An ode to the red-haired princess X Zara

By Neslihan

Zara Trafaluc, 49.95 EURO

I've been obsessing over Florence Welch as long as I can remember. That sweet voice, those fiery locks, that porselain colmplexion and her 'granny gone hip' style have captured my heart eversince I saw her in 'Kiss with a Fist'. Florence seems like a hoarder who goes to every open air market to see what they've got for her. Antique chairs, vintage chiffon scarves, deep green velvet caftans; you name it, she probably has it. She plays with different styles but she is very consistent along the road. It's about rich fabrics and crowded prints, clothing that tells a story, that's what makes dressing up worthwhile for Florence. She layers and overdoes it sometimes but it never looks bad. No on the contary, she looks like a quirky bohemian 70's princess who might just be born in the wrong era. The way she puts on those glamourous maxi dresses on stage and dances her way to the audience is just delightful because there is no consistency in her dance moves. Yet she knows how to be elegant in an unforced kind of way. I also love her iconic hairdo: that deep red colour and those straight bangs create this playful and at the same time naive vibe. Her make up is quite basic. She makes sure her skin looks whiter that white and puts on some scarlet red lipstick or accentuates her eyes with some eye liner.

-----------------CAUTION- CAUTION- CAUTION- GURL CRUSH ALLERT------------------

Zara Trafaluc, 29.95 EURO

And since I've been craving for everything that Welch would wear, I think Zara Trafaluc has the best fall/winter collection ever. The florals, the sheer fabrics, the warm colours and the edgy shoes make this collection look like something Miss Welch would wear. I also think this collection has a strong Dries Van Noten mark because of the grungy tartan prints mixed with painter'esque florals.

Zara Trafaluc, 29.95 EURO

Zara Trafaluc, 14.95 EURO

Zara Trafaluc, 49.95 EURO

Zara Trafaluc, 79.95 EUR

Zara Trafaluc, 99.95 EURO

Unusual girls

By Neslihan

There have been times during which the beauty ideal was being chosen by the media. It used to be one type of woman and she'd be hyped until another and even younger girl arrived and stepped up her scene. It was one big cycle of attention until the media and the audience would get sick of her too. She'd be set aside until another leading lady would arrive and it went on and on like that. Icons were being replaced like artistic designers are being replaced in our times but no one cared because times change and so do beauty ideals. That leaves us an amazing amount of powerful and elegant icons who have marked their time with their beauty, ideas and talents. We've put them in this little oakwood box, which we casually open to admire their beautiful pictures and then put them gently back in that box. It seems like we're trying to freeze time and are longing for glamour and pure beauty. Times have changed though because it-girls are being replaced each season instead of each year or after each new movie. And there are also different ideals of beauty now, you can be everyone you want to be and everything is inspiring. Edginess is key and statement of course because the goal is still being memorable. But what I'm wondering is: if someone asked me to sum up some of my 21st (even late 20th) century icons, who would I put in my list? I took some time and these names popped into my mind.
ATTENTION: this is a non-exhaustive list because these are the names that popped into my mind during this blog post, you can't imagine the length of the list if I actually take the time to think about some of my other feminine heroes.
1) Alek Wek
2) Chloe Sevigny
3) Zosia Mamet
4) Florence Welch
5) Robyn
6) Kristen McMenamy
7) Rossy de Palma
8) Lara Stone
9) Lou Doillon

Cool chicks cut their own hair

By Neslihan

Kristen McMenamy

You remember those cool girls in high school? You know the ones that always looked effortless without even trying. The ones who cut their own hair and wore high waist 80's jeans without looking like they had been cut down in two at their middle. Those bad ass chicks who wore ugly trainers and totally rocked them. They started trends without even wanting it. They formed this unaccessible, yet accessible click and they said "You can't sit with us" without even opening their mouths. They could even make chav or homeless look glam. This post is dedicated to those girls. To all the quirky chicks who had the balls to take their destiny into their own hands and cut their own hair without even their hand trembling. 

And I respect that. I do! I've got my straight bangs for almost 5 years now and haven't seen my forehead since 2008 (a little exaggerated but you get the point). I visit my hairdresser once/2 weeks since my hair grows quite fast, or at least my bangs do. I hate that two-weekly visit. I think it's a tremendous waste of time but since I lack the cut-your-own-hair skill, I'm not risking anything. I've once tried it and it's never to be repeated again. My bangs were unequally cut and I had this wave thing going on. That was a hair disaster, say a dark page in my hair history. So NEVER, NEVER, NEVER again.
I can imagine that amazing feeling of freedom or selfconfidence when taking those scissors in your hands though. It's this "I'm the creator of my own disaster" thing but that's not always the case. Because there are a lot of successful stories aswell. Alexa Chung for example cuts her own hair too and always looks fabulously flawless after doing so. Some poeple take the extra mile by giving theirself a pixie haircut, now that is something to admire, I think. And so does Vogue UK in their November issue:

 Call it the ultimate in laid-back chic, call it recession ringlets, call it what you will - but there's a whole new wave of creative women taking hair maintenance into their own hands. "Traditionally cutting your own hair was something not spoken about, a social taboo", says hairstylist Zoe Irwin. "But now it's a sort of throwaway beauty adventure, a new way of embracing the spirit of our times." -From 'Making the cut'

 I love Freja Beha's chaotic straight bangs. Since she has different layers in it, it looks easy to cut it yourself.

GIRL CRUSH #1

Florence - I have awesome hair- Welch

Hair heroine

Hey, I'm Zooey - awkward- Deschanel

Cute pixie

Michelle Williams

Alexa Chung and her homemade haircut

Trashy glam

Belles de Banlieu shoot in Jalouse FR (November 2012)

Or the bad girls from the block

Photography by Timur Celikdag

“It’s about the bad girls I knew at school, the ones I envied”, Miucca Prada on establishing Miu Miu.

Sources: Vogue UK, Jalouse FR, both November 2012