Thankful for Kiehl's

Thanksgiving is a celebration somewhat alien to us Greeks.


However, when you receive an invitation as tempting as this one and by one of the most respected cosmetic brands out there, you dare not say no!

First, some helpful trivia:

Kiehl's is quite the household name in the other side of the Atlantic.

John Kiehl founded his pharmacy in 1851 in New York. Since then the brand has been manufacturing quality skin and hair care products, not tested on animals, that simply do what they promise.

The original pharmacy on 13th St and 3rd Av still exists.


I've never had a traditional Thanksgiving dinner before and may I say, I was impressed!


The people from Kiehl's as well as the girls from Out of the Box PR did their best to make us feel like we were having a cozy family dinner, quite successfully may I say.


Thalia, Cordelia (Kiehl's Greece Brand Ambassador) and me.


The real star of the evening can be seen at the end of the table, a huge organic stuffed turkey.


Yiota Tzavara of Out of the Box (good job organizing that whole dinner girls) and Thalia of Life in Athens.


Elena and me with Mr Bones, Kiehl's mascot. He is a tradition originating from the real human skeleton John Kiehl used to keep in his pharmacy to explain how the human body works to his costumers.

And of course, here's what I wore:

Maxi knit dress gathered at the waist to look shorter, STRADIVARIUS. Brown leather belt, MANGO. Black velvet military jacket, ATMOSPHERE via the GIVE A FROCK A HOME event. Black plastic flats, Vivienne Westwood Anglomania for Melissa.


And of course, couldn't be more thankful for the amazing goody bag! It contained some classic Kiehl's products in full size packages: The iconic Creme de Corps, Hair Conditioner And Grooming Aid Formula 133, Face Concentrates and a USB stick with all the info we would need about the company.

Thank you Kiehl's!

Weekend

This is pretty much what I did all weekend: Organizing, tidying up, putting away stuff and generally nesting.

My new shoe closet was actually an old piece of furniture taken from my grandmother's pharmacy. Its selves are perfectly sized and distanced to play home for my heels, plus the glass door means I can see my collection while protecting it from dust. More detailed pics will follow as soon as I replace a couple of glass panels that are now missing.

For shoe storage for flats, see this old post.

Mulberry SS2011 collection preview

Wednesday afternoon we found ourselves at the RAKAS showroom for an exclusive preview of the Mulberry SS2011 collection, inspired by Frances Hodgson Burnett's famous novel The Secret Garden.


First, a quick stop at the bar for some girlie pink cocktails, to get the conversation flowing.


And then, off to reporting duty!

I fell in love with the colour palette used for the collection. Basically, it was mostly about light tans, dirty pinks, warm beige, chocolate brown and some animal prints.

This one above is the Tille in chestnut soft matte leather.

Other favourites from the collection:

Mulberry large Edie in powder beige heavy grain leather.


Mulberry Piccadilly in oak silky snake print leather.

More photos from the event:

Elena and her bejewelled object of affection.


Haritini taking a break from the bags to pose for me.


Inspiration books featuring the celebs who love Mulberry bags. The Gossip Girl cast are big fans apparently!

My outfit for the day, straight from work:

Tulip skirt and cropped red cardi, MANGO. Black tee, ZARA. Black patent belt, H&M. Block-heel brogues, PINKO.


Great thing they gave us all the press material we would need in a very cute shopper bag to take home with us...


Isn't it a cutie?

Christina Koutsospyrou

Illustration by Christina Koutsospyrou

OZON magazine reported back in May:

The Greek illustrator Christina Koutsospyrou, based in London, is famous for her unique style. Her work has been displayed in magazines, fashion houses, TV and record labels. Her highly praised illustrations reflect a combination of lost innocence and romanticism. Besides her digital work, Christina has produced screen prints that have been exhibited in a range of places in the region of London.

Damn, I really have to stop doing that thing where I first buy the t-shirt and then I find out who the amazing illustrator behind it is. Or not.

MARKA t-shirt bought from Fenastock back then

It seems like Christina Koutsospyrou's portfolio has been taken down since, but you can still visit her blog here.

USAF and South Korean Air Force F-16 Formation Flight

Given the recent conflict between North Korea and South Korea, I figured it was a good time to show our solidarity with our South Korean Allies.

Here's a great shot of USAF and South Korean Air Force F-16C and D models flying in formation over Kunsan Air Base.

Giv'em hell boys!

Hot pink nails and red lips

this photo of Lizzie Jagger for Dominic Jones Jewellery

this post by Queen Michelle of Kingdom of Style

Inspiration.

I never paint my nails. Never meaning once a year or less. But this combo looks so damn appealing, non?

Lanvin ♥ H&M in Athens

Don't get me wrong, I didn't wake up at 7:00am for THIS.
I'm way to old/bored/unexcited for this kind of mayhem.

But I did happen to wake up extremely early for a totally unrelated reason and passed the Kolokotroni store on my way to work, so I shot some pics from inside the car for you.

This was taken 15min before the shop opened at 9:00am. The line crosses the street and reaches the next building. I can't imagine want went down when the doors opened.

If you braved the inside of an H&M store this morning, shopped and actually survived too, I'd love to hear what you scored! Please leave a comment, or even better, a comment with a link.

Oh, you kids these days...

UPDATE 1:
You may have seen it already since I tweeted it last night, but if you understand greek, YOU HAVE to read this reportage by Stella. She managed to bag a t-shirt and the floral dress without any discomfort, bitching or nail-fighting fellow shoppers. After all, she has been writing Shopping Therapy for more than four years. She has a Ph.D. in shopping!

UPDATE 2:
Another reportage straight from the crime scene, this time by Maria Flora.

Teaser

You've probably already read all about it in other Greek fashion blogs, but here it is once again: At last, a major Greek fashion retail business decided to open up their own online shop (hurray) and called us fashion bloggers to help launch it.

Fifteen of us bloggers were invited last Saturday to the Toi&moi headquarters to participate in a very special photoshot.

More info and pics coming soon.

Denis Gagnon Shows All

Like architecture, fashion is an applied art, meant to be ‘inhabited’ and to say something, to express a state of mind, an identity, an aspiration.

Gilles Saucier, architect

The work of acclaimed Canadian fashion designer Denis Gagnon is presented in an exhibition curated by Stéphane Aquin in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, titled Denis Gagnon Shows All.

The setting for the exhibition was custom designed by architect Gilles Saucier. Read ahead for several seriously good quotes on how fashion and architecture are so alike.

In collaboration with Stéphane Aquin, curator of the exhibition and the MMFA’s Curator of Contemporary Art, Denis Gagnon asked the celebrated architect Gilles Saucier to design the setting for this installation. The Museum thus became a meeting place for fashion and architecture, two art forms that seem to be poles apart. Fashion is thought of as fleeting, at the mercy of the mood of the times and made of perishable materials. Architecture is monumental, designed to last for centuries. And yet, what the two have in common is the fundamental function of sheltering the human body. Saucier demonstrates his fascination with Gagnon’s creations in the setting he has designed for the exhibition, which displays some fifteen garments together with photographs and projections.

If you are lucky enough to be in Montreal sometime in the following months, don't miss it! The Denis Gagnon Shows All exhibition will be open free of charge from October 19, 2010 to February 13, 2011 in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal.

Story via Suites Culturelles.
Quoted text via The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
All photos in this post by Christine Guest.

Wisteria hysteria

Shoebox opening alert, you'd better brace yourselves!


I ordered the red Wisteria wedges from Topshop a while ago. No link to share I'm afraid, since they're already sold out. They were available in powder pink and black as well, but the bright red stole my heart upon sight.


Aren't they beauties?

The obligatory detail shots:



Although the chiffon ties are polyester (and rightfully so as I believe silk chiffon is way too fragile to use on shoes) the suede covering the wedge and the inside of the shoe are all real, natural leather.


And they were made in Spain, which I guess kinda crosses out child labor, underpaid workers, bad health conditions and other nasty things we hear about all the time.


Surprisingly, they're really comfortable, once you get past the vertigo from all that extra height. Being 1,70m/5ft7in tall I almost feel *too tall* wearing them. But that's silly, right?

Now, if only I knew what to wear them with...

Annelie Carlström

Annelie Carlström is an illustrator from Sweden.

See more of her work over at anneliecarlstrom.se and at her blog.

And if her style reminds you of something, maybe it's this:


Remember that H&M t-shirt I got during my trip to Amsterdam last summer?


I didn't even know it was by her back then, since the tag was already missing when I bought it.

Lucky me!

And funny thing is, I didn't even realise it was her design, up until the moment I got another t-shirt sporting one of her illustrations, and the drawing style struck me as somehow familiar.

But that story will be told in another post...