The great balancing act of blogging

Last year, I was preparing for my baccalaureate exams and I thought I was quite busy. Three big fat subjects, a lot of things to know, a lot of things depending on the results of those exams. So I put off my blogging ambitions, thinking I'd have more time afterwards for that, and that going to University was going to be simply my "day-job".

Fast forward to the present, where I'd laugh at myself, if I weren't too tired for that. A lot of people must be wondering right now "What was she thinking?!" and they are perfectly right. Three 2-hour classes in a day, running around like a headless chicken in the big city, trying to make friends and worrying about the 3/3 professors that have already set complex assignments all make me laugh at my past self.

BUT BUT! BUT!!! There's a but people!

But the simple fact that I'm sitting here typing this, looking for pictures to illustrate my points as well as possible (like the one above, duhh), proves I'm in it for the long haul this time. I'm even up-to-minute with fashion week and there are reviews and stuff coming. In fact, here's a sneak peek:

Yes, Dries Van Noten may very well have made a pact with the devil. Class like that just doesn't form naturally.

So, because I depend on you desperately, how do you make time to blog?

Have a productive Sunday

I think Sundays are days perfect to do a lot of things: rest, shop, prepare for the coming week. It's not even 2 p.m., and I've managed, in junction with my sister/flatmate, to: sleep satisfyingly much (11 woo!), have a beautiful breakfast, shop for groceries, clean the appartment and now I'm banging out this post!

Source: here

Source: here

Source: here

So now comes the part of preparing for the coming week. Some of you may know I started University recently (Friday, actually) and Monday is the "real first day" and, frankly, I can't wait to see exactly how my schedule is going to be and how I'm going to combine it with my work schedule. Essentially, I'm checking my schedule for tomorrow every 20 minutes and wondering how it will go.

Karmen Pedaru for Emilio Pucci

But of course there will be a lot of this today, because Fashion Week is a beautiful thing.

How about you? Did you recently start University/school? What do you like to do on Sundays?

How is it Fendi time already?!

And by that, I don't mean that Fendi has any special significance (except for being, you know, Fendi) but that it places us, chronologically speaking, in the midst of the third fashion week out of the four. It feels like yesterday I was dying for New York Fashion Week to begin.

It happens every season, too. I wait months and months for the next Fashion Month and then each city whizzes by as I (and everyone else) get lost in the sea of architectural volumes, metaphorical prints, liberal use of lace and this or that theme.

Karl Lagerfeld speaks a pretty easy language for Fendi, where I see him more, ahem, tempered than for his own line or for Chanel. It's also a pretty easy language because so many of the season's proferred trends arose on the black-and-white striped runway.

Strategically placed cut-outs favoured shoulders a lot this season, and Fendi was no different.

Mixing prints is something bloggers foresaw for a while... and the designers kind of listened, didn't they?

I've been spoiled this season! My penchant for long, black, sheer and lace has been so fitfully satisfied that I could just lie down and die happy, but then Paris is coming, and I'll bet I'd die happier after Elie Saab and Ann Demeulemeester.

Much like Jonathan Saunders, Fendi envisions women wearing light knits combined with ultra-light fabrics like silk (the sheer-er, the better!). I like it.

The season's obsession with sportiness and utility was reflected in looks like the ones above.

But then, the Fendi woman is very much so a lady, a sophisticated yet playful one, that enjoys volume play and experiments with colours and cuts.

All in all a great collection. Not as good in my book as SS2011, but delightful still. 

What did you think?

Chilly times

I don't know how it is in the areas where you guys live, but Brussels is pretty damn cold these days. Like 15 degrees Celsius(in the 50s Fahrenheit) in the middle of the day. It's kind of like part of the cultural shock of moving here because in Romania the weather is really hot in the summer and really cold in the winter. We've been getting chills like the current one in Belgium ever since I came here in August, and whenever I look at iGoogle, the temperature is at least 10 degrees higher back home...

  Photo from this tumblr

So I really admire the Belgian way of sticking it to the icy cold and wild rain that sneaks under your umbrella, by forcing through them. I've been down with a cold so that dampened and darkened my perception, but on Sunday, for instance, there was a city-wide "ban" on cars and rather than staying in or crowding the public transportation, people, young and old, took to their bikes, skateboards, rollerblades and  scooters and invaded the city centre. Seriously, it was bikes, bikes, bikes everywhere.

In the end, I have to admit there might also be something good to the events that take place around this time of the year. After all the Fall Equinox is in a few days and the only thing we can do is get excited about a whole new kind of wardrobe. We get new colours and fabrics and fancy layers and big comfy scarves and sweaters, like these...                                                     

Carven sweater (see more wool sweaters) - a cute mustard-violet-grey combination by Carven would be nice.

Moschino Cheap Chic sweater (see more long sleeve sweaters) - Moschino love, hehe.

Oasis sweater (see more green tops) - aaand the most popular colour trend on the runways right now, minty green. 




How is it in your area? Are you starting to layer your clothing or are you still enjoying late summer warmth? Are you so lucky that it's Spring that's coming, not Fall?

A festival of colour and fabric and...

... and nice shoes. It's rarely that I find a collection so visually satisfying on so many levels. Sometimes I like the inspiration, sometimes the colours, sometimes the shoes. But Jonathan Saunders SS 2012 is full of so many vibrantly coloured, printed and cut pieces that each click through the Style.com slide show made me utter a small sound of yearning glee.

Housewife meets crazy cool print

Candy colours and satin

I think mint is the season's colour. Which is so cool!

Liquid satin and light knitwear.

The formal section was too good not to post almost entirely.

He hit all the major season trends we've already observed in New York: prints, candy colors (pink, mint, yellow, strong hues of blue and green), retro (think updated 50s housewives), use of liquid-looking satin and light knitwear, all-white, sheaths and sheer, and have I mentioned great shoes?

Isn't it crazy that it's London Fashion Week already?! Did you like Jonathan Saunders?

All sorts of wonderful...

...was Ralph Lauren Spring Summer 2012.

The collection stated clearly: the 20s. From the bell hats to the platform sandals, the pastel colors to the pretty florals, it felt like being teleported into Gatsby-esque day-time. 

The shoes were amazing in this section.

Then, it evolved into more posh ground, perhaps imagined for a Sunday brunch, and the pallette turned literally white as it was "in" then and it is and will be now. I don't think white-on-white will ever go out, just like black won't, either.

 

As things progressed into fancier and fancier garments, I was enthralled with the variety of fabrics, styles and styling of Ralph Lauren's show. Feathers, liquid satin, beads, silk, draping, encrusted rhinestones, long necklaces, flapper dresses, sheath dresses, sheer layers, headscarves, you name it, it was there in the 20s and it was on the runway as well. 

Romanian girl Andreea Diaconu rocking it big time.

What about you, darlings? Did you like it?

Are you going to be Daisies?

It's definitely one of my favourites of NYFW.

"How did fashion week start?"

That's a question I've asked myself in passing in the past, but I never quite got down to do the research and find out. I suppose I was too busy ogling all the fantastic, must-have, oh-so-beautiful garments, because I had only a vague idea until this article (it's in Romanian, proceed with care) jumped up on my iGoogle.

Ah, don't mind me, just sneaking in a wonderful Oscar de la Renta SS2012 look. 

For instance, did you ever wonder why New York comes first? It's no arbitrary, West-to-East thing. It was before the Second World War ended that a woman named Eleanor Lambert (bless her heart, where would we all be without her?!) organized an event she called "Press Week" and invited journalists from magazines and newspapers to see the newest creations by the newest designers who wanted to break out into the market.

Rodarte SS 2012

The war eventually ended and the world followed suit, giving birth to what we call "fashion capitals" (and rightly so, of course), the most established and influential in the industry, New York, London, Milan and Paris. Many other cities in the world organize Fashion Weeks, as well, thus creating the perfect environment for young designers to make a name for themselves and established ones to present to the public their latest creations.

Some very cool Diane von Furstenberg, for good measure.

What about you, did you know that?

Good god, Eniko!

The title was literally my reaction upon laying eyes on Eniko Mihalik strutting her stuff during the Zac Posen SS 2012 show. I mean, she looks just so. damn. good. Absolutely perfect body, super cute face and the blonde-ish hue in her hair compliments her features so well.

This is just a snippet of all that I'm drooling over with all the shows from NYFW. Everything's sporty and so cool and it's going to be so fabulous taking it all in.

Don't you love it when...

You find out awesomely interesting stuff, like the fact that model Hanne Gaby Odiele is Derek Lam's muse?

I think this type of relationship is so mysterious and wonderful, and as unexplainable as love. It's a type of love, after all. The designer, the artist, ''falls in love" and proceeds to show it by making his art an offering to the muse's beauty and/or personality. It's fascinating to find out, and I love discovering such (sometimes) odd pairings.

New York Fashion Week is in full swing and it's brought me this interesting little tidbit of information, about the Hanne-Lam duo, haha. Hanne was, in fact, the inspiration for an entire line concocted by the designer, called 10 Crosby and not only did she model for the lookbook, she helped style the looks too.

Check it out, it's pretty magical, methinks.

 The clothes are, in my opinion, ultra-wearable but also super chic and edgy-looking. They have that je-ne-sais-quoi that makes them irresistible.

This last one does remind us of Prada SS2011, though, doesn't it?

10 crosby photos courtesy of 10 Crosby via Style.com; Prada SS2011 photo found on Google. 


What's your favourite collection so far this season? What's your favourite fashion city? (Mine is Paris, sosososo much, I just love so many designers from PFW.)