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