating and stay in touch, more give-aways are coming in 2013.

Wednesday, 28 November 2012

Monochromatic at Golden Hall



Black and white stripy top, BLANCO. Black skirt, ZARA. Black bag, BERSHKA. Black leather obi belt, some shop in Volos. Black ballet shoes with ribbon ties, TOPSHOP. Rings, vintage.




Wednesday, 21 November 2012

Hair goodness from Moroccanoil


Hair goodies from Moroccanoil arrived and obviously the word is out on how overly attached I am to my hair.


So here's what the bag contained:


Oily Scalp Treatment. I also received the Dry Scalp Treatment, but that's not the case here... Watch how to use it here.



Frizz control. My hair is not frizzy per se, but who I am to say no to a little extra definition and smoothness, right? Watch how to use it here.


Curl control mousse. Now that went straight to my curly-haired friend Angela, so you'll be waiting to hear from her in the comments on how good it is. Watch how to use it here.



Big thanks to the cool girls over at V&O for sending this care pack over!

Wednesday, 14 November 2012

What Would Martin Do?





Tuesday night, outside the H&M flagship, down in Ermou st, Athens, for the presentation of the Maison Martin Margiela for H&M collection.

I didn't take pics of the crowd, but let me assure you, there was one. And it was a fashion-hungry crowd, comprised of press, bloggers, and quite a few 14-year-old girls who probably won the invite on a random online contest.



Oh, and there were celebs too. You know, the Greek kind.




Tamta sang. That was cool, I guess. I really liked the red Hitched Up Dress she wore, along with the Key Ring Necklace that was enhanced with the Key Ring Bracelet.




And then hell broke loose. Girls can be really tough if they have to.


I spent those crucial first minuted just observing the crowd and taking pics, as I really wasn't in the mood for elbowing, either giving or receiving.


Instead I observed. The tags were really interesting. Each piece is a remake of an original Maison Martin Margiela design from the past 23 years. Many of those girls weren't even born back then.




It's a fun trivia that the collaboration with H&M happened this year, on the 23rd anniversary since Martin Margiela showed his first personal collection. Especially since the famous white tag with the numbers 0-23, each representing a men's or women's line, has been around all those years. The whole thing reminds me of that movie.


Well, just about as I was ready to call it a night, the lovely Anna of H&M asked "soooo, did you get anything?" and I replied "no, everything seems to be gone". "Racks are getting restocked with stuff abandoned at the fitting rooms as we speak, won't hurt to take a look" she replied. So I did.



Meet my new Maison Martin Margiela for H&M Circle Shirt, originally designed in 2002.

If you want to try and fight for a piece of fashion history replica, your chance is tomorrow, November 15th. Just make sure you do your homework first and you know what you're going for. I've done two separate posts with all the women's and all the men's pieces from the collection, on KOOLFly, complete with the pieces' names and prices, so head over there to plan ahead.



I still can't help but wonder though... What would Martin do?