Heat & sales

This week in Athens has been really hot – and when I say hot, I mean HOT! it was the first such heat this summer, and I’m really finding it hard to handle. In this kind if weather you really NEED to be somewhere by the seaside, where there is at least some breeze to refresh you and you can jump into the water to cool off as often as you want. But sitting inside the apartment, constantly perspiring, unwilling to move and unable to think and really focus on anything – that’s quite a test. It’s like being mildly tired – but all the time. That’s also the reason why I haven’t written any proper posts for a while, and I do have ideas – but damn, realizing them feels like too much energy.

But what do you do at a time like that (apart from showering every now and then, drinking copious amounts of water and being a total couch sloth)? Stalk the internet sales of course! That sure doesn’t require much brainwork – though turning off your head completely would neither do, cause you may easily overspend.

The real dilemma of sales for me is, however, that they kind of force you to shop (no matter what your financial situation is at the moment) – since if you don’t, you will feel guilty for missing out on all those great deals later. Also, during sales, I get easily seduced by things I wouldn’t normally consider buying – if they weren’t so cheap that is. So trying hard to stop myself from purchasing yet another pair of shorts (because I don’t yet own that particular style) or some kinda cute bag, I came up with the following shortlist.

On ASOS I “saved for later” those two pairs of ankle booties – I’ve wanted boots like that since February, and while I almost never buy clothes ahead of the season, the “saver” factor here is crucial. So now all I need is decide between Blink Western Boots (left) and Rocketdog Rancher Boots. Any thoughts?

I also think of adding this really cool top to the order:

With ASOS I really need to hurry – there is an extra 10% discount available that runs out this weekend!

I have also put away a few cute items at Topshop:

The dress and jumpsuit are incredibly sexy (adore), and the earrings and crochet shorts are so hippy chic. Also, since at Topshop you need to pay for delivery – 6 pounds for Greece (unless the order is 75 pounds or more, and I’m shopping “cheap deals” here)

Ah the sales, you really drive me crazy. On another note, despite all this heat, I will still go now and try to have a nice workout at the gym. Luckily it’s just a five minute walk away and air-conditioning is on in there. Since I’m seriously hoping to get away to the beach for a week or two (namely, to the island of Samos) – a bikini body is an order.

Weekly inspiration: GIRLS Of SUMMER

Georgia May Jagger by Alasdiar McMellan

Alex Sanders by Richard Bernardin for GRAZIA June 2011

Emma Stone for VANITY FAIR August 2011

Emma Watson for HARPERS BAZAAR UK August 2011

Myf Shepherd by Thiemo Sander for ELLE Spain

Sara von Schrenk by Markus Zeigler for ELLE Mexico July 2011

Erin Wasson by Fred Meylan for ELLE France June 2011

Kerri Lee Miller by Emre Guven for ALL Magazine July 2011

Flavia de Oliveira by Juan Aldabaldetrecu for ELLE Spain July 2011

Constance Jablonski by Jenny Gage and Tom Betterton for MUSE Summer 2011

Gisele Bundchen for VOGUE Brazil July 2011

Some brand new summer necessities

This would be a second post dedicated to my recent trip to Cyprus. But I guess it only makes sense – as any faithful fashion and lifestyle blogger I couldn’t come back from a trip to a cool place like that carrying only impressions and photographs to share. I got some new goodies as well and, coincidentally, they all happen to be pretty basic summer necessities, and, I must add, all are good bargains! 

1. Bracelets

What ManRepeller likes to call with a charming word “arm party” is now fully on around my wrist! Bracelets are not all new – some of you may notice pieces from previous posts here – but three of them are, coming from an Indian Shop full of ethnic-themed goodies in Nicosia’s old town.

2. French Vogue

A proper Summer issue, as it covers both June and July. I have actually considered the other two latest Vogues (July issues) – namely British and American, but really, they were just way too thin and mostly filled with photographs that I’ve already seen online, therefore it didn’t seem like a good investment. In general I like the more provocative, somewhat arty and alternative approach of the Vogue Paris plus I can use it as reading material to improve my French – hence, added educational value! But there is an extra incentive to buy this issue – it’s totally dedicated to Greece. Vogue sure is romanticizing the Greek experience quite a lot – it’s mostly “movie Greece” that the magazine is describing, still if it manages to attract some extra tourists to Greece – way to go! Plus there are also quite realistic articles, such as those profiling a number of fashionably successful young Greek nationals. 

3. Sunnies

To be honest, these are not exactly my dream sunnies, but they were the best I could get when I desperately needed a pair. The story is simply this: my cheap sunglasses, which shape and color nonetheless was perfect for me, broke – a tiny screw went loose, and a part simply came off. I decided it was a sign for me to get that perfect pair of Ray Ban Wayfarers that I craved so much. But even though I found a store that sold them at a nice discount (!), there was nothing at all for me there. All the Wayfarer pairs that looked great from the first glance turned out to be strangely bent to the front in the glasses part – an absolutely unflattering design for my face. It was way too hot and I was too exhausted to walk all over town looking for new sunnies, so I ended up grabbing this very cheap pair at Stradivarius. After all I couldn’t stand all that sun without any sunglasses and I had still two more days in Cyprus and planning to go to the seaside the next day! So these little pair was my savior, and while I’m still on the lookout for my perfect sunnies, those will not be left and forgotten – after all they are undeniably cute. 

4. The Dress

What’s funny is that I actually came to Cyprus planning to buy a jumpsuit! I had an eye on the red, retro-styled one from Topshop (which they have in Cyprus unlike Greece), but as all other things I’ve spotted on Topshop website, it was completely absent from its two stores I visited in Nicosia. And then I came upon this dress at Zara – I actually posted in once on the blog, and have searched all Zaras in Athens for it, but it was nowhere to be found! And here I went into Zara shop in Nicosia, not really expecting to find anything I haven’t seen before, and there it was! It’s light, inexpensive and original – the outfit post starring it to follow sometime soon!

5. Rum

Now, I don’t want to sound like some sorta alcoholic, but really, a nice refreshing summer cocktail to unwind in the end of the day – it must be allowed (or at least I hope so). Indeed, a Mojito or a Margarita would be even better, but Cuba Libre is so much easier to make! That’s why we got just the thing for it at the Cyprus Duty Free – sugarcane Havana Club. Makes great drinks, I tell ya. Cheers!

Weekly inspiration roundup: WILD THINGS

While working on that previous post yesterday, I’ve decided I need to do more interesting writing for the blog – since I’m not much of an outfit posts girl, and more of a writer, really, though with a strong interest in fashion (of course). Secondly, I’ve decided that the blog also need some regular fashion inspiration feature which requires no writing at all – apart from captions/credits. And, I believe, the best time for looking through cool fashion shoots is the weekend - which technically begins Friday night…

Sigrid Agren by Mariano Vivanco for MUSE Summer 2011

Irina Denisova by Dennison Bertram for KINKI MAGAZINE

 Emma Watson for VOGUE US July 2011

Beyonce Knowles by Sharif Hamza for DAZED & CONFUSED July 2011

Lisanne de Jong by Viviane Sassen for DAZED & CONFUSED Summer 2011

Justin Hollar for NYLON Mexico

Lily Donaldson by Matt Irwin for MUSE

Momchil Hristov for GIA MAGAZINE

Frida Gustavsson by Thomas Klementsson for CONTRIBUTOR

Jac Jagaciak by Zuza Krajewska & Bartek Wieczorek  for FASHION POLAND

Ana Kalacovska by Andriana Kostova & Dimitar Petrovski (via Touchpuppet)

STYLE OBSESSION: 50's swimwear

While I'm not much of a vintage girl in my everyday clothing, I'm totally in love with vintage, 50's style-influenced swimsuits and bikinis. In fact last summer I got myself a very 50's piece from NEXT - red with white polka dots and padded bra. That was a bit of an impulse purchase but I'm more than happy to see that the vintage swimwear fashion has grown even stronger this summer! What's best about those 50's style pieces is they can do wonders to your figure if chosen right! For instance, padded and layered tops can add volume to the upper part of your body (if desired), while high wasted bottoms and swimsuits can hide those extra centimetres on your sides and belly turning you into a gorgeous pin-up girl!

ASOS

TOPSHOP

ASOS

ASOS

ASOS

TOPSHOP

NEED SUPPLY

My top summer trend: Californication

Today I've finally given up my search for a perfect American flag-printed tee. Sure, there are plenty of them out there, but the ones I really like are unfortunately out of stock. However I've also realized that it's not so much American-flag print that I'm after as the trend as a whole. All-American, or even rather CALIFORNIAN style is having a grand comeback this season and I feel a strong connection to it somehow - I guess it's because it's so free-spirited, uniform, basic and almost androgynous - in short, totally BADASS! A pair of simple cut-off and ripped denim shorts, a casual tee, perhaps printed with the name of your favorite rock band, a bandana, cool booties or sneakers and some edgy accessories - all of this is so me! I totally feel like rocking this trend all summer, even though lacy tops and floral dresses will neither be ignored by me - after all, I'm a lady even though my inner tomboy is still so alive.

Now all I need to do is go get that "biker" tee (below) from ZARA, which I tried on today but didn't buy (fighting the impulse purchase syndrome), and a pair of ripped shorts, and my WILD THING look will be complete!

Wild Thing by AlexMatoshko featuring black round sunglasses

For more California style inspiration I've discovered those two amazing photo-shoots: first one by FASHION GONE ROGUE and second from THEONESTOWATCH.

Kelley Ash by Graham Dunn in "Kalifornia" editorial for Fashion Gone Rogue

Alexandra Papadopoulos, Breanna Box and Sydney Roper for the "Hill St. Dogs" editorial for TheOnes2Watch

And finally a most fitting soundtrack to set the mood: