Getting older

So, I'm recovering from a wonderful Birthday (def. with a capital 'B'). Yesterday I turned 25. Though I wasn't all that excited the whole week, it turned out great. I spent it with my boyfriend. Friday we went to see the worlds best burlesque performers in a charming Winter Wonderland themed night. Saturday we went to Eindhoven, Holland to see my favorite band, Deathstars, play at a Metal festival. Though it was only an hour, and I wasn't interested in the other bands, I had the best time. I haven't seen them play in two years and it was a really emotional and a happy moment. After the gig I had a little chat with the bass player. I was really surprised to hear that even after two years he still recognized me.

We also did a little shopping before the show. Eindhoven is such a nice city and I'm definitely going back next year. I regret that I didn't take my camera with me, they had such pretty decorations.

Today I had a wonderful dinner at home, my mom is the best cook in the world to me. So all in all I had a wonderful time. I definitely had too much cake, though. I had three different cakes this week alone. But that's what birthdays are for!

So for the time being, I leave you with a sophisticated or a grown up (for my terms) outfit. Turtlenecks are totally mature, right?! I'll be repeating this outfit at some casual dinner party, for sure!

Wearing: Zara turtleneck, skirt and shoes, Dyrberg/Kern earrings.

DIY Christmas Wreath

While I don't study anymore, but enjoy a sort of vacation for the moment, I finally have time to make more stuff. I love making stuff, clothes, accessories, decorations, I love it all! So sometimes I actually use that time to make something. With Christmas coming up, I decided to make a wreath. I got to the store to buy the supplies and got to work. Here're the results and a little DIY guide.

YOU NEED

The one thing you'll definitely need, is the foam base for the wreath. All other materials are of your choice. To decorate, I got an organza ribbon of 500 cm, which was just enough to go around the foam base. I'm a sucker for plastic apples, berries and mushrooms, so I got wild and bought a lot of them. As berries and mushrooms are more Fall appropriate, I bough a plastic Poinsettia plant to add that Christmas flavor.

STEP I

Wrap the ribbon around the foam base. I divided the ribbon in two equal parts and started wrapping in two ways. It would have been better to just secure one end and wrap it all around. I sew the ends together at the back of the base, to secure the ribbon.

STEP II

I cut off some leaves of the Poinsettia to start decorating the wreath.

STEP III

Just start pinning and securing whatever materials you have onto the base. Make sure it doesn't fall off straight away. I used pinning needles to secure the leaves. You can also use glue or a glue gun, but I didn't want to make a mess, so I played it safe.

RESULT

I must say, I'm pretty pleased with the result. It took me a small hour to make it and it's actually pretty easy. So don't be affraid and get your DIY skillzzz used!

Hope you enjoyed this post! Much more DIY stuff coming up in 2013.

Christmas in sight

Well, I love the end of the year holidays, they give a dark winter a bright and happy feeling. I must admit I'm a sucker for Christmas trees and decorations. There's always something to look forward to every December. My birthday, Christmas, New Years eve and Christmas again (yes, we also celebrate Christmas in January). This way I get a long month of celebration. I try to stretch it out as long as possible. I refused to take down the Christmas tree until February, when I was a little girl :)

I feel that holiday glee coming up and my birthday is already in less than a week. Not even the snow and the rain can ruin that holiday mood! Trying to keep a good spirit. Are you looking forward to the holidays?!

Off course red is the ultimate holiday color!

Wearing: Only shirt, Asos dress, H&M tights & shoes, Michael Kors watch.

Casual MMM

So everybody noticed the craze about the last H&M collab with Maison Martin Margiela (if you didn't, you probably are blind or live on a deserted island). Who didn't know MMM, got to know it, who didn't love it, got to love it, that's how 90% of these collabs work, that's how smart marketing works. 

As I mentioned on my blog page and on twitter, I'm kind of tired of all these collaborations, they became so frequent, the new has worn off. If the collection is not in stores yet, the build up for the release is huge. When the collection is over, everybody forgets about it. After a month a lot of the pieces, that seemed so great when you just got your hands on them, end up on ebay. For, at least, twice as much.

I don't say these designer collaborations are bad, but too much is too much. Young people, who crave to belong to the fashion elite, close their eyes to the malfunctions, such as noticeable difference in quality. 

Also, the prices for pieces from an H&M collab are only getting higher and higher each time. It all ended for me when they started to queue up at 5 and 6am to be the first in line. It's still H&M, people!

If I'm really interested, I go and get a look, later that day, to see if some of the pieces are still there.

So far, in my closet are pieces from the earlier collaborations with Roberto Cavalli and Comme des Garçons, a necklace from Lanvin which I bought later and accessories from Anna Dello Russo. Pretty modest, if you ask me. I'd never forgive myself for not buying that red tulle dress from the Lanvin collab, especially as they were on sale afterwards. But life goes on and I hope my wardrobe will expand with some real designer pieces in the future. Because you still rather have the real deal, no? I, certainly, do.

Well, with the latest MMM collab, I decided to pull my Margiela dress out of the closet. This dress is one of my most treasured pieces, found some years ago on ebay, for a soft price. It's the perfect, warm maxi dress, which at first sight looks plain, but as with all MMM pieces, it's all in the details. The upper part of the dress is assymmetrical. It's perfect for a special occasion, with some extra accessories, or just as a plain maxi for a casual, but classy look. The dress already shows some signs of wear, it's probably from the late 90's, but that's just what makes it so special. This dress has a life, a history and was made when dear Martin Margiela was still the head of his label.

Margiela has always been one of my favorite designers and I wanted his clear wedge boots for forever, unfortunately, I still don't own a pair. Le sigh*

Wearing: c/o River Island jacket, Maison Martin Margiela dress, H&M necklace, Michael Kors watch, Zara shoes.

G-Star Global Women's Night - Antwerp

Last Friday me and a bunch of the bloggers gang/crew/group attended the G-Star Global Women's Night.

This event was held all around the world and Antwerp got it's own edition. The focus was on the skinny jeans. Skinny jeans is basically the only sort of jeans I wear, so it couldn't be more perfect. 

We were welcomed by the über friendly and very charming Donald who explained us the difference between the different models of skinnies and what they do to your body. We also got to choose a pair of skinny jeans to take home with us. Ironically a lot of the bloggers ended up with the same pair, me included. The absolute star of the evening was the Arc 3D Super Skinny. It was definitely for a reason, this pair of jeans is constructed in such a 3D way, that it hugs your legs and shows off your curves in the best possible way.

And the biggest plus it doesn't even feel as a pair of jeans, but more like a pair of leggings, because it's SUPER STRETCHY! So, expect an outfit post soon.

G-Star has it's own brand of cava, that says something!

Adorable x 2 = Elien & Annebeth

Highlight of the evening was our little bloggers reunion. Spice Bloggers for evah! Picture by Paulien 

As we totally forgot to take pictures together with Annebeth, she just photoshopped us in our matching fury outfits of that day. She's the awesomest (I know that's not a word).