today

good things:
1. A new bagpack (because I'm sick of ruining my back)
2. Postcards, especially postcards with interesting buildings on them! I love receiving mail, if anyone wants to send me a letter, please do! Even if it's just about what you did today. Everything is interesting.
3. Scottish Blossom Honey with Single Malt Whisky. Yeah, I know. Heaven.
4. Old photographs on my wall.
5. This Vivian Girls t-shirt was one of several things that stayed in Vienna. Yes!
6. The Just Joans

at work

Here is one thing that makes me happy. Sometimes, we have to pretend we're sailors at work. Little children love it. Yesterday I was randomly wearing a dress that matched the work clothes of my colleagues. Lolarity ensued. I <3 work colleagues.

whatevs

Random things: Cat is cutting out pictures from old encyclopedias at the moment which is a pretty awesome job. I've been working a lot and watching the Olympics a lot, I've also read the last Hollinghurst novel I didn't know already. It was so good, why do some authors just get it right every time? The children at the museum have been telling me that 1) I am skinny and have lost all my baby fat, 2) I look like a man because I have short hair. I pretended that a 10-year-old who looked exactly like Draco Malfoy had killed me when he showed me his jiujitsu moves, falling to the floor and all. The older I get the more I realise that I've a penchant for drama, unfortunately the kind that kids appreciate and grown-ups just don't get. (I got called a drama queen the other day, and also a fashion victim which actually really hurt. A bit.) Yesterday I woke up to a cup of tea and vegetable curry which was the best thing ever. Winter sports are also pretty great, what's cooler than watching biathlon or random things like ice skating in the middle of the night?
Proenza Schouler's F/W 10/11 show made me pretty happy. You can watch it here. We watched a documentary about them on arte a couple of weeks ago, it was great and really made me appreciate how clothes are made, how much attention goes into little details. I keep having discussions about that sordid subject, "is fashion art?", and sure, it doesn't have to be, especially not in the jeans and t-shirts and H&M dresses wasteland I live in, and I could care less about what's this season's must have, but it ain't easy to make a dress, and it's even harder to think of something that actually looks good, or interesting. I know I couldn't do it and I admire everyone who can.

CK

(via elle.com)

Christopher Kane's fall/winter 2009/2010 will always be one of my favourites. I'm not even asking for one of those dresses - a jumper would be fine!

"tomboy"

This picture from Teen Vogue sums up what I like about clothes right now.

things I bought in Edinburgh

...80s indie music, I'm so happy about the Marine Girls compilation!


...earrings from my favourite little shop


...the perfect red, finally!


...a wonderful cashmere jumper (they have so many of them in the vintage shops, it's so great) and a lovely cat brooch. I want more cute brooches.


...hearts and flowers, patterned tights make me so happy.

Tracy

(click on the image to view the source)

It's rather obvious why I like her looks...

the past in question

Apart from wanting to go on holidays again, I've been very busy with university which has been surprisingly awesome. I've been trying to understand the whole Twilight-nonsense, luckily Kevin has directed me to a website which explains all and made me laugh very hard. You should all read it, keep in touch with youth culture and stuff, you know. My indiepop credibility has gone down the drains recently because I developed a rather questionable affection for certain well-known English singers with a penchant for romanticising their homeland. I blame this on feeling blue for the past weeks. You feel blue for only a day and you're immediately convinced that young men with guitars are more than just self-absorbed drug addicts.

Speaking of which, and by that I mean "romanticising the past", am I the only one who thinks it's more than strange to see so many girls who are into vintage clothes talk about how "lovely" women in the 30s and 40s looked? Isn't it weird to totally disconnect the political reality from fashion? Let me explain. Maybe I'm being too much of an historian and over-sensitive, but it always makes me confused to see someone write that their outfit was inspired by "ladies from the depression-era". Even more puzzling, I recently read somewhere, I forget where, that someone was inspired by the thought of young women in WW2 waiting for their boyfriends to come home from the war. Now this really made me almost angry. That really means romanticising the past, doesn't it? Wearing an outfit that makes you feel like such a woman and feeling that this is a good thing, a romantic notion - is that just "inspiration", free from all connotation, or is it ignorant? Because if I said that, if I was inspired by my grandmother waiting for her boyfriend to come home during WW2, I'm also thinking of lack of food and bombs and destruction and certainly not of clothes. But maybe that's just because I'm from Europe and the past is indeed a whole different country for me here. I can't really get inspired by it. I'm just glad the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s etc are over.


I find it really hard to disconnect fashion from its sociopolitical background, quite apart from serious stuff like wars and economic depressions. For example, even though I think the whole 50s New Look silhouette is beautiful and flattering on other woman, I also can't help thinking of the female stereotype of that type which, frankly, makes me want to throw up.
Obviously I have simply studied history for too long and have now finally turned into one of those overly political creatures. I shall buy some spray paint tomorrow and practise my street art.

how I resisted the urge to turn myself into a Kapranos lookalike

Proof that what you'd call my "style" is not really all that cohesive. I do admire people who "own" a certain look, like all the bloggers out there, but it's not really for me. I like my new red shoes and my headphones because both enable me to walk with a spring in my step. I like my ridiculous sunglasses because they remind me of Utrecht where I bought them. Actually all of my stuff is only precious to me because I connect it to people who are dear to me.

The necklaces and bags: Kevin who helped me buy them/tried to keep me from buying them. The shoes: Max who told me to get the red ones (cheers!). The sparkly dress: Dani who picked it up and said it reminded her of Cassie from "Skins"(I wouldn't have had the courage to try it on otherwise). The checked shirt: Nikolaus who gave it to me because he's way to tall now to wear it. The black cardigan: My mother who bought it for me because it reminded her of Audrey Hepburn. The navy skirt: Irene, my stepmother who used to wear it when she was younger. The FF t-shirt: Konstantin who made it for me because I wanted a Franz Ferdinand t-shirt that nobody else had. Et cetera.

don't start

I love the Easter holidays. So far I've danced all night and eaten cake and read good/bad books and watched not one, but two strange French films and listened to "Womanizer" as played by Franz Ferdinand (once again) and been asked if I was a boy or girl even though I was wearing a skirt and make-up and the monster top you can see up there on the right. I've complained about Richard Dawkins ("The God Delusion"? Really?) and eaten icecream because there's nothing better than cookies and chocolate icecream. Tomorrow I'll fix my bike. Good stuff.

boys will be boys

Look Kevin, it's Nikolaus, not Konstantin, who has built a colour-coordinated outfit around the shoes!
I feel the need to embrace the fact that I look like a boy half of the time, especially after staring at a girly girl in my Greek course today who annoyed me endlessly by giggling all the bloody time! She was wearing a headband AND a hairclip AND huge earrings AND a scarf. Not so great. Maybe I'm just jealous though because she can speak Greek fluently due to the fact that her father is Greek. I wish I had been brought up to be bilingual, but all my father ever taught me about Greek was to chant parts of the Odyssey rhythmically...
Waiting for warmer weather and cycling and the Easter holidays and then the NETHERLANDS yippie. We always have to answer questions about sending letters and going on holidays and our friends in the Greek exercises (i.e. "Where do you like to go on holidays?" "Where do your friends live?") and by now I know all the Greek words for Holland and Dutch and bikes.

I like: Burberry Prorsum

(style.com)

Especially Spring/Summer 09. I love the colours and the garden theme and how it all looks like a watery, rainy blue day. I love the floaty dresses in combination with the sharp coats. I love those socks even though our parents would cringe and think about white sport socks in the 80s. I love the embroidery and the stripes and those trousers, oh wow! And of course I think that these necklaces are pretty much the only jewellery you need because they are awesome. In the end though, it's those particular shades of blue and grey that make me feel lightheaded, or spring-headed, maybe.

wow

(the sartorialist)

This is awesome. Everything about this is brilliant.

Marry me, stranger

(The Sartorialist)

Hi. If I were a man, I'd like to look like this. No, actually, I don't care about being a man, I'd like to look like this guy no matter what. How great are these glasses?? Exactly the kind of glasses I'd like to wear. And exactly the kind of coat I need in my life.
In other news, I've been ill again - I dragged myself to a meeting with a professor today who told me that I looked "more ill than usual". Lots of time to watch silly documentaries, read "I, Claudius" (so gossipy and...Roman!) and make the perfect waffles... and sneezing of course.
Tomorrow I'll spend the night at the museum. Fingers crossed.

2008

Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I don't think I made any resolutions - if I did, it was probably to do well at university which I achieved and plan to do again in 2009.

What countries did you visit?

The Netherlands

Salzkammergut/Austria

Norway

Scotland

What was your biggest achievement(s) of the year?

Learning new things & figuring out what I want. And finally having the courage to cut my hair short! Best decision ever:

Ahahaha my brother took this picture yesterday night, we had both come home late and did crazy things with our hair.

What was your biggest failure(s)?

Being a total loser when it came to being a good friend!


Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

The people who run "Österreich" (the newspaper, not the country) and the guy who thought I was telling a friend of ours mean stories about him. As if!

Where did most of your money go?

Honestly?

I was a total girl this year: Travelling, make-up, clothes. I got my books for free because my mum got them...

Compared to this time last year,

I'm skinnier, but other than that I'm alright. I also know more about South Eastern Europe, yay!


What do you wish you'd done less of?

Worrying. Also, work and uni because it got to a point when I didn't have any social life at all. And in general, too much theory & talking, not enough action!


How will you be spending Christmas?

We did the patchwork family thing: Lunch at my dad's place first:

One of the great things this year was how my family just stuck together and everything finally worked out fine. That was the most important thing for me. You can see my big cheesy smile!
After lunch my brothers and I headed back home where we had tea, sang carrols and looked at the beautiful Christmas tree. Then there were presents, dinner and everyone was happy. I love Christmas more than anything.


What was your greatest musical discovery?

Orange Juice! Was that this year? Anyway, lots and lots of brilliant indiepop from the 80s, I didn't listen to much else - Josef K, Aztec Camera, The Field Mice, The Shop Assistants, The Orchids, The Wedding Present, The Pastels etc.

What book(s) did you like most?

"Like" by Ali Smith. It made me happy in a way that no other book managed. I also really liked the books I read by Gore Vidal and "The Good Soldier" by Ford Maddox Ford. "Women in Love" by D.H. Lawrence was the most impressive book I read. "Other Voices, Other Rooms" by Truman Capote was the stupidest thing I read and I wanted to tear it apart ALL THE TIME because I hated it so much. Urgh. This year I've read far more scholarly books than novels though, some of which were truly impressive and entertaining at once.

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I think I was on my own all day? I unpacked my presents in the morning, then spent all day at university. It was a lovely spring day and I wandered around on my own and took pictures, waiting for the next seminar to start. My best friend forgot it was my birthday. I was 21.


How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?



2008 was the year I gradually stopped wearing trousers except funny ones. Library chic. Dresses & skirts I could cycle in. Faux-French. Colour coordinated. Bright tights (again). Lipstick. What would fit in a Belle & Sebastian video?
I didn't have a concept, but other people seemed to think so: When I worked at the football exhibition, my boss looked at me one day and said, "Theo...I really must say...you always look like something else!"
If I can have a concept for next year, I'd like to look like myself. That's it.


Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

I have no clue, I really don't think about that. I fancy Boris Jirka who is a sports journalist on Austrian TV, but 90% of that is just about saying "Ooooh Boris Jirka!" because it makes everyone else roll their eyes. I took a picture of him on tv once when he was wearing a slouchy weird polo shirt:


I think I might fancy Alex Kapranos if he wasn't about 17 years older than I.

What political issue stirred you the most?


Macedonia, obviously! What else?? Yeah, so I was obsessed with American politics, but I'm just interested in political strategy - Obama didn't "stir" me.


Who do you miss?

My best friend who moved to Scotland.


Who was the best new person you met?

A professor of mine. Makes me think twice about things. Brilliant.


Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008:

Don't give up!
And: Being on one's own can be fun!