Relatable Style

Rock the Red Lips, it's Women's Day!

2012-03-08T17:55:00.000+01:00

A big kiss to you all on Women's Day! Whatever you wish for, today's your day! And if you have got a minute to spare, think about all the women out there for whom this day still has political significance in fighting for basic rights. Maybe even consider donating to a women or girls specific development organisation?

I donate monthly to a girls specific program with Plan. If you are interested, here is their international website, their the German site and their girls' projects. Of course there are also a lot of other charities you can donate to or give your help to. We are so fortunate, even with all the problems still in our way to absolute equality, so why not give back a little?

Enjoy Women's Day!

xo,
Lili

Currently playing in my head...

2012-03-06T13:01:00.000+01:00

"Bad Girls" by M.I.A. This song has not left my head since I first heard it, and in the insane video there were actually a few things relevant to the blogger world as well. Don't believe it? Well, hear me out!

Here's the video:

Aren't their tricks totally insane? Love it!

I read a little bit on the video, which was shot in Morocco, and M.I.A. said the stunts terrified her to the bones, thinking she would have to hand over the video without her legs. You do.not.see.that. in the video. She looks cool and relaxed all the time, even lying on the side of a car driving on only two wheels! Which I think is pretty much blogger-style: We look pretty, content and smiley (or sultry and cool) in our pictures, but what the viewer does not know: It is actually a quick shot in the lunch break, we are actually thinking all the time "oh please let no one come along... or at least no one that I know", next to the beautiful door we are posing in front of is actually a big, smelly trash can, the outfit looks stupid from three angles and good from one, but only if the hands are placed strategically... You know the works.

Another interesting thing I noticed while watching the video was, like many many bloggers out there she's all blinged up and accessorized much of the time. It definitely suits her and her vibe. We're used to seeing it on her, it's kinda her thing. Do you know what I liked best though, by far? The shots where she's wearing nothing but a black shirt. No bling, no big coif, not even flashy makeup. It doesn't even have buttons. These were the ones that made me go "wow". I think there is a lesson somewhere in there :-)

What do you think?

xo,
Lili

Inspiration Monday: A Windswept Saturday

2012-03-05T21:00:00.000+01:00

This Inspiration Monday outfit was the first one in a long string of them that I actually wore out. Lately it had been much too cold to actually wear the inspiration outfit! Honestly, I'm so sick of my winter clothes. I can't wait to wear my pumps and ballet flats again. I actually love boots, but enough is enough! I feel like spring is close. The weather is starting to get warmer, it's everywhere on the blogs... But when I step outside, it's still cold. Not as much, but not enough at the same time.

So let's see how this L.A. to Germany's west end inspiration outfit went:

The inspiration picture from two birds actually featured the whole band, The Saturdays! I picked out Mollie King as I felt I had everything I needed to recreate hers. I liked the one on the far right with the mint shirt, too, and actually sewed a too-small sweater into a cardigan yesterday to do this one, but somehow it all fell down with the pants ;-) Plus, I figured I can't let a good opportunity to wear "nautical style" wear go!

So what did she wear?

Dark blue nautical style jacket
White shirt
Red pants
Tan boots
Tan bag
Tan belt
Sunglasses

How did I do in comparison?

Dark blue blazer
... added the nautical vibe with a red and white striped scarf!
White shirt
Red pants
Tan boots
Tan bag... Which I forgot in my office. Just like the red ring I was wearing. Oh well.
Tan belt... Which you can't see. LOL. Go me!
Also forgot the sunglasses. At least not in the office but completely ;-)

(Yeah... That's where the title comes from. I got positively windswept!)

Verdict: Not too shabby! My blazer would have been a little boring and not-that-nautical on its own, but with the scarf I think it's good to go! I do wonder though if the red pants do bad things to my body with their rather loose cut. I remember wondering that in October already. Hmmm. I think it is essential for me to show leg shape or else I quickly look heavier than I am. Probably something to keep in mind.

Click here to see how everybody else did it!

Time:

March 5th, 2012

Place:

To the office! Fun stuff!

Stuff:

Red jeans - Promod
Tan boots - Osco
White shirt - Takko
Blazer - C&A
Red belt - Primark
Scarf - H&M

xo,

Lili

PS: If you noticed some white lint on my blazer (if you didn't, please don't look) that was from my down coat. I have this coat since two years and never saw it shed so much on anything. Today it did!

Unexpected Wardrobe Workhorse: Cream Suede Overknees

2012-03-04T02:38:00.000+01:00

Welcome to the second part of Unexpected Wardrobe Workhorses, a little series that I started in January. It started when I combed through the archives for my 1st birthday post. I noticed that I frequently wear things in heavy rotation that I never thought I would just by looking at it. Sometimes not even when I stood in the checkout line with the item in question :-) Come to think of it, I often love things I was unsure of when I bought them, and leave things I loved in the store aside... Please say this happens to you too sometimes :-) Ok, where were we? Oh yes, overknees!

Today, it's all about my favorite overknees! They are cream, a suede-like material and they fold up and down.

I wore them out in the cold with a tulle skirt and a military jacket in February:

I wore them layered with a turquoise blazer and teal thermal tights earlier in February:

I wore them classic with a cream blazer and cream tights in January:

I wore them for a city trip with a blue skirt and a blue shirt earlier in January (and with a different skirt!):

I wore them party-ready with a cream and white shirt and a white sequin skirt on New Year's Eve!

I wore them winterized with a white skirt, a red belt and an aqua scarf in December:

... and I wore them colorful with cream, yellow and pink in October:

It is safe to say they are the one pair of boots I wore the most this winter. I think they just add a nice balance to outfits with light colors, without looking tacky as - frankly - white boots sometimes do. They also had a nice surprise for me, when I found out more than half a year into owning them that you can fold them up... They were just buttoned down, and when one button came loose, I initially thought I had broken them, haha! The overknee function came in pretty handy though when it was so darn cold outside in February - as you can see in all the latest pics, I have always worn them up then :-)

xo,

Lili

PS: Also, I yesterday sent the last chapter of my book to my publisher. Y-to-the-A-A-Y! :-D

Mission: Save the Closet Orphans! - Day Seven

2012-03-01T21:00:00.000+01:00

Hi there! Today is the last day of Mission: Save the Closet Orphans! If you're new, you can read all about it here. If you've missed the action so far, you can of course still link up with every post, the linkups will all be open for a week after their original post date. There will of course be a recap of the Mission and everybody that participated, too.

The last day also gave me a little challenge: I had no choice but wear the one last orphan that hung on the rack - a light pink boxy sparkly top, No 3 on the list. A piece I had tried to be friends with but mostly failed. So today, I failed again.

At the beginning of my Mission, I clearly stated "If I don't like it, it's a fail!". That was one of the rules I set up for myself. Ladies - not only did (and do) I not like this outfit, I downright hate it. I felt frumpy all the time I wore it, which was not long because I changed out of it the first second I could. So that was definitely a fail.

I feel it is doing all the wrong things to my body shape. There are certainly people who can do boxy tops well, but I'm not one of them. I tried to combine the prettiness of the top's sparkle with a necklace that is also a mixture of muted and sparkly and a grey knit grandpa-style cardigan and sneakers to give it a more casual feel. It did not work. I think in order to wear something as shape-concealing as a grandpa cardi, you have to wear something underneath that shows some of that body. If you have my body shape, that is. Or else it will just look like someone had too much dinner in the last 10 years or so.

Verdict: This top is the worst. It is even worse than the first orphan outfit, which I didn't like either. I don't know, I bought the top at full price (at H&M, but still) because I thought (in store lighting) the color would flatter me and the cut was nice, too. Nice to hide a food baby in, if need be. Thing is, the color hasn't got nearly the same effect in daylight, and the shirt's boxiness creates a food baby more than it hides one. So this one is on the way out!

Now over to you!
Grab the badge and join the party!

Time:

March 1st, 2012

Place:

To bring my car to a check-up, to go to the post office and grocery shopping
Stuff:
Sparkly top, flare jeans - H&M
Longsleeve - Takko
Cardigan - C&A
Necklace - Bijou Brigitte
Sneakers - Asics

xo,

Lili

Mission: Save the Clorst Orphans! - Day Six

2012-02-29T21:43:00.000+01:00

Welcome to Day Six of Mission: Save the Closet Orphans! See what it's all about here! This morning, I had two choices left from my closet orphan list: No 1, the striped nautical-style cardigan, or No 3, the glitzy, slightly boxy, rosy top. I really tried to wear the top, but did not like a single thing. So I threw off everything and grabbed the cardigan. Which is when all came together easily.

I think this cardigan goes best with something in one of its own colors, so the decision was easy: White looked bland, but blue was the winner! I tried a yellow belt with it, but it was red that really clicked. Also, I really felt like wearing something comfortable today, so jeans and sneakers sealed the deal.

I didn't manage go to out before darkness again, but I found a cool photo spot indoors! Right before it was locked, actually ;-) On a trip around the premises, I found a lot of cool spots, why didn't I remember them before? I was probably just too lazy to walk around, our buildings are freaking HUGE.

This is me watching out. Hehe. (For tomorrow, I guess, where the rosy top is looming. Ouch!) Anyway, I don't think I need to say this: This one is SO a keeper! This is what I intended to wear it like when I bought it, except I never did. I thought it was hard to wear, being so sheer and a little wrinkly... But guess what, key is wearing something underneath in one solid color, so the sheerness doesn't matter. Also, the wrinklyness? It just looks laid back. LOVE!

Now over to you...
Grab the badge and join the party!

Time:

February 29th, 2012

Place:

To work again...!
Stuff:
Long striped cardigan, blue longsleeve - Primark
Flared Jeans - H&M
Belt, Necklace - Bijou Brigitte
Sneakers - Converse
Red lips - Catrice "Let's dance Salsa" and Revlon "Coral Reef"

xo,

Lili

Mission: Save the Closet Orphans! - Day Five

2012-02-28T22:47:00.000+01:00

Wow, it's Day Five of our Mission: Save the Closet Orphans! already! If you're new to the Mission, you can read all about it here! Today, I was feeling really brave and picked item No 4, a cream knit dress. Why that is brave? I'm telling you: I had absolutely no idea how to wear this baby. I picked it up at an H&M sale for 7€ once and never wore it. It's quite see-through, has a deep neckline and is also kind of clingy. Not a recipe for success, and certainly hard to wear to work. Which is what I did today! So yeah, brave feeling.

It was clear from the get-go that wearing this dress on its own was absolutely impossible. So I tried layering various dresses underneath (including this one)... They all looked stupid. Then I remembered ny new H&M dresses which I bought mostly for layering (see them here!). Yay! That worked. Now what else? I first tried these tights, but they were way too colorful and clashed with my muted brown-grey boots I had already decided on. Then I remembered a pair of pastel/icy light blue tights I also rarely wear, which turned out to be a perfect fit for both the layered blue dress and the boots - not clashing, not too similar, but really nice and complimenting.

Finally, to hide the clingy nature of the knit dress, I added a wide belt in the boots' color. I actually bought this one to wear with the boots, and now they finally got together! I admit, I tried to sneak more color into the whole ensemble by trying on my red obi belt, but it did not click. For the final touches, I added a necklace in the freaking exact same colors as my dress and boots (I never knew it had the same colors! Go figure! I even had to drag it out of a storage box somewhere!), my light blue thick wool scarf that is so perfect for cold weather, and a mint ring that I haven't worn before because some other one of all my aqua, turquoise and mint pieces always won the upper hand. Not this time!

I was really very pleased with the outfit. Needless to say, probably, as I think you can see it in the pictures! I felt a little bit like an ice cream cone all day, but really, really loved the colors and how it all came together. Without my orphan, I don't think I would have ever thought of wearing all this together! I also kept my promise and was a better blogger today: I went outside to take pictures before it was dark. I also did not forget my tripod (unlike yesterday) so I could venture out a little and take pictures in a little wood near the office building. Yay!

See? Exact. Same. Colors. Oh how I love matching :-)

Verdict: This one is definitely allowed to stay! What do you say?

And now over to you!

Grab the badge and join the party!

Time:

February 28th, 2012

Place:

To work again!
Stuff:
Knit dress, layering dress, scarf, tights - H&M
Boots, mint ring - C&A
Necklace - Bijou Brigitte
Belt - Madonna
Pink lips - Catrice "Let's dance Salsa" and Revlon "Coral Reef"

xo,

Lili

Mission: Save the Closet Orphans! - Day Four

2012-02-28T01:47:00.000+01:00

Welcome to Day Four of Mission: Save the Closet Orphans! Read all about it here! I'm sorry this post comes so late, I was at work until way too late and then fell asleep at home. Yeah, livin' on the edge here! Today, it was No 2's turn. I can't quite believe I have left this one in my closet, except this one time I never wore it.

I actually planned on wearing the sweater with jeans and a dark blue blazer, but I changed my mind last minute and took one of my favorite skirts instead. I'm not quite sure if it was the better choice though. I like the silhouette, but can't get myself to warm up to the boots. I wish I could have worn the dark blue boots from last night, but they are really really high and that's not for work. I think I would have gone back and forth between all my boots forever if I hadn't got to leave for the office ;-)

Altogether, I really liked the outfit, although I liked it even better in the mirror... Probably because I had to take the pictures in near darkness. Right at my office building. Isn't it charming? ^^ I promise to do better tomorrow... Which is today here ;-)

So this was Day Four of the Mission, I hope you liked it so far! I've still got two items looming that leave a big question mark over my head... Oh by the way, have you seen the lovely entries to this Mission from Katha and manouschka?

Now over to you!

Grab the badge and join the party!

Time:

February 27th, 2012

Place:

To work!
Stuff:
Sweater - New Yorker
Button shirt - H&M
Skirt - Promod
Tights - No idea
Boots - C&A

xo,

Lili

PS: Don't you love how it's almost March, too? :-D

The Oscars 2012 - My favorite looks

2012-02-27T16:55:00.000+01:00

Yep, they came and went - the 84th Academy Awards, or as we fondly say, the Oscars! For the first time ever, I watched a good part of it and was rather disappointed that there was not much to see of all those dresses in the red carpet coverage, which started shortly after 1:00 am here :-) Thankfully, there are photos today and I can pick my favorites!

Here we go:

Octavia Spencer

Oh, I think Octavia just killed it in this dress! It's fabulous! I love the little sleeves, the direction of the embroidery and her simple styling. Let the dress shine girl, and let it make you shine! If you go really really close, you can see that there are flower sequins stitched to the dress. I don't like that. Luckily, they are really only visible in a closeup!

Emma Stone

What a pretty color! While I'm not sure I'd say "this is her best color ever ever evaaaa!" it looks stunning on her in its entirety. Yes, it did strangely remind me of something when I first saw it, and it was quickly pointed out that Nicole Kidman pretty much wore that to the 2007 Oscars. I prefer Emma's version though, I like the slighty "berrier" color better, and very much prefer the fabric here. Swoon!

Gwyneth Paltrow

This dress was made for someone with a killer body like Gwyneth. It looks statuesque and modern yet sexy. Her styling is impeccable. I somewhat wish the bob would have been real instead of being a ponytail fake bob, but that's nitpicking. I mean, really.

Penelope Cruz

I saw this one the red carpet and instantly liked it, although it didn't give off the WOW factor it does now in the pictures. It looked slightly greyer on TV, and I prefer this blue version. Penelope looks very regal in it, very much like a queen. I do wonder if it would have looked even better in another color, but now I'm thinking I'm really greedy ;-) She looks gorgeous beyond words in this Grace-Kelly-inspired dress. Maybe when she's done with it, it can come play in my closet? A girl can dream, right?

Jennifer Lopez

I read somewhere that this is very J.Lo, and it is! Does it matter though? She looks amazing. Girlfriend knows how to dress herself! So, that's a big like from me!

Louise Roe

I have absolutely no idea who Louise Roe is, but I liked her constructed dress with the nice neckline detail (is this a kind of netting?) and her perfect styling with this belt that matches both her clutch and ring and her dress. Just lovely. It would be nitpicking to wonder how this might have looked in a deeper color... She seems quite dark and contrasty, I think she can take more than this delicate hue.

Overall, the ladies looked surprisingly good yesterday, I mean, there are usually more faux-pas, matronly, ill-fitting or garish looking dresses on the red carpet! There were a few nearly hits (in my book) though. Like I instantly liked Stacy Keibler's dress, but what about that weird rose-like thing at her hip? Hmm, not for me. I thought it was a cool move of Viola Davis to wear her natural hair, and I think it looks better than a wig. She looks relieved, too. I loved the color of her dress, but what it did to her boobs should be considered a crime! Move around in it, ladies, before you decide to wear it to the Oscars (or anywhere, actually). Sandra Bullock - where's her waist? Is she pregnant? If I were and would not want anyone to know it, I'd wear that dress. Or if I wanted everyone to speculate about it ;-) Another one is Jessica Chastain. I don't know, the dress feels kinda heavy on her, no? And just for the record: I have a soft spot for both Michelle Williams and Angelina Jolie, but both did not wow me last night. Michelle's dress has too much going on for my tastes, although I wouldn't know where to start simplifying it either! I liked Angelina's attitude in the pictures and everything from the neck up, but I would have preferred some color on her (like in my post about the Golden Globes!) and she was also pretty serious about us seeing her leg ;-)

So these were my favorite looks from last night's Academy Awards! Which ones knocked your socks off? Agree or disagree with my choices? :-)

PS: My Mission: Save the Closet Orphans post will be late today, as I'll be in the office long hours. I can tell you though, I LOVE love today's piece and I can't wrap my head around the fact that I rarely wear it! Until now, that is! (Read all about the Mission here!)

xo,

Lili

Picture sources:
Octavia
Emma
Gwyneth
Jennifer
Penelope
Louise

Mission: Save the Closet Orphans! - Day Three

2012-02-26T19:00:00.000+01:00

This is Day Three of Mission: Save the Closet Orphans! If you are new to the mission, see here what it's all about! Today, I chose No 7 for my outfit, a woolly cream white knit dress that is actually way too short to wear as a dress. I made the fingertip test, you know, the one that says when your hem is at your fingertips or lower, it's good to go. Well. It was about the middle of my palms. I do have long limbs, but what's too much is too much. Or too little, in this case! :-)

I paired the knit dress with a navy-style pleated skirt with a dark blue hem and teeny-tiny white and blue pinstripes. You've seen it here before in a summer version, which is actually the most commented non-challenge post of the last year, very much to my surprise! I bought the skirt at full price last spring (wasn't that much, but still), expecting to get a lot of wear out of it. And then it sat in my closet. And sat. And sat. In fact, I'm wearing two closet orphans here :-) I just happen to really love the skirt still, while the dress has left me pretty much stumped after I noticed how short it really is.

With the accessories, I kept it navy-inspired with my blue-and-white striped scarf and the only pop of color in the outfit: One of my red belts. I have a thin one, a very broad one, a stretchy one and this one here, which is a sturdy medium-width version. It had been with me for quite some time before I started wearing it, but since I started it's been in constant use so it cannot qualify as a closet orphan any longer! To somewhat incorporate the dark blue hem of the skirt, I picked dark blue tights and dark blue boots to go with it. Knee-high, to fight off he weather! It was rainy, this mean foggy rain with tiny drops. It made me and the camera seek refuge at a church entrance for pictures ;-)

My verdict: I totally loved the outfit! No really, if I keep going at this rate, I'll marry the next one or at least the one behind that (and then I'll obviously leave it for the ones following). It was also really, really warm, probably because the dress is not actually wool but synthetic. It was so warm that I don't even know if I'll get to wear it like this until the next winter again, I think I'd get a heat stroke if I had to go through a day at the office with this one... On the other hand, I really wanted to do a winter version of this skirt, so yay!

Now over to you!

Grab the badge and join the party!

Time:

February 26th, 2012

Place:

Out to get some drinks... We forgot to go shopping yesterday ;-)
Stuff:
Knit dress - New Yorker
Pleated skirt - Orsay
Red belt - Bijou Brigitte
Tights - Huh?
Boots - Deichmann
Scarf - H&M

xo,

Lili

Mission: Save the Closet Orphans - Day Two

2012-02-25T16:00:00.000+01:00

This is the second day of Mission: Save the Closet Orphans! What's that all about? Read here! I took No 6 of my closet warmers out today and paired it with a light denim skirt, a light blue button shirt,a narrow faux suede obi belt (yeah... those things exist!) and knee boots in the same tone. Looking at the results, I felt there was a little edge missing so I threw my cool metal-and-pearls necklace and the unique ring I got from my grandma into the mix.

I like this outfit much better than the outfit I wore on Day One of Mission: Save the Closet Orphans, so this piece had earned its keep in my closet! I'm glad, it would really have been sad if all of the items I intended to save would end up donated ;-) I do think though that a sturdier belt in this color would come in handy... I really love the color, and this one belt is a little too weak to use through belt loops.

Now over to you! Join Mission: Save the Closet Orphans! and...

Grab the badge and join the party!

Time:

February 25th, 2012

Place:

To run some errands :-)
Stuff:
Knit top - Primark
Button shirt, Tights - H&M
Skirt - Promod
Necklace - Next, probably
Belt - New Yorker, I guess?
Ring - Gift from my grandma
Boots - Deichmann

xo,

Lili

Mission: Save the Closet Orphans! - Day One

2012-02-24T16:00:00.000+01:00

Hello fellow orphan savers, this is Day One of our mission to a more versatile closet (click here to see what this is about!)! Today, I picked the lovely No 5 from my closet orphans list and took it out for a ~~wild~~ fairly normal ride.

Wanna see the results?

How do I like it?

Wellll... I thought it could be saved with Refinery 29's tip for mesh-like knit tops: Layer a button shirt underneath. I tried to take the rough route by combining it with a chambray shirt and red pants, but I don't really think it worked. Maybe if I tried again with a thinner shirt? At least I like the outfit better now that I see it in pictures than I liked wearing it. I felt a bit "overly layered" all day... and maybe a bit too red, too. But all my other pants wouldn't have been right either. Denim? Like denim on denim? Oh no. White? Yeah, snoozefest par excellence. Dark blue? Hot mess alert. Also, there are specific reasons why this one turned out a closet orphan to begin with. It is static to no end. It is sheer. It is either too short or too long. I could do with either the shortness or the sheerness, both is a problem.

So what will happen do dear No 5?

To be honest, I think it will leave my "active closet" and go to my hangout clothes to play there for a while. If I notice that I really don't wear it there either, it may just get axed, i.e. donated. OR maybe I can make it shorter. I really have doubts though that I can do this with such a loose knit. I would have to make a hem encasing the part I cut off... Hmmm...

What do you think? Do you have any inspiration on a refashion here? :-)

Over to you!

Grab the badge and join the party!

Time:

February 24th, 2012

Place:

Around town and to the drugstore. Booya!
Stuff:
White loose knit top/mini dress - Tally Weijl
Chambray shirt - C&A
Belt, Ring - Bijou Brigitte
Pants - Promod
Shoes - Osco
Scarf - From a street store in Mallorca
Longsleeve - Primark

xo,

Lili

My WIW Winter Remix Looks: The Dark

2012-02-23T15:00:00.000+01:00

The is the second look of the two I sent in to What I Wore's Winter Remix Challenge! (See the first one here!)

It is also quite a change from what I usually wear. Because it's black. I have not worn black in two years. It's even in my header! Also, it's where the announced epiphany comes from! It is: I really felt at home in the little extra "edge" that outfit gave me. Now, this does not mean that I'm going to go all black on you any time soon, or that the things I dressed in lately were less me.

It does mean though that
a) I want to dabble more in contrast and
b) I want to see a little more sass in my outfits in the future!

I actually believe in "creating oneself" over "finding oneself" but the feeling of fitting right into this outfit was uncanny. So let's see the details on this outfit that spun my gears!

I think the important thing for me to make black work somehow is to put a lighter color near my face (it also doesn't hurt if it's one of my best colors :-) ) and mirror some other one of my actual colors in the outfit (like my hair! With the skirt! Whee!). I admit to pulling this together without planning all this, but it seemed astonishing how I'd not noticed when it was pointed out to me later ;-)

Just as with the light outfit, I kept the accessories in turquoise to connect the outfits to one another. Also, I think I have the most accessories in turquoise, closely followed by all shades of red :-) Speaking of red: I'm loving the red lips with this one!

Time:

February 9th, 2012

Place:

What I Wore Winter Remix Challenge
Stuff:
Jacket - In all honesty, I have no idea. New Yorker, probably?

Tights - ergee (they're thermal! Soooo good!)

Skirt - Promod
Boots - Tally Weijl

Scarf - Small shop in Mallorca

Necklace - Bijou Brigitte

Rings - Gifts from my Grandma, Idee.

xo,

Lili

My WIW Winter Remix Looks: The Light

2012-02-22T15:00:00.000+01:00

I recently showed you the little picture I sent to What I Wore's Winter Remix Challenge. The challenge was about styling one item of clothing in two different ways. I chose my tulle embroidered skirt! I really wanted to do a thematic remix, and after long and hard thinking I came up with a mixture of light and more ladylike on one hand, and more rugged and dark on the other. In this post and the next, I'll give you the details to the outfits! I'll start with the light one today, as the dark one has a little insight I still need to stew over for a minute :-) (I'll tell you all about that in my next post!)

This my entry for the Winter Remix:

This is the light outfit:

This one is the lighter and more ladylike version, although I use the word "ladylike" as "in comparison with". I buttoned the shirt up high to showcase the necklace. This is something I never do, I feel the uptight style does not suit me that well.

Actually, the outfits are pretty similar. Both feature overknee boots and leather jackets, and of course the skirt! I also kept the accessories turquoise as a bridge between the two outfits.

I hope you liked my little remix so far!

Time:

February 9th, 2012

Place:

For What I Wore Winter Remix Challenge.
Stuff:
Jacket, Skirt - Promod
Shirt, Necklace, Belt - H&M
Necklace - H&M
Boots - Osco
Tights - No idea!

xo,

Lili

The Whatever Day

2012-02-21T15:42:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, I was feeling a little "whatever", so I just kept the slip dress and tights I wore under the fab dress for Inspiration Monday on and called it a day. I even kept the ring on I wore before and just added a belt, boots and a sweater for work.

I was lucky though, because after throwing it all on I really liked the result and took some photos anyway! I could have worn a necklace with this, but this is where the "whatever" part shows ;-)

The day was pretty uneventful, it is Karneval in Germany right now, which peaked yesterday in Rosenmontag (Rose Monday). I'm trying to avoid as much of it as I can. I think I grew out of it, it was great fun as a kid and with my friends when we were teenagers, but now I don't care that much. Except that everything in TV seems to be exceptionally bad. Don't imagine it like Carnival in Rio. Oh well. To each his own!*

The upside is: When I got into work, there were pretty much dustballs rolling over the floor, although Rosenmontag is not a holiday. So I packed my bags early too and got supplies for a little DIY project I've wanted to do for soo long now! I'll of course show you what I did. When it's done. Pinky promise :-)

Oh, on a totally unrelated note: If you've got a closet full of unused pieces, let's rescue them!

Time:

February 20th, 2012

Place:

To work and a crafts store :-)
Stuff:
Dress - H&M
Belt - New Yorker maybe?
Knit tent - New Yorker
Ring - Bijou Brigitte
Boots - Deichmann

xo,

Lili

* I always wondered though why Karneval has to be in February/March. It is mostly insanely cold, yet everyone is going for skimpy costumes. It seems a bit counterintuitive ;-)

Inspiration Monday - Sarah Jessica Parker at the pool

2012-02-20T20:16:00.000+01:00

This Inspiration Monday over at two birds featured an outfit by Sarah Jessica Parker, or Carrie, as we fondly say... which she probably hates by now ;-) As soon as I saw the inspiration picture, I just knew I had the perfect dress for it. See:

Yay! Any reason to don that dress is a good one! Sadly, I still don't own a bright bag, but I did surprisingly own a bottle of Veuve Cliquot, which Mrs. Parker is also holding here. Also, I had to reverse the color scheme to make it fit to what's actually in my closet. But let's start from the beginning!

What is she wearing?

Dark blue A-line dress
Beady necklace
Turquoise knit sweater, grandpa style
Bright bag
Champagne
Olive pointed pumps
Sunglasses

How did I do in comparison?

Swimming pool blue A-line dress
No necklace - I actually have a necklace in this very style (seen here), but this dress and the neckline don't really call for jewellery. Au contraire, actually. A ring in the exact blue tone was enough to keep the look from being underaccessorized.
Dark blue light shrug - I also tried a grandpa sweater with this one, but it just looked stupid. This dress with its high neckline emphasizes the waist, and when the waist is obscured, it looks a little dowdy and visually adds weight. Thanks, but no thanks!
Bright bag - also skipped that. I still have no bright bag! One more thing on the wish list... I added a red belt as a substitue though. Admittedly, I didn't really substitute it. I just though I needed a pop of a different color in this.
Champagne - CHECK! I actually had a bottle here, the right one no less. Score!
Olive pointed pumps - Don't have them, also wouldn't wear them in this weather! I have something better though: My dark blue ballet bandage high heels. Oh they are so pretty, but also just the right amount of fierce!
Sunglasses - yep.

Verdict:

I think I did ok here. The reversed color scheme is fine and the resemblance to the actual inspiration is definitely there :-) I just think I need to find better ways to winterize this dress, it is so obviously a summer dress! Maybe I should think about it a little and not just run in my closet on the exact day and pull out stuff! That should probably do the trick.

Click here to see how everybody else did it!

Also, if you've got a closet full of unused pieces, let's rescue them!

Time:

February 20th, 2012

Place:

For Inspiration Monday!
Stuff:
Dress - TK Maxx (It's Calvin Klein! And I found it at TK Maxx! Yes, I will probably tell you that hundred times more! :-D)
Shurg - Hallhuber
Belt - Primark
Ring - Bijou Brigitte
Heels - Deichmann
Sunglasses - Humphrey's

xo,

Lili

Sunday at the Park

2012-02-19T19:30:00.000+01:00

There is a beautiful park near our house we like to go to on sunny Sundays. It has warmed up considerably here, which is so nice. It feels like spring is within reach :-)

Yay! My first jump picture! Frankly, in fashion pages in magazines, I'm SO over the jump. Put a fork in it, it's done! So you'll forgive me this one, after trying it some time ago (and always failing, with my timer) I just had to get one jump shot. I'm done with them now too :-)

Of course, after all that walking and (still) being cold, I got a nice tea. And a chili cheese burger, but I'm really not a food blogger ;-)

Enjoy your Sunday! I'm now back to work... There are summaries to my chapters and articles for my other internet project to write. There also may be some food in the near future. Yaywhee!

xo,
Lili

Mission: Save the Closet Orphans - My orphans and the link-up

2012-02-17T22:58:00.000+01:00

Ladies (and possibly Gents), here are my seven closet orphans for the Mission: Save the Closet Orphans (read all about it here!)! Meet my closet warmers:

I had more than I thought I would. There were about 15 rarely-or-never worn items in my closet. These 7 made the cut as particularly lonely or complicated items. They look pretty harmless, no? Believe me though, I have tried them.

This one is a long pretty sheer cardigan. I loved it, bought it and then never wore it. That is about to change - I hope to whip up an outfit with it that makes it earn its space in my closet!
Another striped little bastard that I loved, bought and then wore once (on the blog, at least). It looks so versatile, why don't I ever wear it?
I bought this top in Berlin. It is a dusty pale rose color with little shiny pieces glued around the neckline. I wore it once for an Inspiration Monday and took it with me to the congress (where I didn't wear it). That's it. Sadface.
This dress was waiting for me at a H&M sale for 7€. I couldn't pass it up, but never wore it. Actually, I'm pretty stumped with this one because it looks kinda strange on. This is the item I am personally most excited about how it will turn out, as I have no friggin' idea!
I actually don't know what this one is. Is it a long loose knit shirt? Is it a dress somehow? This, and it's complete sheerness, made it impossible for me to wear so far. I have an idea this time around though :-)
Yep, same here! I should really stop buying things that are too long to be simply "tops" and too short to be "dresses". They don't like me, which after a while results in me not liking them either.
I got this dress for a class reunion, as I really wanted to wear a white knit dress. This one turned out to be way too short, and I still don't know how that slipped by me in the dressing room. I ended up with another white knit dress (yay!), but had to keep this loser around (nay...) as it wasn't returnable.

Yep, these are my orphans, which I hope to reunite with other pieces to one happy outfit family! The numbers don't indicate an order, I'll just see what fits with the weather and my plans that day. Remember, we're not trying to be hard on ourselves here :-)

Grab the badge and join the party!

Now over to you:

xo,

Lili

Mission: Save the Closet Orphans!

2012-02-16T02:22:00.000+01:00

I have a confession to make.

I have closet orphans.

Pieces of clothing that I bought and then rarely wore, but seemingly can't let go of either. I like my wardrobe to work with me and not against me, and so I'm determined to find a way to make my closet orphans earn their space in my closet! This is exactly where Mission: Save the Closet Orphans comes in! You'll see how I try that (and if I fail, too!), and I'm asking you to join me! :-)

What's going to happen? Also: When and where?

I'll start by picking seven orphans from my closet. Tomorrow, I'll show you my seven pieces!
You'll have a whole week to pick (you can of course pick as many as you like) your orphans from your closet and introduce them to us.
On February 24th, I'll begin showing my closet orphan outfits. For the next seven days, there will be one outfit a day with one of the closet orphans. March 1st marks the last day of the Mission.
You can link up with me under the day's post every day, or any number of days you feel like it!
Yes, there are bonus rubber points for including several orphans into one outfit, but let's not be too hard on ourselves :-)

I have set a few rules for myself, feel free to adapt them (or not)!

I'll try to style not only a somewhat wearable outfit but one that I actually like. If I don't like it, it's a fail!
I'll wear said outfit out and about.
I'll prove it to you by taking a picture of it! This means, ideally you'll get good outdoor pictures. In the worst case of weather, you'll get decent indoor pictures and a crappy outdoor photo that just proves I've been outside with the outfit :-)

What do you have to do?

You just have to style outfits with your closet orphans! I'd also be happy if you were a follower of Relatable Style, of course! Then you put the badge you see under this post on your blog, it can be in the sidebar if you want to, but it has to be in any of the posts you do for the Mission. If you don't have a blog but want to join the Mission anyhow, you can also upload your pictures to Flickr or something else that produces a link for the linky tool :-)

Get the Mission badge!

Grab the badge and join the party!

I'm excited for Mission: Save the Closet Orphans and I hope I'll see you there! :-) To get us all started, here are some great tips on how to deal with closet orphans from Sal of Already Pretty fame, one of my all-time favorite bloggers!

xo,
Lili

Everybody, Everywear - Dressing LOUD

2012-02-14T14:34:00.000+01:00

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! This month's EBEW is all about pink and red to celebrate this special day! To be honest, I don't celebrate Valentine's. I don't think we've ever done anything fancy on February 14th. Valentine's Day is not such a big thing in Germany. Florists and gift shops try to pressure us into it, but we refuse. The cold, hard, unromantic bunch that we are, you know ;-)

Instead, I went all out with color today with my coral pink blazer, my red pants and then colorblocking it with turquoise (or aqua, as the cool people say). When I was little, I had a bike in pink and red. I remember thinking "Pink and red DO go together!" because I liked them on my bike. 25 years later, I still think they go together, although that train of thought is barely revolutionary now ;-)

With all these shocking colors in pink and red and colorblocking, I tried to keep the accessorizing low-key in comparison. I think keeping it all not only in the same color family but also in the exact hue and value grounds the outfit a little bit. I like that, usually I go for "same color family but different hues" kinda looks to keep them from going stale. When an outfit is already super busy in itself though, keeping all accessories in the same hue helps to prevent seizures in onlookers ;-)

For this Valentine look, I also pulled out a pair of ages-old wine red patent heeled boots. I loved them back in the days... Which means my early 20s. They were the shoes I wore when I wanted to look (somewhat) sexy. Mind you, I had approximately 5 pairs of shoes back then. Oh, how the times change :-D

Time:

February 14th, 2012

Place:

Our backyard :-)
Stuff:
Pants - Promod
Blazer - Promod
Sweater - Orsay
Necklace - H&M
Ring - Bijou Brigitte
Bracelets - Bijou Brigitte
Boots - I have no idea, but probably Deichmann... ages ago

xo,

Lili

Bloggers Do Red Better

2012-02-13T23:34:00.000+01:00

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, this Bloggers Do It Better challenge is all about the color RED. I have a thing for red, so yay! I decided on a French style look, with more than just a touch of spring... and of course my new red pumps! As it snowed here today, the pictures had to be indoors (pfeh!).

I just can't wait for spring to arrive! I know I'm not alone with this, so I think I'll speak from all our collective hearts when I say I was genuinely happy when I read this past weekend was the last "high winter" weekend :-D It's not quite time to pack away the winter coats, but we're way over the hump!

Time:

February 13th, 2012

Place:

Just for the shoot... There is no way I'd survive the current weather in this :-)

Stuff:

Skirt - Promod
Scarf - H&M
Shirt - H&M
Belt - Tchibo
Pumps - Belmondo
Ring - Bijou Brigitte
Red lips - Catrice "Light My Fire"

xo,
Lili

See me @ What I Wore's Winter Remix Challenge!

2012-02-13T18:02:00.000+01:00

I'm in What I Wore's Winter Remix Challenge today! Click over to What I Wore to see me and 74 (!) other lovely ladies remix one item of clothing in two ways. Jessica says "Grab a cup of coffee and clear a good half hour off your schedule (or more!) and get inspired!". I couldn't agree more! There are so many gorgeous pictures and blogs to discover! I have my cup of tea and my sliced apple and I'm ready to go!

This is my entry to the challenge:

Oh yes, it's my lovely new skirt again. It is quickly turning into a staple! I'll give you the details on both looks (and the epiphany I had while wearing them!) soon. Next up today is Bloggers do it Better: Red. I'm doing a really spring-y outfit (yes. It snowed here today) and of course I'm wearing my new red pumps!

xo,
Lili

I'm so sorry! Ad slip up!

2012-02-13T17:51:00.001+01:00

Oh wow. I just saw an all-page slightly NSFW ad on my site. I hope it was a one-time slip-up, and I'm also pretty sure that this particular ad is mostly shown in Germany, but still. If you saw any of those ads, I'm very sorry. I'm working on it (while being at work. Cough, cough.). Rest assured that there won't be any whole-page ads in the future. I hate those ads and I don't want them on my site. I want everyone to be able to read Relatable Style without clicking anything away that is obscuring the view.

Also: I'm dead sure I haven't allowed these text ads in my posts, or anywhere on my site. Yet, here they are.

Grr,

Lili

EDIT: It's all good now! Phew!

EDIT 2: Well, apparently it takes some time for the new specifications to translate to the site, so I took the culprit off. It's just fair - I feel it has just taken off of me, too. 10 years of my life, that is!

EDIT 3: As it turns out (I'm not that surprised), it was my own fault, I just didn't know so. I hope I fixed it now. I checked everything to see if it could have been my fault before considering an email to the support, and BAM! it was me ;-) I hope everything is running as it should now, but I'll be watching closely until I'm sure it is! Thank you for bearing with me :-)

Inspiration Monday: OMG it's Beyoncé!

2012-02-12T18:09:00.000+01:00

Inspiration Monday comes a day early today, as there are so many cool challenges in the next days up to Valentine's Day (BDIB! EBEW!)! This week's inspiration picture at two birds features Beyoncé. Oh, I have a soft spot for Beyoncé, had it ever since. She can just do no wrong in my eyes :-) Have you seen her little girl? So cute!

What have we got?

Bright coraly blazer
White shirt
Two-toned patterned scarf
Jeans
High-heeled booties

How did I do in comparison?

Bright coraly blazer
White shirt
Two-toned patterned scarf
Jeans
High-heeled booties

Verdict:

I think I got pretty close to the actual outfit, but somehow I'm not feeling my version. Even though I did not under-accessorize compared to her, I feel the whole thing is kinda... lame. Of course a leopard scarf is also more of a "thing" than a rather tame navy style one. I hoped to rescue the whole thing a bit with my shoes... Super high heels, little "rock" detail... But no cigar :-) Maybe I couldn't match boots and scarf like Beyoncé did, but more probable is that I just don't have her swagger. No one can imitate Sasha Fierce ;-)

Time:

February 12th, 2012

Place:

Just for the shoot... It's Sunday and friggin' cold.

Stuff:

Blazer - Promod
Scarf - H&M
Shirt - Takko
Jeans - Zero
Boots - Deichmann
Ring - Gift from my grandma

xo,
Lili

Shoe Review - Red Pumps

2012-02-09T20:40:00.000+01:00

I have wanted a pair of red pumps for soooo long. In fact, I have harrassed you with my whining because of this numerous times on this blog. It was astonishing, how can such a classic as a red pump be so darn hard to find?

Mark the year 2012, I was finally lucky. Red pumps popped up practically everywhere! So I ordered a few pairs online, and now I want to show them to you!

Here they are: Left the beige Tamaris (so... not technically red pumps) from the new collection I showed you last Sunday, then a lovely pair of red patent Belmondo pumps, next up a near-identical Buffalo pair and on the right another Buffalo pair in a darker shade of red.

These pretties got it all in motion. I saw them at a store and finally saw my longing fulfilled! They were 70€ and I was willing to plunk that cash down. After all, I had been waiting for years! I tried on size 39*. Too small. Then I tried on 40*. Wha... TOO BIG?? Eek! So I left without them, determined to finally find a pair of red pumps! Then I ordered them to my home to see if they are really really not my size, and for comparison with other pairs. Free shipping and returns made it possible ;-)

Enter the Belmondo pumps. They popped up in an online search, and I couldn't believe how similar they were to the Buffalo pumps.

See:

Both pairs are in the 2012 new collection of their respective brands and in roughly the same price category. I didn't even know that was allowed, having practically a shoe twin. Both have an 8 centimeter heel, although the Belmondos look a bit higher to me. Both are made of leather on the inside and synthetics and patent on the outside. So far, so alike. They are a little bit different in the details though. The Belmondos, for one, FIT ME like they were made for me! Yay! Also, they have a slightly higher vamp, which I'm not that into, but ok. It's really only slightly noticeable. They look a little bit brighter in color too, which I like. They are a little bit more expensive though and come in at 100€. I don't think I have ever paid that much for a shoe. It's ok though, now that my closet is stocked with pretty much everything, I want to concentrate on higher quality buys. I'll see where that leads me! Anyway, the Belmondos are keepers! :-D

I won't keep these, as they are a little too dark for my tastes. The lighter Buffalos were showing a lot darker too online, so I figured these might also be. Turns out, they were pretty true to color ;-) They are made of synthetics with a leather insole, have a 10 centimeter heel and a little plateau in the front. I think they pretty comfy to walk in, as much as 10 centimeter heels get.

Ok, these are obviously not red pumps ;-) They are from the new Tamaris collection, which I'm all about lately. Also, you know, free shipping and returns, right? These babies are made of synthetics with a textile insole and have 9.5 centimeter heels and a little plateau in the front. They are nice to walk on, but... They hurt. The fit is impeccable at size 39, but see where the vamp hits the foot? OUCH! The material is super stiff and even hurts through tights. I tried the size 40, it wasn't much better. I'm also not completely loving the color. So these are definitely going back!

That's how they look on me! In retrospect, wearing dark tights in front of a mirror was not such a hugely brilliant idea, so let me just say I don't actually have ginormous legs :-) Top row is the darker Buffalos and the Belmondos, bottom row is the lighter Buffalos and the beige Tamaris, all in size 39.

To give you a bit of orientation, in case you plan to buy any of those, my size is usually between 39 and 40. In closed shoes like sneakers and boots I often wear a size 40, yet not always. It's probably because I can't stand pressure on my toes. In open-toe shoes like strappy heels, I consistently wear a 39. In other shoes on the finer end of things (like pumps) it really depends, but it's mostly a 39 too. My feet are exactly 24.5 centimeters long. Not particularly wide or narrow, although I often use an ankle strap in it's last hole. I wonder what people with really narrow ankles do?

I hope you liked this little review and that it maybe helped you! I ordered the Tamaris and the Belmondos at Amazon, and both the Buffalo pairs at Mirapodo. I placed my orders on Sunday, both packages arrived on Tuesday. Both offer free shipping and return. I haven't returned the ones I'm not keeping yet, so I can only say that everything went smoothly so far :-)

Oh and you'll be seeing a LOT more of those pretty Belmondos once spring and summer roll around!

*European sizes 39 and 40 correspond to UK sizes 6-7 , US sizes 8.5-9.5 and Japanese sizes 24.5-25.5 (they measure sizes in centimeters! Genius!).

xo,
Lili

PS: I just sent the last chapter of my book to proofreading. From now on, it's just working in what they give me back. YES! Ok, and restyling the images and tables. OK! I'm so excited! And giddy! I want to wear my red shoes for celebration! But it snowed today! And I'm rambling! Ok, I'm out ;-)

It's Relatable Style's 1st Birthday! Posts loved by you in the last year

2012-02-08T20:00:00.000+01:00

I can't quite believe it, but Relatable Style is turning one year old! I never would have thought blogging would suck me in the way it did! To celebrate the occasion, let's have a look at the posts you loved most in the past year! Ready to go?

Awards go out to...

... The Most Commented Outfit!

This outfit was part of both Bloggers do it Better and Inspiration Monday. Which is one reason it attracted so many comments, I guess ;-) So I thought I'd also give out an award to the non-challenge-related outfit that got the most comments!

... The Most Commented Outfit Without An Attached Challenge:

I wore this one in this magical spring of 2011, when summer came early and the temperatures were all in the 25-30°C zone. Heavenly! Also, this construction site was great for shooting outfits. We have since moved and I need to find a new one ;-) Also, I think I need to do a winter version of this skirt ASAP!

... The Most Viewed Outfit!

It's no surprise that this one is BY FAR the most viewed outfit on Relatable Style. It would have been if I didn't look at my stats every now and then, as I don't even like it that much! It was part of my (super fun I think) Kate Middleton Fashion Week in Spring 2011 (before the wedding! :-D). It was 30°C that day in Germany and I was super uncomfortable in this outfit. I didn't have skinny jeans to go with the boots, and I look a bit harrowed because Kate does in her inspiration pic and I wanted to copy everything exactly, including the pose. That's also why it looks a bot awkward ;-) Anyway, this page got more than 5,000 views in the last 10 months. I would be lying if I said I don't wish it was another post that got so much attention ;-) Not a fan of this one. Also, this one was again part of a series, so let's also take a look at the most viewed solo outfit.

... The Most Viewed Solo Outfit:

Loved it then, still love it now! This dress is my one and only designer item. It is Calvin Klein and I snatched it up at TK Maxx (yep, they changed one letter for Germany ^^) for 60€. That is quite a lot for me for one single item, but I just couldn't pass it up. I so love the shape and color and style and fit... It just ticked all the boxes. I should do a winter version of this dress, really!

I also just noticed that all my "most anything" outfits are blue. What a surprise, it's my favorite color!

Now in conclusion, here's one outfit the jury (um, that's me!) voted for...

... The Best Jury outfit:

Oh, that one was a toughie. I finally settled on three outfits I equally love!

The first one is a summer outfit for Everybody, Everywear, the second one is an autumn outfit I wore just so, and the third one came from a reader request to style the skirt in some outfits (I loved that!) :-) I haven't had the chance to wear it like this due to sickness and then weather conditions, but I can't wait! [I also have some new red pumps to go with it! Eeeeeeeeeeeee, excitement!!]

This concludes my little flashback on the past year! I hope you liked it! You know that nothing of this would have been possible without you, it is so encouraging to have other women go through the same paths of inspiration, enlightenment and downfall. You are so inspiring to me, and you are the foundation of Relatable Style! Without you, it would just be no fun. Every comment, every new reader, every facebook like, every mail and every thumbs up from you is making me so happy!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for being with me on this journey to style and for reading Relatable Style! You are the best!

This is to you, and to the next and even better year with Relatable Style!

xo,

Lili

Ice Fairy Wood

2012-02-07T23:59:00.000+01:00

I wore this outfit last Saturday night, when it was -10°C. Nevertheless, I was set on taking my pictures outside. I lasted for about 10 minutes, but while I did, it was surprisingly bearable :-) I was of course wearing a ton of layers.

There are a cami, a slip dress, a longsleeve shirt, two pairs of tights, a blazer, a skirt, thick socks, knee socks and overknee boots. Inside, I could barely breather nor move, but it was pretty toasty outside for enough minutes to take pictures :-)

The trees look magical here, don't they? It was my first attempt to take pictures in actual darkness outside, and although I really have to practice standing really still, I like it!

Time:

February 4th, 2012

Place:

For grocery shopping, mainly. Oh what a Saturday night!

Stuff:

Longsleeve - s.Oliver
Blazer - Promod
Belt - H&M
Skirt - Promod
Tights - No idea!
Knee socks - Takko
Overknee boots - Osco
Necklace - Gift from my Grandma
Ring - Gift from my Grandma

xo,
Lili

Inspiration Monday: Choose one

2012-02-06T14:31:00.000+01:00

This Inspiration Monday at two birds, we could choose between the outfits of two lovely ladies. Center stage in each outfit took a shearling vest. The closest thing I have to this is my new faux-fur hooded vest, so that's what I took out.

I mixed the outfits a little, so other than my usual list of outfit features, I'm going with what I took from each outfit!

Got the shoes from Olivia - I was feeling like wearing a heel
Got the pants from both I'd say
The sweater is more like Michelle's, although I chose a long sweater. Those tights are 100% opaque, but they are still tights
Well, the vest is from both of course

Verdict:

It is always nice to get inspiration to think outside the box every now and then, but that does not mean one has to like everything. This one is ok, but not something to write hom about I think. I can't quite warm up to the thought of tights or leggings with long sweaters. Something about it does not sit quite right with me, maybe it's the shape, or the interaction of both this shape and my body shape? I usually think that in order to suit me, a piece of clothing has to decide whether it's fish or fowl. Things that rise questions like "Is it more of a dress or more of a sweater?" usually don't go that well. Then again, maybe I'm just doing it wrong and I really finally need a pair of skinny jeans? I tell you what, I'm *thisclose* to buying one. I'm actually surprised myself (and I feel a little bit like "d'oh!" because I've read numerous times now that their time is definitely over!).

Click here to see how everybody else did it!

Time:

February 6th, 2012

Place:

Just for the pictures :-) Need something way warmer for work.

Stuff:

Vest - C&A

Long sweater - Primark

Tights - Marks & Spencer

Boots - Tally Weijl

White shirt - S.Oliver

xo,
Lili

OMG Shoes! A S/S 2012 shoes collection that stole my heart.

2012-02-05T00:10:00.000+01:00

Let me preface this post by saying that I am usually super picky when it comes to buying stuff. I only buy pieces I 100% love (ok, or 90% love and they're super cheap). I'm a pretty classic dresser, I like light and bright colors and don't really do pattern. Also, it's rare that I really love something, and when I say something is perfect, I really mean it.

This means I rarely LOVE-love a whole collection of anything. But it also means, when I do come across a collection that literally has my jaw clunk on the floor, I'm totally smitten. Yesterday, I did. The Tamaris Spring and Summer 2012 shoe collection. Seriously, I want EVERYTHING. That of course won't work, so I've picked a few absolute favorites, from which I may have just ordered a pair or two...


Tamaris Spring/Summer shoes collection 2012 - my favorites

I can't wait until they are in the stores! My feet are so ready to try them on ;-) There are also some pretty wedges, but I wasn't sure about those so they didn't get a spot in the favorites. I'll be sure to check them out at the store though. I did try the red pumps, albeit in blue. Super pretty, but I haven't made up my mind about them yet.

PS: I have no affiliation with Tamaris. (Sadface! Right now, if someone told me that would going to be all I'd ever wear, I'd be good with it. In fact, I'd be beaming!) Anyway, I just give credit here where credit is due. I'll tell you more when my order arrives and when the first of these shoes have met my feet!

xo,

Lili

Little Faux-Fur Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf

2012-02-03T23:45:00.000+01:00

I'm actually breathing Moscow air here. So with the new freak cold and all, what's better than taking out a new faux fur vest to stay warm? I tell you what: Nothing! ... Which is also why I'm smiling :-D

Now, this outfit is really, really warm. It has to, as winter flipped us the bird and suddenly it was -13°C this morning. I'm wearing my new faux fur lined vest, thermal tights (sooo good! They're lined with fleece and don't bulk at all!) and my super warm super comfy flat boots!

I decided it was far too cold to take pictures outside. My hands nearly fell off after I fumbled around with my little heater in the garage without gloves for some minutes. The heater is the only thing that keeps my car going when it's so cold! Livin' on the edge, peeps!

Teehee... That's both the fur I bought and the fur I grow on my head. Fancy :-D

I hope you all stay warm in this cold (if it's cold where you are, that is... Oh shut up. Yeah, you with the shorts and bikini top! :-) ). I personally don't really mind it now that it's the weekend and I'm home, but I not-so-secretly can't wait for spring! I'm all over the spring collections and I'm about to order what feels like a billion shoes. I'll show you my favorites tomorrow! My wallet is already weeping silently in my purse, softly rocking itself. Poor little thing.

EDIT: Some people I know have asked me if I post-processed these pictures, especially the closeups. Our DSLR has an option for soft skin which I sometimes use in medium setting when I go makeupless and/or have little time for a shoot and post as it makes going through the pictures a lot less time-consuming. I don't consider this "cheating" as a careful makeup application and good lighting has the same effect. Apart from that and some cropping, the pictures are unaltered. I did not go major photoshop on them! It was a lucky day in lighting. Sometimes I just have that kind of luck, and had it with my old point-and-shoot too. On other days, you can see my acne in full action... Or in the action I allow to show beneath makeup ;-)

Time:

February 2nd and 3rd!, 2012

Place:

To work, for shopping, at home :-)

Stuff:

Faux-fur vest - C&A

Shirt - Primark

Skirt - Zero

Boots - Laura Lenti

Tights - ergee at Kik

xo,
Lili

PS: What faux-fur riding hood and the big bad wolf is? I think this bad boy of a hood looks remarkably like the both of them, don't you think?

Unexpected Wardrobe Workhorse: Pink Patent Pumps

2012-01-31T21:55:00.000+01:00

Looking back through all the outfits I've posted in this past year, I noticed that there are some rather unusual things in my closet which are nontheless in constant rotation. I confess, when I bought those things I more often thought they'd look nice but will probably not get to see a lot of daylight... and then they surprised me! Time to give them their time in the spotlight, right? So today is the start of a little series called Unexpected Wardrobe Workhorse!

First up are my pink patent pumps. You've seen them around a lot, but here they are in their full glory:

I bought them on vacation in London because I thought they were pretty and didn't expect to get a lot of mileage out of them. Boy, was I wrong. I also bought a pair of blue patent pumps with a slightly lower heel, but they don't get half as much use as their less sensible sisters. Not even a fraction, actually.

Let's see what I've paired them with!

I wore them casually with jeans, a coral blazer and a striped shirt in August:

I wore them dressy with my blue Calvin Klein dress in May:

I wore them as neons and neutrals with my white and yellow striped summer dress in June:

I wore them relaxed with jeans, a blue top and a pink-and-blue scarf in March:

I wore them office ready with a nude suit, orange and red in January:

I wore them to work with a turquoise blazer, jeans and a stripy shirt in November:

... and I wore them classic chic with a white dress to my brother's graduation in July!

In every one of those outfits, they provided just the right amount of color! They are cool pink themselves, but I think they go very well with any tone in the color family. I like to wear them with other pinks or even red and orange tones. I have often paired them with coral. The slight difference in color makes for an interesting outfit, especially when the outfit itself is classic, like the white dress. Keeping all accessories in one exact hue would have made it somewhat generic and a even little boring.

With orange and red, I think it works because there is a color temperature gradient. I'm starting very warm up top with the orange stripes, go a little cooler in the middle with red, and finish at the bottom with pink! Did I mention I love accessorizing with color gradients? :-)

xo,
Lili

Vote for me in Refinery 29's Style Blogger Contest!

2012-01-31T19:45:00.000+01:00

Refinery 29 started their annual Style Blogger Contest today and I entered! Can you tell I'm a little giddy? Of course, Relatable Style does not have the impact that other blogs in the contest have, but it's the taking part that counts, right?

Just click on the picture to see all the participants. You can vote as often as you like, and I'd be happy if you have a vote for me, too. If you'd like to enter yourself, just click on the picture and then on the box in the upper right and fill in your details!

xo,
Lili

Inspiration Monday - Taylor Swift, it's easy

2012-01-31T00:30:00.000+01:00

This Inspiration Monday over at two birds was by far the easiest Inspiration Monday for me so far! The main style ingredient was my winter coat, which I've already showed you for an IFB project recently.

What's she wearing?

White coat
Black skintight pants
Knee-high boots
Green sweater
Grey knit cap

How did I do in comparison?

White coat
Grey tights
Knee-high boots
Green knit cap
Grey scarf

Verdict:

I don't have a grey knit cap, so I thought I'd just exchange the colors of cap and whatever is peeking out under that coat. For Taylor, that's the sweater but I went with my huge grey scarf. You've seen it here and here before :-) Also, I had to add the skirt, as I still don't own skintight black pants. Or any black pants, actually! I quite liked this outfit, but not for style reasons. In fact, it is a pretty unstylish outfit with flat practical boots and rather odd overknee socks. I liked it purely for practical reasons, as winter has finally arrived around here and I was surprised by subzero temperatures this morning. Naturally, I the news did not reach me until this morning, so I did not drive my car into the garage and consequently it did not work. Sigh. So I made my way into work on the bus. Staying warm is crucial, which is exactly what this outfit provided. Win :-)

Click here to see how everybody else did it!

Time:

January 30th, 2012

Place:

To work, on the bus, to the hardware store :-)

Stuff:

Coat - C&A

Scarf - Tally Weijl

Knit Cap - ?

Skirt - Promod

Tights - ?

Knee Socks - Takko

Boots - Laura Lenti

xo,
Lili

FBFF: Spring trends!

2012-01-28T02:03:00.000+01:00

This Fashion Beauty Friend Friday is all about spring trends!

1. With Fashion week just around the corner, we are all beginning to focus on the upcoming trends for fall. But what about the trendshitting stores now? What are you coveting?

Since I had a quickstart on spring trends this year and already wrote a post about them, I'll just show you what I'm currently coveting here!

1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9 are from H&M, 5 and 7 are from Pieces.

That dress in No 1? I just ordered it after I went through three H&Ms in town today and neither had it! Gnah! Also, neither had the dresses below, which I also just ordered. Nevertheless, I bought the two shirts (No 3). I already have the one with the blue stripes and I can honestly say it is a staple. Or a lifesaver, really. It just always works! And has magnificent slimming magic!

2. How do you incorporate new trends into your wardrobe?

Me and trends are a strange thing. Either I have loved it forever and just waited for it to come around - in which case I'll gladly jump into it headfirst - or I watch it warily from a distance and am likely to pick it up once everyone else has been over it and back. So ... I don't know! I buy whatever I like at any given time, without meticulously planning how I will or won't inject trends in my wardrobe. This sometimes results in items hanging out in my closet for years before I really discover them and sadly sometimes even in me resenting myself for giving away pieces I'd now deem perfect. Sigh.

3. What trend are you seeing and not loving?

I can sympathize with a lot of trends, but this season there is indeed one that... worries me a little. It was around last when I was a slightly overweight teenager, and back then I definitely couldn't wear it and now I can't either. Lucky for me, the personal style spectrum broadens once a lot of trends have passed, and now (as opposed to back then) there are a lot more options. Maybe you have guessed it: We're supposed to go fabric-free around our bellies again. Sound enticing? More like downright scary. But it's true: Bra tops and cropped tops are forced back on us. Be brave.

4. Do you feel the pressure to constantly update your closet with thelatest trends?

Well, yes and no. I of course want to keep Relatable Style interesting and I'm not repeating outfits on the blog, so here and there I feel the need to bring in something new. Good thing is, I like shopping ;-) I don't think it counts as a hobby though. I'm trying to keep it sane, and I don't buy a lot of things. I know very well what I want, and if I don't find it, I'm going home empty-handed and that is okay. I think my early-day thoughts about blogging before I myself went into it help a lot with that. I looked at the more, well, experimental style and fashion blogs and I thought rather unfriendly thoughts. They may or may not have involved statements like "falling headfirst into a pile of coke" ... "getting dressed in the dark" ... "... by someone else". I now understand that the wish or the pressure to evolve drives people to extremes, because let's be honest: The most non-extremes have been around for a while. Also, I understand better now that dressing is an art form for a lot of people... And sometimes it's just like modern art, which I often don't get either :-)

5. Where do you find inspiration that takes the trend and makes itaccessible to you and your personal taste?

Blogs! They are my first and most important source of inspiration. I talked about how blogs are better than lady mags recently, as I found a certain lady mag lagging considerably in trend watch ;-) Second is stores and online shops, catalogues and lookbooks. Where I also saw this pretty dress above at No 1. Can't wait to have it here, I so hope it fits :-D

To see all the other FBFF participants over at ModlyChic, click here!

xo,

Lili

Inspiration... uh, Friday: Black going on White

2012-01-27T02:54:00.000+01:00

Time flies when you're ~~having fun~~ being sick, so I missed out on taking outfit pictures for Inspiration Monday until it was well into the week! I couldn't just let it pass though, because I felt instantly inspired when I saw the picture over at two birds. Well, you might say pensively, why is that so if it's all black and you don't wear black? You even have it in your header! ... Gee, yes!, I say. That's why I switched it to all white (Anyone surprised here? :-) )!

What's she wearing?

This outfit is sock-centered :-) And don't I have a thing for over-the-knee or knee-high socks (they are part of my winter uniform, after all)!

Black blazer
Black shirt
Black skintight pants
Grey over-the-knee socks
Black knee-high boots
Black bag

How did I do in comparison?

White blazer
White shirt
Somewhat white tights
White over-the-knee socks
White overknee boots
No bag
Somewhat white skirt

Verdict:

These are the inspirations I like best, the ones that have me change something. I'm always thrilled when I can do the exact same thing with my stuff, but getting creative with it is definitely more rewarding :-) I not only had to change the color, but also had to add a skirt, as I don't own any skintight pants, let alone in white. And there's no gallivanting around wearing tights as pants. Also, this is the first time I'm wearing it! I told you about it here, and showed you five outfits I'd wear the other skirt with here!

This time around, I decided to wear my boots as overknees. You've seen them here, here, here and here before worn as knee-high boots. To be totally honest, I had no idea they fold up to be overknees when I bought them. As I first loosened one button, I thought I had broken it ;-) Lesson learned: Know your stuff!

Click here to see how everybody else did it!

Time:

January 25th, 2012

Place:

Just for the pictures... Still a little sick.

Stuff:

Blazer - Mango

Shirt - Takko

Skirt - Promod

Belt - New Yorker

Tights - H&M

Socks - Takko

Boots - osco

Sunglasses - Humphrey's*

xo,
Lili

*~~I may or may not have not worn makeup for three weeks. Which also may or may not be the reason I'm wearing sunglasses here!~~ I'm wearing the sunglasses to add some Hollywood glamour! ;-)

IFB #31: Winter Style

2012-01-24T01:13:00.000+01:00

Oh you have all seen plenty of Winter Style from me in the past weeks and months, although one can hardly call that thing we currently have here "winter" (yay!).

So, for IFB's 31st project, I'm showing you a winter style you have *not* seen! Ta-Da! It's less "Winter Style" than more of a "Winter Uniform", really! This is what I look like everyday when it's cold outside. I wore this today, too, the same coat and knit cap.

These pictures were taken on a vacation with Scooby to Vienna in December 2010. It was so friggin' cold we asked ourselves how people actually can survive and build cities in such a hostile-to-life environment (jokingly... half.).

The next one is from our Christmas walk 2010! We had an insane amount of snow for living in the plains! Also: Told you it's a uniform ;-)

Yaaaah... That's just for shiz and giggles! New Year's Eve 10/11. I put on an old coat in fear that the fireworks would burn a hole into the white one. Stranger things have happened ;-) Can you recognize what I am here?*

Have you got a winter uniform too, or do you have more than one coat? I'm still looking out for that colorful additional coat for me :-)

See here how everybody else is dressing in Winter!

xo,

Lili

* An elk! :-D

Sh*t Fashion Girls Say: OMG shoes!!

2012-01-22T17:16:00.000+01:00

This is just too good not to share (OMG!)! I've been all over the "Sh*t Girls Say" meme recently, and of course it was just a matter of time until the fashion department got its own! So here is...

Sh*t Fashion Girls Say!*

There is a friggin' rad cameo of the OMG! Shoes girl in it, I literally laughed out loud when I saw it. I SO. LOVE. OMG! Shoes! (Yes I have an odd humor at times.)

OMG! Shoes

xo,
Lili

* I saw it on ModlyChic today. Katy-Rose said everyone and their grandma had already posted it, but it was new to me. Maybe I'm the last one on the net, but if I'm not you might just get a belly laugh out of it, too ;-)

Why blogs are better than lady mags... or: Jolie's 2012 trends we've already seen

2012-01-22T04:53:00.000+01:00

Ever since I discovered blogs, I pretty much stopped reading lady mags. In my eyes, blogs are superior in every way: I can relate to the people I see there (including their budget!), they break the trends down into ideas and outfits that are actually wearable and not just wear the label "for everyone!" to attract interest, they actually keep the promises they make on the cover, they are a lot more diverse, reading a blog does not feel like reading one very long advertisement and to boot - they are free and I can have one, too!

That does not look good for the lady prints, right? And they do little to make it better. I recently got the January issue of Jolie, a German lady mag, for free with a gift order. Who says no to free goodies, right? Inside, there were "the most important style resolutions for 2012". Flipping through the pages, I noticed that I had already worn four of six of these style resolutions already. In 2011. Now, I would not exactly call myself fashion-forward, so ~~I felt a little bit smug,~~ I thought this article was so old it already had a beard and probably a rental in Florida (not in the cool four-fierce-ladies-share-a-house way though, if you know what I mean!).

Let's see about Jolie's most important style resolutions for 2012, shall we?

First style resolution: Dare to wear overknee boots!

Oh well, overknees are hardly news, right? If even I wore them numerous times, they just can't be. I wore them here with my sequin dress...

And a lot earlier in an Inspiration Monday copycat outfit from Diane Kruger.

Also, the model in the Jolie article wears them under the knee (which hardly makes them overknees, I guess the editor just didn't like the look, hehe), so I have even more posts in which I wore overknees under the knee (mine fold up and down). I wore this in December... and this on New Year's Eve!

... also, I wore this in October:

Second style resolution: Wear color on color!

Yep, I'm a repeat offender...

Third style resolution: Wear Yellow!

I wear yellow, and I wear LOTS of it. I wore these outfits in July...

... and this one in August...

... and I'm not counting the times I wore my yellow belt and yellow ballet flats (or do I?)!

Fourth style resolution: Mix patterns!

Ok, I don't mix patterns that often, so if even I do it, it's old. Really old. I wore this in August:

Fifth style resolution: Style pleated skirts!

Oh woe is me, I don't have a skirt with knife pleats (which is what they meant). I passed one up years ago and still sometimes think about it... I bought a very similar one recently and styled five outfits with it. It does not have knife pleats, so it can't really count though.

Sixth style resolution: Wear leather shorts!

Ok, they got me here ;-) I don't own leather shorts. Should you be just dying to see me in shorts though, help yourself here and here!

I hope you liked my little round-up, and if you actually made it through all the picture overload, I'm impressed, thank you for reading! :-D As my own style resolutions go, I personally don't believe in resolutions. Especially New Year's resolutions - I rather make plans anytime I feel like it. I do hope to become more adventurous and creative in dressing though :-)

Did you make any style resolutions, any time? What are your plans?

xo,
Lili

Stripes and Red

2012-01-19T12:00:00.000+01:00

Ah, there is just something so easy about stripes and red! Although I love pairing them with yellow or coral too, red just comes naturally.

It does not even have to be a "real" red, it can just as well be orange :-)

For a little warmth, I added my neutral (say it with me: oatmeal!) vest into the mix. More red would have killed it ;-)

Also, I still don't own any red shoes (aah!), so what else would I have paired them with? Hehe.

In other news, this winter is still unseasonably warm. How lucky am I to have this as my first blogging winter? I mean, it hasn't even been below zero (C°) more than a few hours*. I wore this outfit on January 4th. As you can see above, it was a little windy, but more like a spring wind really!

* Ok, maybe it was the last few days. How would I know, I managed to get sick all through last week and this one so far. Peh. Believe me, I crave getting back into "real people" clothes and taking pictures of them ;-)

Time:

January 4th, 2012

Place:

To return stuff to Ikea, and then bum around the house!

Stuff:

Scarf - Peek & Cloppenburg

Shirt - New Yorker

Vest - Madonna

Jeans - zero

Shoes - Converse

Belt - Bijou Brigitte

xo,
Lili

PS: You may have noticed that I changed the font on both the blog title and the post titles. I like this one much better, but let's face it: Relatable Style is in dire need of a total makeover! I'm not entirely sure when I'll be able to make time for it, but I really, really want to, so it's probably happening sooner than later. With my book almost done, it might just work...

My Golden Globes favorites... and less favorites.

2012-01-17T18:34:00.000+01:00

I'm sick. That's why I watched the Golden Globes live recently - in the dead of the night. How does one lead to the other? Well, I sometimes can't fall asleep easily when I've been lying around on either the couch or in the bed all day, because anything else would make me feel worse. So what's a girl to do? :-)

It is a widely known fact that I love fancy dresses! I already think I own way too much fancy dresses and skirts for my, you know, actual life ;-) So it was not all that hard to pick...

My favorites from 2012's Golden Globes:

Angelina Jolie often seems to be an easy target for "best dressed" lists, and while I agree that she is unearthly beautiful and would probably look good on a trash bag, I mostly think she tends to go a little too neutral and sometimes even boxy. So I greatly applaud this addition of color! She does not go overboard crazy with it, but pairs her pretty neutral with some pops of serious color. Just how I like it :-)

Now, Tilda Swinton is not everyone's cup of tea, and neither might this outfit be. But I think she's FIERCE in it! When's the last time you've seen someone look FIERCE in light blue? Yeah, me neither! :-)

The first thing I saw of Dianna Agron's dress was the top. I'm not usually drawn to intricate detailing, but this one was love at first sight. It's just such a good shade of red for her, and together with the lipstick it's just perfect. We'll have to live with the illusion netting and the skirt.

Honorary mention:

Madonna appeared on a lot of "worst dressed" lists this year, and I both agree and disagree. I liked her dress, but what she did to her boobs is just painful. It's even painful to watch! Jeez Ma'am, you are the m*****f***ing Queen of Pop! Can't you make that designer make a dress for you that FITS? I thought you could have the British Crown Jewels be refashioned if you didn't feel like purple!

The less favorites:

Oh, Michelle. I love you! No, we all love you. You seem like such a charming, intelligent, lovely lady. Always graceful, but still someone I'd like to grab a beer with, if I drank beer. A perfect choice for playing Marilyn. Please stop wearing cuts, fabrics and colors that age you. And please stop wearing all of the three together in one dress!!

I always liked Kelly Osbourne. I even watched "The Osbournes" back then. Don't judge, it was the early noughties and I was bored. I think she has come a long way from a depressed teenager that did not know who she was to the woman she is now. I like that she goes bold with her hair, but I think if one goes grey in one's early twenties, the rest of one's getup has to stay young. Dear Kelly, don't go too-old with both hair and dress. This is a dress Helen Mirren would look fab in, if she wouldn't deem it "too old" for her (H.M. rocks!).

Claire Danes was on many "best dressed" lists with this one but I beg to disagree. I have had a soft spot for her ever since I saw her as a teenager in "My So-Called Life" (oh, don't we all?). Since that time though, she has bleached and painted herself into oblivion. This black makeup, black-and-white dress and strong red lips are too harsh for her, they age her. It's also been a while since we've seen her natural hair color. I prefer her in a softer look either way.

What do you think? Who was your favorite/less favorite? Or are you already sick of the Golden Globes afterbuzz? ^^

xo,
Lili

Sources:
Angelina Jolie
Tilda Swinton
Dianna Agron
Madonna
Michelle Williams
Kelly Osbourne
Claire Danes

What I actually wore

2012-01-16T03:15:00.000+01:00

You know, sometimes challenges come along at times when we can't really wear the outfit we wore for the challenge. This happened on Inspiration Monday not too long ago, when I wore this. It was a cold day, I had to go to work and to a little casual birthday party afterwards, so warm and comfortable was pretty much the only choice I could stomach :-)

This is what I actually wore that day:

For extra warmth, I added my big knit sweater on the way out the door. It matches the scarf ;-)

Ah, still sporting the same disheveled hair :-) This happens when ~~you~~ I go to bed with wet hair, people!

I felt pretty good in this outfit the whole day, it was cozy and warm and did not actually feel underdressed or mis-dressed in any way. Sometimes, simplicity is just where it's at :-)

Time:

December 19th, 2011

Place:

To work and a birthday party :-)

Stuff:

Scarf - Tally Weijl

Shirt - Primark

Jeans - H&M

Shoes - Converse

Belt - H&M

Ring - Bijou Brigitte

xo,
Lili

Where's Batman?

2012-01-13T17:34:00.000+01:00

While on our staycation, Scooby and I also visited the Red Dot Design Museum. It is located in an old colliery building. Being an old coal mining area, there are a lot of those around. Most were torn down, but this one is now World Cultural Heritage and home to many cultural events.

It also obviously boasts a very Gotham City-esque architecture...

... which is even more frightening in actuality...

... and does not stop on the inside either :-D

On the other hand, I have rarely seen a place with so many cool blog picture backdrops :-)

After visiting the museum, we took a little stroll around the premises. The sun had just set, and we were able to take some wonderful pictures.

It is hard to imagine that it was a workplace not too long ago. When I was little, most collieries were still working. My dad was a miner in the late 50s and early 60s.

Yep. Gotham City at its finest! Now where's the Batmobile? I like travelling in style :-)

Time:

December 31th, 2011

Place:

To the Red Dot Design Museum... And then out to dinner.

Stuff:

Boots - C&A

Tights - Ergee

Skirt - Promod

Shirt - H&M

Vest - New Yorker

Belt - C&A

Scarf - Tally Weijl

xo,
Lili

First Spring Trends - Can't wait for Spring!

2012-01-11T17:09:00.000+01:00

Ah, just today I thought I can't wait for all the Spring trend previews to start trickling into the blogger world - and that's when I stumbled across Asos' trend report for S/S 2012! There are some trends I love-LOVE and others... well!

Here are my three favorites (which I hope will make it into the stores and into the streets!):

Glitter & mysterious depths

Yes, yes and yes. It is shiny, sparkly and a litte bit mysterious. It is light and colorful. I don't know about you but I'm taking it all (in my dreams). Now if only my actual life warranted more occasions to wear one of those fabulous pieces like the dress in the middle...

Days gone by

Classic cuts, light colors, a flair of nostalgia mixed in with the new. Love it! For all the days one feels like dressing ladylike... I can't help but think of glam garden parties, in the days where garden parties actually could be glam (because no one would dare appear in jeans or a hoodie... Except the one equally dreamy and handsome rebel maybe, hehe. James Dean anyone?).

Color, like, for realz!

Color isn't going anywhere, and I couldn't be happier about it! As someone who does not wear black (unless forced to do so ^^), I absolutely and utterly welcome color into my life, to stay. Forever, if you know what I mean ;-)

All pictures are by Asos (no affiliation), you can see the full trend guide here!

About the other trends listed there...

I also liked the sweet colors and the lace, I think they both make pretty additions to the ones above! The sportswear trend is ok, too, I guess. It neither tickles my fancy nor my barf reflex ;-)

The ones I'm not too keen on are the more freakier trends, like (aptly) freak like me or total prints. Even though style blogging helped me become more daring in my style choices, I'm still a long way from mixing prints and loving it... I like it on others, but am rarely convinced with it on myself. I also don't like florals. There, I said it!

Now, for the last trend, which is also the last thing I want to see... Pyjamas. Now, really? Dear Mrs and Mr Fashion, I know you've been trying to push pyjamas as outerwear on us for several years now. I have seen it on red carpets here and there, only to be mocked by all yellow press fashion critics, and rightfully so I might add (if celebrity mocking was rightful, you know). You know why that is? Because no matter how much thought goes into a pyjama, and no matter how intricate the detailing is... It still looks like a friggin' pyjama! The choice of fabric just evokes different pictures of people in pyjamas... A flannel piece would have me think of children's bedtime or a woodworker (depending on the choice of plaid), while choosing satin... Well. There's only one name to name, right? [Click here for a hint!... did you guess right? ^^]

Ah, this Spring trend guide came at exactly the right time to brighten my day! Which Spring trends are your favorites, among these or others? What are you looking forward to most? :-)

xo,

Lili

EBEW - More White!

2012-01-10T16:34:00.000+01:00

This month's EBEW challenge was Black and White. As I don't really wear black, it kinda feels like a hostage situation ;-) So it was pretty clear from the get-go that I would emphasize the "white" part of the challenge.

I was sure I wanted to wear white all over, so the black had to come in through accessorizing. The black gloves are costume gloves, hehe. You've seen them before in my last Halloween costume (not for the faint of heart)!

It bothers me a little that the whites in my outfit are different, but what's a girl to do? Cream white suits me a lot better than snow white, but I haven't found a button shirt in cream white yet.

Yep, that is me dancing a little...

... and that is me staring wistfully into the distance! One blogger cliché down, countless to go (like macarons, cupcakes or feet twisted inward in outfit pictures :-) )!

Time:

January 10th, 2012

Place:

Outside for pictures... I even had some people watch me and didn't care! Yay!

The other stuff:

Coat - Promod

Shirt - H&M

Necklace - Takko

Skirt - Primark

Belt -

Booties - Deichmann

Tights - C&A

xo,
Lili

1 Skirt, 1 Day, 5 Looks

2012-01-08T16:07:00.000+01:00

Under this post, reader Happy commented and asked me to show some outfits with the blue skirt I bought (and linked). She tried it and found the fit perfect, but did not come up with enough outfits with her closet to justify the purchase. So I went into my closet to see what I can put together!

Let's see how I'd wear the skirt, say, on a day off on a city trip!

For breakfast and a walk around the block:

Downtown shopping and sightseeing in the afternoon! That is a very typical look for me ;-)

Early evening: A fancy dinner. Gosh I love fancy dinners. There is fancy and food. What's not to love?

At night: 80s dance party :-D Who's born in the 80s? :-)))

In the morning: Needing to get friendly with the punks at the station because the hotel threw us out for partying! :-) *

I hope you liked my outfits, and I hope they helped you in any way, Happy :-) I had great fun putting them together! It was a really good exercise for me too, as this was also the skirt I planned (in my head) wearing on New Year's Eve, and then what I planned looked dowdy in reality. If I hadn't put these looks together, the skirt might not have seen daylight as much or as early as I think it will now :-)

The skirt: Promod, on sale right now. (No affiliation.)

Time:

January 8th, 2012

Place:

At home, for Happy :-)

The other stuff:

Outfit 1:

Shirt - H&M

Ring - Bijou Brigitte

Belt - Bijou Brigitte

Pumps - Primark

Outfit 2:

Shirt - Primark

Scarf - H&M

Belt - New Yorker

Tights - ?

Boots - osco

Outfit 3:

Slip dress - H&M

Cardigan - Primark

Necklace - Bought it in London... Next maybe?

Belt - H&M

Tights - ?

Heels - Deichmann

Bangle - Deichmann

Outfit 4:

T-Shirt - New Yorker

Button Shirt - H&M

Tights - TK Maxx

Necklace - H&M

Belts - Primark

Bangle - Bijou Brigitte

Heels - Deichmann

Outfit 5:

Scarf - H&M

Button Shirt - C&A

T-Shirt - New Yorker

Blue belt - C&A

Black studded belt - New Yorker

Tights - Don't remember, sorry! Must have been something really cheap though...

Boots - Deichmann

Blue Ring - ebelin

Grey Ring - idee.

xo,
Lili

* I actually got a funny story here. Scooby's (the boyfriend) offices are here and in Munich, so the office crew is kinda seperated and we don't all meet that often. Once a year, we all come together to have a party (the strip club story is from one of these occasions), and the last time it was in Munich. We went hard until 8am, and came back to the hotel even later. I knew we had to get out of our rooms at 11, so I went up to the young guy at the front desk (slighty tipsy ^^). I asked him if there was any way for a late check-out. He declined. I asked if there really, really was no way. He said sorry, no. I asked that if I would claw myself into the mattress so that they would have to peel me off it, screaming like there was no tomorrow, if they'd let us stay an hour or two more. He gave me a funny look and said with a smile: "Well, I guess then you could stay." I just beamed at him: "Great!" :-D (... Don't worry about the ppor guy, it was all in good humor. I think we finally did end up late, but not as much ;-) )

Bloggers Do It Better - Adventures In Technicolor

2012-01-06T15:30:00.000+01:00

This BDIB at Pretty, Shiny, Sparkly is all about sequins! Every reason to break out my all-sequin dress is a good one in my book, so there was no question what to wear. This time, I went a little crazy with the look, bringing on sequins and neon!

What can I say, I love colors ;-)

Last time, I paired this dress with black (and my hooker boots! :-D), which is a way rarer thing for me than this color explosion! Come to think of it, next Tuesday's Black and White EBEW will be the third time that I wore black in the last 365 days...

Now you'll excuse me, I'm getting ready for my brother's birthday celebration, which will be a movie (Sherlock Holmes, yay!) and sushi (yay!!!)! He's 17 today, and I can't quite believe it... It feels just like yesterday when I was carrying him around trying to get him to sleep :-) Happy birthday, A.! :-D

Time:

January 6th, 2012

Place:

Just for the pictures...

Stuff:

Dress - Fashionart Outlet
Tights - TK Maxx
Heels - Deichmann
Belts - Primark
Ring - Bijou Brigitte
Bangles - Bijou Brigitte
Necklace - Bijou Brigitte
Lipstick - Catrice "Let's Dance Salsa"
Flowers - Ikea :-)

xo,
Lili

City Girl

2012-01-05T14:00:00.000+01:00

Just after Christmas, I went shopping downtown. Not the ideal time, I know, but I wanted to check out the beginning sales in my favorite shops :-) I'll go and look at the others when sales are in full swing, hehe. I only managed to snap some pictures since the battery was almost dead, but I might say they turned out pretty good seeing how it was already dark!

Believe me though, it's all camera and not myself that does so well ;-)

By the way, it is remarkable how easy taking pictures downtown among all those people is with a remote and some stuff to "hide" a camera in!

On this shopping trip, I bought two skirts on sale (this and this one. Promod again of course, lol!) and the boots I'm wearing in these pictures! I had wanted knee-high light brown flat boots for quite some time now, and these are just brilliant and super warm. It was love at first sight!

I actually wanted to take some pictures of the city as well, but you know me: Not only was the battery dead after a few pictures, I also forgot my tripod ;-)))

Time:

December 29th, 2011

Place:

For a shopping trip downtown.

Stuff:

Boots - Laura Lenti (bought at Salamander)

Tights - H&M (this season)

Skirt - Promod

Belts - Promod

Shirt - Primark

Cardigan - Zara

Scarf - H&M

Winter coat - C&A

xo,
Lili

I am actually bigger than a gorilla

2012-01-04T16:30:00.000+01:00

In late November, Scooby* and I had a staycation weekend. There are SO many exciting things to do around here, why go somewhere else all the time? On Saturday, we went to a zoo nearby.

There were a lot of things to see and we took a ton of pictures as it was also the first weekend we had the new camera :-D The zoo is divided in three areas, Asia, Africa and Alaska.

First, we visited Asia. This was also the only opportunity to take an outfit picture, as they had a warm tropic bird house :-)

Asking yourself why I couldn't take off my coat in a house the tropic birds live in? Me too :-)

I could also (almost) touch a monkey :-)

At the monkey house, they also had a meter stick.

Standing next to it...

... I found out I'm bigger than a gorilla. Dude, who knew?? ^^

After enjoying some outdoors in Asia, we went on to...

... Alaska! (Obviously. ^^)

We saw polar bears and lots of furry animals, and we heard timber wolves howl. I never heard that before. I do think I've seen a wolf or two in my life, but they always remained suspiciously silent!

Unfortunately, the battery died before we could take a picture of how close we stood to the wolves. There was just a super thin, almost invisible fence and about three metres of water between us and them. Wow. The whole zoo was recently remodeled, so that you feel really really close to the animals, and they feel as much at home as possible in captivity.

By the way, I totally recommend going to the zoo in winter. In this particular zoo, I heard it takes 1.5 hours just to get past the queues at the entry in summer O_O Ok, the Africa area was mostly closed in winter, but Asia and Alaska alone took hours :-) Yep, definitely recommend it!

Time:

November 26th, 2011

Place:

For a trip to the zoo and other shenanigans :-)

Stuff:

Boots - Deichmann

Tights - Ergee

Skirt - H&M

Shirt - Primark

Chambray shirt - C&A

Belt - New Yorker

Scarf - I don't remember...

Down coat - C&A

xo,
Lili

* That's my boyfriend. Scooby is his nickname, and once and for all, I decided he really needed a blog name :-D So Scooby it is!

I need you advice! Do I look... uh... naked in this?

2012-01-03T16:16:00.000+01:00

You know I'm a light colors gal. That's also why I've been lusting for a light colored suit for a while now. So when I stumbled across one in an online sale, I just went for it :-) Now that it's here though I'm not sure if I'll keep it... The main question is: How skin-colored can one go before looking... actually naked?

This is the culprit:

Yes, it is super wrinkly, but who am I to iron something I might send back? Teehee. Also, the pants are a bit too tight, but that's ok. I already own that suit in midnight blue, and I know the pants stretch out like crazy over time.

I paired the suit with super lively colors to keep it from looking, you know, like there was no suit :-) Here are two pictures in actual daylight, which is kinda meh right now:

Sooo... What do you say? Oh, maybe I should add that it was super cheap for a suit, the blazer was 19€ and the pants were 12€ :-)

By the way... I think I'm never ever going to give anything away any more. This stripy shirt was on my "give away" pile for quite a while and it's just due to my laziness that it's still here. The neckline was always a litte too wide for me, but with a white button shirt it's just super cool I think :-D I like it so much I'll just keep it on for today.

Time:

January 3rd, 2012

Place:

For you to tell me what to do with it :-)

Stuff:

Suit - C&A (sold out online now)

Shirt - Primark

Button shirt - H&M

Belt - Bijou Brigitte

Shoes - Marks & Spencer

Necklace - Bijou Brigitte

xo,
Lili

Inspiration Monday - It's the light life

2012-01-02T17:40:00.000+01:00

The first Inspiration Monday by two birds in 2012 :-) This inspiration outfit meets my tastes exactly as I - as you know, hehe - love all the light colors!

What's she wearing?

Sunglasses
Light colored blazer
Shirt in a light beige brown
Neutral scarf
Light jeans
Beige ankle boots

How did I do in comparison?

Sunglasses
Light colored blazer
Shirt with light beige brown stripes
Neutral scarf
Light jeans
Beige ankle boots

Verdict:

I think I did pretty well, but that is not really surprising given that my closet is 80% light colors these days! This is by the way the first time I'm wearing this blazer, I bought it in Hamburg when I was there for the EFIC congress in September. I seriously needed some downtime and went shopping ;-)

See the other participants here!

Time:

December 31th, 2011

Place:

Just for the pictures... I knew I wouldn't be able to do them later but really wanted to join ;-)

Stuff:

Blazer - Mango

Shirt - Primark

Scarf - Don't remember

Jeans - H&M

Shoes - Osco

Sunglasses - Humphrey's

xo,
Lili

What I wore on New Year's Eve!

2012-01-01T20:00:00.000+01:00

I just wrote some lines about how I spent ages in my closet before agreeing on a outfit with my bad self. How I should have planned beforehand. While that is both true, I'd rather start this new year on a positive style note :-) I erased everything I wrote, because it just doesn't matter.

I had a really nice New Year's with my boyfriend, my best friend and my housemates. My outfit had sequins, color, layers and heels. It was elegant enough for a casual party, I did stand out (colorwise) and did not stand out (level of dressing up) at the same time. It was also comfortable. Seriously, why ask for more? :-)

And yes, I also had too little time for my hair, but it was good anyway! After I got rained on outside (after which these pictures were taken), it looked better than before! What else can I say but "Thank you, hair!" :-)

Oh and just in case you don't know which year we are in now, look here:

Ah, yes. I'll be bookmarking this picture and sending it to all my friends ;-)

Here's to sartorial evolution in 2012! :-D

Time:

December 31th, 2011

Place:

For our New Year's Eve party!

Stuff:

Skirt - H&M
Boots - osco
Sequin tank - New Yorker

Button shirt - H&M
Tights - H&M

Belt - Bijou Brigitte

Necklace - Bijou Brigitte
Ring - Bijou Brigitte

xo,
Lili

Happy new year everyone!

2012-01-01T17:12:00.000+01:00

Welcome in 2012! I guess now it has finally arrived all over the world :-)

I wish you a happy new year, may it be a harmonic, adventurous and successful year well spent with the ones you love!

This is my best friend and me on a lucky shot my boyfriend took as we were outside shooting fireworks on NYE :-) I love it!

For NYE, we just had a little party at home, and of course we had decorated the house accordingly! Even the Christmas tree got some ;-)

We had raclette followed by party games, snacks and sweets and of course Dinner for One. Watching Dinner for One is a German New Year's tradition, and I have no idea why that is because the sketch is totally unrelated to new years or anything of that matter :-) Go watch it though, it's funny and only ten minutes anyway (short version) ;-)

After midnight struck, we of course went out to shoot fireworks!

Rockets on an open road :-)

Me igniting a rocket :-D

Look!! Look!!!! I made a fire!! Haha!

Anyway, I hope you had a nice New Year's Eve too, and if you are still recovering from last night's shenanigans, go ahead! At least that's what I'll do right now ;-)

[Of course I'll show you my outfit later :-D]

xo,

Lili

Inspiration Monday - Striped and flared

2011-12-31T13:34:00.000+01:00

When I saw last week's inspiration picture for Inspration Monday at two birds, I just knew I had to squeeze it in. The shape of this skirt Ashley Tisdale is wearing is just so gorgeous there is no way to not recreate it :-)

Here we are, Ashley and I:

What's she wearing?

Stripy shirt
Flared short skirt matching the stripes in her shirt
Contrasty feet
Sunglasses

How did I do in comparison?

Stripy shirt
Flared short skirt (somewhat) matching the stripes in my shirt
Contrasty legs
Sunglasses

Verdict:

Not too shabby I'd say. I concentrated on the shape here and pretty much changed the color in everything though :-) You know I don't wear black (yesterday's dress is a dark grey ^^), so I just had to do my own version here.

Now on to New Year's preparations! I already made some decorations for tonight and printed out these cool free printables. Pretty :-) I hope to show you my outfit for tonight before tonight actually happens, but I don't know what I'll be wearing yet! It will be a more casual affair as we're just having a little party at home with a few friends.

Time:

December 31th, 2011

Place:

Just for the pictures :-)

Stuff:

Skirt - H&M
Booties - osco
Shirt - Primark
Tights - No idea
Sunglasses - Humphrey's

xo,
Lili

House Christmas

2011-12-31T03:20:00.000+01:00

Well, if you thought that was already it... It wasn't. Dooodoo. Here are the pictures of our Christmas at home, my boyfriend and I with the housemates :-) There are a LOT more photos here, hehe.

Let's start with my outfit:

To be honest, I just threw some glitter over the slip dress I had been wearing all day under another knit dress anyway. I meant to dress up some more, but unintentionally got home way too late (not too surprising) and spent way too much time getting the present for my boyfriend together (actually, not too surprising either). Even though we see each other during the holidays, we don't exchange any gifts until the 27th, which is our usual "House Christmas" day.

I have to say though, I really like this outfit! This sequinned cardigan has a twin in my closet, you've seen it here. The belt just ups any outfit anyway. I originally wore grey calf-high boots with some pearl studs, but they just felt really really warm and since everyone was dressed down anyway, I took them off soon. I don't have any pictures of the either, as I had never worn them before. Neither on nor off the blog (Gasp. At least I had my pearls to clutch.).

We started the evening with raclette, a very popular Christmas meal here in Germany. We love it for New Year's, too, and it's exactly what we'll be having tomorrow! ;-) After dinner, we finally got to the presents!

This is my gift wrapping :-) I gave my boyfriend a super cute book, Faces in Places (love the blog!), and an indoor fountain. He wanted to have one for the office for quite some time.

... Aaaand this is is me unwrapping my presents! I already got one down, of which I'm wearing the bow in my hair there. Teehee. I'm just unwrapping a gift from my boyfriend which says I can choose a necklace matching the ring I got for my birthday in March :-D The ring which I haven't showed you yet. Ahem. We only bought it in November, I'm such a perfectionist it took me forever ^^ I'll show you soon, ok? Ok. I also got another, larger camera bag for all the lenses and a bottle of champagne. Whee! :-)))

Cookie moster want cookies...

I got these cookies from our housemates, along with a scratch-off lottery ticket (didn't win) and tickets for "Who wants to be a Millionaire", in the audience :-D

One of my housemates got Carrom as a present, which we played that evening too.

I wouldn't say I failed at it, but look at that face. Does that look excited?

In the eternal words of Timbaland and Nelly Furtado: Nope. Didn't think so. :-)))

PS: Oh yes, I'm wearing my glasses in most of these pictures :-) I actually like my glasses (although I'm on the hunt for new ones), but I take them off for most outfit pictures as I find it makes the process easier. I can see without glasses just as well, it's just tiring to my eyes after a while.

Time:

December 27th, 2011

Place:

For House Christmas :-D

Stuff:

Slip dress - H&M
Tights - I don't know. They are so comfortably baggy they have probably been around since the Big Bang.

Cardigan - Primark
Belt - H&M

Necklace - Takko

Ring - Swatch

xo,

Lili

The post-Christmas... post!

2011-12-30T17:28:00.000+01:00

Christmas came and went so quickly this year, even though after last year's stress, I did handle things a little slower this time around! I had a super nice Christmas. I went to my parent's house on the 24th, and we decorated the tree together. My mom has very specific ideas about the tree, and it looks fabulous every time!

This is what I wore on Christmas:

This is my parent's book and guest room. In that order ;-) I told you I had repeated the same accessories combinaton from my last post on Christmas! I just loved it that much!

Hehe, this is me raiding my parent's vinyl collection...

... and that's what I found!

Awww :-)

As we do every year, we had dinner, then took a walk to a small chapel, sang a Christmas carol and then returned home to sing some more and then open the presents! I got a lot of cool stuff from my wish list, like all the books and the sewing machine :-) I also got a lot of bags :-D The camera bag, the turquoise bag from my wish list and a bigger bag I'll show you soon!

My parent's Christmas tree!

On the 25th, I met up with my boyfriend to visit his family. We had a super nice Christmas dinner in a rustic restaurant and then went home to hang out and exchange gifts again. I wore the exact outfit from the day before. I had packed another one to save my tights and knit dress from the sharp claws of their little dog, but that outfit was just not doing it. So I figured, as no one had seen this before, I might as well wear it, and it was a good idea. Also, I own the jeans I had packed for my alternative outfit in two sizes. I meant to pack the bigger one, but did pack the tighter one. No way ^^

On the 26th, all I did was hang out, pretty much. My boyfriend and I had brunch with my parents until the late afternoon. Then he drove home and I hung out with my family some more. I didn't even bother doing my make-up. That's that :-)

There's yet another Christmas outfit from our "House Christmas" with the housemates! I'll show you that one in a second, to avoid picture overload ;-)

Time:

December 24th, 2011 - CHRISTMAS!

Place:

YES! FOR CHRISTMAS :-D

Stuff:

Dress - C&A
Tights - C&A
Shirt - Takko
Belt - Bijou Brigitte
Bangle - Bijou Brigitte
Scarf - Souvenir from Mallorca. It says "100% Cashmere" but it was only 10€ and who I am to believe that? ^^
Boots - C&A
Red lips - Catrice "Lobster Love"

xo,

Lili

Winterized summer skirt

2011-12-29T20:15:00.000+01:00

Hiiiiii, I'm back! I hope you all had a nice Christmas (or nice holidays), I sure did! Before the picture posting, God put the picture sorting and cropping though, so I'll tell you all about it later :-) Here are pictures from before Christmas. It is a winter outfit with a summer skirt! You've seen the skirt here before in a summer look.

I put together this outfit and immediately loved it. I think I started with the tights. Shirt and boots seemed like no-brainers to me that day (oh if it were like this everyday!).

I debated with myself if this denim skirt would maybe look better than the white one, but it quickly lost the battle. I think white is so pretty for winter! I heard that is the US there is this rule "no white after Labor Day". I had never heard of it before getting into the blogging bizness, because we don't have that rule here. It would be a little nonsensical anyway, as our Labor Day is May 1st :-D

Anyway, after all that neutral stuff going on with my outfit, it was time to add some serious COLOR! I had never worn my red belt before, and now I'm asking myself why not ;-) I'm actually wearing it backwards here and I like it so much more this way. I paired it with red lips to not have one single blast of color and then nothing else ;-) Then I added the aqua scarf and immediately loved it! I loved it so much that I wore this pairing of accessories again for Christmas, over a knit dress. You'll see that soon :-) So, the red and aqua combo was totally intentional, and I was surprised how well they go together. Maybe because they are both such clear, radiant colors?

All in all, this outfit is so simple, but I felt like a million bucks in it all day! Here's to combining colors more fearlessly! Cheers :-D

Time:

December 17th, 2011

Place:

Running Christmas errands with my boyfriend.

Stuff:

Skirt - H&M
Tights - H&M
Shirt - Primark
Belt - Bijou Brigitte
Scarf - Souvenir from Mallorca. It says "100% Cashmere" but it was only 10€ and who I am to believe that? ^^
Boots - osco
Red lips - Catrice "Lobster Love"

xo,
Lili

PS: Yes, this is another corner of my room ;-) You have seen it before here, where you can see it has a little window too. My room is kinda quirky, and I love it. Room tour is already planned!

Getting into the spirit

2011-12-23T20:00:00.000+01:00

I hope you're all set up for the holidays and can enjoy the rest of the time until it arrives peacefully and relaxed! I still got a lot to do today, but last weekend we spent Saturday night relaxing at home in a very Christmas-y spirit.

We had a cheese platter...

... and wine around the tree...

... and of course Feuerzangenbowle. Now, I have no idea how famous that is around the world, so let me tell you how it's done! You put wine prepared with spices into a big bowl. There is a special thing you hang over the bowl to put a cone sugar into it.You soak the cone sugar in rum and then... set it on fire.

Like so...

The sugar will now slowly drip into the bowl and the wine below. Every now and then, you can take a ladle and pour rum over the burning cane. It will look like this, so step back ;-)

Don't try this at home, kids :-)

Of course we got some nice pictures of our Christmas decorations and the tree, too! Like our Advent wreath with the tree in the background...

Christmas tree ornaments...

...we couldn't decide which ones to take to we just took them all: Red balls, silver balls and straw ornaments ;-) Ah, democracy!

A pretty little ornament with the tree in the background again! Yes, we're just learning how to do bokeh ;-)

Lastly, of course, there is this guy...

... and myself...

... wishing you a very merry Christmas, nice and peaceful holidays and all the cool presents under the tree!

xo,

Lili

PS: I'll be taking a short Christmas break! See you on December 28th :-)

(Christmas) Tree & Me (Outfit)

2011-12-23T03:10:00.000+01:00

Christmas is so close we can almost grab it! :-) We just came back from an office Christmas party and it was fun as always. Today I took my outfit pictures with our Christmas tree!

The colors are all wrong though... The light is not THAT warm, neither is the wood! And the tree really is somewhat greener. It looks a little sad this way, don't you think? It's really much prettier. I do like my skirt though! This is a winterized version, I only wore it in summer before, here and here. I was out and about all day and it wasn't cold at all.

I went shopping with my mom today, too. She is getting a new cell phone from my dad for Christmas and we went to pick one out. I read a lot of expert tests and customer reviews before making a list of worthwhile phones, so I was well prepared. I had crossed off all high-end phones and the ones with bad acoustic and short battery life, because I know these things just annoy my mom. She has a very long fuse with people, but a really short one with tech ;-)

Unfortunately, at the store we encountered something, or better someone, I have a short fuse with. I just hate, hate, hate it when salespeople just can't stop talking. It's even worse when you know they didn't get your question right and then don't stop talking long enough for you to rephrase. I "get" it in young salesmen, they think "blond lady" = "but I want the pink one!!". But if it's a saleslady? Ma'am, why don't you get that I've done my homework? You can't pull me over the barrel and don't you dare try it with my mom! Dude. The saleslady got really pissy with me, but I'm not having any of that. In the end, she must have known she was a little hard on me as she gave me an umbrella and a cell phone bag for free. Yay :-)

I wasn't even in top form: A few years ago I went to another phone store with my dad to order something for my parents' landline. The salesman went from one monologue into the next, throwing around catchwords and empty phrases without ever saying anything or replying to our questions. He only created a "word fog" that was intended to seal the deal, out of utter confusion on our part. So I said "Stop! I'm going to ask you a question and you will please reply with either yes or no!" I don't remember the question, but as he did take a huge breath to answer with another monologue, I just said "Just say YES or NO!" Hehe. The salesman could smell from one mile against the wind that my dad had no clue about all that. He didn't count me in though. There is no bullshitting me when I know what I'm talking about.

Ah yes, that's the Christmas spirit :-) [</irony>] To my defense, I always try to stay friendly first, I smile a lot and I let them talk all the way if they've actually got something to say. It's the empty monologues that makes me aggressive, and fast. I think it's in my personality. Personally, I don't even think it's a bad thing, I just think my mom does not really like it when I tell people to cut to the point. Like I said, she's really patient with people :-) A much friendlier soul than I am.

I wish you a happy Christmas countdown! Apart from this saleslady, mine has been super nice so far, and even that turned out well as I've rarely ever come home with so much stuff without paying for it. In fact, I never got so much out of annoying someone, I think :-)

Time:

December 22th, 2011

Place:

For shopping with my mom and our office Christmas party, which meant steak house and drinks :-)

Stuff:

Skirt - H&M
Tights - ergee at kik
Shirt - H&M
Belt - C&A
Vest - New Yorker
Scarf - Gift from my boyfriend
Boots - C&A

xo,
Lili

Christmas Gift Guide - For the Girls

2011-12-20T20:00:00.000+01:00

Now that we had the Gift Guide for Guys, of course it's time for the Gift Guide for Girls! These are all gifts for the lovely ladies around you. I own some of these items myself, seriously lust for them or given them to friends! I just gave my best friend Nr. 2 today for her birthday - the DIY map art. I took maps of the places we had been on our vacation in Sweden and cut a big star for one frame, a big heart for another and four circles for a third frame. She loved it, yay!

A candle light house with stars! I bought this for my aunt and godmother this year.
DIY map art for your best friend or your love... Maybe of all the places you've been together?
The book of little things. My best friend gave me a self-made (!) version of this for my 30th birthday.
Geeky and pretty! A sun or star dial ring.
A personal color analysis. Click here for a list of analysts of the best (IMHO) system!
Personalized makeup. The company is small but they ROCK.
Cheeky bag. This one says "George, Gina and your mom" (in somewhat slang-y German) instead of the widely popular and expensive "George, Gina & Lucy" brand :-)
A sequin scarf, for the lady who needs a little more bling in her life. Plus, scarves always fit ;-)
Freakeys key sleeves. I bought these a while ago in Berlin, they are just awesome!
Super pretty umbrella. I really think of getting this one for myself!
A ZaggMate to turn her iPad into a little laptop. I gave this to my boyfriend last Christmas (it is a unisex present ^^). It is super practical as it doubles as a shell and is pretty lightweight and stylish.
A personalized novel. There are several out there who do that. I got one from my boyfriend a few years ago. It is incredible to read! You can also say how the characters look like, what type of novel it should be and if it should be with or without romance ... Mine was with romance, of course ;-)

I hope you liked my ideas! Christmas is getting seriously close, isn't it? I almost got all my bases covered. I just transferred the money for my mom's present and I hope it will get here in time... You want to know what she's getting?

[MOM DO NOT CLICK!!]

... SERIOUSLY! DO. NOT. CLICK. :-)

Ok, if you're not my mom, click here!

xo,

Lili

Inspiration Monday - Can't take the girl out of the Bling

2011-12-19T13:00:00.000+01:00

It's Inspiration Monday over at two birds again! Any yes, I say this as if it was a holiday ;-) This weeks inspiration was Jennifer Lopez. Those who are already following me for a while already know the perfect skirt for the challenge!

Ok, my outfit looks a lot lighter than hers, but overall I think it's good, no?

Heels with sparkle
Supersparkly silver skirt
Nude top
Long necklaces
Arm party!

What I didn't exactly copy is the sleeve length. I only have so many nude-colored tops in my closet, hehe.

I don't have a lot of longer necklaces, and the ones I have I usually wear short, wrapped around multiple times. I don't mind this look though! The shorter one is a heirloom from my grandmother. I never wear it, but it's good to know it's there.

Some shots into this outfit, I decided I didn't like the rather boxy top unbelted, and added a belt. Unfortunately, I had taken off the arm party in the meantime, but forgot about it, LOL. Of course, the pictures I took first turned out to be better anyway, so I could have just rolled with it. You know how it goes ^^

Excuse me while I'm going to change out of this outfit, which I'm still wearing as I type ;-) There is no way I'm going to wear this to work, haha. Not in this weather... Ok, probably not in any other weather either! :-)

See the other inspirees (did I just make that up?) here!

Time:

December 19th, 2011

Place:

Just for the pictures :-)

Stuff:

Skirt - New Yorker
Heels - Deichmann
Shirt - H&M
Belt - H&M
Ring - Bijou Brigitte
Longer necklace - Bijou Brigitte
Shorter necklace - Heirloom from my grandmother
Bangles - Primark
Bracelet - Orsay

xo,
Lili

Christmas in Germany

2011-12-19T02:19:00.000+01:00

Hellooo-ooo :-) I hope you all had a nice 4th Advent weekend. I sure did, we stayed in all weekend, sat together in candle light with a cheese platter, wine, burnt punch (photos coming up!), sweets and movies. All four of us :-)

In blogging news, I just noticed that my guest post for Sugar and Spice is up, as a part of their A-Z for a stylish Christmas series. Yay! I got the letter G for Christmas in Germany. So if you want to see how we roll, get over there and have a look! There are photos of our Christmas market, Advent wreath and 2010's Christmas tree, among other things.

PS: ONLY 5 DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS! Can you believe it? Hehe, yes, I have a little "advantage" as I'm not only some hours ahead of half the world time-wise, but also live in pretty much the only country that celebrates Christmas on the 24th ;-) Apparently, we just have to have our quirks!

I wish you a very nice Christmas "countdown", whereever you are! See you tomorrow for Inspiration Monday!

xo,
Lili

Christmas Gift Guide - For the Guys

2011-12-18T09:00:00.000+01:00

This is a Gift Guide for the Guys in your life! These are gifts I gave to my boyfriend or my dad in the last years, or gifts my boyfriend and I gave to our housemate, or gifts I thought were really cool but didn't give personally :-)

A champagne cooler made from ice! It's called nice cooler. It's practically a mold you pour water into and then put it into the freezer until this beauty comes out. The mold then doubles as a stand.
A cool retro or pop art picture of you or him... Or just about anything! You can have someone do the effects or do them yourself (via several graphics softwares or services like BeFunky or PicNik).
The iPad Arcade. Now this is seriously cool!
A manly film collection, like a Clint Eastwood DVD box.
A steak branding iron! Just for shiz and giggles.
A neon sign for the man cave. I gave my boyfriend exactly this one for our poker and party room in the basement of our old house.
An ethanol fireplace. They look pretty stylish and come for pretty cheap these days (although the price tags are open ended here, really).
These cute dog speakers. They of course don't match up to a Bose speaker, but they look pretty cute.
Ice shot glasses! Again, you get the mold to make them yourself. A pretty cool party gimmick, and you can freeze into the water whatever you can think of.
A helicopter. Or anything remote controlled, actually!
Touchscreen gloves. No more cold fingers OR missed calls. Genius!
A monster burger. Now isn't that every man's dream?

I hope you liked my ideas! Happy shopping :-)

xo,
Lili

Cozy Cinema

2011-12-16T18:00:00.000+01:00

This is my first really really warm outfit on here this year. I went to the movies with my best friend to finally see Breaking Dawn. Yes, guilty as charged. I read all the books, found them nearly electrifying, and saw all the films although they are not as good. It was pretty interesting to me how these books brought back a feeling I last had when I was 13. Back then, I was also reading a book, which is still dear to me. I read A LOT, but no other book could bring this back. I know a lot of my friends who read the book had a similar feeling. Yes, Twilight will never earn a literatur Nobel prize, but alone in reviving that feeling it has earned the right of existence!

I thought the film was nice, just like the other ones were. Decent entertainment. You can of course guess the two scenes I was anticipating the most, hee hee. To not spoil anything, maybe I can tell you my reactions, and chances are you'll know instantly! One was "Geez! Finally!" and the other one was "Oooh I wonder how they've done that scene. Will it be just like in the book or will they chicken out?!" :-D (It was. Kinda. My expectations were met.)

After the movies, we went on a long walk through her neighbourhood to see the Christmas decorations in the windows. We didn't see as much as we'd thought, but that's probably because it was after 10pm already and some people were already on bed. It was nice anyway. We always walk a lot together, we usually go out to eat and then roam the streets and maybe get some wine gum at a kiosk. Just like we did in the olden times.

To do this, I thought it would be crucial to stay warm, so I wore one of my warmest sweaters :-) I also wore a mop of hair on my head as you can see. This is what I sometimes get when I go to bed with wet hair. Life is like a box of chocolates, y'all!

Time:

December 15th, 2011

Place:

To the movies and a walk

Stuff:

Scarf - From a street vendor in Munich
Sweater - C&A
Shirt - Primark
Skirt - Promod
Tights - No idea!
Socks - Takko
Boots - C&A

xo,
Lili

Lili's Christmas Wish List

2011-12-15T08:00:00.000+01:00

This is my Christmas wish list! As usual, I was super late to tell my family about it ;-)

A sewing machine! I ask my grandma for this one, as she is the expert while I have no clue!
An everyday handbag, as the one I'm currently using is starting to fall apart :-) I would have bought one already, but haven't found one I really liked, so... I'm counting on my mom to find one for me! I'd like one in a light, sandy brown color or in a really bold one, like turquoise, orange, cobalt blue or red.
Yes... That would be an electrical toothbrush. At first I thought it was a lame Christmas wish but what's the use, I would really like to have one :-)
A pile of Swedish, Icelandic and British crime novels. Those are my favorite! I have no idea about the rest of the world, but Swedish crime books are huge in Germany! Ah, what's better than sitting inside on the couch all warm and cozy and reading about gory crimes in perfect detail?
A bag to carry our new camera around. I'm really afraid of dropping it...
A trash bin! No, seriously. I already have this one in red and I love it. Sadly, I'm pretty straight with my room decor and red does not really fit in anymore... Maybe Santa will give me the white one :-)

Let me tell you a d'oh story about my Christmas wish list :-) For efficiency reasons, I made an Amazon wish list for the first time this year and practically immediately outed myself as a total noob in this. So I made the list and mailed it to my mom. So far so good, right? About an hour later, I thought I'd check out the list again just to see if I had forgotten anything. Upon seeing the list, I though: "Hmmm... Weren't there a lot more items on it the last time?" And then I realized that if someone buys something from the list, it is of course taken off of it! D'OH! So I pretty much know what I'm getting for Christmas, and it's my own fault. I'm trying to forget it again, but we all know that isn't easy... So yes. I pretty much outsmarted myself ;-)

xo,
Lili