Emma Watson – a style icon in the making?

The decision to write this post came suddenly. Honestly, I was busy writing a long post on a very different topic, and then I saw this.

This pic from a cover shoot for November issue of ELLE UK just stopped me in my tracks. I simply had do (write) something about it. So here’s it is.

First of all I’d like to point out that I’m no model idolizer or even admirer. I guess I never believed that posing for photographs requires an exceptional talent and to admire people I require them to be exceptional at something. Like any fashion blogger I naturally do have my favorites, for instance Kate Moss and Freja Beha Erichsen, but I mostly like them for their personal style and the image they embody – that cool, confident, rock-n-roll, no-nonsense look.

Generally I tend to think of models as girls who were kind of spoilt by too much money and too much attention too early, and working in the kind of business that requires but little brainwork. I know there are exceptions, but most models I ever heard speak weren’t great at expressing themselves and I still remember reading an interview in Russian Vogue with a Russian model – then just breaking out, now a major superstar – and how plain stupid she sounded. That’s off topic however, I’m not here to discuss model intelligence. What I meant to say is that I just added another to a my very select list of favorite models. Not so much models really, but girls who, I believe, will have an impact on style and lifestyle of theur generation. I have been watching with interest Emma Watson’s photo shoots for the last year or so, and this most recent bunny-eared image was the final drop. I give up, I’m conquered!

Of course my judgment here may well be influenced by the fact that I know Emma to be much more than just a model. I did see all of the Harry Potter movies, though I wouldn’t call myself a full-blown fan (I’ve seriously enjoyed the last several books of the series however), and I’ve watched her grow. Her acting improved with age and every new film, and soon we'll see her first grownup performance in “One Week With Marilyn.” Plus Emma is well known to be a brainiac and very dedicated scholar – much like her famous character, and her intelligent interviews serve as evidence.

However Emma’s turn as a model have gotten serious just recently. One day she was just that cute clumsy teen from HP, and suddenly she was in the Burberry campaign. And then, to everyone’s surprise, she reinvented her style image in one blow by chopping off those pretty princess locks. Her brand new sexy-meets- tomboy look, along with many photo shoots that followed – much more daring and versatile than before, suddenly turned her into a valid presence in the fashion world.

Since then with every next shoot Emma seems to grow and become more and more convincingly model-like. I really tend to avoid loud and flash like “icon,” but if 2010’s were to have one, I’d rather it was someone smart, talented and multi-faceted like Emma. Anyway, just have a look at the images from various shoots in ELLE, VOGUE, i-D Magazine, CLASH, SEVENTEEN and others, and tell me she’s not the one to watch. And very closely too!

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.

She’s a rainbow

Dying my hair is seriously on my agenda these days – it’s right about time to refresh the color and make those outgrown contrasting roots disappear. Nothing extraordinary is planned – just my regular vivid ginger red. Still I can’t help wishing for something much more crazy – getting some rainbow colors in my hair just like all those girls here and others like them. It’s just feels so alluring and daring to make such a statement only with your hair! I’m totally lusting over the colorfully highlighted ends – like the ones on Abbey Lee Kershaw above. I know of course that my hair is weak enough as it is, and any drastic experiments may properly kill it, but maybe I could get a clip-on highlight in blue at least?

But while I’m still pondering over how far can I go about making my rainbow hair obsession a reality, I decided to enquire – who is to blame for this gorgeously mad hair trend? Well, there sure is more than one guilty party…

For starters, this girl here – Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead in “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World,” 2010)

Though this one came even earlier – much earlier, back in 2004. However no one, but a few punks, dared to follow the way of Clementine (Kate Winslet’s in “Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind”) at the time. Still, for me, she’ll always remain the queen of rainbow hair…

Then there is of course Katy Perry with her latest stunner wigs (great option for those who want to try the look without the risk)

And … naturally, Lady Gaga – world’s main fashion scapegoat at the moment – lots of weird stuff that people wear can be easily blamed on her. Her scull has probably seen more wigs by now then an average wig store, so no wonder she caught the color wave quite promptly.

And let’s not forget gorgeous model Charlotte Free – her candy locks must have sent many a blonde (or wannabe blonde) running to a colorist. And no wonder – she looks just so sweet, cool and simply adorable!

Also, there was this Meadham Kirchhoff’s fashion show last September – it surely helped kickstart the rainbow!

As well as this Vogue Paris editorial starring Eniko Mihalik last October…

And this – “Washed Up” editorial by Aitken Jolly for b Magazine – is just one of many recent takes on the rainbow girl.

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!

Go Wild West

Miss strutting around town in your cowboy boots and a belt with a heavy shiny buckle channelling Madonna's look circa 2000? Well it's just about time time to pull them back out of the closet since Wild West is all the rage again. Want proof?

Exhibit A: RALPH LAUREN spring/summer 2011 collection

A new twist on the classic cowboy style, mixing rusty leather and fringe with shiny metallic fabrics and demure high-neck chiffon dresses that all the decent ladies wore at the time.

Exhibit B: "COWBOYS & ALIENS"

An unexpected sci-fi take on a Western, in which Daniel Craig's mystery cowboy (appropriately named Jake Lonergan) appears out of nowhere wearing a wicked bracelet-like gadget on his left hand, which proves effective against an alien army which is just about to descent on unsuspecting small town. Harrison Ford, Sam Rockwell and Olivia Wilde come along for the ride. To be released this summer.

Exhibit C: "RANGO"

A Western-style cartoon starring a hapless chameleon named Rango with Johnny Depp's voice who walks into a town in the middle of the desert and finds himself an unlikely hero and the only hope for the local animal community in a war against nasty predators. So far looks to be original and totally hilarious. Coming in March.