Friday 31 December 2010

Happy New Year


As 2010 comes to an end, it is time to reflect upon the year that has passed, and point out the direction for the next year. 
2010 was quite an eventful year for me, of which I am not going to bore you with the details of; engagement, MSc degree and a vast amount of travelling to mention some. And I am pretty sure 2011 will be a hurricane of ups and downs and wonderful, wonderful...fashion?
I am not very big on new years resolutions, as I live in the firm belief that most new years resolutions will eventually fail, most likely before the end of January. How many times have you not promised yourself that "this year I am going to go to the gym every day", "loose a kilo or so", " do something good for humanity" or the worst of them all (as it is bound to fail even quicker than the rest of the lot) "not spend as much money". I promise you, by the time the January sale is over, you have spent more than you did the last six months combined.
Failed new years resolutions can spiral into a year of bad conscience, and who would really wish that upon themselves? In my opinion, girls have enough bad conscience as it is, be it for cakes (that we should not have eaten), friends (we should have prioritised) or work/ school (we should have done).

Last year I dealt with the stress of starting fresh and a new year to provide myself with more achieveable goals; wear more nailpolish and be better at using big earrings. Extremely achieveable, and I can proudly (well-well) say that I did, for once, manage to keep my resolutions.

This year, I am taking a step out of the vain-ness that were 2010, and are aiming a little bit higher. I do not promise to spend less money shopping - after all, some of us needs to keep the economy going. However, I do promise to shop smarter. I take the lead from Italy and are banning all plastic bags from my shopping routine in 2011. As Tesco says "every little helps", and in 2011 I will do my toll for the environment. 

I will encourage, or perhaps challenge, you to do the same.

So have a Happy New Year everyone! Join me and shop smarter in 2011. Do you have any ideas to bring som eco into chic, send me an e-mail and I will follow up the best ideas. You might be the one who comes up with the next big idea, that just might make shopping into a greener and leaner experience for all of us, including the planet.


Wednesday 8 December 2010

How to survive the Christmas season in style...


I have countless times been extremely grateful that digital cameras, Facebook and Youtube did not exist when I grew up. The reason? It is a blissful thing to be young and be able to commit your own mistakes without getting it all out on the internet. 
Nowadays, it is seemingly a competition to be the first one to post party pictures after a night out with the girls / the Christmas party etc. and lets be honest, not all of those pictures are well thought through. It might seem as a great idea in the spur of post-party happiness to post the picture of you and your friend in whats can only be described as minimal outfits, kissing various boys or showing off a bit too much underwear. It is a little bit like "let's show the world how fun and cool our gang is!". However, I do not think that most (young?) people today get the fact that once it is on the internet, it is on the internet. It doesnt matter if you have a closed Facebook profile (your 500 friends can still see and copy your pictures). So what if you look great showing off your underwear at 16? Your future boss will still be able to find those pictures when you apply for your dream - and oh so serious - job when you are 32. Conclusion: not so cool anymore.
I do realise that I sound like old aunt Mabel right now, and I am very, very sorry for that. I am certainly pro having fun with your friends in the holiday season. However, I think some ground rules needs to be established. I cannot, and you cannot, deny people to take pictures and bringing their cameras or cell-phones to the festivities. But with a little bit of preperation, you should be able to avoid a Facebook/ Youtube nightmare the 1st of January. Regardless, I suggest a vast amount of untagging of Facebook pictures that already exist....


10 steps to survive the Christmas in style:

1. The obvious one: do not get too drunk. A glass of water now and then has never hurt anyone.

2. When wearing short dresses, skip the g-string and wear a full coverage hotpants /hipsters (be inspired of the girls in "Stricly come dancing/ Skal vi danse").

3. Black tights instead of sheer see through ones are a life-saver. I am actually close to saying that black full tights look better during the Christmas season anyway. + it keeps your legs a bit warmer ( no flu = more party for you).

5. Cleavage might be in, but nipples on Facebook are'nt. There is actually no excuse for showing off your front parts anymore. H&M sells great strapless bra's (same series as the ultimate push-up bra), boob-tape actually works, and you can even use a special tape (H&M, Anne Summers etc.) to tape ypur clothes to your body so they does'nt slip. Easy, invisible and widely used in Hollywood.

6. If your dress is made of something lycra'ish and is tight it will most probable slip up your body. I suggest to get rid of the dress and give it to the hookers charity, or use it as a tunic instead. Another opportunity is to use a good quality underwear-dress beneath to avoid slipping. Dresses around waists seldom look good on the dancefloor.

7. Shoes, shoes, shoes. Planning to wear those several inch Loboutins on ice? Are you sure? Not only can you crack your head (been there done that), but it is a fair chance that your fall will look extremely silly in the process. Manageable heels makes the evening so much more fun. In addition, you can by anti-slip soles to tape under your shoes at Bianco - highly recommended.

8. Nothing looks as silly as a girl, blue by the cold in a minidress with no jacket. Be sensible girls. No party is worth getting seriously ill for, and there is SO many nice jackets out there. (This point is especially directed to English girls, who seemingly is unable to put on a jacket even when dying of cold).

9. Waterproof mascara might be a good idea when snowing. Just saying.

10. At last, but not the least, please try to remember that less is still more. You do not need to look like a Christmas ornament, even though it is Christmas. A little bit of bling is nice, but there's no need to outshine the Christmas three. This tip might not help you avoid embarrassing situations on Youtube and Facebook, but you will thank me when you in ten  years time tries to find a nice old Chrismas picture, and you luckily does'nt look like Santa, his elfs and Katie Price combined.

So, with these words of warning, please have a happy, happy holiday, safely knowing that you will be able to meet January, with a little bit of dignity still intact. Cheers!