No Pasaran!

I know I'm not posting texts and pictures too often here - to be honest, I guess I lost my heart to this blog somehow. I really like arranging my outfits around a painting and adding a place to it but I don't really enjoy having my pictures taken and it takes so long to create a new post... I'm thinking about closing this blog or it will be as it is: rare updates. I don't want to follow an easy path and just show nicely arranged contents of my wardrobe - that wouldn't be fun for me. Well, I'll think about it.

The outfit I have here is a mixture of all old things. The jacket was bought in Zara (one of very few Zara clothes that I possess) when big, golden buttons were the newest craze (about 3 years ago). The trousers are one of my summer staples - I have the same pair in black and dark blue. Linen is great for hot weather but unfortunately it creases too easily. Shoes are from India - great for that country but not so great in London, where pavements are made for the blind and through thin soles my aching feet can feel the pavement every time I approach a street crossing.

The picture on the left shows a part of a huge painting entitled "Fusilamiento de Torrijos y sus compañeros en las playas de Málaga" by Antonio Gisbert that I saw in the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid and the picture on the right shows one of the beautiful balconies in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin.

Jacket - Zara

Top - Zara

Trousers - GAP

Shoes - bought in India

Handbag - Kookai

Bangles - Miss Selfridge

A rose is a rose is a rose

I've been thinking about an outfit to match this Mehoffer's painting for quite a long time and having seen Polish flowery folk shawls on a number of Polish fashion blogs finally gave me an idea. I remembered that my mum used to have a similar shawl to the ones I've seen on the blogs, probably from Zakopane, bought in 'Cepelia' or some similar place (she doesn't even remember where she got it from) and I nagged her to find it for me. So she did and that's how I became a proud owner of this beautiful piece. This weekend was the first time I wore it with this dark violet dress and patent red leather peep-toes. Later that day I went for a dinner to an Indian restaurant and the shawl looked beautiful with dark navy jeans and a simple tight black jumper. I love the variety of colour on it - it looks good with a dark green dress, with black trousers and an orange or red cardigan, with a completely black outfit or with this dark violet dress. I used two leather brooches in the shape of flowers that I bought from an independent jewellery designer on Spitalfields Market to keep the shawl nicely in place. Finally - spring in full bloom and my garden full of roses made it possible to take a picture exactly how I wanted it to be.

The painting on the left is "Dziwny ogród" ("A Strange Garden") by Józef Mehoffer and the picture on the right shows one of the beautiful roses from my garden.

Dress - French Connection

Shawl - a gift from my mum

Peep-toes - Carvela

Brooches - Spitalfields Market

Alice in Wonderland

It's not a real inspiration by the heroin of Lewis Carroll's books, but this red colour looks as if it came from them, not to mention the fabulous shop at the right of the triptych.

This is one of my most comfortable outfits, the one I wear on a rainy Saturday when it's not very warm and I need to walk for a lunch in a nice restaurant, then a bookshop, then a museum... Hence no high heels but comfortable plimsoles, of which the only vice is that they get dirty pretty soon. White plimsoles are really versatile, you can wear them to a summery flowery frock, to practically any type and colour of trousers, to a long dress etc. The number of combinations is endless.
A bag has to be big to fit in all possible purchases and it has also be light so that my arms don't get too tired. Longchamp is a brand, which I wasn't a fan of for a long time as everyone seems to have at least one bag made by them. I got this one from my boyfriend's mum and now I love it (I even got a second one, a smaller one in khaki). They are the most comfortable bags you can imagine and also a very good quality (I only wish they had some compartments inside because looking for door keys in an inevitable mess can take some time).

The painting on the left is by one of my favourite artists, Egon Schiele ("Selbstbildnis mit Judenkirschen") and the picture on the right presents Alice's shop, one of charming little shops with antiques on the Portobello Market.

Shirt - Benetton

Cardigan - Zara

Jeans - Lee

Plimsoles - Topshop

Bag - Longchamp

Earrings - a gift from my mum, she used to wear them when she was in her 20s

American Fictionary

As I'm going to the US this summer the inspiration for this outfit has been the American pop art. I don't like really obvious borrowings, so I'm playing with blue and yellow a bit (not even red as the American flag would suggest). Actually some could say I'm playing more with the Swedish IKEA logo and they would be right too (although none of my clothes in here were manufactured in Sweden) :)

Pop art is a great art movement, especially as an introduction to art for children as it's playful, colourful and can be admired without prior knowledge of art of any kind. It can remind children of comic books and cartoons, can be transported into children's creative subconscience by means of colouring books and thus provide education and fun.

Ok, let's move to clothes :) I bought the top I'm having here last summer in Topshop because I fell in love with the tiny pleats. It was a second piece of clothing in yellow in my wardrobe and to be honest, I just began to like this colour on myself. I also have the same top in grey, which looks great mixed with green and orange. The trousers are also from Topshop (I guess it's my favourite high street shop, there are way too many treasures in so many different styles on the flagship store's four floors), they are three years old and I can't be bored with them. These shoes are quite a new purchase (from my last trip there about a month ago) from Absolute Vintage, I wore them just once and have to get used to them, to adjust them to my feet.

The painting on the left is "M-Maybe" by Roy Lichtenstein and the picture on the right was taken by myself close to Kings Cross Station in London - I like the shop's sigh and a picture of Mao Ze Dong painted on the wall above it.


Top - Topshop
Trousers - Topshop
Shoes - Absolute Vintage
Belt - Ebay
Beads - Primark
Sunglasses - My boyfriend's Ray Ban Wayfarers
Bangles - a gift from my sister

Out of Africa

Inspired by the film "Moolaadé" by the Senegalese director Ousmane Sembene I suddenly craved clothes in African prints. Safari style is too obvious and it shows rather a white man's yearning for Africa - the romantic, melancholic longing for the colonial times. That was not what I wanted. In London everyday I see women dressed in real African fabrics that can be bought by metre (a fabric, not a woman). The fabrics are later given to tailors or sewn by these women themselves to create a fantastic frock or a top. As I lack sewing skills and don't know any good tailors and also don't have any friends who could bring me original beautiful pieces straight from their homeland, I decided to visit some markets and look for ready to wear African clothes.

I went to the Petticoat Lane Market, where African clothes and fabrics are sold but as I loved the textiles I found clothes way too loose and baggy for my silhouette. I finally found this lovely dress at Spitalfields Market, at a stall run by an Afro-English lady, who just buys fabrics and sews dresses to her own designs. This dress is a 'pregnancy' type of dress, or rather - as my boyfriend calls it - 'when-is-it-due-dress'. I don't care that I look pregnant in it, it's just so comfortable and pretty that I'll probably spend the whole summer in it. The violet crochet jacket is a bit Indian in style and everyone usually assumes I've bought it in India (actually it's from Zara). Ecclectism appeals to me so I was happy to mix and match clothes from different continents for this outfit.

This time there is no work of art as such and no particular place to show you here. There is, however, a book, which I got from my boyfriend for my birthday a few months ago but which I still haven't finished reading. It's by Uwe Ommer, a German photographer, who embarked on a great journey around the world to take pictures of 1000 families for his project. It took him and his assistents 1424 days to travel to most countries of the world and two books were created as a result - one showing photographs of 1000 families and another one, the one I have, describing and illustrating this enourmous undertaking. The book itself is such a wonderful source of inspiration that I'm sure it will serve me for years.

Dress - Spitalfields Market

Jacket - Zara

Wedges - New Look

Bag - a museum shop in Martin Gropius Bau in Berlin

Beads - Primark

Sunglasses - Miss Selfridge

Book - "Transit. Around the world in 1424 days" by Uwe Ommer; Taschen 2006

The Grey Anatomy

I guess you probably noticed that the common denominator on this triptych is the floor. Living in the UK I began paying attention to doors in various colours and often beautifully tiled floor. I especially like black and white tiles like you see here - they remind me of grand, cool, sophisticated palaces. As I'm not a great fan of clean black and white clothes' combinations I chose grey and black for my outfit and a green piece of jewellery. The necklace is from my grandmother. I don't remember her ever wearing it but after her death I rummaged through her jewellery box and discovered it - it is now one of my favourite pieces. The jacket is from Spitalfields Market, from one of many independent designers selling their clothes there. I love the round collar and huge craven-black buttons. I've been looking for proper Mary Janes for quite a while and I discovered these ones on Ebay just by an accident. They're from the 80s but unworn. The brand is Salamander, a good old German brand, also quite well known in Poland.

The painting on the left is "The Concert" by Jan Vermeer and the photograph on the right is "Galerie de Pierre, Chateau de Versailles" by Robert Polidori.

Jacket - Spitalfields Market

Skirt - GAP

Blouse - GAP

Shoes - Ebay (Salamander)

Tights - H&M

Belt - from my childhood

Necklace - inherited from my grandma

Absolute Vintage

This time I will not post any triptychs or a picture of myself but I'll write about my favourite vintage shoes shops in London. Their names are Absolute Vintage and Blondie and they belong to the same owner. When I moved to London over a year ago and went first to the coolest ever Spitalfields Market (in terms of fashion I so much prefer it to the Portobello Market) I was really shocked with the amount of stalls selling clothes, shoes, food, art, accessories etc. This picture shows just a section of the market, there are also several alleys, in which more stalls are located. I wandered around with my boyfriend feeling really overwhelmed. We went to see the neighbouring market on Brick Lane, which is the most craziest thing you can ever imagine, with people of all ethnic groups and nationalities, buying and selling stuff, eating food from stalls with every possible cuisine of the world. There are so many vintage stores in the area that you can't count them all. We found Absolute Vintage by accident, having not read about it beforhand. Apparently they have the largest selection of vintage shoes in the UK, literally hundreds of shoes grouped by colour on most racks and on some by size (sizes 7-8 have a few separate racks). Moreover, they have a few hundreds of bags, numerous shelves of sunglasses and gloves, long rows of racks with clothes and hundreds of belts. They have also an admirable selection of clothes, shoes and accessories for men. I try not to go there too often as I always end up being upset by my indecision - it's just impossible for me to find one bag that I'd love so I don't buy anything. Today I wanted to find a nice navy blue small handbag and I've seen at least a dozen of those. Obviously I left empty-handed. Oh sorry, not so empty-handed, I bought a beautiful pair of shoes.

It's not allowed to take pictures in the shop but I managed to take three (one of them from outside the shop, which is allowed).
Another shop, Blondie, is smaller and really beautiful, with a smaller selection of clothes, footwear and accessories but it's still an admiringly great selection. I had my eye on wonderful brown and cream shoes from the 40s, they were however too large. If you dream of a particular colour, type of a heel or shoes from a specific time in the 20th century (be it the 40s or the 80s) you can be sure to find them in one of these shops. A visit to them is a must for every woman interested in fashion with a soul :)

Here is also another picture of the shop from my favourite weekly Time Out

Absolute Vintage website

To get a real sense of what these shops are about I recommend these virtual tour around the shops:

Absolute Vintage

Blondie

Addresses:

Absolute Vintage

15 Hanbury Street

Spitalfields

London E1 6QR

Blondie

Unit 2

114-118 Commercial Street

London E1 6NF

PS. No one has paid me to write this vignette, I did it purely to share my enthusiasm with you.

Welcome to the Wolery! / Witam w Sowjufce! *

An owl is an interesting motif, quite often used in heraldry, old sagas and countless ex librises. It has always been preceived as a symbol of wisdom as well as of healing forces. The North American Indians used to believe that an owl helps in moving of a soul between worlds. Putting a picture with a symbol of an owl was also believed to ward fires and lightnings off. In ancient Greece an owl accompanied Athene, a godess of wisdom. Then it became a symbol of scholars, often shown with glasses, a university diploma and a university cap.

I've liked owls for some time now as they are such nice animals and not really admired by the fashion industry - apart from the fascination by 'owl' pendants that we could observe about a year ago on the necks of Mischa Barton and other celebrities alike. The most famous owl is probably the Owl from A.A. Milne's "Winnie-the-Pooh" - in fact I cannot recall any other owl character from a book or a cartoon. I've always liked what the Rabbit said once to the Owl: 'You and I have brains. The others have fluff' , though the Owl wasn't the wisest animal in the Hundred Acre Wood at all.

I found this T-shirt in Topshop and really like the colours and the fact that the owl takes the whole front :) There can be many ways of wearing it, with trousers and skirts and I prefer mixing it with clothes in monochromatic colours. It's not warm enough in London now to wear shoes like that but they look well with this top and I'll wear them a lot in summer.

The picture is by Jan Bauman, a Dutch illustrator. The owl on the right is part of one of the buildings in Barcelona - imagine how happy I was to find a treasure like that to add to my triptych!



T-shirt - Topshop
Cardigan - Zara
Trousers - H&M
Shoes - New Look
Belt - a long string of leather that I got from my mum
Bag - belonged to my grandma
Bracelet - made from amber, bought in Poland

* The name of the Owl's house in Milne's "The House at Pooh Corner"

Everyone expects the Spanish Inquisition!

I presume most of the people reading my blog expect now pictures influenced by my recent trip to Spain. I came back full of inspirations, indeed. I like to think that the overall atmosphere of Barcelona and Madrid had an influence on me but I guess the reality is a tad different. A general atmosphere is created by places, people, light, sun, colours, works of art, food, smells, sounds etc. and I can say what had a particularly strong impact on me. And a sound can influence me as much as a visual stimulant. Barcelona has Gaudi, as everyone knows, who together with other architects like Domenech i Montenera was able to create a bit of a fairy tale from an ordinary city. Just looking at their outbursts of creativity had an energising effect on me. Madrid, on the other hand, with its opulent belle epoque buildings that looked like a tart with sugary icing made me want to add a bit of glamour to my life. Museums gave me inspirations as for pictures that I present here and numerous plazas, little shops, bars and monuments are a nice supplement to outfits. I was enchanted by painstakingly beautiful brick houses with little iron balconies, even the most ordinary houses look charming. I often wish I had wings and was able to fly high to see what interiors of such houses look like (even in my neighbourhood in London I can't refrain myself from giving a quick glance through the windows of houses I'm passing by, especially when I see nice mantelpieces, books, colourful walls and nice, cosy light).

From the point of view of pure fashion I was disappointed with Spain. There are quite a few little boutiques selling unique one-off pieces but prices were unfortunately quite high and the choice was limited. I didn't have time to fully explore the fashion side of the cities (it's really bad that all shops close for three hours during the day for siesta - as if air conditiong didn't exist! And what's the point of closing shops in winter when it isn't even hot?) but I didn't see this creativity that I see in London every day, wherever I go. I was shocked that everyone looks more or less the same - jeans and trainers are staples for young women while here you can see skirts and high heels much more often. People also dress much more colourfully in London and play with fashion much more while I had the impression that they dress more safely (safe colours, safe designs, safe flattering clothes). I desperately wanted to buy a nice pair of shoes since I heard that Spain is a shoe heaven. Not so much in comparison to London. I didn't find anything in Spain that I would like and that I couldn't buy in the UK for a fraction of the price. And here I have at least five times more shops to choose from, not mentioning all these fabulous vintage shops scattered around whole London. Now I really appreciate the city I live in :)

The dress I'm having here is a gift from my boyfriend who fell in love first with this art nouveau inspired pattern. It's a kind of a wrap dress but not so obvious as Diane von Furtstenberg's pieces. I like the small flounce on the side, it makes the whole dress a bit girly and not so seriously womanly. The dress can reveal the decoltage or be buttoned at the collar as on the small photograph giving, however, a glimpse of skin in between the buttons. The designer sells her dresses in London's Spitalfields Market as well as in India, in Goa. We first met her friend selling dresses on the Anjuna Market in Goa and I was thinking about buying one of her polka dotted dress. But being spoilt by Indian prices I didn't want to pay almost £15 for it. In London we discovered the same dresses in Spitalfields plus this one gorgeous work of art and my boyfriend immediately wanted me to have it. Lucky me :)

The painting on the left is by a Spanish realist, Amalia Avia, and is entitled "Benito Garcia Fontanero". The picture on the right shows one of countless sweet shops in Madrid.

Dress: Spitalfields Market

Shoes: Ebay

Tights: Marks & Spencer

Think Pink!

It's not just a typical photo session. Following the idea of Pyza, we - seven Polish fashion bloggers - decided to support BREAST CANCER AWARENESS and remind our readers how important it is to take care of our health. We took pictures of ourselves in pink outfits and thanks to Pyza, who created the collage, we put it on our blogs.

Below is some information on breast cancer prevention, the illness itself, its symptoms and treatment. Please, do not forget how important it is to self-exam your breasts and consult a doctor if you think something doesn't feel right.

http://www.breastcancer.org/

How to perform a breast self-exam?

All about breast cancer care

Click to give FREE mammographs

Zagrożenia i symptomy raka piersi

Jak badać piersi?

Jak często się badać?

From top left: (first row) Sztywniara, me, Anio, (second row) Pangenialna, (third row) Kajakowo, Pyza, Harel

Aubergines & Red Cabbage with Sliced Cucumber and Tomatoes

Finally I see spring has come and I hope it will stay at least for a while (ie until summer comes). I've been thinking of adding colour to my life recently, in many different terms. I'm listening to summery music of Jehro and Ethiopiques, wear bright shawls and am in the mood for reading South American and Indian authors. I'm heading to Barcelona and Madrid for a week tomorrow and I hope I'll come back energised and full of new ideas and inspirations. I'm looking forward to exploring Spanish boutiques and markets and of course wonderful museums and galleries that inspire me most. Goodbye, gloomy England! Welcome, sunny Spain!

The dress I'm wearing on the picture was bought during this year's winter sales. It has short sleeves and black beads sewn into the fabric which makes all necklaces unnecessary. The shawl was once again bought by my boyfriend in Israel, he is really my invaluable shawl supplier, lucky me :) I bought the earrings at Portobello Market. I just fell in love with the art deco design and they are genuinely old and good quality, pure silver with some precious red stones.

The painting on the left is "L'Arlésienne (Madame Joseph-Michel Ginoux)" by Vincent van Gogh and the picture on the right presents vegetable sellers in an Indian town of Panjim that we visited during our 2-month trip last year. The architecture of the town was strongly influenced by Portugese colonisers from the 15th century onwards and it resembles a bit some Caribbean cities, which makes it distinct from other Indian places.

Dress - French Connection

Cardigan - Reserved

Shawl - my boyfriend's gift from Israel

Tights - Topshop

Brogues - Office

Earrings - Portobello Market

Girl in Hyacinth Blue

It's still quite cold outside and my pictures are being taken indoors - I hope it will change pretty soon. I'm really looking forward to wear light jackets like this one, which was made for me by my mum. She has real talent and I have a few clothes sewn by her, though unfortunately she lacks patience so I don't "use" her too often. I wish I could sew but I don't even own a sewing machine. And to be honest, I don't think I would want to spend my time looking for nice fabrics, buttons, lace etc. I guess I prefer buying ready made clothes although they are not so unique. The fabric of this jacket is really old and the colour is very 'in' right now. It's not one of my favourite hues of blue but it looks fresh and the pattern is very beautiful.

The painting, entitled "Wojna i my" ("War and us") is by Edward Okuń, a Polish art nouveau artist. The picture on the right presents a façade of one of the buildings in Riga.

Jacket - sewn by my mum

Top - Gap

Trousers - Miss Selfridge

Shoes - vintage Salvatore Ferragamo

Pendant - Primark

Fade to grey...

This is recently one of my favourite outfits. Simple, comfortable and versatile. I can wear it to work, to a restaurant, a cinema or for a walk. It is now spring in London so I just change boots for ballerina flats as these boots are really warm - too warm for me if a temperature outdoors is far above 0 degrees. I bought two pieces of today's outfit in Primark, a chain of extremely cheap shops I honestly despise as I imagine how little the workers sewing these clothes must earn. Yet I tend to go there about twice a year and buy flats for £4, knowing they will be completely worn out after a few months. They are poor quality but very comfortable and were a staple of my footwear in India, where I needed shoes that can be worn for a whole day and which I won't regret to throw away later. As for clothes, this top is my first thing bought in Primark. It looks a bit like Chloe's designs, only the fabric is simple cotton and not sophisticated silk. I would really like to refrain from buying clothes in such cheap shops as I find it unethical, however sometimes I like a piece too much to dwell upon the conditions, in which it was made.

I bought this bag a few years ago when I lived in Berlin. I fell in love with it from the first sight and just had to have it. Some elements of it (the lady's hair, lips and scarf) are made from sequins, so the bag is quite flashy and a real eye catcher. It can be worn like I have it on the picture or the straps can be removed and it becomes literally a handbag.

The picture on the left is by Antonio Briceno, a Venezuelan photographer, whose works I saw this summer on the Venice Biennale. The picture on the right has once again been taken on the flea market in Camden Passage in my neighbourhood.

Top - Primark

Jeans - Lee

Boots - Primark

Bag - bought in Berlin

Earrings - Accessorize

Too much of a good thing

Have you ever suffered from the overload of inspirations? It happens often in my case and though I have many ideas I end up being dressed in quite simple navy blue or black tones. I sometimes think I should live in a totally white interior with no bright interference - but it would be boring for a long time. I'm influenced by the clashes of colours of the book covers that stand on a shelf next to each other, by every postcard I have in my view, by flowers in a vase... I really love just to sit on my couch and watch all the different hues and textures I have in front of my eyes, but sometimes it just gives me a headache. On the other hand, I get a headache when I have to spend lots of time in a room, in which colours are ugly and don't match. My workplace is so badly designed it seriously hurts me when I look around, thus I have my eyes constantly glued to my computer screen.

The clothes I'm wearing here are supposed to make me a bit more feminine (do they?). Such a tight outfit is not always particularly comfortable to wear for a whole day, but one can't always wear jeans and a T-shirt. The shoes have quite high heels but they are chunky so the body weight is not being put only on the front of my feet and so I don't get blisters. I bought this shirt two years ago on a sale in Whistles, one of my favourite chain of shops. Whistes normally have quite expensive pieces but they organise great sales and then clothes cost just a fraction of their original price.

The painting is Johaness Vermeer's "Woman in blue reading a letter" and the third picture presents the entrance to the cathedral Notre Dame du Sablon in Brussels.

Top - Whistles

Pencil skirt - Benetton

Tights - Marks & Spencer

Shoes - Faith

Beads - H&M

Belt - vintage

Latina Americana

After a bit chilly, Scandinavian mood I wanted to move into much warmer, brighter direction - thus this outfit. It brings South America to my mind, the continent, which I've unfortunately never been to. As I am a keen reader of South American authors and an enthusiastic admirer of Frida Kahlo and Diego Riviera I'm never empty of ideas regarding the richness of colourful combinations . These painters provide constant inspiration and I guess art is what inspires my style most. I'd love to travel to Mexico, Cuba, Argentina and Peru to see the world that I don't really know - the world of clashes of bright colours, of strong smells, of wind that would be full of emotions and people who would open my eyes to a new art of living.

The scarf I'm wearing is actually a pareo that I bought 13 years ago in Kenya (in this season African prints are very 'in' but I've been wearing it on and off for years and I'm still not bored). The shoes are vintage and low heels make them really comfortable.

The painting is entitled "Desnudo con Alcatraces" and is by Diego Riviera. The place is - not London this time - a photography of one of the interiors made by Robert Polidori, a great Canadian photographer, whose exhibition I went to about two years ago in Berlin.

denim trousers - Lee
cardigan - Zara
T-shirt - Topshop
shoes - vintage
scarf - bought on a beach in Kenya
beads - Primark

Nordic climates

Inspired by Scandinavian authors, whose books I've read just recently I thought about posting a rather cold set of clothes. It's definitely not pure Swedish or Norwegian style but I tend to associate these colours with Scandinavia (a splash of red wouldn't harm - like red barns in Norwegia in the midst of a meadow or red summer houses near the fjords). I'm sure that the interior of the Nordic Bakery in the centre of London, where one can eat traditional fish canapes on crispy bread and absolutely amazing cinnamon buns (I'm almost addicted to them) influenced my recent associations with Scandinavia. Plus this Caspar David Friedrich's painting "The moonrise" reflects very well, in my opinion, the mood prevalent in those fascinating northern countries.

But let's talk about clothes. My trench is my staple autumn/winter/spring piece of an overcoat since last year. It's very soft and classic, yet in a not so classic navy blue colour. I like mixing it with a belt that is not from the set, not made in the same fabric as the trench. The green shoes are inspired by the famous Sztywniara's brown Benettons and are really comfortable (something I would never believe is possible with high heels). The shawl is again a gift from my boyfriend, who likes bringing me shawls and jewellery from his summer escapades with a group of male friends. As for the gloves... I have a problem with gloves in general. I was keen on this type that in Polish is called "całuski" (I don't know the proper English name for them - it means they don't cover a hand completely so that men can kiss the bare hand without asking a lady to take her glove off) and which I associate with driving in a cabriolet on a spring afternoon. As I have very small hands all ready to wear gloves from high street shops are not an option for me. Sadly, as there are many great gloves to be found there. I once went to a glovemaker in Warsaw in Ulica Chmielna, who measured my hands and told me that he could make gloves in my size - I should check if he has them in 6-8 months (!). The gloves I have on the pictures were bought in Berlin, in the department store called KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westens - The Department Store of the West). They cost quite a lot, about €80 (I find it much for just a pair of gloves), but the size is perfect and I loved them from the first sight so I had to buy them (fortunately I did as now I wear them all the time).



Trench - Benetton
Shawl - gift that my boyfriend bought for me in Israel
Trousers - Miss Selfridge
Belt - Ebay, but the tag said it's H&M
High heeled brogues - Office
Gloves - KaDeWe

My birthday dress

Yesterday was my birthday and it was a good occasion to dress up for a dinner with my boyfriend in our favourite Thai restaurant. I bought this dress at French Connection a few days ago (one of my very few items bought on the sales this season), completely by chance - I actually went out during my lunch break to buy myself a salad and came back to work with two dresses (the other one will be here soon). But it was a bargain, discounted from £85 to a mere £20, so who wouldn't be tempted? It's a bit too short for me and I don't feel very confident in it as I don't really like showing off my legs, which I'm definitely not proud of. However, nice silk, beautiful colours and the pattern made me fall in love with this dress.

The pumps are vintage Salvatore Ferragamo, which I bought last spring in a vintage section of a cult London store Topshop. Leather is in three hues of dark blue and the shoes are very comfortable. The lady who owned them before me hasn’t worn them much as they were in a mint condition (not so much anymore). As far as I have problems with buying vintage clothes (I'm just 1,56cm and size XS-S and there are not many clothes that would fit) vintage shoes are a heaven for me! I have quite narrow feet in comparison with a standard British woman of the 21. century and wear a size 3-3.5 (that's European 36) and I guess a few decades ago women generally had smaller feet since I can easily find shoes that would fit me perfectly. The only problem really is the degree of damage of an item. I know a few stores in London where there are rows and rows of vintage shoes sorted by colours and one can easily spend ages trying everything on. I definitely have to go for shoe shopping soon, just by thinking about it I'm tempting myself :)

The painting is "Portrait of a young man" by Andrea del Sarto and the place is the Hotel Russell at Russell Square in Bloomsbury, surely one of the most beautiful and atmospheric hotel I've ever seen.

Dress - French Connection

Tights - Marks & Spencer

Shoes - vintage Salvatore Ferragamo

Spring is coming

So this is my first post. Inspired by many bloggers and the contents of their fabulous wardrobes I decided to show some of my clothes and accessories that I really like and that constitute my style. At the same time I want to present one painting, which enchants me, at a time and a sample of my city - London.
This time the painting is "The Dancer" by Gustav Klimt and a place is one of the stalls of Camden Passage, a great antiques market in my neighbourhood, where you can find vintage clothes, toys, furniture, books, accessories etc.

Jacket - Topshop
Skirt - Gap
Ballerinas - Zara
Shawl - a gift from my boyfriend, bought in Israel
Tights - H&M
Bag - Portobello Market