C'est pas trop?

By Neslihan

I like how Scandinavian minimalism in fashion is always represented by sharp lines and plain fabrics. As if you can't be as tight in a floral or cubistic print. I get it, the look screams 'no nonsense' and a sort of Parisian 'je m'en fou'. It was never about ruffles, frills or femininity anyway. It's about clean lines, sleek cuts, perfect finish and modest fabrics. That truly is 'minimalism' summed up in a couple words. But we need optimism and bright colours. Let's bring in the chaos in our outfits and let us not fear dazzling prints. Let's embrace complexity and vertical lines. Don't be afraid to sport wavy cuts and push minimalism in totally different direction this season.


SIMPLICITY AT ITS FINEST:

Left: Osman Resort 2015

      Right: Chalayan Resort 2015

I feel like during summer it's way too hawt to accessorize. I sweat buckets so I can't deal with big ass chains, life size earrings and/or arm candy. I like it when my clothing speaks for itself. When you're all about simplicity and dressing down, you have to keep a number of things in mind. First is the quality of your clothes. Since you're not investing in jewelery, you might aswell pay a little more for your basics because we're talking about daily wear, so it's really important that the garment keeps its colour and shape after like you've worn it for a dozen of times. The second most important thing is subtlety. I know it's really hard not to be 'm'as tu vu' when you're about to mix your brightest shoes with your hot pink skirt but suck it in, will ya. You don't want #triedtoohard next to your instagram OOTD picture. You have to look like you haven't given two shits that day. So it's really important to keep the prints, colours and even shoes (we're talking icy metalics) down with this simple look. 

DRESSING DOWN WITH PRINTS:

Left: Stella McCartney Resort 2015

Right: 3.1 Phillip Lim Resort 2015

I know it's really hard to find simple prints for daily wear. prints are all about daring to be insanely out of your mind. When it comes to prints you shouldn't feel limited, you should feel as though polkadots and stripes do mix well together if you stay in the same colour palette. You should feel as though vertically striped clown pants really can be the chiquest thing ever if you take it down a notch and combine them with quirky shoes. While you're actually leveling down it is crucial that you do this with simple cuts, pure uni colour garments and this one's really important: NO ACCESSORIES. The only things that are allowed are a nice pair of shoes and a great minimalistic bag. No stitches, no visible pockets and no joyful details. Sacrifice your carnivalesque soul in order to become the sleek, icy queen you've always wanted to be.

HOW THINGS ESCALATE:

Left: Erdem Resort 2015

                  Right: Mary Katrantzou Resort 2015

You can tell this style report on minimalism is going the wrong way once florals pop in. The thing with florals is that it reminds be of this pure childish naïvité and it's time to get rid of that vibe. I'm not talking about wavy flower power and daisies in your hair. I'm talking business, sharp lines, clean cuts and stiff fabrics. I don't want the garment to be draped on my body, I want the garment to give me a different shape. I want the clothes to define my posture, movement and body language. I want to follow the direction it chooses for me, a kind of mechanic way of moving. I don't want to tuck in or accentuate my waist. I wanna be me without feeling like I have to be elegant and feminine. I want to wear florals and feel like a million bucks. That's why I'd totally get rid of that belt on the left picture because this look is all about a never ending couple of lines flowing into each other without breaking them by accentuating things.

Amour simple

By Neslihan

This one will be a quickie! In my previous post I held a true hommage to simplicity as it is and this post won't be any different. I'm showing you some pictures of an impeccable Vogue UK shoot starring Guinevere Van Seenus photographed by Josh Olins. Together they're exposing some delicious clean cuts and sleekly finished clothing. Calvin Klein, Céline and Jil Sander (by Raf Simons) are some names Van Seenus wore during the shoot. I just love how the rough landscape creates an amazing contradiction with the balanced and smooth clothes. I can not tell you how much I loved this shoot when I first saw it. And I will keep on spreading my fashion motto on this blawg: SIMPLICITY FO' LIFE, BITCHES.

Source: Vogue UK, August 2012

Osm@n, ur aight

By Neslihan

At some point you have to embrace your contradictory views. You know, as much as I claim to be a simplicity lover, as much as Raf Simons causes me to have wet fashion dreams with his on point designs, I'm also a kitsch lover, embroidery, embellishments and glitters make me go coco! I just love that sense of naive playground fashion. It lightens up my soul and thoughts. So now and then, I try to revive that kind of kindergarten nostalgia by applying poppy pink lipstic or wearing colourful necklaces. Even nail polish can awaken that thoughtless, spontaneous, happy feeling. It's all about daring and going for it. And boy, Osman went for it! He shamelessly combined electric blue with poppy pinks and metalics. Even though I would never wear those two colours together (in some cases not even alone), I deffinitely liked what Osman Yousefzada did. He went for plain shapes and colours and there was even some sense of simplistic designing. So, when he combined my two dearest fashion mottos (KITSCH X SIMPLICITY) I couldn't be more ecstatic. Okay, it is deffinitely not the most innovative or refreshing collection I have posted on this blog but it is pretty and it caused this childlike happiness inside of me. And not everything has to be revolutionarily exciding, right? Somethings can be beautiful. Just brainlessly beautifull. Full stop.

Notes: The pink coat doesn't have the most exquisite tailoring I've ever seen but I think the emphasis lies on the splashing colour combo. I also think the weird splits in the dresses/skirts aren't really practical even though it looks incredibly sexy. But that too depends on who is wearing it. Same goes for the deep cleavages. Also in love, love, love with the salmon pinkish pants on the last picture and that top is just flawless. Digging the fact that the skirts over pants trend is getting a sequel this spring! No bad words about the heart/petal shaped prints!!!

Osm@n himself looked great aswell!

His shoes <3

Simplicity Revised

By Neslihan

I think I've always been the kind of girl who was -deep down- more interested in basic simplicity than in overly embellished clothing. And my personal clothing style might tell you I'm lying as I'm a total schizophrenic when it comes to dressing up. One day I'm this crazy colouring book (the fashionably accepted version of course) and the other day I can be this mourning widow dressed in all shades of black. And yes, I do believe black has all kinds of shades. I don't know how many there are yet but I've got my whole life ahead of me to figure out. My daily look totally depends on how I feel and that mood leads my fingers to all  the corners of my not so big closet. These choices actually lie in my subconsciesness. It's something that just happens. No overthinking when it comes to setting up a look and that's what so fun about it.

But let me talk to you about simplicity. Simplicity is when clean cuts and beautifully finished clothing stand above the glitz and glam hodgepodge. Simplicity is art versus kitsch and eventhough kitsch shouldn't sound negative -as I'm a kitsch lover- art is timeless. Art is when you touch a pair of pants and the fabric feels smooth and the seams are flawless. Art is when you buy a blazer and you just know that you'll be able to wear it for a decade because the model is timeless and the quality is immortal. That's also how I'd describe a classic.

As I came across Ece Salici's creations I was amazed by her sense of style. I didn't know to what I should compare her clothing line (sounds so denigrating but whatever). I thought her geometric aproach to femininity was certainly very refreshing. The way she combined different materials like the leather and organza was brilliant and it also created a nice balance between the sweet and the rough. I don't know about her fashion shows but what I also liked about the online shop was the styling. How the pieces were combined with each other. The totality of the outfits made sense to me.

You can all ask yourselves what Ece Salici has to do with all this stuff I've mentioned above but don't bother. You could better let me explain. Ece's creations made me think in some kind of way. How simple and how basic does her clothing actually look? But she shouldn't be put down in such a way because that is not what this lady deserves. 'Basic' sounds less than what she's really up to.Have you seen her mixing colours? Have you seen how effortlessly sexy her clothing looks? Have you seen how succesfully she combines cotton candy blue with black leather? I don't think I need to add anything else.

Looking at her looks truly made me realise that we were not talking about classic simplicity. It's simplicity revised because Ece somehow manages to create modern,  refreshing, relevant fashion but time will tell how timeless she is...

Pictures: www.­ecesalici.­com