Fennel

I've had zero time to blog/take pictures lately, so instead I present you with my most recent discovery -and why the heck not, I'm gonna go ahead and name it the Vegetable of the Month (remember celeriac back in January?): Fennel. 

It turns out it tastes amazing roasted, stir-fried, in soups... You can probably find better instructions by googling it, but basically you prepare it by cutting off the stem-like green, leafy bits (you can save them to flavour your soups) and the base and then quartering it and removing the rest of the root from the cores.

On a more style-related note, I googled fennel print and it turns out that there are a lot of pretty illustrations of fennel flowers out there that would look cool framed or -if you're more like me- just pinned/stuck to your wall :)

   
                                           

           

Let's talk about hair

Let's cut to the chase, shall we? Some thoughts on hair.

1. I'm in need of a haircut, but I really love the way my hair gradually gets lighter towards the bottom and I'm afraid that the mean hairdresser will chop that all off :/

2. Elaborating on my passing comment about how my hair looked worse in a picture from September: I remember I was washing my hair every two/three days then, and I'd just washed and straightened my hair for the event, but my hair decided to go into frizzball mode. But lately, I've realized that my hair seems to look better when it's unwashed (as in, not freshly washed. Nobody's hair looks nice when greasy!). In fact, I've been washing my hair only once a week for a few months now -I spaced out the washes, washing my hair only when it got greasy. Now my hair gets greasy much slower*, and it looks and feels much healthier, shinier, and less of a dry, frizzy mass. All I do is brush it whenever the ends get tangled (it also helps distribute the natural oils your scalp produces). And I'm using much less shampoo now, so the environment is also happy!
These pictures were taken on a Friday, I'd washed my hair the Sunday before, and I hadn't styled my hair at all (only added some hair oil to the ends) -you be the judge. I'm not saying you should do the same, but it's worth considering, no?

*In general, the more often you wash your hair, the more you strip your scalp of its natural oils, making your scalp produce more to compensate, which in turn makes your hair greasier, faster -so it's actually a vain circle that I've tried to break away from. I did some online research and the next step seems to be eliminating shampoo completely (the so-called 'no poo', where you only wash your hair with baking soda and apple cider), but right now that feels like a step too far.

What to do with a (silk) scarf

My mother keeps literally everything, so it's always fun to rummage through her clothes and discover things from the past. Another thing about her is that she's always keen on giving me her stuff. I'd say that a good quarter of my wardrobe used to belong to my mom... come on, I can't be the only one! One of the things I got from one of these closet incursions was a printed silk scarf. I liked the print and, OK, let's face it, silk is very silky: you just wanna stroke it for hours... The only problem is that I don't wear scarves -unless we're talking about the kind you'd wear to protect yourself from the cold-... and I'm also not that big on print. So apart from the couple of times I wore it as a tie in high school*, I've never worn it as a (real) scarf.

However, over the years I've gotten creative and figured out many different ways of wearing/using a scarf for other purposes, so I hope you're ready. Go on, grab that scarf you never wear (it doesn't have to be silk or anything, I'm just fancy like that :P) and:

-wear it as a top** (tie it tightly and wear a strapless bra!) This was a dress-up party hence the big earrings to go with it, but I think that this could be weareable in real life too -keep the rest of the outfit minimal, wear with something high-waisted and a lot of confidence!

-wear it on your head as a turban or a bandana... Come on, if Carrie did it, so can you. It's also great for hiding bad hair ;)

-tie it around your wrist... Carrie ties hers around her arm.

-use it instead of a belt -this is one of my favourite ways, just pull it through your jeans' loops and voilà -a moderate injection of colour!***

-you could tie it on your handbag, though it's not my thing...

-wear it rolled around your neck under a shirt -classy and warm. I've still got to pin down exactly how my literature professor does his, but I won't stop trying till I get it right!

*I was into ties for a while. But I'd wear them over a tank top, and it would look, well, like a wannabe version of Avril Lavigne... Yeah. Moving on.

**This is a pretty straightforward one, but the internet is full of ideas on how to make spectacular top out of a scarf. Google is your friend!

***You know I'm all about moderation when it comes to colour ;)

But I like being a lady from time to time.

I was wearing this outfit, biking (heels and all) into town to my friend's birthday dinner, when she turned around and said: "I'm glad I've found true ladies here!" I had to laugh because normally I'm the opposite of a lady -like Jessa in Girls said,* "I'm not the ladies!" My personality consists in giving it straight to people (although I try not to be too rude), and my refinement is dropped upon the first sight of food. In other words, I am far from embodying an old-fashioned lady... but sometimes, dressing like a lady can be fun -and a bit unusual for me (refer to my previous post, in which I identify with a witch. Ahem.).

I'm wearing: DVF skirt borrowed from a very kind friend (although I want to keep it forever), my mom's shrunken knit (which I've been wearing a lot -more to come), zara pumps. My hair has been haphazardly gathered into a low bun with front pieces hanging loose, and I'm wearing red lipstick (to complete the sophistication).

I like the idea of pairing such a spectacular skirt with a really simple sweater -it looks effortless and keeps it from being over the top. Do I still feel a bit out of my comfort zone? Slightly, but in a good way, as if I was French for the night. It's good to experiment. And yes, I went bare legged. It was worth it :)

*sorry, but you're gonna have to bear with my obsession with Girls, as I've decided to write a research paper on the series. Yes, there are some perks to being in the humanities... ;)

Inspiring people in fashion

There's a lot of things that I don't like about the fashion industry, but as I'm starting to learn a little bit more about it (thanks internet!), I discover many things that inspire me. Besides the pure aesthetics of fashion which are pretty inspiring on their own, I've discovered a few people whom I admire and appreciate because of what they do and how they do it.


One of the first people I came across is Scott Schuman, the photographer behind The Sartorialist, which is much more than a streetstyle blog: he doesn't only photograph couture-clad fashion editors, but people with striking, unique style, regardless of whether they're on a farm or outside the Dior show. He also makes every photogaph beautiful and artistic in itself, and often he'll photograph a face or a small detail that caught his attention. Oh, and he has also published two books with streetstyle photography.

Incidentally (or not), his girlfiriend Garance Doré is also amazing: she's a photographer and artist and she runs her own blog on fashion, style, being a woman and much, much more. What I love about her is her candid, humorous approach: she tells it like it is and doesn't take herself too seriously. And the visuals of her blog (from the design to her photographs and illustrations) are incredible. She's a real inspiration and so down to earth.



I also like The Man Repeller, founded by Leandra Medine, for its humorous/satiric articles on fashion, style, popular culture and woman-ness.

Finally, I consider Ivania Carpio from Love Aesthetics* a true inspiration. She has her very own unique (life)style and vision as well as the drive to execute it, and on top of that she has very strong fashion and journalism ethics. In a world such as fashion, such people are both refreshing and much-needed. I ran into her in Weekday once and she was really nice and down to earth :)




*she just switched from a blog to her own webpage, so some of the info is still missing, but check her 'ethics' section when she updates it!

Being a witch is cooler than being a princess

...because you get to fly on a broom and use magic, obviously, but also because witches have a strong, sexy look whereas princesses are all about floaty dresses and flower prints. I love this picture: the Margot Tenenbaum expression, the long, dark hair and middle parting, the ears sticking out, the black top... it all has that severe, witchy look. If you use your imagination, you can even replace my desk with a broom and picture me hovering mid-air staring at you. If I knew photoshop, I'd make that happen that for sure :)

I'm wearing a (DIY) polo neck crop top, my mom's old long wool skirt, my dad's old leather belt, zara pumps.

I wore this to a friend's dressy birthday dinner, and it was a good chance to finally wear this skirt... So far I've had trouble dressing it down without making it look frumpy or too dressy, but I haven't given up yet! I think this outfit is very 'me', though. Simple, but sharp.