The stylish label Tila March was born 2006 out of French designer Tamara Taichmans’ desire for a handbag that would be both practical and chic enough to see her through the hectic fashion weeks of Paris, Milan and New York. Tamara was originally a successful fashion editor, who in a bid to create her ideal fashion week friendly handbag, asked her husband to actually make one of her sketched designs. The original ‘Zelig’ tote was created! Once it had found its way into high-end retail stores it became a hit with A-list celebrities including Sarah Jessica Parker, Sienna Miller and Kirsten Dunst.
I love the French chic of all of her designs; sophisticated, functunal, with a slightly retro touch in colours and patterns and resolutely feminine. No wonder, her inspiration being icons like Jacky O., Romy Schneider and Jane Birkin. I definitely hope there is more to come!
Is your fridge full until the top but nothing seems to fit together for an actual meal? I find myself very often in that situation. This Tuscan bread salad is a great way to use up leftovers and slightly stale bread. This is my favourite mix of ingredients, but feel free to leave out or add different ones such as basil, anchovies etc.!
You need (serves 4 ):
quarter loaf of stale bread, cubed
3-4 ripe tomatoes, cut into large cubes
2 onions (take red onions if you have some), finely sliced
2-3 minced cloves of garlic
a handful small capers, soaked and drained
a handful black pitted olives, soaked and drained and roughly chopped
a bunch mint leaves
salt and freshly grounded black pepper
extra virgin olive oil
red wine vinegar
1. Roast bread cubes in a pan for about 5 minutes.
2. Put the tomatoes into a bowl. Add capers, olives, onions, garlic, chopped mint leaves and the roasted bread. Stir in 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar and about 5 tablespoons of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and toss to combine. It tastes best if you leave the bread to be soaked for another 30 minutes before serving!
I must admit, even though I believe I am open to Modern Art, not every piece or performance in this field touches me. The long ago love story of artist Marina Abramovic and Ulay revealing itself in her performance in definitely did, it made me cry.
Marina and Ulay started their love story back in the 70s. Still they decided to break up but meet one last time on the Great Wall of China for a last hug and then never see each other again. At her 2010 MoMa retrospective Marina shared one minute of silence with every stranger who would sit opposite to her. Ulay arrived, now watch what happened. Have a handkerchief ready!
To make an outfit interesting I like to combine different styles or materials you wouldn’t typically mix. My favourite of all times: leather and lace. This combination embraces Rock ‘n’ Roll glamour and ladylike dressing (for those of us who don’t like to go for just one kind of style). The combination allows you to dress playful or ladylike. I just make sure to use at most two different colours to let the blend of materials unfold its full effect. Which mixture of materials do you think most interesting?
playful:
1. Light pink Goosecraft suede jacket
2. Paul & Joe Sister lace dress
3. Marc by Marc Jacobs rose gold watch
4. Kurt Geiger rose gold sandals
5. Chloé marcie mini satchel
ladylike:
1. Topshop quilted leather jacket
2. Saint Laurent hat
3. Dolce & Gabbana ruffled lace blouse
4. Iris & Ink skinny jeans
5. ZARA sandals
6. Givenchy obsedia cross-body bag
The colour of the year 2013 is a radiant and elegant emerald green. It pops up not only on clothes and accessories but also on fabrics and home decorations. It matches perfectly with all shades of blues, black and gold. In my opinion a real alternative to all the neon colours this season! See more combination options on my Pinterest board.
1. Elegant emerald cased glass vases
2. Emerald Jil Sander handbag
3. Coloured water glass from Zara Home
4. Emerald Elie Saab lace and chiffon dress SS 2012
5. Art Déco Kendra Scott earrings
6. Estée Lauder nail lacquer in Viper
7. Navy and emerald ikat pillow
8. Steven by Steve Madden ravesh bow pumps in green
9. Modern Room & Board sofa in emerald green
10. Diptyque scented candle Sapin Doré
11. Emerald green coat from J. Crew
12. Lacquered serving tray from C. Wonder
Spring has finally arrived here in Munich and I finally opened the ice cream and granita season on the balcony. I actually like granita more than traditional ice cream, it’s so much more refreshing and easier to make at home. Here is my favourite recipe for a blood orange and basil granita. You can experiment with all different kinds of flavours such as lime or raspberry combined with thyme, mint or lemon grass. For the icing on the cake I pour a sip of champagne over the granita. Enjoy!
1. For a bowl of granita you need a bottle of freshly squeezed blood orange juice, a cup of sugar, a bit of cinnamon and a hand full of basil leaves.
2. Put the cup of sugar together with a cup of water, the basil leaves and the cinnamon into a pot and bring the mixture to a boil until the sugar has melted completely.
3. Pour the syrup through a sieve into a glass or stone bowl and fill in the blood orange juice. Cover it an put it into the freezer.
4. After 3 to 4 hours you should be able to scrape off or crush the granita with a fork. The granita is ready to be served.
I was hoping for spring to show up before the holidays, but it looks like we’ll have to search our Easter eggs in the snow! But I won’t let the weather spoil the event. This year we are going to celebrate Easter with my boyfriends family including his niece and nephew and I am sure it’ll be a lot more fun with children, not only because I get to search Easter eggs again. Have a happy Easter holiday!
Even though I like to travel with light luggage, there are a few essentials I need to feel comfortable on my journeys. I prefer to be prepared, no matter if I go by plane, train or car. What do you always carry in your travel bag? Here are my travel essentials:
1. Handy and very stylish city guides from Luxe
2. Mulberry travel adapter in a pink leather bag
3. In case of chilly air-condition in planes and trains: soft cashmere scarf from Calypso St. Barth
4. Keeps everything organised: travel collection from Aspinal of London in pink
5. Soft and comfy sleeping mask from Otis Batterbee London
6. It’s magic: Bose noise reducing headphones
7. Fresh up with Flavigny anise candies
8. My favourite lip care ever from Kiehl’s
9. Perfect travel bag from Michael Kors
10. iPod shuffle
11. Vanessa Bruno make-up bag
12. For thirsty skin: Clinique Moisture travel set with skin care, lip gloss and eye treatment
13. Shimmering Jimmy Choo leather iPhone case
14. Mini hair brush from The Body Shop
I know, the cute DIY Easter bunny jars have been showing up on many blogs since Easter is coming closer. But it is so difficult to find some neat Easter decoration which is not kind of tacky or looks as if a 5 year old had done it. They are perfect as packaging for Easter treats or other give aways. Here is how you do it and happy Easter holidays!
1. What you need:
- empty and cleaned glass jars (I used old jam jars)
- bunny figures
- super glue
- spray paint (I used Montana Black spray paint in “Cocktail”, “Pink Lemonade” and “Tiffany”)
2. Carefully glue the bunnies to the jar lids and let dry.
3. Put them on a platform you do not need anymore, e.g. an old cardboard, and paint them following the instructions on the spray paint. Paint until the colour is even on the bunnies and the original colours are invisible. Let dry and afterwards fill with Easter treats!
When it comes to fashion it’s not just about clothes and shoes, it’s about the emotions and feelings we associate with a certain fashion brand. I admit that is a very non-emotional marketing point of view, but Burberry’s successful musical strategy proves it to be right. A few seasons back the luxury brand introduced Burberry Acoustic, a collaboration with young British artists who have been selected by Burberry’s chief creative officer Christopher Bailey.
The project has grown since and is now a big part of the social media strategy. You can watch the videos via the Burberry YouTube channel or listen to the music on the famous interactive Burberry site The Art of the Trench. You can listen here to my three favourite songs that have accompanied the Burberry Prorsum fashion show.
http://youtu.be/JydBoebaxvw
