PARIS #1

Greetings from Paris! It is easy to tell that this is one of the most important fashion capitals in the world – roughly generalized people seem to pay more attention to their looks here than anywhere else. Like I thought, the overall look is much more neat and groomed than for example in Berlin.

WHAT I'VE NOTICED SO FAR (outside the tourist attractions):

☆women wear more heels

☆women aren't shy using bright lipsticks

☆men wear better-cut suits

☆people wear more monochromatic outfits

☆people use cooler accessories

BUT: I was panicking too much about my look. Unlike I assumed before, not everyone are pure fashionistas. When you come to Paris, just chill out, pick your favorite gear, add some lipstick and you're good to go. 

Today I'm going to see some designer boutiques, such as Givenchy, Chanel and Saint Laurent. I am absolutely thrilled! WOO-HOO, let's go to see some fashion I cannot afford!

That's me. Duckfacing, wine-drinking and wearing some dope $$$ ring.

GRUNGIO

Breaking news: I like grunge. When trying to browse some inspiring pictures, the problem is that people go a bit overboard with their looks, lacking some modern touch. I'd like to see more simplified looks with new and interesting cuts still including the best parts of that now-so-chic genre. 

Exactly what I wanted to find from the infinite internet was FIG&VIPER. FIG&VIPER is a brand by a Japanese DJ/producer/model/designer/younameit Alisa Ueno, whose garment has some "New York streetwear mentality focusing on a skater chic". A while later I found myself still on their site, admiring their SS13 collection 'street grunge'. 

 I think I want to buy every single garment pictured from the collection photos. Their styling is great; it doesn't exaggerate, and the overall look is neat but still including all the trendy elements from the glorious grunge period.

My favorite part: no plaid shirts! I cannot stand plaid shirts.

VIG&VIPER SS13, ENJOY:

ALL THE PHOTO CREDITS: ☯ AND ☯

PARIS-KIND-OF-A-PANIC

 I'm going to Paris for the first time EVER on Thursday. I'm super excited but I'm also panicking a bit. I've been checking out several lookbooks and street style blogs from the location, and wow! Everyone seems to got a super-personal but very effortless-looking style. 

Now I'm just thinking what I should wear. Warning, warning: An outfit crisis! To be honest, I don't have too many options – I had to pack the majority of my near and dear wardrobe to cardboard boxes and kiss them goodbye when I moved here to the Netherlands. 

I tried to find some inspiration out of these pics snapped from the streets of Paris:

I think I can do this. Maybe I'm just counting on my basic simple clothes spiced up with some jewelry. My dressing-up-mentality is "less is more", especially if you're not 100% sure what to wear. So let's go with less is more + a necklace + heels. 

Only a couple more days to go, can't wait!

xxx

I got carried away with Photobooth. I'm sorry.

PHOTO CREDS IN THE ORDER OF APPEARANCE: ☺☺☺☺☺

THE PERFECT COAT

Madam coat by MTWTFSS Weekday.

LOOK AT THAT!!

I think that's the most beautiful coat I've seen for a long time. It's by a Swedish fashion brand Weekday, which is by the way a "sister" of H&M's. Weekday has collaborated with several young but talented designers, and it resells clothes from other brands, such as Cheap Monday. They've also got two brands of their own; store made and MTWTFSS.

Compared to H&M, the price range of Weekday's is a bit higher but still affordable -- for example this coat is yours for 160€. And for those a few tens of extra euros you'll get better quality clothes with more coherent, solid and minimalistic design (well, this depends of course on the collections of each brand, I'm talking here about MTWTFSS).

I need to get this baby to my closet sometime very soon. Unfortunately my bank account disagrees with my desires.

PHOTO: J

BLACK / NOIR / MUSTA / SVART

My life wouldn't be complete if I didn't own black clothes. There's some magic in them, you just cannot go wrong wearing them. I adore all-black outfits, and if you keep your look nice, plain and simple, well, it's just a feast for the eyes. Every once in a while, dressed in all black, I think it could be quite risky to go to a bank. You know, wearing my suspiciously colored gear I might look like a (stylish) bank robber or burglar. 

You can make your monochromatic outfit look iconic and enviable with a few simple tricks. The first is to play with different textures;  diversity makes the outfit visually more interesting and even _black_ contains different shades in it. You can mix up for example some shiny velvet with matte finish silk or cotton, and perfect the look with leather shoes, a backpack and a pair of sunnies.

Petrol boots by Dr. Martens. Velvet leggings by Monki.

You can polish your look with only one special fabric. Those velvet leggings combined with a plain cotton t-shirt would look amazing when the sun makes them shine like marvelous velvet diamonds (not to mention those Dr. Martens)! Ooh la la. Immediately more twist to a simple look.

What else you can do with your outfit noir is to try out different cuts. I personally like the simple and minimalistic cuts the most, and such clothes make an interesting yet up-to-date and polished look.

The blend of minimalistic and a little bit of something more experimental adds new tones as well, but remember: you need one show-stopper in your look (at least in my minimalistic opinion). I'll write more about it later.

Here are some of my fave looks I found today.

ACNE PRE-FALL13. Simple cuts, different textures but fanciful accessories. 

MTWTFSS WEEKDAY SS13

& OTHER STORIES. There's maybe too much of a jewelry but the cut of the coat is amazing.

HELMUT LANG PRE-FALL13

PHOTO CREDS IN THE ORDER OF APPEARANCE: ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ 

HI

I'm both a journalist and a student from Finland. At the moment I'm studying European journalism and European culture in Utrecht, the Netherlands. I really enjoy living abroad, but I need to get back to Helsinki soon to finish my journalism studies (it should be over in ONE MORE year).

And why am I writing this blog?

You have heard this before -- I love fashion and clothes.

I'd make a good fashion journalist. Unfortunately I haven't written a word about it -- yet! Back home in Helsinki I used to work with both food and travel journalism, but I need to start talking about fashion. Let's start later.

Photo by Pasi Tiitola.

+ BON CHIC BON GENRE is a French term meaning a good taste of style what it comes to clothing or a fashion victim. The alternative meaning is used among French gay men, and it refers to 'a nice mouth and a nice ass'. The choice is yours.