The only way is up

By Neslihan

When I decided to blog today I thought I'd write something profound, something that keeps me busy. Something that frustrates me perhaps. I was determined to plunge into the deepest corners of my narcissistic soul but when I finally logged in I felt no urge to be connected to my negativity. I live in my mind and the activity never stops. It feels like I always have to move forward and when I don't it feels like a day not lived. But today I decided to keep myself busy with shallowness. I just wanna think something is pretty without having to justify it. Because not everyting in life is rocket science.

Renewed basics

Chique T-shirt: it's the easiest match with your pair of leather leggings or high-waist skirt. You can tuck it in or create boxy minimalistic silhouettes. It is completely up to you. But whatever you do, go for soft materials and dreamy digital prints.

Sophisticated sweater: why make things complicated if you can have it the easy way? Sweaters are for lazy days full of selfdoubt. It's okay to have coffee stains on it because although this says 'sophisticated', sophistication is the last thing on your mind.

Shop: http://fr.sandro-paris.com/

Shimmery cropped top: sport your unflat belly as much as you need to. It's not about shaming you, it's about shaming them who say you can't. That being said, I think this is the most perfect piece of garment I've seen over the past months. It's chique, it's quirky, it's girly. It has all the elments for the perfect babylicious outfit.

New white shirt: it's immortal, it's iconic and it's everything you want it to be. Sexy in 'Basic Instinct' but ridiculosly tomboyish in 'Pulp Fiction'. It's the most flexible clothing piece ever. You can't be underdressed, nor overdressed. It's a statement on its own. And from now on it's a polo, all buttoned up and see-through at the top.

Shop: http://www.zara.com/

Colour-blocking in 2014: it's not about screamy fluorescents anymore. It's about modesty and class. It's about playfulness but with the needed limits. And although it seems chaotic, there is a certain structure in its fit, design and lines. Sir Paul Smith always knows how to win my heart.

Classic black top: there is nothing as liberating as a basic black top. It seriously goes with everything. I like to pair it up with a pair of faded black jeans to get those minimalistic 90's vibes (favourite fashion decade ever). But this one doesn't only have the perfect fit but it's also the most flattering cropped top ever. Not to mention the perfect neck line.

Shops: 
http://www.paulsmith.co.uk/ (on the left)
http://www.net-a-porter.com/Shop/Designers/Stella_McCartney/Clothing?level3Filter=&pn=1&npp=60&image_view=product&dScroll=0 (on the right)

Let me monochrome your mind

By Neslihan

'Monochrome' is probably the hottest word of the moment appearing on every blog and in every trend report. It's nothing complicated though; it's about people wearing stuff that's made of one colour only. So this means you dress in one colour, you eat one colour, you decorate in one colour, you poop one colour etc. It's beautiful simplicity wrapped in classy jargon. You probably did monochrome when you were a toddler or primary school style icon. At least I did, I remember dressing in red from head to toe feeling like one million. Nothing much changed, the rules are the same but the choices you'll make will be a lot more sophisticated than your early teen wardrobe chronicles. It's really about dressing down, staying pure and let the colours, shapes and materials speak for themself. Don't accessorize or apply too much make-up. Keep it clean and simple, maybe a glowing skin, some matte lipstick and a little mascara are all you need. It's about holding in your inner vibrant mamacita to draw the attention to the clothing. So do keep your wild hair simple, sleek pony tail or loose with a middle division are my favourite hair styles for this trend. So to get you started I've selected some monochrome white shoe delish to make you hyperventilate. I feel like white is the ideal colour to start all over, to introduce spring that is only a few weeks away. Cheers to new beginnings and shoes.

Budget Céline S/S '13

Jeffrey Campbell 71.43 EUR via Nasty Gal

Pumped up kicks

Nike Air Force 109.99 EUR via Footlocker

Toddler glamour for grown-ups

Jelly sandals 30.00 EUR via River Island

Modern day geisha

Platform sandals 49.95 EUR via Zara

Stella McCartney for the poor

Sky high sophistication 75.95 EUR via Zara

60's snobism

Mocassins 69.95 EUR via Zara

Personal inarticulate scribblings

By Neslihan
I feel like all I wanna do is nag about how sick I feel and cough and sneeze inbetween. Accopmpanied by accessories such as hankerchiefs and a candybar. And all I actually think of is how much this all is stopping me from doing things I had planned to do. I feel down and wanna shout how miserbale I feel. So everybody will know and keep that in account when I'm being an unbearable toddler. This also teaches me to listen more to my body, not to overrush things. Cuz lately I've been feeling hunted, as if I'm out of time. I'm juggling school life, love life and friends all at once and I'm dropping at least one everytime I try to juggle three of them. And it feels aweful and incomplete and a little voice keeps on telling me I can't have it all at once but I'm an overachiever so I try to combine them anyway and at the end I'm left alone and forget to be on my own sometimes. This confuses me and loneliness that once felt pleasant, feels awkward and painful because I learned to rely on others, when I once only relied on myself. So the most obvious solution for my so-called problem would be to appreciate again to be on my own. To take myself on dates, to be my own best friend again. Question myself less when I'm doing things for others but to focus more on the things I want for MY OWN. I feel like ambition and love kind of make yourself focus less on your centre because or you're working on something on the long run (ambition) so the result will be there after 4 to 5 years (school) or you're working on your relationship with others (boyfriend/friends) and therefore can't be selfish. At the end I'm living in the future and forget how much fun the present actually is. Imagine when this is all over and all I did was stressing about papers and books and I don't even have a cool story to tell my grandkids? I know it sounds silly but I guess what I'm trying to say is that I feel lived instead of living. I feel like I've turned into a boring 30 y.o. when I promised myself to loosen up a bit more in uni. I think I've got to tell myself that I'm in charge and shouldn't stress about things I can alter cuz life is in our hands and you can throw it away in the trashbin next to your desk or you can take it in both your hands, fumble it up, juggle it and drop it to pick it right up again. I feel an uncontrolable desire to embrace failures, yet at the same time I'd like to succeed. And I think because I always was so ambitious and zealous I never quite learned to cope with failures and I'm really aware of that now. Cuz I think the power of actually succeeding lies in your ability to deal with mistakes and failures and incorporate these things in a personal learning process, which is hard to see at the moments you're failing cuz the purpose of your failures (teaching you something) comes after a time. And sometimes it never comes, sometimes it just says you're plain stupid and you have to move on.

This moodboard tells exactly how I feel: physically vulnerable, yet mentally fierce, sophisticated, yet bold, elegant, yet unsubtle, traditional, yet radically rebellious, sexy, yet repellent, arrogant, yet insecure, soft, yet shocking, passive, yet aggressive, quiet, yet powerful.

1) Ola Rudnicka photographed by Willy Vanderperre for AnOther S/S 2014
2) Backstage at Meadham Kirchhoff F/W 2014
3) Flickr/Woefromwit
4) Source unknown
5) 'Oedipus Rex' by Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1967
6) Source unknown
7) Source unknown
8) Photograph by Dario Catellani

Talking business

I love dualities, what can I say. I just love how 'un-black -and white' things are. At first you're like it's this but when you take a closer look at things you can be amazed by the nuances lurking behind fabrics, styles and colours. Women for decades have tried to dress in a way they could be taken seriously by their male colleagues. Professional YSL deux-piéces, black tight knee-length Dior pencil skirts, boring tweed Chanel blazers but I think it's time to turn the tables. Just because you're 'accidentally' a woman doesn't mean you should hide your femininity and playfulness. It's time to re-claim your sensuality and femininity without having to give in on looking professionally. Whenever I watch dull restyling programs, those Trinnies and Susannahs are always like "DoNT W3aR C011ouRS, U WNT PEEpL To T4K3 u SER1OuSlY" and all my neckhairs rise. What is wrong with colours and following your own style? What is wrong with unconventional materials at the office? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. And that's what (from left to right) Christopher Kane, Prabal Gurung, Versace and Mary Katrantzou are showing us. They're showing us that you can show some skin and still be the fucking boss. They make us aware of the fact that metalics are the new black. And that lilac leather split skirts are MADE to wear at the office, hence worn with a nice shirt. You don't wanna go trash queen on this one. And prints, my friend, are made to bedazzle your colleagues with its crowdedness.

To end this rather long blogpost.

Things I never got

On the Spring/Summer collections

By Neslihan

Let me sum up Dolce and Gabbana in a couple of words for you: boring you with one print which is being used for three kinds of clothing pieces. Because re-using this print for a midi dress, mini dress and midi skirt totally refreshes things. NOT. I am so damn bored of the classy, stiff, Sicilian mater familias theme. "Hey, we're Italians and we like to create the stereotype of the southern woman: which is sexy, sophisticated and a bit stiff." Upperclass boredom. And aren't you hating those chunky golden earrings already? Fuck your sophistication, Domenico and Stefano, we're all up for the next phase.

I used to worship Karl Lagerfeld until he totally started to hate on women being women (read not a size 0). He's just puking tweed in everything he does for Chanel. Okay, we get it, it was Gabrielle's signature but damn, man, can we move on now? Tweed aint no rock and roll. Tweed aint young. And tweed definitely aint an all year material. Who the hell wears tweed when it's 40°C out there? Exactly what I thought. And looking at his last collection I decided that I didn't wanna look like my grandmother's curtain.

Hey, it's Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy before he went totally hipster cool with his Disney deers and sensual orchids. But this is not Riccardo, it's that other motherfucker. The motherfucker named Marc Jacobs creating his last collection for Louis Vuitton. And this kind of breaks my heart because boy, have I enjoyed Marc's designs for the French luxury house blossoming since forever. It was a symbolic collection but not as touching as Raf's last collection for Jil Sander. Marc had created this powerful atmosphere of mourning, or that's what we, bloggers, make out of it. However I'd liked it more if Marc dearest would've gone all quirky on his last one for Vuitton but he didn't and that's a lost cause, my friend.        
    

   
Elie Saab is one of the things you can't hate. It's beautifully elegant and perfectly tailored but I always feel so out of place when I'm looking at his clothes. Also I always kind of feel like he creates the same dresses over and over again with adjusting minor details like colour, sleeves and split. It's crazy classy but so-oh boring. Perfect for bridesmaids and brides but we girls are more than only fragile. Give me some dirt to plunge my trainers in.

All fashion journalists write about Dior is the decor. Like seriously am I reading a fashion magazine or a DIY garden section in some lousy hobby magazine? Ofcourse it looks magical and touching but it's bad when the review on the decor is bigger than the review on the clothes. And I think that's a pity since I was so excited on Raf's take over at Dior's. Give the man some credit, and by the man, I mean his fashion and not on his roses, peonies et cetera.

You only hate on Kenzo because you're not part of the cool gang. So there is no legitimate excuse on hating Kenzo except one: the tiger sweater, which was literally on every blog that could afford one. But you got to be fair in your confessions: I'm totally in love with the shark theme but I'm totally gonna hate it if the sweater above appears on every blog like earlier the already mentioned tiger sweater.