Sunday, February 28, 2010

Nicole Kidman conquers the Australian Outback

Nicole Kidman as Sarah Ashley and Hugh Jackman as Drover...

...in Baz Luhrmann's epic drama Australia (2008).

Nicole with movie son Nullah.

Australia, 1939: Lady Sarah Ashley tries to bring back her husband to England, only to find him murdered and their farm in danger of bankruptcy. She forms an alliance with the unconventional Drover (Hugh Jackman *yieeks*) to bring their cattle herd to Darwin in time. Together with the Aborigine child Nullah, they survive several adventures and grow to be a family. One day Nullah gets caught by the police and is brought by force to an orphanage on a small island to "integrate" him into the white society. Sarah tries to retrieve him, just to face the city of Darwin being attacked by Japanese army forces at the beginning of the Second World War...will they ever be together again?

Baz Luhrmann stated, that they filmed six different endings - I am not going to spoiler which one they finally chose. Australia is by far one of my favourite countries. I read many books that describe the landscape, the Aborigines and the life of early farmers there. I think the movie captured the atmosphere very well and moreover, with Nicole and Hugh they aimed for Australian actors as well.
Nicole Kidman really impressed me with her performance in this movie. In the beginning, she is the cold English lady of noble birth who struggles with the demands of the raw outback. Later, she develops into a kind and caring woman, who strives to protect her farm and the people she loves. I admit, that the movie has its lenghts, but the amazing sets and scenes are worth your time! I nearly cried my eyes out - it kind of gets to you quickly. It also reminds me from the theme of movies like "Gone with the Wind" (1939) or "Out of Africa" (Jenseits von Afrika, 1985), both movies I highly appreciated. If you are not convinced yet: The film won the Oscar for the costumes - totally deserved! Watch it as soon as its in free TV or buy the DVD!



Love,

photos via allmoviephoto.com, filmstarts.de
**********
For my lovely readers from Germany:

The Fashionista hosts a give-away contest, where you can
win several Elles and make-up stuff!
Be sure to take part!

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Call me Thrifting Queen :)

Okay, you may think, what is she up to now? Thee-hee, got some ground-braking new thrifted items for my wardrobe, you won't believe it!


This beauty is from French Connection. I found her in a charity shop for less than 10 bucks. In truth, I checked the current F.C. collection and found out that the average blouse originally costs more than twelve times of what I paid. How did this happen? Mere luck? I am not sure, but it seems that the elderly ladies working in the shop appearently never heard of French Connection. An incident that I will come back to later on.


This lightblue jacket was on my wish list for at least two months - but way over my budget for non-necessary, non-basic pieces in extraordinary colours (admittedly they are often the most appealing, aren't they?). Know what? I just stumbled into the shop (Tally Weijl, actually) to find it reduced about 80% of the original price. Yay, spring, I am coming!


Seems like I finally developed the ability to have the right touch when it comes to vintage bargains. Above you see at leather pencil skirt. Ahem...a real leather pencil skirt. Not one of those fake imitations from H&M or Pimkie. It fitted perfectly! But silly as I am, I left the shop (the same where I bought that French Connection blouse) without it in the first place, pondering about whether I should start to wear leather or not (until that point I did not have a single piece of leather or fake leather in my cupboard). My friend HJ set my mind - and the next day I got back to this skirt. Frankly, I have no idea what leather skirts like that normally cost - I got this one also for less than 10 bucks (!) and this strengthens my perception that whoever sets the prices in this charity shop, is appearently not adept when it comes to high brands or luxurious pieces.

What is the conclusion of this, fashionistas? Get yourself up in front of that laptop and give your local second hand/charity shops another try, instead of glancing devoted up to the seemingly unreachable designer pieces on catwalks. You have every chance to hunt down fabulous clothes out there, which keep your wallet from moaning! Happy thrifting, girls! Love,

Links á la Mode: Project Beyond the Runway

links a la mode

For all my lovely readers not familiar with "Links á la Mode" yet: The association "Independent Fashion Bloggers" hosts a contest every week, where fashion bloggers are able to comission their best posts. I do not take part every week, but my earlier submission "How to DIY your own Chanel Jade nail polish" got featured in January! Please keep your fingers crossed for the upcoming week^^. Here is the selection from this week:

39th and Broadway - A Side of the Industry Unknown by Most: Life as a Corporate Fashion Designer
British Style Bloggers - Cherish forever what makes you unique, 'cos you're a yawn once it's gone
Cafe Fashionista - A step-by-step guide to looking luxurious even when lounging
Clutch22 -Up close and personal with Vivienne Tam as she expands her fashion+tech innovations to a new category
CMYKaboom - Independent Fashion Bloggers (IFB) 'Tweet Up in the Tents' event
Debutante Clothing - Vintage Jewelry: Q&A with Lucite line Circa Sixty Three
Fabulous Finds Gal - Moonstuck at the opera with photographer Bersa
Fashion Pulse Daily - Sonia Rykiel Pour H&M; the debut and the review
Holier Than Now - New Take on Florals (5 Under $50)
Idiosyncratic Style - A Girl's Guide to Maternity Style
Independent Fashion Bloggers : Evolving Influence Recap : Part One
Individual Chic: - Would you have wanted a Computer Engineer Barbie when you were smaller? Or would you love one now?
Night Watch - 10 Questions with Model Clara Zapffe
Ode to Awe - Denmark based Alidra Alic's Alice-inspired jewelry
Oranges and Apples - Rules for advertising and sponsorship on blogs
Retro Chick - The Ethics of Blogging
Smiles Go with Everything -10 Tips for Shopping on Ebay: How to find great deals on awesome duds.
The Coveted - Visits Nine West HQ for a sneak peak of AW10 shoe collections!
The Style PA - Gives Henry Holland a grilling ahead of his House of Holland show.
The Sunday Best - Do men get better service when they shop?
Wicked Whimsy -What to look for when buying vintage shoes
Workchic - Fall 2010 NY Fashion week collections: recreated runway to the office outfits

Love, Lilly *-*

Friday, February 26, 2010

Miss Selfridge SS 2010

Absolutely inspiring, to browse through the summer collections of my favourite labels to check potential trends for the upcoming season. Would you like to see some sure must haves?
Give me that black lace heels and I promise I won't take them off for the rest of my life!


I am a huge fan of extraordinary brooches - and that one seems to just vividly leaped out of a oriental fairy tale! And it looks as if I finally found the perfect jumpsuit.

I wonder if you like the impression you got from Miss Selfridge so far? On personal terms: Last night I watched "Twilight (No.1)" with my friend HJ (both of us simultaneously crying out like lovesick groupies, when Edward appeared, lol). Moreover, HJ proceeded to dye some of my strands with a golden shade (so sorry, I forgot to take a picture of hair/hair product last night). Dancing was however the best part of the evening! Outfit photos following^^. Now I am off to watch "Australia" with my friend FJ - hopefully he will not lament about the story (men!!).

Love,

Thursday, February 25, 2010

My H&M order has arrived :)

Ordered wishes arrived savely *-*.

May I introduce you proudly to the most gorgeous bracelet in the whole wide world?!

I was so relieved that my order did arrive in time, after several bloggettes complained that their orders got delayed from 4 weeks up to 3 months(!!). Mine took approximately 8 days, which means that I am leading the list regarding delivery period. So now to the more interesting stuff:

Yes, I got more summer clothes! Beige shorts, kahki-coloured pants (can be worn as Capri or long), a coral-shaded tshirt and the most precious bracelet ever. Do you remember me lusting after it several weeks ago (here)? Now it is mine, yay!! (Not available in stores up to now). The pants are being kept, but I had to return the shirt: The colour looked more than artficial and it did not fit at all. (See post below for what kind of shirt I exchanged this one). My conclusion is, that ordering at H&M highly depends on luck. Love the new pieces and looking forward to wear them!

Now I am off to go out with my friend HJ - yeah, we are totally going to rock the city^^!!!
Love,


Wednesday, February 24, 2010

I am deceiving winter!

Shopping Outfit. Blazer and hat from Vintage market, shirt from Only,
jeans from Mister&Lady Jeans, boots by Marco Polo. Love this outfit!!

Just suffered my second shock today. First one was looking out of the window this morning: everything is covered in snow again (despite the fact that snow finally disappeared completely yesterday - grwwnn). Second: Blogger wouldn't let me post, just found out that there is something amiss with the new editor. Hopefully this is resolved soon.

My cell phone broke (without any mistreatment!!), therefore I went into the city. Sadly, it can't be repaired. At H&M I tryed on this:
Okay, this is merely basic and all. But you know what? I totally deceived winter! Do I care that there a minus degrees outside? Nope! Can't you already feel a little sunshine?
So these two pieces had to go home with me^^. Promised, this is not a delayed effect from winter blues. Check on my vintage finds (last post) and you'll discover more summer stuff there. I will be needing it very soon - ssht! The secret will be revealed soon^^.

I hit upon a jewellery sale in one of our major department stores and this is what I found additionally:

Mint is one of my prefered colours lately (slight association to spring daffodils, anyone?). I was magically drawn to this necklace, because it reminded me of a story from Greek mythology.

Persephone, daughter of Zeus and Demeter, gets abducted by Hades, God of the Underworld, to live with him as his wife. Her mother comes to retrieve her, but it is said that you can only leave hell, if you refrained from their food. Unluckily, Persephone ate four pits from a pomegranate ("Granatapfel") - they are deep red and shaped like the ones in the necklace. Due to this incident, she had to stay in the underworld with Hades. The legend has it, that she was allowed to leave hell for several months every year to live with her mother Demeter. Those are the months, when everything is green and blossoms outside. Beautiful, isn't it?

Love,


Tuesday, February 23, 2010

My Spring Vintage Finds ♥

Best find: a linen/cotton blazer from Zero in beige. My eyes dropped out when I found out yesterday at a department store, what their original price is. O.O The ribbon underneath belongs to a blouse.

Black flats - finally! Summer favourites for sure!

Two new shorts (jeans with flower embroidery - how hot is that?!), a turquoise pullover and a black crocheted cardigan.

Took me ages to finally find a great folklore shirt (black). The marine is a must, of course. Sweet green apples top and a graffiti-inspired print shirt.

Don't you just have to adore the embroidery on the black shirt? Two new shirts in mint.

An unexspected find: My first jeans jacket/shirt! Yay.

Plus a forest-green soft shawl, a beige hat ("new wool") and the DVD from Australia with Nicole Kidman! Totally missed this in the cinema - so happy right now^^.

To the fashiomatics: It looks like it, but I did not spend a fortune on this! The average price for each of these 16 pieces lays at 3,38 Euro (4,59 US$). It's true!
Love,

Impressions from the Vintage Market

Following Sunday's "TOP 12 tipps on how to cover a Vintage Fashion Market successfully", here are impressions from the market. Such an event! More and more people are attending each time.

About 350 sellers bring the content of their wardrobe, and then the bargaining begins!
Paradise for Fashionistas - just you wait for my finds!

The white "tent" in the back (actually a sun umbrella) is one of the changing cabins.

On personal terms: I am already editing my "finds"-post, will be published later that day. Yesterday I had my last exam and now I am kinda exhausted - time to take a break! I am looking forward to go out with my friends, read books that have been waiting months for me and to think about new wardrobe combinations.
Love,

Monday, February 22, 2010

Fashion Mag Review: Grazia

Just introduced in Germany: Grazia, a weekly fashion/style/celbrity/mag! I waited for the second issue to appear in order to give an informative review. Price is considerably low: only 1 Euro!

Grazia covers High Fashion, Editorials, Street-Fashion, Style Check and latest Accessory.

Furthermore, there are make-up/beauty, interiour decoration, travel and health articles.

Stars: ****
I give this mag 4 stars out of 5, because there is one point that I dislike: several extensive celebrity reports are featured, and this is not the stuff I am interested on this paparazzi level - I have my own life. Back to the good points: Frankly I do not know yet if Grazia will become a constant buy or not. What appeals to me, is the high quality paper and the (in relation) many fashion-related pages. You get more fashion inspiration out of this (published 4 times a month!) than you get from the overall fashion articles in a monthly mag!

What surprised me positively is also, that there were a political and a third-world country article included - great variety! Check the mixture out, if your country has its own Grazia-Edition. They are available in Europe and many parts of the world already.

Love,

Sunday, February 21, 2010

TOP 12 tipps on how to cover a Vintage Fashion Market successfully!

~ Bring home the best bargains with this guide ~Today it was finally time for the spring vintage market! Just returned from there and will share all of my finds on Tuesday! Please enjoy the tipps!

1. First of all: Be prepared and know what you want: Make a list beforehand, of things you are potentially looking for. This makes your decision easier and quicker. Do not overuse the list, also get inspired from what you see!

2. Be early and be prepared to wait (bring Ipod or chat with the other women in the queue.)

3. Wear something you can easily take of. Leave jewellery, hats and high heels at home!

4. Check the sellers about their height, age and style – this helps you to focus your search.

5. Be quick, decide if you like the general style of the available clothes and if it is worth to keep on searching or if not: change the table right away. Sometimes it is worth waiting a little at an overcrowded table…could mean that there are some treasures. Patience!

6. Only take it on if really necessary (e.g. pants, jeans, dresses, shoes). Getting into the changing cabins costs you time!

7. Bring change and enough shopping bags (some even bring a suitcase, lol!).

8. Negotiate! The sellers do rarely like to, but they might agree to a 1-2 Euro discount or maybe in case you buy more pieces from them, you get a small discount.

9. Be nice and friendly, do not hustle people around or step on their toes. It’s messy, it’s overcrowded and everyone wants the clothes. But do not act against human dignity out of sheer avidity. (Oh boy, that I have to include that…). There is enough for everybody!

10. Don’t forget any of your purchases in a changing cabin and take care of your personal belongings! (It did not happen to me, but I keep hearing that things get away on this occasion!)

11. Get home and do some yoga. Vintage markets are tough.

12. Before you throw everything into the washing machine, already think about combinations with your existing wardrobe. This ensures that your new pieces get enough love. I take photos to aid in this matter.
Well done, Miss!

Love,

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Summer Shoe Must Haves 2010

Slowly the spring collections apear in the stores and people on the streets are smiling about the first sunrays in months! We are looking forward to the new season; to see the trees blossom, to drink coffee outdoor again and to proudly wear our new spring finds! Let's hope it will get warmer soon. Here are the TOP 4 of my wishlist for spring/summer shoes:
Bascially elegant and goes with everything. Suitable for work, dancing or shopping. I love allround qualitites!
Another basic talent. For walks in the park, through the city or to an outdoor festival! Keeps you comfortably walking for hours (yay).
Comfort is not an attribut for this model. But "Killers" is^^. Great design!
Last but not least I'm in desperate search of white (and black!) basic ballet flats. (Ok, already have some in soft pink, in mint, leo pattern and brown). With little ribbons are preferred (like above).

On personal terms: I am sooo fed up with learning!! Arrgh. It partly annoys me that all my glossies are lying around unread and I can't spend the (sunny) day outside. More blog stuff tomorrow.
Love,



Copyright (c): The photos belong to Deichmann (Online Shop).

Friday, February 19, 2010

Roooaaar

Hey, I don't own many print shirts. If I think about it, only one (see here). Saw the tiger and felt that it was time to start a proper print shirt collection. Bought via 6sells, from lovely Jules.




Lilly wears: shirt vintage, longshirt avanti, bag tally weijl, pants+rings orsay, hat+tights ca, overknees six, boots marco polo, nail polish DIY.

Just found this beautiful bag on bonprix.de. I am picky when it comes to bags to avoid that I have to many. This one is a real favourite!
Uhh, this week was tough. I did not have much sleep and still have to prepare for the last exam on Monday. But then I am free, yay! Had to go to the city today and found some great bargains, will be shown during the coming days! Did I already mention that on Sunday there will be the next Vintage Fashion Market?? Looking forward to it!!! Happy weekend! Love,


Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Mummy's happy Girl

My Mam's the best! Here is what I got via mail from her to support my exam time. Isn't she the loveliest Mam in the world? Thanks a lot!

She got me this red plaid bag from Kress...

...and all my favourite sweets^^: Strawberry-Chocolate, white pralines and yoghurt gums!!

I received a voucher from Orsay as belated birthday present and bought these multi-rings! Finally I can wear as much rings as I want.

The scarf is from Deichmann and a present for my sister's birthday! (Along with the white/black comic belt I posted before and forest-green nail polish from Essence).

By the way, I often write cards to my relatives and include my lastest photos. Aren't those really lovely? Found at Rossmann.(Rose stamps are perfect!)

More learning to do today! See you tomorrow with a new outfit post.
Love,