Outfitpost | HAPPY NEW YEAR!

In about 2 hours it's official.. Goodbye 2014 and hello 2015! It's weird how fast a year can go and but I'm actually happy to close this chapter and head into a new chapter (sounds cheesy, I know).
This year I've learned some new things about myself and how I want to become as a person and I think that a new year is a great start to gain a step closer to my goals.

Anyway, this outfit is not my NYE outfit, but just an outfit I wore two days back. It seems to fit NYE though. For a semi-formal gathering with friends and family. The flowy top is perfect for hiding that belly you just gained from Christmas and the silver boots gives the outfit that bit of spark that fits NYE. 

Thanks for putting up with me this year through this blog. I hope you had as much as fun as writing posts as you reading it.. May next year bring this blog to the next level and more for you to enjoy!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Lots of love,

xJ.

Top | COS
Pants | Pieces
Boots | Primark 

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3 Looks for 3 occasions | Christmas Celebrations

As promised here are my three outfits I wore around the festivities. This time of the year is always the most stressful time for dressing yourself. There's this dinner with those group of friends another with your family and so on. And all of those times you want to dress appropriately and that can take  time and some serious preparations. Here are three looks I used for different occasions. The first is a pre-Christmas gathering with friends at a fancy restaurant. The second look is one I used for the mass at church. And the third look is an outfit I wore to have lunch with some friends. I hope to have inspired you with these looks for the remainder of 2014 festivities!

 Click below to learn more about each look.

What's your favourite look?

Read more »

Holiday Season is Quality Time

A simple piece of gingerbread in the shape of a  Christmas tree and decorated with green and white frosting - Do you remember your very first Christmas? I have almost kept every single artwort i created since i was able to draw - they are a perfect gateway to the past because every piece is somehow a special kind of time machine - just a short glimpse at it is enough to be able to reminisce the moment it has been drawn. Here i found my christmas tree which i have drawn in one of our first art lessons in elementary school. At that time i loved to outline objects in their respective and darker base color shade - and if you take a closer look, you can see that i obviously missed to outline the pink candles - except the one on the right bottom twig... 

Wherever you are:

Happy Holidays everyone!

Ein einfaches Stück Lebkuchen in der Form eines Tannenbaums und verziert mit grünem und weißem Zuckerguss - Erinnert Ihr Euch noch an Euer aller erstes Weihnachten? Ich habe seit ich zeichnen kann fast jede einzelne Zeichnung aufgehoben - all diese Zeichnungen eignen sich perfekt als Pforte in die Vergangenheit, weil jede einzelne Zeichnung selbst wiederum so eine Art Zeitmaschine ist - nur ein Blick genügt und man ist in der Lage sich wieder in die Zeit zurück zu versetzen, in der die Zeichnung entstanden ist. (●^ ᴥ ^●).
Ich habe hier meinen Weihnachtsbaum gefunden, den ich in unserem ersten Kunstunterricht in der Grundschule gemalt habe. Zu dieser Zeit hatte ich eine Vorliebe für das Umranden von Objekten in deren jeweiligen dunkleren Farbabstufung - und wenn Ihr ganz genau hinschaut könnt Ihr sogar sehen, dass ich offensichtlich vergessen habe alle rosa Kerzen zu umranden - außer dieser einen Kerze auf dem rechten unteren Zweig ~(‾▿‾~) ...

Wo auch immer seid:

Ich wünsche Euch schöne Feiertage!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas, my dear dear readers!

xxx

GRWM | Fancy Christmas Dinner

My friends and I always gather around to celebrate christmas each year. And this year we decided to have a fancy dinner (by fancy, I really mean fancy..). We went to an Asian fusion with French cuisine restaurant to have a 5-course meal, which was more 8 courses if you asked me. Even though the check was a stab in my heart it was worth the money to spend the evening with friends. 

I wore this blue laced dress by Forever21, I have been eyeing this dress for a while but was still hesitating because it was originally priced 30euros, which isn't a lot for a dress but I wasn't sure if the dress would suit me. When it went on sale for 17euros, I immediately put in the online shopping bag, I guess when things go on sale, my previous doubts were gone. Fortunately it fits and I received the dress along with some other stuff just in time for dinner. I knew I could rely on the superb fast shipping time provided by Forever21. (I don't get paid for saying that) 

What are you doing around this festive times?

PS. I didn't have time to take pictures while I'm actually wearing the outfit, but I will do a three-festive-outfits-post I wore around the festivities. So stay tuned for more festive outfits.

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HOW TO | Rudolf the rednosed reindeer hairbun

Christmas is about having a jolly good time. And what better way to make people smile and have them feel the christmas spirit? This DIY/hair tutorial will show you how to transform your hair into a christmas reindeer and will make people smile guaranteed!

A friend of mine showed me a picture of this girl with a similar hairstyle and I thought it was such a cute hairstyle for a fun christmasbrunch with some friends and family.

This tutorial will take about 4 minutes to do tops. Click below to see the full tutorial.
Enjoy!

What do you think of this Christmassy hair tutorial? 

Would you dare to wear this?

x J.

Read more »

GIFT GUIDE | Smartphone gadgets

It's that time of the year again.. Christmas songs on the radio, all kinds of decorations around the house and if you live in The Netherlands, you'd see 'oliebollen' stands on every corner of the streets. Oliebol is a Dutch/Belgian pastry, which taste a bit like a doughnut, made around new years eve. It's my guilty pleasure around this time of the year especially the ones filled with raisins.

This time of the year is not all about food, although it plays a huge part, it's also about giving.
Giving each other love and of course presents, lots and lots of present. Presents are definitely not only restricted to kids and youngsters, so here's my little Christmas gift guide for us supposedly 'adults' or try to act like one for that matter. These gifts are specifically for the smartphone.

Smartphone Virtual Reality Viewer by Dodocase

This is probably one of my favorite gift to receive myself (or I could just steal it from my brother), my inner geek for gadgets comes out with this. It's a kit to build a VR viewer out of cardboard after you download the app on your smartphone you can start using it right away. Put your phone in the viewer and enjoy the experience. I've played the one where you sit in a rollercoaster and you actually feel yourself moving with it. This kit costs 20 euros.

Selfie stick or selfie remote

This is probably the most used maybe even gained a 'negative' reputation word of this year (or was it last year?), but it still is very useful for those who like to take pictures while traveling or while they go somewhere. There are lots of selfie sticks around but those ones with bluetooth is definitely the best ones out there. Just sync and pair the stick with your phone and your good to go. I think this definitely would be useful in concerts where you want to film the performer, especially if your as short as me. You can get it almost everywhere online, but if you're in a hurry and in need of one right away, you can buy it at HEMA for 12 euros.

Sometimes you want to take a picture of yourself and your friends at a great distance, that's where the selfie remote comes in handy. You download the remote cam app and the camera responds to the sound the remote makes by pressing the button. The reach is not that big though, probably somewhere between 3 and 5 meters. You can buy this at HEMA as well for 10 euros.

That's my gift guide for this year. I hope to have helped you with finding the right gifts for your loved ones!

What do you think of these presents?

xJ.

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NEW IN | silver boots

Did I really just buy another boots? Yes I did and I'm not proud of it but as I was wandering around in Primark, this was the one item that I knew I had to have. I have always wanted to buy silver boots but didn't really want to spend a lot of money for it, since I don't really need new boots, so this from Primark for 22 euros is quite a steal. I love the zipper and the details of the brushed off colours. The silver zipper you see on the pictures is fake though, there's another 'blind' zipper on the other side. I got these in a size smaller, it falls a bit bigger because of the slight pointy nose.

The challenge now is, how am I goint to style these boots? I already have a couple ideas and I can't wait to show you guys.

What do you think of these boots?

x J.

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OOTD | Going all soft blue

I should probably stop wearing the same old fake leather jacket in this weather or start using a different leather jacket. But this one is just so easy to throw on and I like the length and the amount zilver hardware of it. Anyhow, I couldn't resist buying this soft blue sweater when I saw it on the sales rack at H&M. At first I wasn't really sure about the frizziness but it suits the model of the sweater and for the price of 15 euros I couldn't resist.

I'm heading out to a 'winter food truck festival' in Binckhorst, The Hague. So I hope this outfit can keep me warm. 

*Sorry for the bad quality pictures, I only had a phone to take it from

Soft blue sweater | H&M
Fake black leather | H&M
High waist jeans | H&M
Scarf | Promiss
Zip boots | Zara
Fedora | Forever21

What do you think of this outfit?

x J.

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PERSONAL | Cozy days in

It's getting colder by the minute and this weather is making me want to stay in to drink a cup of tea (or hot chocolate my guilty pleasure), wrapped in a blanket and get lost in another world. I love to read books and if you ask me to choose between shopping or reading a good book, I'd probably end up doing both at the same time (multitasking, yo). I totally see it happening. But since I only have limited space in my room and buying books is a pretty expensive hobby, I have been reading ebooks.

The latest book that got me totally hooked on is called 'A thousand pieces of you" by Claudia Gray. I just have to share this with you guys. It's the first book out of the 'Firebird' trilogy. This book is a good mixture between sci-fi and romance and since it's a young adult book, it's probably a bit immature for someone of my age.. but hey a good book is a good book. And boy.. Look at that cover?! How pretty is that?

Anyhow, this book is about a girl named Marguerite who is the daughter of two physicists, who created the firebird, which is a device that makes travelling between alternate dimensions possible. Read the full synopsis here. At first I was scared that the book was too complicated and too sci-fi'yi but ms. Gray executed this quite well by making the narrator (Marguerite) explain the finer details of the effects of the Firebird and make it actually really believable.We've all had that 'what if'-moment in life where you just wonder how your life would turn out to be. Another version of yourself living a different life because in that dimension you decided to study for that test instead of going to that party, how awesome is that? 

I personally don't really like reading sci-fi books but this was kinda cool. I can recommend this book to readers who loves the Hunger games trilogy and maybe even Twilight trilogy (I didn't like Twilight myself though).

I have to warn you though, the next book is expected in november 2015. So if you're excited about the trilogy like me, you're basically screwed by the longg wait.

What books can you recommend?

x J.

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NEW IN | the long journey in finding the perfect zipper-in-front boots

I've been obsessed by shoes with a zipper in front ever since I saw a pair at a vintage store in Antwerp a year ago. I regretted not buying it so much, that it kinda became a mission in life to find one. I've encountered a few in the last year, but I never felt 'right' with it. I think the first pair that really peaked my interest the same as the ones at that particular vintage store a year ago, are the ones from Monki the summer collection 2014. At that time, I was a bit unsure because of the price ( I was probably broke), so I thought I waited it out till the sale.. And of course it flew off the shelves quite quickly so it didn't even make it to the sales or me able to buy it. And there's a similar one currently available at Forever21, here, which I've bought online and decided to return it because I didn't like the chunkiness of it and the material was not something I was looking for.

This one tho.. I couldn't resist. I didn't even know Zara was selling them (I usually look at their lookbook) until I was visiting the shop in Amsterdam. It was something I knew I had to buy even though it cost more than I was willing to spend but I had the money and the shoes were there.. I couldn't resist. I bought a size smaller than I usually wear and it fits perfectly. 

What do you think of these boots?

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ootd | a day in Amsterdam

Today was supposedly a productive day where I would work on uni stuff, but as usual I grabbed any chance of procrastination, so when my sister asked if I wanted to come with her and my mom to Amsterdam, which is a 40minutes drive, I couldn't say no..

The weather outside was chilly but the sun managed to peek-a-boo every now and then, unfortunately the rain as well. That's when I decided to buy this fedora at Forever21 to keep my hair a bit dry, which was a real steal! Originally priced 13 euros down to 8euros. Don't know how long this discount will last, so grab one while you can! I'm wearing a comfy sweater which I'm obsessed with lately (I have it in another colour as well) and paired it with some tights and a skort, which you probably don't see clearly in the pictures. Fun fact about me, I don't like to bring a small bag with me when I'm shopping in a crowded city like Amsterdam. Call me paranoid but when I walk through a crowded street, I just assume that at least 55% of the people there are pickpockets. Blame the multiple times I got pick pocketed in the past and the feeling of anxiety and the thought of you bursting in tears in the middle of the street are just things you don't forget easily. By wearing small bags, you gain more risks of being pick pocketed. So this big leather/suede red bag is perfect for shopping in Amsterdam. I bought it in a stand at the WinterFair a while ago and can't seem to remember the name of the shop. I will come back to it when I remember. After doing some digging, I found the shop's name. It's from a Dutch online webshop Jumpings. I'm sorry to announce that they don't do international shipping..

Anyhow, we visited several stores and I bought a few things along the way that I can't wait to show you guys (will post about it in tomorrow's post). On top of it all, I get to eat at my favourite Thai, which made it a perfect ending of the day.

What do you think of my outfit?

hat | Forever 21
cowl sweater | Forever 21
jacket | H&M
skort | Primark
ankle boots | H&M
bag | unknown  Jumpings

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Shades of Grey

Grey - the Child of Black

Shades of Grey are very present in the world of trends and fashion nowadays. Forget about the time where bully people made fun of calling simple dressed girls a "plain Jane" (well, it might be still like that today, but you know what i mean). Taking a closer look at the high-fashion scene i really got the impression that Grey slowly but sure outstripping the color Black when it comes to elegance and timelessness. Of course, Black will always be the most appreciated color for elegance and timelessness, but Grey is so to speak the Child of the color Black (Black with a transparency of 50% is simply defined as Grey by the average consumer). 

Grey, the color child in his adolescence - if you say so, the younger me of the color Black and the new timeless trend color of the emerging young generation of fashion-conscious trendsetters.

Grau - das Kind von Schwarz

Grau ist in allen Schattierung eine in der Trend- und Modewelt nicht mehr wegzudenkende Farbe (๑´▿｀๑). Vorbei die Zeit, in der es noch sowas wie das bemitleidenswerte Erscheinungs- und Charakterbild eines grauen Mäuschen gab (gut, das gibt es streng genommen auch heute noch, aber Ihr wisst ja, worauf ich hinaus möchte). Gerade im High-Fashion Bereich habe ich irgendwie das Gefühl das die Farbe Grau, der Farbe Schwarz in puncto Eleganz und Zeitlosigkeit langsam aber sicher den Rang abläuft. Sicher, Schwarz wird auf Ewig die für Eleganz und Zeilosigkeit am Meisten angesehene Farbe bleiben, aber Grau ist quasi das Kind (*＾ワ＾*) der Farbe Schwarz (Schwarz mit 50% Deckkraft ist für das Otto Normal Auge schlicht und einfach Grau).
Grau ist das Farbkind im Wachstum - das junge Ich der Farbe Schwarz, wenn man so will, und die neue zeitlose Trendfarbe der aufstrebenden, jungen Generation von modebewussten Trendsettern (´∪`*).

 

I handcrafted this sketchbook in a bookbinder`s atelier some time ago. I am still crazy in love with my double wing embossing. As far as i can remember i got the choice between a Black and a Grey jacket (funny fashionable relation - because that's how you call the colorful cover that you wrap around your book as protection and design). In this sketchbook i have drawn some typical modelling pose sketches i have discovered in various fashion magazines - very convenient for study purposes. I prefer free hand drawing where i compose all proportions by instinct and my own sense of proportion.

Dieses Skizzenbuch habe ich vor längerer Zeit in einer Buchbindewerkstatt selbst gebunden und geprägt (๑•◡•๑) - wie findet Ihr die Flügelprägung? - Kreativität verleiht Flüüügel. Soweit ich mich erinnern kann, hatte ich damals die Wahl zwischen Schwarz und Grau als Hardcoverumschlag - und für welche Farbe ich mich wohlweislich entschieden habe, seht Ihr auf dem Bild oben (●^ー^●).
In diesem Skizzenbuch habe ich einige typische Model-Posen aus diversen Modemagazinen zeichnerisch festgehalten. Für Studienzwecke sehr praktisch - vor allem um ein gutes Gefühl für Anatomie und Proportion zu bekommen. Ich zeichne nämlich am Liebsten frei Hand nach Augenmaß und Gefühl.

Würdet Ihr gerne noch mehr Zeichnungen aus diesem Skizzenbuch sehen?

 Would you like to see more of my drawings out of this sketchbook?

NEW IN | Costes soft pink coatigan

It was a bit of unexpected haul that day, but I was hanging out in the city and it was one of those days where you want/need to buy something but can't seem to like anything enough to spend the money. So when I saw this pink coat I was quite pleased especially since it's on sale and I have really been digging costes for a while now, so it was a no-brainer that I was going to buy it. There were two other colours available, a bit of a dirty light blue and a brownish grey one. I eventually got the soft pink one since I didn't own any pink coats before. The fabric is a mixture of polyester, wool and mohair, which gives it the hairy look to it. Don't be fooled though, the fabric seems warm and fluffy but it's quite the contrary. The texture is neither soft or rough, somewhat in the middle and it's quite thin. So you definitely need a warm vest underneath it, which makes the weather bearable. That's probably why they call it a 'coatigan' (I've learned a new term, yay). Despite that this coat doesn't really work as a winter coat, I couldn't leave it behind for 45 euros (originally

 90 euros). 

Pink coatigan | 90 euros 45 euros

What do you think of this coat?

x J.

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