DIY, Dammit!

DIY, Dammit!

Sometimes in the life of surfing the internet, you come across really cool DIY (Do It Yourself) ideas for your home, your children’s toys, or to give away as presents. What these perfectly presented pictures with captions such as “super easy in three steps!” don’t tell you, is that when you try this at home, it will probably look really, really shitty. Somehow these creative crafty concoctions just don’t come out right – not even close. Super easy in three steps: a failed DIY project, a seriously dinted self-esteem and a rapidly dropping regard for yourself as a human being capable of simply anything. Does this sound like fun? No.

Comedian Joselyn Hughes didn’t think so either and started a videoblog called ‘DIY, Dammit!‘. In these instruction videos, Joselyn (with the help from her friends and her dog) shows you all the steps of different DIY projects – including her own crumbling hope that it will succeed, and with honest cluelessness from time to time (let this paint dry for… an hour? Two hours? Maybe a day? I’m just gonna slowly walk away…). Apart from taking the ‘plastic America’ out of DIY and ‘keeping it real’, there are some really cool, out of the ordinary ideas and she convinces us that we too, can do this at home.

If you’re into DIY and always wanted to try that one thing, you can also email her on her website and request her to show you how it’s done. Follow ‘DIY, Dammit!’ on Tumblr, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, or check out her personal website.

Need something new to watch?

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Guest entry by Neil

‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D’ was one of the most critically lauded and highly anticipated shows in the fall line-up. It was so hyped up that its premiere delivered 11.9 million viewers – made S.H.I.E.L.D. TV’s highest-rated drama debut in nearly four years. Despite all this, it was one of the most disappointing new shows last autumn, losing almost half of its viewership in the first couple of weeks. Those who, like me, stuck with it against their better judgement were eventually rewarded. After this week’s finale, ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ ended up being one of the best new shows I’ve watched this year.

How did it go from terrible to awesome so quickly? Agent’s of S.H.I.E.L.D. has a boring start but, what you don’t realise is that it is taking its time to let you build a relationship with the characters. Although it does this with some pretty tedious and contrived story lines in the beginning, I’m happy to say the investment eventually pays off. 

The show does exactly what the best of Whedon’s projects all do, and that is having a group of people who are more than just a sum of their parts. Like Buffy’s Scooby gang, or the crew of the Serenity, the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. become characters that you’re invested in and boy, do they go on a journey.

No worries, no spoilers, but pretty much everything that you’d hope for from a show by Joss Whedon about a shady government agency set in the Marvel universe actually happens… except for superhero cameos. But Samuel L. Jackson and Cobie Smulders do show up a couple of times, which is almost as good.

It has been picked up for a second season, and with the first season finale behind us it is shaping up to be intriguing.

Watch the trailer here:

Valtari Mystery Film Experiment

http://vimeo.com/45185028

 

In music, there’s no such thing as old news. Do I just use this line to get away with writing an article about something that was released almost two years ago? Yes, of course. Doesn’t make it less true. The collaboration I want to bring to your attention happened almost two years ago, I saw it a year and a half ago, and it has been on my mind again the past couple of weeks. Whether you’ve seen it two summers ago or are just discovering it now: it will not be less impressive.

Sigur Rós is an Icelandic band, active since 1994. As most music coming from this strange and inspiring island, it takes you on a journey to places you’ve never imagined before. Just recently they made a cameo appearance in the popular HBO series Game of Thrones. In 2012, Sigur Rós made a new album, ‘valtari’, and gave fourteen film makers the same modest budget and asked them to create whatever comes into their head when they listen to songs from the band’s album. The idea was to bypass the usual artistic approval process and allow people utmost creative freedom.

The results are beautiful, funny, melancholic, and a whole other list of words to describe a broad spectrum of emotions. Just click on this link and see for yourself which video (and song) takes you on that special journey only Icelandic artists can take you on.

Goldieblox – engineering toys for girls

GoldieBlo

One of the most talked about topics of last week was the law suit that the Beastie Boys started against GoldieBlox, for using a parody of their song “Girls” in an ad for their toys. The Beastie Boys have made clear that they don’t have a problem against the company or the product, but says they made a deal to never use their music for advertisement. The original video, which was viewed 8 million times, as now been replaced by one with an instrumental guide track, but the message of the ad is still the same. This is something we should not overlook.

In a time where the lines are blurred between the labels ‘men’ and ‘women’ – women are becoming more sexually liberal, androgyny is hot, and careers for everyone are highly expected – there is still evidence to find that we are, in fact, not the same, and we are not “there yet” when it comes to being equal. Fewer than 3 in 10 graduates in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are women. And barely 1 in 10 actual engineers are women.

One of the great things about the feminist movement and what it has brought us over the last few decades is that women have a choice in what they want to do and become in life. To give the new generation a little hand in understanding the possibilities, the feminist movement has now taken a step into the creation of innovative toys, especially made for girls, to explore and discover their technical side in a playful manner.

Watch the (awesome!) video ad for GoldieBlox below.

Isabella Blow exhibition

Isabella Blow

Who is Isabella Blow? Allow me to introduce you to this mysterious and tragic woman in a nutshell. Isabella Blow was an English magazine editor with an uncanny sense of style and fashion with a great love for extravagant artwork in an elegant and sometimes strange-beyond-belief way. Her style choices are a great influence of Lady Gaga’s general appearance today, and she is credited with discovering fashion designer Alexander McQueen. Towards the end of her glamorous and influential life, Blow suffered greatly from depressions and eventually killed herself in 2007.

Just recently, an exhibition showcasing her legendary wardrobe opened at Somerset House in London. The collection was originally bought by the style maverick’s friend Daphne Guinness. Co-Curator Shonagh Marshall, who created the exhibition with Alistair O’Neill explained to Vogue UK:

She was once quoted as saying, ‘It’s about the craft, not the crap’, and that was something she stood by. The exhibition pays tribute to her idiosyncrasies, her quirks, her wit, her dark humour and also her love of grandeur. You don’t get characters like that any more – there’s no one of her infamy around in fashion now.”

As well as displaying over 100 pieces from Blow’s wardrobe, many of which are styled exactly how the fashion editor wore them, the exhibition is also littered with double-page spreads of her work. You may like her style or not, but the exhibition seems to give a wonderful insight into how she viewed the art that comes with high fashion in a deeper sense than what Lady Gaga has managed to pull off.

Isabella Blow: Fashion Galore! is open at Somerset House from until March 2 2014.

Photo By Peter Macdiarmid

Photo By Peter Macdiarmid

Photo By Peter Macdiarmid

Photo By Peter Macdiarmid

Elliott Sailors’ brave modeling move

Elliot Sailors | Photo By Wild Card Photo

The discussion in the fashion and modeling industry about the exploitation of young girls have been going on for years. Despite this discussion, the girls seem to get younger and younger, jet-setting the world and dealing with criticism about growing a feminine figure while they’re not even old enough to drive or drink. Model Elliott Sailors (31) has had a successful career in womenswear modeling – from couture catwalks to Ellen von Unwerth shoots – but recently found herself inspired by androgynous model Andrej Pejic. As she told Vogue UK:

I definitely wasn’t a girly girl growing up, although I wasn’t good at sports so I suppose I was missing the athletic skills to be called a tomboy! It was 2011 when I first saw pictures of Andrej Pejic, and I immediately thought, ‘I could do that.’ I tried a few shoots with my long blonde hair, like Andrej, modeling menswear and it just didn’t work. I wrapped my breasts and didn’t pose as you would for womenswear, but stylists and make-up artists still saw me as a woman – and the make-up was all wrong, shading my face to make me more manly – so I knew I had to cut my hair.”

Even though Sailors was inspired by Pejic to try and model for men’s wear as a woman, her motives and lifestyle are very different. Pejic was born a man and is becoming a woman while playing with transgender image and blurring the lines between “man” and “woman”. In 2011 there was a controversy in the US after Pejic posed for the cover of New York based magazine Dossier Journal, in which she is taking off a white shirt while wearing her long blond hair in curlers.

Andrej Pejic | Photo by Collier Schorr

Elliot however, is a happily married woman who harbours no desire to become a man. She simply decided to cut her hair short and leave everything she has learned about feminine modeling behind to expand her work field, and with that, hopefully, extend her modeling career:

There is a market for womenswear models into their thirties and forties but it is much more commercial and, the truth is, if you love working in high fashion – which I do – you can do that much longer in menswear.

I don’t want what I’ve done to be seen as any kind of revolt against the fashion industry, I love the industry and what it creates, I’m just adding another voice to the narrative.”

I think it’s an incredibly brave step to take and might start a chain reaction to the view of the modeling industry as it is. Keep an eye out for this one!

Elliot Sailors | Photo By Bryan Coppede

Elliot Sailors | Photo By Wild Card Photo

Elliot Sailors | Photo By TS Harrington Photography

Elliot Sailors | Photo By E Adam Attia

James Jowers photography New York

Avenue A and East Seventh Street, 1967 | James Jowers

New York. A place of mystery and glory. The city has managed to keep the mystery and glory that started out in the sixties and seventies, a melting pot of both culture and creativity. Of course we all wished we would’ve been there when New York went through this fascinating transformation, and now we, sort of, can.

 

Photographer James Jowers was in the midst of this mystical time in Manhattan in the ’60s, capturing images of strangers going about in their everyday business. Jowers’ collection is on display in the George Eastman House, a photography and film museum in Rochester, N.Y., but since we don’t all have the means to fly out to the place to be, the museum has posted many of the photographs online, allowing us to travel from our screens into our minds, and onto the old streets of Manhattan.

 

The black and white images drag you in like no movie can, making you feel like you’re a bystander on the side walk, taking a glimpse into the lives of different people. The stills seem to come alive somehow and will take you on a journey from the safe confines of your home (or, if your naughty, from behind your desk at your office).

 

See a selection of my favorites below.

 

Washington Square Park, 1969 | James Jowers

East First Avenue, 1967 | James Jowers

Lower East Side, 1967 | James Jowers

Tompkins Square Park, 1967 | James Jowers

See all the online pictures here.

The unsuspected sides of Tom Hiddleston

Tom Hiddleston as ‘Loki’ in Thor

Tom Hiddleston

When we first get introduced to actors in a role they play very convincingly, it’s hard to picture them in a different way than the character itself.

How surprised was I, when I saw this video of Tom Hiddleston, the evil, conflicted Loki, brother of Thor, singing Stand by Me in a car in Germany after being on the German lifestyle magazine ‘Taff’. The Taff reporter drives the Hollywood star – who was by the way also nominated for “Sexiest Man Alive” by People Magazine, but lost to great dissatisfaction of ‘the Internet’ to Adam Levine – around Berlin and convinces him to do a little karaoke.

Who knew that ‘Loki’ could look so good, be so charming, and sing so casually even though he doesn’t have the voice of an angel? After briefly surfing around after seeing this video, it turns out Hiddleston is also quite the juggler, dancer, gentleman, and comedian.
 
Watch and enjoy.

 

Sylvester Stallone art exhibition

Sylvester Stallone

It’s easy to put labels on action actors such as Sylvester Stallone as brainless muscle men who can convincingly kick people’s asses without breaking a sweat and make a machine gun look like a third arm they acquired at birth. At age 67, instead of slumping and aging like a normal person, he seems to become even more bad-ass; in 2010 he reportedly broke his neck while shooting a scene for The Expendables with Steve “Stone Cold” Austin after insisting on doing his own stunts, and has over the last few years gotten a few tattoos to cover up his scars that he has collected filming action films throughout his life.

Stallone has always explored his talents besides acting: he wrote and was nominated for an Academy Award for the screenplay of Rocky, and is the co-writer, leading role and director of the first of the Expendables films. Stallone has now revealed a totally different, softer side to him. A collection of paintings created by the Hollywood star have gone on show at The Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. The exhibition titled: Sylvester Stallone. Painting. From 1975 Until Today, is a selection of works produced by Stallone over the past four decades. At the show’s opening, the star reportedly said that if he had the choice, he would spend his life drawing instead of acting. He said:

I think I’m a much better painter than an actor. It’s much more personal and I’m allowed to just do what I want to do. Quite often in acting you have to play a certain part, you cannot speak as much as you want to speak. I suppose the heroes don’t talk much, you have to be very stoic.”

Museum director Vladimir Gusev said Stallone’s paintings “show the character of a passionate man” and were not simply “the work of an amateur”. The exhibition will be on display until 13 January 2014.

Opening night exhibition

Opening night exhibition

Opening night exhibition

Movember

Sean Connery

If at any point this upcoming autumn month you wonder what the f*** is up with all these moustaches, find yourself prepared right here. My second favourite month after October, is November, or, slowly starting to be known as ‘Movember’: the month where thousands of men shave off their facial hair in order to let it grow back in the upper lip area – sometimes wildly and unkempt – for an entire month, to raise money and awareness to combat prostate and testicular cancer and mental health challenges.

Starting as a small movement in Melbourne, Australia, in 2003 Movember has turned into a cult event, inspiring more than 3 million Mo Bros and Mo Sistas to participate across 21 countries. The programs, directed by the Movember Foundation, are focused on awareness and education, living with and beyond cancer, staying mentally healthy, living with and beyond mental illness and research to achieve our vision of an everlasting impact on the face of men’s health.

The rules are simple:

1. Once registered at movember.com each Mo Bro must begin the 1st of November with a clean shaven face.

2. For the entire month of Movember each Mo Bro must grow and groom a moustache.

3. There is to be no joining of the Mo to your side burns. That’s considered a beard.

4. There is to be no joining of the handlebars to your chin. That’s considered a goatee.

5. A Mo Bro must conduct himself like a true gentleman.

Want to participate, donate or just check out this awesome cause? Check the website http://www.movember.com

Not sure if it would suit your baby faced features? Check out these fabulous celebrities who have totally pulled off a moustache at one point or another in their career.

Tom Selleck

Kevin Costner

Johnny Depp

Robert Downey Jr

Alec Baldwin’s ‘Here’s the Thing’

Alec Baldwin’s ‘Here’s the Thing’

As I’m sitting in my Hotel room in Chicago, the flatscreen on the wall at the end of the bed is winking at me invitingly. “Come on, switch me on,” it’s trying to say, “I’ll distract you with fun things to watch while you’re trying to work”. Luckily, I’ve been without a tv for many years so the temptation is not that great. But it makes me wonder whatever happened to the good old days of plugging in my headphones into my indestructible portable radio, after secretly curling up into my father’s big brown leather ‘smoke chair’, and listening to radio or mixed tapes. I’ve always loved radio, there’s something soothing about listening to good voices, and something challenging in closing your eyes and imagining the accompanying pictures to the story that’s being told, the conversation that’s being held, or the background information about artists and songs that’s given. I’ve recently found great joy in listening to audio books while knitting – damn, that sounds grannylike/nerdy but not cool enough to be hipster – and podcasts/talk radio.

Golden Globe winner Alec Baldwin may be most famous for his role as ‘Jack Donaghy’ in the successful comedy show ’30 Rock’, but this attractive gentleman has many more talents. Just a few weeks ago his newest addition of skills premiered in the form of a weekly Late Night talk show on MSNBS called ‘Up Late with Alec Baldwin’. A much lesser known skill that Alec Baldwin has, is interviewing. For a while now, he has been hosting his very own hour-long podcasts on WNYC where he interviews different famous people about different topics.

Because Baldwin is a known person in showbizz, and just generally a very friendly and charismatic man, many people have opened their homes, offices, and dressing rooms to him and his recording equipment, giving the listener the feeling that you’re a fly on the wall, hearing two established people having a personal discussion. From Jerry Seinfeld, to Rosie O’Donnell, via Michael Douglas to Kris Kardashian Jenner, Baldwin shares ideas, opinions and let’s his guests open up in a calm and interesting manner. His deep inviting voice will keep your ears warm for an hour without you wanting to stop listening. Perfect entertainment for when your tv/laptop screen is giving you ‘square eyes’ and you just want to be entertained while you sip on a warm cup of tea while the weather outside rages.

And yes, Alec Baldwin is just awesome because he has the most natural ‘duck face’ of anybody in showbiz and can totally get away with it.

Find ‘Here’s the Thing’ on Facebook here and listen to the podcasts on the website.

 

Kate Bosworth for Topshop

Kate Bosworth for Topshop | Photographer: Michael Polish

We still have to wait six patient months before we can see what Kate Moss’ new collection for Topshop will look like. Luckily, the new Autumn/Winter collection by the other Kate, Bosworth to be exact, is released in Topshop stores today. Actress/Model Kate Bosworth has worked with Topshop in the past on a festival season collection, and due to its success, they’ve now stepped up their game and entered the winter collection challenge.

The result is described as the perfect mix between masculine and feminine, and oversized and fitted. Here’s what Bosworth says about the collection:

The collection is tailored and classic. For fall, we wanted to create luxurious pieces with a strong minimalist approach. Slim silhouettes are cloaked in a masculine shape, staying true to the mix of masculine/feminine balance that exists in my personal aesthetic.”

Reportedly, the collection was inspired by Dutch painter Piet Mondriaan, taking from his art the monochromatic, metallic, and red colour palette. Watch the inspirational video for the collection below.

The 46-piece collection was launched today, and prices range from a very affordable £35 up to £500. You can shop the collection here. Fun fact: the photo and video shoot come from the 30-year old’s husband, Michael Polish. Check out my favourite pics from the collection below!

Kate Bosworth for Topshop | Photographer: Michael Polish

Kate Bosworth for Topshop | Photographer: Michael Polish

Kate Bosworth for Topshop | Photographer: Michael Polish

Kate Bosworth for Topshop | Photographer: Michael Polish

Pearl Jam Week on Fallon

Pearl Jam in the Nineties

I remember the first time I heard Pearl Jam like it was yesterday. It was only few weeks after I started my new high school, I had just turned 15, and one of my new friends gave me a disc man with earplugs and had me listen to the album ‘Ten’ during lunch break. I was into popular rock and ‘pop punk’ at that time (Limp Bizkit, Sum41, Lit – you know the drill) but this was the very first time, besides Nirvana, I had ever heard grunge. I didn’t understand anything from what was happening musically and didn’t really care for it at first, but as soon as Eddie Vedder started singing, the rest of the world seized to exist and I completely and irrevocably fell in love with his voice.

To celebrate the release of Pearl Jam’s tenth studio album ‘Lightning Bolt’, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon will present Pearl Jam Week this week, starting tonight. The show will host a series of appearances by the band and other musicians performing songs from Pearl Jam’s catalog.

The kick off will be tonight with Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell (my favourite singer after Eddie Vedder! <3), who used to be in a band with Eddie Vedder back in the early nineties called Temple of the Dog. Chris Cornell will be performing “Footsteps” (originally a Temple of the Dog song called “Times of Trouble”) with members of the Avett Brothers.

On Tuesday Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes (backed by undisclosed special guests) will be there to cover “Coduroy”, followed by Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready with country star Dierks Bentley and the Roots on Wednesday. On the final two nights, Pearl Jam will be there to wrap up the week with new music from Lightning Bolt.

To get into the mood for these amazing days – which will be one the musical highlights of my life since I will be seeing Chris f*cking Cornell acoustic live in a solo show in Chicago!!! -, watch this legendary video from Pearl Jam in 1992, on the Dutch festival “Pinkpop”, closing the show with one of my favourite songs “Porch”.

What do you mean ‘rock is dead’?!

Mythbusters interactive Twitter experiment

Mythbusters interactive Twitter experiment

I live in a shared apartment on the top floor of an amazing place in Neukölln, Berlin. One of my previous flatmates was very much into plants and our house soon turned into an indoor jungle affair. I didn’t mind, I never mind green in the house – unless I have to take care of it that is. I used to get mini cactuses for my room because I simply forget to water them. Name my plants and talk to them? Yes, of course! Water them? I simply forget…

The girl who was taking care of our home grown forest really talked to our plants, and dusted them off with precision and care. It is said, that talking to plants and giving them love will help them grow. The Denver Museum of Nature and Science is putting that popular idea to the test with a 21st-century experiment.

 

As part of ‘Mythbusters: The Explosive Exhibition‘, the museum created an interactive experiment which boils down to the simple idea: anyone can tweet to a plant in the museum, the message gets turned into robotic speech which the plant will hear through a speaker. To complete the experiment, another plant will sit in silence.

On the website you can keep track of the process of the experiment. The museum compares size, leaf colour, height, and how many words the loved plant has heard.

 

So confess your deepest darkest secret, declare your love, or simply scold the plant if you like (it’s not picky about what it will hear) in 140 characters to contribute to this awesome experiment. Go to the website http://www.talktoaplant.com/ to send you own message to participate!

Contribute to the Mythbusters’ experiment #talktoaplant

Shpock – flea market app

When I first bought an iPhone last December I was SO stoked. Finally a real smartphone, not only pretty but an extension of my Apple collection (I’m hooked since my MacBook), and well regarded in the smartphone world. It did however take me forever to get used to the sheer comprehension of possibilities. Of course, Spotify, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook were no-brainers, but I’ve only added a handful of other Apps since then. Super-useful-can’t-live-without-them-Apps (Evernote <3) for sure, but only a few.

Exactly three weeks ago I was scrolling through Facebook, as you do, when a promoted post caught my eye. I generally really hate promoted posts and try my best to train my eye/brain coordination to skip and ignore, but this one somehow popped out. I clicked on it, downloaded it, and fell in love.

The app is called Shpock (as in Shop in your pocket) and is described as a ‘flea market app’. The app finds your location, you can choose a category (or not) and it shows you what people are selling within one kilometer from your house, the further your scroll down, the bigger the range. You can then see pictures of the offered products and offer a price. The seller sets a price, but it is always negotiable. The seller can then counter offer, or, if you’re lucky, immediately accept. After the acceptance of your offer, you enter a private chat screen to make arrangements for the exchange.

The beauty of this app is that it actually feels like a flea market minus the dodgy people and awful smells. Yes, you scroll through a lot of crap but the hunt for good/interesting cheap stuff and bargains gets you hooked in no time.

In the three weeks I’ve been a member, I have sold a dress and a pair of shoes, snatched an awesome coat for just €10,- (talked my way down from €12,-, see below), and will exchange another dress of mine for a blouse and a gilet tonight, only having to pay €9,50 at the exchange. Cleaning out your closet while making a few bucks, then using those freshly made coins for buying something from someone else who is not wearing it anymore but feels like a new addition to your own wardrobe, and the simple act of negotiating and coming out (as seller or buyer) on top and satisfied is a definite new, addictive hobby.

I’ve only used it for the category ‘fashion and accessories’ so far, but you can also find furniture, electronic devices, books/music, etc.

Second hand coat for €10,- on Shpock

What your account looks like on Shpock

The big 30 vs. the big 25

The big 30 vs. the big 25

Ever since I was a little girl, I always had the feeling I was too old for things. Life changing things that is. When I was 12 and wanted to become a popstar and read that Britney had started at the Mickey Mouse Club aged 11, I was crushed. How could I still become a popstar? I was already too old!

When I went off to study music at the Academy of Popculture in the Netherlands at the age of 17, I immediately didn’t like the one girl that was younger than me.

Funny thing is, I usually don’t notice age in other people. Hell, one of my best friends is 38. When I went for a drink with my (age) oldest friend a little while ago, we all seemed genuinely surprised when we realized realized there was exactly 10 years in between me and our newly met friend and 10 years between him and the friend I originally came with – 24, 34, 44. Still I revel in it when I realize I’m the youngest in a group, or when my older friends praise me for starting my writing career at such a young age.

Even now, at 24, having experienced and reached quite a lot in my life, I still worry about my age.

Many of my friends have recently turned or are turning 30 and, as society tells them to, they freak out. I tell them I don’t understand what the fuss is about; age is just a number, who cares?

But then I realize I’m a lying little hypocrite because was I not just yesterday freaking out over turning 25 in a couple of days?

The difference in how I perceive other peoples age versus my own makes me wonder. Why do we sometimes seem to be so hard on ourselves and not on others? It’s a ‘known issue’ that when you judge other people harshly, it probably means your insecure about yourself, and talking down on other people will make you feel better about yourself.

But what does it mean when you’re not hard on other people, but hard on yourself in one specific area of your life?

 

Kate Moss for Topshop

Kate Moss for Topshop

Right after discovering that Berlin just opened up their very own Topshop department in KaDeWe (the ‘Harrods’ of Berlin), the great news keeps coming: supermodel Kate Moss is designing a collection for Topshop again, which will be available in stores coming April! Now there’s some news to get us through the upcoming cold dark days and gives us something to look forward to!

This is not the first time the world-famous British top model has designed for the high street store; between 2007 and 2010 14 ‘Kate Moss for Topshop’ collections were created, in which she played the role of designer and model. This upcoming collection will have 40 pieces ranging from womenswear, accessories, and footwear, and is expected (like with previous collections) to be inspired by Moss’s personal wardrobe and style.

Kate Moss:

“I have always been a big fan of Topshop and regularly shop there. I love what they stand for and am very excited at the thought of working with them. It’s going to be great fun.”

The collection will be sold in Topshop stores in 40 countries and the online shop of the brand. Check the pictures below for my favorites from the past collections.

Tunic dress by Kate Moss

Kate Moss for Topshop

Kate Moss for Topshop 2007

Kate Moss for Topshop 2010

Jeff Bridges (& Amber Valletta) for Marc O’Polo

Jeff Bridges & Amber Valletta for Marc O’Polo

We all know Jeff Bridges from his legendary performance as ‘The Dude’ in the 1998 Coen brothers classic ‘The Big Lebowski’. Reading the interview he did with Marc O’Polo, the German brand of which he is now ‘the face’ with Amber Valetta, it appears that Jeff Bridges the actor and “the Dude” Lebowski are not that different. Like Lebowski, Jeff Bridges is laid-back, relaxed, true to himself and he simply goes with the flow. Jeff Bridges even wrote a book with his long time friend and buddhist teacher, Bernie Glassman, called ‘The Dude and the Zen master’.

However, that was not the last time Bridges felt closely related to one of his characters. One of my favourite films of Jeff Bridges is ‘Crazy Heart’, the film for which he won the Oscar for Best Actor in 2009, and according to Bridges, it was one of his favourite projects because he got to bring his ‘passion’ into his work. Because apart from being a laid-back buddhist, talented actor, and an all-round awesome guy, this silver fox knows a thing or two about guitars and singing as well. Listen to his husky country songs on Spotify.

Wondering how he made the gig to model for the German based brand? Here’s what Marc O’Polo said about their choice:

Marc O’Polo’s Fall-Winter 2013-2014 campaign is grounded in the brand’s signature philosophy, summed up in the slogan ‘follow your nature’. We decided to bring in an ambassador, a real protagonist embodying our values. We did not take the search lightly. We sought someone real. Someone who is at peace with himself or herself, and stays committed to his or her decisions.

I think it’s safe to say that Marc O’Polo nailed it, with both Jeff Bridges and Amber Valletta. Check out the pictures below and tell me that is not one interesting, attractive (in general, not in a gross way), and unique person staring at you in beautiful autumn/winter wear.

Jeff Bridges for Marc O’Polo

Jeff Bridges for Marc O’Polo

Amber Valletta for Marc O’Polo

Jeff Bridges for Marc O’Polo

Jeff Bridges & Amber Valletta for Marc O’Polo

Facebook paranoia

Facebook paranoia

A while ago I had a dinner date with a guy, Mark, on a Saturday evening. To distract myself from my pre-date nerves, I was checking Facebook and Mark’s name caught my eye on the top right corner in the news feed. He apparently had just commented on some post.

I tried to ignore it but I just couldn’t help myself, it was too easy, just move my finger an inch to the top right on the mouse pad of my MacBook to see what he just did on Facebook. A picture appeared and it looked a lot like some electro party somewhere in the city. Mark had commented just a few seconds ago “looks cool! defo gonna come by and check this out tonight!”. I felt my excitement drop. Tonight?? He’s going to a party tonight?? And the roller coaster of doubt and paranoia started… Tonight?? Did he forget about our date? Is he planning to just have a quick dinner and then ditch me? Is he making plans in case he doesn’t enjoy himself? What should I do??

Panic-stricken, I Skyped my friend. Noticing how stressed I was made it perfectly clear how ‘out of the game’ I really am. Every little thing that had happened in this dating process had been a question mark for me. I explained my friend what I just saw on Facebook and asked her what I should do. After she heard my story she laughed. I got angry, it’s not funny!

I’m sorry, I’m just laughing because you’re so cute, stressing out over something someone said on Facebook.”

I sputtered. “Dude, listen”, she said, “it’s just a comment on Facebook. Do you have any idea how many times people say “yeah I’ll defo be there” when they are either just trying to be nice or just saving it as an option for next time. Half the time people click “attend” when they just want to be kept updated about the event or organization.” I tried to object but I noticed I was calmed by her casual reply. In the end I had a lovely date and I almost punched myself for stressing out so much over absolutely nothing. A brain fart in virtual space that I happened to see.

Technology is supposed to make life easier. Sending texts when you’re late, calling your friends for free on Skype while you can see each other, Facebook is almost the new mobile phone when it comes to meeting up and organizing things. But what about all these new ‘rules’ that apparently arise with all these new ways of fast communication and easy access into someone else’s life? And doesn’t having information about other people on demand, make it all the more hard to date/get acquainted with someone? If it wasn’t for Facebook, I wouldn’t have seen that my date replied positively to another party. Then again, if it wasn’t for Facebook (and Skype), I wouldn’t have known what to do and how to handle myself in that moment.

But is that really a bad thing? I can’t help but wonder if I would not be able to know all the time what people are doing, and if I would not be capable of discussing this stuff with several friends at the same time online as soon as it happens, wouldn’t that make me less paranoid, stressed and co-dependent?

How to turn a buttoned shirt into a dress

When I was a teenager I used to wear my father’s old fancy buttoned shirts that were too old for him to wear with his suit.

Just a slightly washed look, way too big for me (my dad is 1,93 m/6.3 ft) and combined with skater jeans and a simple black tank top, I thought I looked awesome.

Of course, you’re 14 years old and everything you think you’re doing right, you’re probably doing wrong.

Now, ten years later, I still claim all my dads’ old shirts, promising myself I will use them for when I make paintings (which, of course, I never do) and now have a small pile of Hugo Boss and Marc O’Polo crisp white and beautiful lined striped buttoned mens’ shirts collecting dust.

Until I saw this video.

Beware! Before you sneak into your handsome but unfortunately not Alexander Skarsgård-tall boyfriend’s closet and steal the shirt you’ve always been jealous of: you need a pretty big size to actually turn it into a dress – shirts and skirts would also work.

No guts, no glory

No guts, no glory

Throughout almost my entire time as a student in the Netherlands, I was a bar tender. And as the cliché goes – you get a lot of attention as a bar tender. You’re easy to flirt with because people have to talk to you to order a drink (“2 beers and your phone number?” Guys, it will never work), and you’re less likely to throw a drink in the person-trying-to-clumsily-ask-you-out’s face, since that wouldn’t be very hospitable and all. When I first quit my bar tending job and moved abroad, I felt so at ease; nobody was bothering me, nobody trying to hit on me, I didn’t have to worry about dodging groping hands going for my bum, etc. But after about two months, I started thinking; wait a minute, what’s going on? Do guys here not like me? Am I still fun? I felt like I went from bar tender to invisible.

My friends all encouraged me to take control of my life and start asking guys out myself, some male friends were even claiming it was sexy when a girl asked them out. But as much as I wanted to believe this, I would be lying if I said that the sudden lack of guys flirting with me, didn’t take its toll on my self-esteem. (I have to add that the German way of flirting is very different from the Dutch way – direct and obvious -, something I still haven’t fully grasped after 2,5 years.) First of all, I had never asked a guy out before, and second of all, I figured if guys didn’t ask me out, they must not be interested.

Since getting up in the middle of the night to ask my neighbor out for a coffee via Facebook after chewing on the idea for 6 weeks and literally getting tired of being nervous just thinking about it last summer, I have gradually taken small steps in the right direction. Last July I was away for a month in a cottage in the woods in Canada with a very good friend of mine, and as happens when you’re away from you day-to-day life for so long, I started thinking and reflecting about all aspects of my life. It had already dawned on me that I should just take control, and as my friend had said to me about life in general: ‘if you put yourself out there and go after what you want, you will have a successful life’.

Towards the end of my trip I met a nice guy on the bus from Toronto to the town close to the cottage. On the bus trip, we talked for two hours and he offered that I could wait at his place until my friend was picking me up. I had kind of hoped that there would be a kiss involved in there somewhere, since I liked him and I got the feeling that it was mutual. By the time my friend came to pick me up, there had been no kiss. We said our goodbyes, I got in the car with my friend and told him about my bus trip. My friend asked, “so did you guys kiss?”, I was disappointed to admit that no, we had not. My friend responded, “well, that’s not a nice ending to this story. You know what you should do? You should go back to his house and when he opens the door, just kiss him. Now THAT’s a good story.” I didn’t give myself time to think – I was in a foreign country, leaving in a few days, and had nothing to lose. So I said, “yeah, you’re right, let’s do it.”

In the few minutes it took to drive back to his house and prepare myself for this ridiculous moment, I went through all kinds of levels of terror, anxiety, and doubt of my mental health. But I went there nevertheless, and when he opened the door, I clumsily stumbled that ‘I had kind of wanted to kiss him… but I didn’t…’, he stepped out onto the street mid sentence and kissed me right there – yes, just like in the movies. I felt so empowered, bold, and downright ballsy, that this was a turning point for me.

A few weeks after coming back to Berlin I decided to tell a friend that I had a thing for him and after he turned me down (gently but still), I had expected to feel sad and insecure, but quite the opposite happened. I felt so good about just coming clean and not dragging this information around with me anymore, all the while turning this mosquito into an elephant. I had put myself out there and got it off my chest. And the positive feeling I had after a negative response was quite astonishing.

I feel like I’m finally fully grasping what it means take risks in life, put yourself out there, and even if the outcome is not positive or exactly what you want, if you allow yourself, you can feel so empowered by the simple act of doing it, that you feel like you’re on top of the world anyway, and the feeling you get from taking control of your life, is mind-blowing.

Just remember that you will not die doing things like this, and have you ever felt that when someone asked you out, they shouldn’t have? Probably not as much as you feel flattered that they did.

Shoes of Prey

Jodie Fox – founder Shoes of Prey | Picture: Edwina Pickles

How often have you been in a shoe store, looking for that perfect pair and you just can’t find it? Maybe you already have a too detailed idea of what it should look like and the offers are never just quite right, or you’re looking for something to match those new jeans or skirt and it just doesn’t want to match.

The Australian business Shoes of Prey has found a (fun and affordable!) way to fix this annoying problem. As a costumer you can customize your own shoes in a few very easy and user-friendly fashion, letting you choose everything from the shape of the shoe, the heel height, materials, colours, etc.

The brand started in 2009 as the first customizable women’s shoe brand launched on a global scale and has since then helped shoppers create over a trillion designs on its website and has produced over a million handmade shoes. If you need inspiration to help you with your shoe design, you can click on the website’s gallery to see what like minded women from all over the world have cooked up.

During and after the designing process you can take a look at your creative outburst from a 360 degree angle, and if you want to review your designs later with a fresh pair of eyes you can save it on your account. It can of course be very difficult to make a decision based on what you see on a screen and without touching and trying something on first. That’s where their awesome return policy comes in: if a customer receives a pair of shoes she isn’t happy with, she’s got a year to return them – no questions asked!

Shoes of Prey on Facebook

Richard Avedon exhibition London

Richard Avedon | Twiggy

After living in Berlin for two and a half years I thought I had made myself immune to the ‘New Year’s Eve curse’ that seems to linger all throughout the year: no matter where you are and what you’re doing, there’s always something more cool, exciting, and legendary you could be doing.

I was not prepared for the curse to move abroad though. After finding out that there is a Richard Avedon exhibition on London, I really wish I would be in London for whatever reason so I could just pop into the Gagosian Gallery to see this exhibition of photographer Richard Avedon in real life.

The New York Times after Richard Avedon’s death in 2004:

Avedon revolutionized the 20th century art of fashion photography, imbuing it with touches of both gritty realism and outrageous fantasy and instilling it with a relentlessly experimental drive

The exhibition shows a selection of photographs from the 1960s and 1970s, specifically focusing on one of the core ideas of Avedon’s fashion photography; images of women in motion, and features beautiful pictures of big names such as Gisele Bündchen and old-time favourite Twiggy.

The exhibition runs until October 26 at the Gagosian Gallery in London.

The Blame Game

The Blame Game

I had a talk with a friend and his younger sister a few weeks ago after I had just gotten my new tattoo. We got to talking about tattoos and tattooshops in Berlin. I recommended one to her, and my friend, initially worried about his little sister and her tattoos, revealed that even he might want to get a big piece himself next year and that was it. Or so I thought. A few weeks later, the younger sister had gotten a tattoo, on the same spot on her body as I had gotten mine. My friend jokingly became ‘angry’ with me and implied that she had gotten the tattoo because I had been talking so positively about mine.

I understand you want to blame somebody else for your own weaknesses and challenges – you can come over but you can’t smoke, otherwise I will smoke as well! – but why feel the need to blame others for mistakes of people close to you?

I don’t say I’m guilt free of any form of ‘the blame game’. In my case, I tend to point out things around me that make my mistake feel less bad towards myself. Example; I was in a car with a friend of mine in Canada, and we had just gotten coffee (if that’s what you can call it) at Tim Horton’s at a stop next to a highway. I was sitting in the passenger seat, trying to open my sandwich bag with my cappuccino held together by my knees when my friend accelerated and the contents of the full coffee cup spilt all over my jeans and the passenger seat. My friend exclaimed “oh my god! what are you doing?” and after apologizing, I immediately said “to be fair though, your car is a fucking mess already” (which it was, but that’s beside the point). I shift the blame onto the messy car to make my stupid action seem less bad, even though it is quite irrelevant.

We are all responsible for our own mistakes and often learn the best after we’ve fallen ourselves, instead of steering clear after someone warning us. I know I’ve made mistakes I could not have learned from if I had not actually made them. Why do we then feel the need to protect the ones we love by shifting responsibility for their actions towards the influences around them. In the tattoo case, had it not been me (if it even was), it would have been someone else. And would it not have been someone else, something else would’ve done the trick.

Do we find our loved ones weak but we simply don’t want to admit it? Does it come from an uncertainty within ourselves, meaning we find ourselves too weak to protect the ones we love? Or is it simply that we sleep better at night, knowing we are less to blame for the pain or bad choices of our friends and families, making it easier to close our eyes when we’ve shifted responsibility to an external enemy?

HBS – In Deep Owl

HBS – In Deep Owl

Ben Shepherd was Soundgarden’s bass player from 1990 until their break-up in 1997. The Japan born bassist hit a rough patch after Soundgarden decided to call it quits. As he told the magazine Spin: “Soundgarden broke up; my other band, Hater, broke up; my fiancée broke up with me; and then I broke three ribs. I got addicted to pain pills, drank a ton, and wound up OD’ing on morphine. I was laid out in my house for five days, and no one knew it. It was a fucking horrible time – this total rock & roll cliché.”

Now with Soundgarden reunited and on tour, promoting the well received album King Animal (amazing!) and Ben’s first solo record freshly released, the talented musician seems to be doing a lot better. His journey to hell and back has however proven to be a interesting basis for his solo record.

Like the last Soundgarden album, this is not a piece of art that you will appreciate immediately. It takes a few spins of the record to get used to this sound and style, something I would call in a nutshell timeless grown up grunge.
It almost feels like an older man playing like a kid and goofing around with instruments and a tape recorder on his attic but you can feel the hidden knowledge of a seasoned musician. The album is versatile in song styles but holds is own as an absurd collection of songs that sounds like it could’ve been made 40 years ago as well as last year.

A lot of the songs feel like an early Tom Waits and a recent Leonard Cohen in an acoustic grungy coating. From time to time it even reminds me of the stonerrock of The Dandy Warhols (‘Loose Ends’) and the strange sounds and unconventional instruments even wink to Rocco DeLuca from time to time. In songs such as ‘Veritas’ and ‘Baron Robber’ you can hear faint reflections of Soundgarden but the general sound of production and, of course, the voice is so completely different that you won’t make the connection unless you know of it in advance.

All in all an interesting album by an interesting musician. It’s definitely not for everyone but I urge you to give the album a second change if you’re not impressed on first listen, you might like what’s underneath the surface.

Take an exclusive first look at a simple black and white video of Shepherd playing the beautiful song ‘Collide’ acoustically on Rolling Stone.

Vogue on Vivienne Westwood

Sienna Miller, Vivienne Westwood and Andreas Kronthaler | http://www.viviennewestwood.co.uk

In a previous life, two classmates and I decided to do our major report in the final year of high school on the Punk movement of the ’70s. It covered much ground – a little bit of music, Sociology, a creative aspect, and History, what more can teachers desire? – and it was for us, alternative outcasts, an interesting and inspiring topic.

During my teen years I was never really interested in fashion – up until then I expressed myself in my looks through pink pixie hair, home made dreadlocks (fail!), baggy pants and the whole shebang – but getting deeper into this political movement, how can you not stumble upon and be captivated by Vivienne Westwood? I remember being genuinely surprised that fashion could also be edgy, a political statement, and so well known and respected even if it’s out of the ordinary.

My teenage excitement and curiosity for this one-of-a-kind-breed-of-a-woman got rekindled when I found out just a few days ago that the series ‘Vogue on Designers’ have now released a ‘Vogue on Vivienne Westwood’ book. The concept of the book series is simple: the pages contain sketches and photography from the Condé Nast archive, and will offer Vogue’s view of what makes the designer so influential. Designers they have focussed on in the past are Dior, Givenchy, and Chanel to name but a few.

Linda Watson, renowned fashion writer and author of Vogue On Vivienne Westwood, assisted Westwood on two collections before switching to journalism. “Historically, Vivienne Westwood’s contribution to fashion is unsurpassed,” Watson told Vogue. “For over 40 years she’s questioned the status quo. Punk is a case in point. Created in the Seventies, its impact is still evident today. Since then, she’s become the queen of experimental cutting, relentlessly combining innovation with tradition.”

The book looks back on her origins in punk, brings some of her most daring and risqué designs into the spotlight, and explore the still flourishing career of Britain’s reigning fashion queen.

Some of my personal favourite designs by Vivienne Westwood:

Vivienne Westwood

Vivienne Westwood

Vivienne Westwood

Vivienne Westwood

Vogue On Vivienne Westwood is now available on Amazon for only €15,95!

To travel is better than to arrive

To travel is better than to arrive. The meaning of this quote is ‘the journey is more important than the destination’, ultimately saying that you should cherish the path towards your destination and appreciating the obstacles you go through while trying to reach your goal and realizing it’s okay to not reach your destination, as long as the path if fulfilling. Ever since I heard my father say this inspiring quote to me when I was a little girl, I’ve had a slightly different, let’s say more shallow, meaning to this phrase. A very simply meaning, I don’t really care about when things I’m really looking forward to, don’t actually happen in the end.

Last Tuesday I was finally going to see one of my idols, Chris Cornell, live in Berlin. I had bought tickets to the Soundgarden concert and had been dreaming about it since that happy day. Unfortunately, on Monday I became sick and on Tuesday, I was not even slightly better. After dragging myself to the supermarket to get some food a few hours before the concert I realized it was going to be quite a tricky thing to get myself to the venue and manage to stay upright for three hours, let alone enjoy this amazing evening.

With pain in my heart I decided to sell my ticket last minute and buried myself under my blankets staring at the Chris Cornell poster next to my bed at 21.30 h, the time that Soundgarden had probably just entered the stage and I managed to sleep through the painful hours. Even though I was heartbroken that I would miss this concert that I had been looking forward to for months, I was still happy that I got to be happy about the anticipation; the looking forward to the event – ‘the traveling’ -, even though I never reached – ‘the destination’ -, the concert.

The heartache was manageable by the fun times I had before the moment of the concert; the sleepless nights I went through between finding out the concert would be happening and the day the tickets actually went on sale, the researching the set lists of previous concerts to prepare myself for ecstasy or disappointment, and the sweet taste of bragging and driving my flatmates and friends crazy with my bouncing anticipation of the approaching big day.

No one can take away the butterflies and anticipation I had in advance. Of course I’m sad that I miss a concert I’ve been looking forward to so much, but at least I got to enjoy the foreplay. And let’s be honest, who doesn’t like foreplay?

Mr. Whippy’s Frozen Yoghurt Truck

Mr. Whippy | http://www.mrwhippy.de

Mr. Whippy | http://www.mrwhippy.de

I hate foodstagram. The sport of taking pictures of something you cooked and are about to put in your mouth and digest, simply to stay alive – I just don’t get it. You don’t see people tweeting ‘I just took a breath!’, get over it.
It might make you wonder why it would be okay to blog about food instead. Well, this case is different ( 😉 !). Mr. Whippy is not about food, it’s about treating yourself to pleasure and supporting a local business.
Because mr. Whippy does not just saturate your hunger, it prickles your brain in the little game of trying to find the perfect combination of toppings (what a stretch in my brain to pick two toppings from my favorites coconut, krokant, strawberries, and chunks of Oreo cookies) and it literally makes me and my friends happy; whenever we find out that mr. Whippy is near – once in a while he parks (on request) on our media spree and me and my colleagues go undercover on Coca Cola property to get a piece of the good stuff – it sincerely brightens up our day.
I’ve tried other Frozen Yoghurts in Berlin but they’re just not the same.

Me and my colleague enjoying Frozen Yoghurt at work

So get it while it’s hot (cold), discover your favorite topping-mix and help spread the love!

http://www.mrwhippy.de

Mr. Whippy on Facebook

The Gun Seller – book review

Hugh Laurie – The Gun Seller

Books can be like wine. Leave them collecting dust for a couple of years and they might get that much better, more interesting, even relevant as it’s hard to see a world you live in when you’re in the eye of the storm. How much I love reading books where the characters don’t have cell phones and still write post cards home instead of quick texts and Facebook messages.

Cold-blooded murder just isn’t Thomas Lang’s cup of tea. Offered a bundle to assassinate an American industrialist, he opts to warn the intended victim instead — a good deed that soon takes a bad turn. Quicker than he can down a shot of his favorite whiskey, Lang is bashing heads with a Buddha statue, matching wits with evil billionaires, and putting his life (among other things) in the hands of a bevy of femmes fatales. Up against rogue CIA agents, wannabe terrorists, and an arms dealer looking to make a high-tech killing, Lang’s out to save the leggy lady he has come to love…and prevent an international bloodbath to boot.

The Gun Seller by multi-talented Hugh Laurie, whom you will most likely know from the American hit series House is one of those books. Add to that that Hugh Laurie has a refreshing sense of humor (did you know that he used to be comedy BFF’s with Stephen Fry?) and a stop-take-a-step-back-and-laugh writing style and you’ve got yourself a funny and exciting book.

Here and there the story gets lost (so many details to the story!) and the characters go over-the-top but everything is written with so much control that it’s absolutely okay. Sometimes Laurie even points out how ridiculous the plot is in the head of the character but pokes fun of ‘how can anyone come up with that?’, making it a charming way to get away with a Hollywood storyline. I feel ‘charming’ is a good word for the book in general.

Unfortunately, about two-thirds into the book I felt lost for a good 10% of the book. Having said that, the writing style and humor in the book is so good that I did not mind not following the story and just soaking up the words for that 10% and eventually I caught on with what was happening again.

All in all, it’s a fresh, funny, and charming book. I will be honest – the fact that the main character is totally the Jason-Statham-with-British-wit-and-honest-fear-type-of-guy which I find immensely attractive might have something to do with why I liked it so much 😉

If you’re into good, funny, original books and witty reads – this is definitely a good choice.

Female responsibility

Carrie and Natasha in Sex and the City

Recently, I heard one of my colleagues Lisa (25) talk about her weekend with two other female colleagues. She was telling a story about how she went to a party on Friday night and met an amazing guy who unfortunately lived in a city two hours away. Being completely absorbed in my work, I was not fully listening to the conversation at first, but something in the tone of her voice while she was talking about this guy, made me turn around and join in the conversation. Apparently, this amazing guy, had a girlfriend.

She was disappointed because he was SO amazing and they had been having deep conversations all night and she felt very connected to him. “But, you know, he said he wouldn’t leave his girlfriend so that’s it”, she said with a tone of ‘so that’s the end of it’. I didn’t believe her so I pressed on and she said with a hint of embarrassment that they had, indeed, kissed at the end of the night. But she felt he was bad news and that it would be better to stay away from him. We were in the middle of our ‘oh my god’s!’ when her phone buzzed. It was him. Vaguely wondering in the back of my mind why they exchanged phone numbers at all in this unfortunate situation, she said with excitement in her eyes that he said in the text that he would be in town this Friday for business, and that they could meet for dinner. I asked her if she thought it was a good idea to go out to dinner together after stating the facts of the evening again. “Oh that’s fine. We can have a dinner as civilized grown-ups and you know, as long as we don’t drink, nothing will happen.”

The Monday after, we were all waiting expectantly to hear about her dinner and, surprise – it turned out that they had had a few drinks and ended up in bed together. Us female colleagues got into a heated discussion and to my surprise, different opinions arose. A single 25-year old, Avril, thought it wasn’t Lisa’s problem and that she should go after what she wanted. Bella, our 30-year colleague who has been in a steady relationship for four years, was appalled. As there had obviously been a deeper connection, it was even worse than if they had just had a drunk one night stand. For her, imagining her boyfriend sleeping with somebody else was not the worst, but the fact that he had obvious interest in this girl, in this case Lisa, and had gone for it anyway, was worse. I myself was confused that Lisa had gone to the dinner at all, let alone exchange phone numbers, and felt that she should’ve sensed a glimpse of “female responsibility”. Isn’t it bad enough that guys seem to be easier in these situations, shouldn’t we support our fellow females; say no and stay away from these situations to help each other out? Nobody wants to be ‘that girl’, right?

It makes me wonder. Nobody wants to be the person cheated on, but do we want to be the person the cheaters are cheating with? Shouldn’t knowing that there is a girlfriend out there somewhere who will be hurt by her unfaithful boyfriend be a massive red flag? Is it up to us to keep a boyfriend from cheating, or is it really the cheaters responsibility?

Celebrity fashion designs for pro-gay charity UK

Gay is hot. Ever since Russia’s president Putin signed new controversial laws against being LGTB (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) in Russia, it seems the rest of the world, as a counter effect, is becoming more pro-gay by the minute.
What’s happening in Russia is an ugly thing, but the rest of world is shining with beauty in our fierce vocalization of disapproval.

Tilda Swinton risking imprisonment in Moscow

Celebrities from all over the world have showed their anger and raised their voice against the Russian law in different inspiring ways; Tilda Swinton risked her freedom by taking a picture with a gay flag in Moskow, Stephen Fry inspired us to think about boycotting the Olympics in his moving and viral open letter to David Cameron and the IOC, hearts were breaking when Wentworth Miller (star of the drama series Prison Break) came out in protest against the law, declining an invitation for a film festival hosted in St. Petersburg – now models and musical stars have taken on a fashionable stand to support Stonewall, a lesbian, gay and bisexual charity in the UK.

Celebrities such as Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Kylie Minogue, and Elton John use Adidas’ celebrated tennis trainer, the Stan Smith, as a blank canvas, creating one-off pieces of art that will be auctioned and then briefly exhibited, to raise money and awareness for the UK’s Lesbian, Gay & Bi-sexual equality charity Stonewall in collaboration with Platform Six.

Kate Moss’ Adidas design for Stonewall

William Baker’s Adidas design for Stonewall

Kylie Minogue’s Adidas design for Stonewall

The results will be on display at the Bargehouse in London from today until September 14th so if you’re in London, check them out!

Check out the Stonewall website, Twitter and Facebook for more information.

Imperial Tattoo Toronto

Last month I was in Canada to visit friends and help them build their house in the woods by a lake for a month. Apart from helping with the build, seeing them and enjoying a long holiday without internet, I had an alterier motive; I wanted to finish my novel.
To celebrate this milestone (this is my first novel) I wanted to get a tattoo, and since I was ending this amazing experience in Canada, why not get the tattoo in Canada?

Luckily, my friend Ali had lived in Toronto for years and knew the owner of an amazing tattoo shop she immediately recommended to me, Imperial Tattoo. I managed to get an appointment with Arthur Mills and as I was nervously describing to him what kind of tattoo I wanted during our intake, he seemed to immediately grasp what I meant and I was out the door with a tattoo-appointment and a tremendous amount of butterflies of excitement just ten minutes later.

Preparing for my tattoo with Arthur Mills at Imperial Tattoo Toronto

Saturday morning, the day of my appointment, I wake up drenched in sweat. I gasp and quickly check my arm and release my gasp in a sigh of relief when I realize my dream was not real: I dreamed that Arthur wanted to tattoo a peacock’s tail all along my forearm and part of my hand and even after screaming at him I didn’t want that he wouldn’t understand what the fuss was about. I realized this was fear because, for the first time, I hadn’t seen the actual drawing I was getting tattooed in advance.

When I arrived for my appointment, my heart thumping and my brow etched in a crease after my horrible dream, Arthur showed me an A4 paper with a few outlines of my feather with different kind of ‘flows’ and I got to choose what kind of movement I wanted. After I picked he said he had to draw up the sketch and he’d be back in 5 minutes. My nerves were lessened when I saw the back piece that Ronan Gibney, Ali’s friend and the owner of the shop, was working on (AMAZING!) but resurfaced when I realized I still hadn’t seen my drawing and Arthur was ‘just quickly drawing it up’. Keep. Breathing.

When Arthur came to pick me up from Ronan’s working space to prepare me for my own much, much smaller little tattoo he showed me the drawing and all my worries flew out the window like a released caged bird. Without me knowing exactly what I wanted, he had drawn it for me with so much precision and detail I wanted to throw myself at him for a hug.

Arthur Mills tattooing me at Imperial Tattoo Toronto

Arthur Mills tattooing me at Imperial Tattoo Toronto

Half an hour later he was done, it hardly hurt in comparison to my other tattoos and I was a happy little camper.

I want to take this opportunity to recommend Imperial Tattoo; not just because the artists are top notch amazing and you don’t have to wait 6 months for an appointment, also because the shop feels comfortable, professional, clean and welcoming in their industrial loft space. The privacy of the work spaces for the artists makes you feel very comfortable. All the tattoo-artists are really, really nice and down-to-earth and you can see and feel they know what they’re talking about and they seem to get excited about your ideas and tattoos as well, even if you’re just getting a tiny little feather on your forearm and nothing challenging for them. They realize the tattoo-business is not just for bikers and gangs anymore and that for the regular people who want to get a tattoo, it’s a big deal. And if you ever want to get a portrait done, Ronan is definitely your guy!!!

Imperial Tattoo on Facebook and on Twitter & Ronan on Instagram

The endresult after healing

Blackbird handmade jewelry Toronto

Vanessa and Regan | Blackbird jewelry Toronto

At the end of July I was in Toronto, Canada and right after getting my tattoo at Imperial Tattoos (more on that later) on Ossington, we passed the space that my friend Ali had used for her vintage sale the week before and saw that there was another pop-up event happening. We walked in and had a quick chat with two very lovely (and pretty!) ladies Vanessa and Regan who told us they were the creative mind and productive hands behind ‘Blackbird’, a hand-made jewelry brand. I was very impressed with what I saw and thus very pleased when Vanessa happily agreed to do an interview with me over email when I came back to Berlin.

Vanessa Marino and Regan Hayes met in high school and began collaborating on various creative pursuits right from the start. Blackbird came about very organically: “we always knew we wanted to work together and one night while travelling through Europe we were stuck in a hostel waiting for a thunderstorm to clear and started to piece together what would eventually become the basis for Blackbird.“

Even though their designs are very elegant and smoothly made, what personally struck me most about their jewelry is the raw vibe it somehow has. When asking about that, Vanessa explains: “we like working with a range of materials and incorporating different textures into each piece. Gold, silver, and gun metal are standard for us but we like to mix in plexiglass and lucite, ropes, crystals, quills, rhinestone. Basically anything we can dream up and get our hands on. Blackbird is a about a juxtaposition of moods, elements and ideas. Masculine and feminine, hard and soft, and mixing materials is an important part of that. “

A few of my favourite items from their lookbooks/collections:

Skinwalker lookbook Fall/Spring 2012, Compass, gold |Photographer: Mathew Guido

Skinwalker lookbook Fall/Spring 2012, Braid |Photographer: Mathew Guido

Armour lookbook Fall/Spring 2013, Guillotine |Photographer: Mathew Guido

Armour lookbook Fall/Spring 2013, Sword, bronze |Photographer: Mathew Guido

The young entrepreneurs also had a piece of solid advice – something I realize I sometimes have trouble with in my own projects. “The most important part of our business is balance. We love what we do and are consistently working and creating and dreaming. So it can sometimes be hard to turn off the lights and just go to sleep.” Besides balancing their jewelry brand and hosting pop-up shops around Toronto, Blackbird also makes jewelry by request: “we love one of a kind creations. We often do special pieces for charity or brides. Because everything is handmade in Toronto, it’s easy for us to collaborate upon request.”

Vanessa and Regan host Blackbird Pop Ups in Toronto many times throughout the year. To keep an eye out, check out their website and Facebook.

We’re “together” now

‘We’re “together” now’

About a year ago I met a guy in my German language class. He was a 29-year old, quite attractive French law graduate named Adrien. We got along very well and after the course had ended, we kept seeing each other a lot. The night before New Year’s Eve we were out for a drink and one thing led to another and it eventually led to five weeks of dating. After those five weeks we realized we were not in love with each other and that we wanted different things from a relationship so decided to stop dating and continue as friends as that had worked better. We both travelled a lot after that and were busy with our jobs and life in general, so needless to say, we didn’t see each other quite as often. Invitations for different house warming parties and concerts were exchanged so I was not very surprised when he sent me a message the day after my birthday to congratulate me.

I was online when receiving this message so we started chatting and I asked him if he would be coming to my birthday party two days later. He said he wouldn’t be in town so he wouldn’t be able to make it. I told him to give me a ring when back in town so we could have a coffee and catch up. He thanked me for the invitation but declined, saying ‘my girl wouldn’t like that’. It does not happen often, but I was flabbergasted. Not about the fact that he had a girlfriend – he was very much ready for a serious relationship – but about the fact that we apparently couldn’t meet for a coffee as friends. I replied casually ‘why would that be a problem? It’s not like I’m hitting on you haha’. He said his girlfriend didn’t like it when he met with ‘exes’. I exploded into shock so I said I thought it was ridiculous, told him to grow a pair and that I wished him good luck with that.

I was in the middle of unfriending him on Facebook (no need to keep a ‘friend’ who you are not allowed to see in real life, right?) when I received a reply. It was his girlfriend.

The message started off nice enough with wishing me a happy birthday and the information that she had just celebrated her birthday herself. Soon enough the gloves came off and the claws came out. ‘Not sure what I had meant by ‘wishing him luck with that’ but she pitied me and my tone of voice. Goodbye.’ My hands were in my hair and definitely itching – who was this (excuse my French) bitch whom I had never met replying for him and telling me she pitied me. In conflict with my rational head, my hands were already writing a friendly reply that I had not meant harm by my comment but that I simply thought it was ridiculous that I was counted as ‘ex’ and was therefor ‘not allowed’ to meet up for a casual coffee. I wrote grow a pair simply because I felt it was his obligation to explain to her that this situation was nothing sexual or flirty and that he should have had the decency to explain that to her. What happened after that, I still cannot quite comprehend.

A flow of digital jealous frenzy came pouring my way through the screen and with each sentence my disbelief grew stronger. It went from her seeing ‘no reason whatsoever that I should want to meet with him’ via ‘them living together now so she definitely had a say in this’ to ‘it being rude for me to ask him out for a coffee and not inviting her since they were ‘together now’ and that all his friends had the decency to invite her to all social events and that I had not which was, once again, a pity’. I did not reply after this but closed the screen with disbelief and confusion. Had I just been digitally ‘told off’ by a jealous girlfriend of a friend who I had happened to date a month or so a year ago?

I wondered why I was ticked off by this girl who meant nothing to me and was, in my humble opinion, totally wrong. Was it because Adrien obviously had put his spine in this girlfriend’s hands and that made me a fool to have dated him? Was it because the girlfriend was obviously enjoying the power she had over her man, making me feel embarrassed about being confronted with a stereotype of a woman? Or was it perhaps that I, thinking I have it all figured out as an independent aiming-for-21st-century-success type of girl, did not have relationships and what the balance should be like all figured out and approached the difference between men and women all wrong? With the sexual revelation supposedly behind us and women and men becoming more equal, is that really what we should be aiming for in a relationship and is that something that also men aspire?

Alexander Skarsgård for Calvin Klein

Alexander Skarsgård for Calvin Klein

I recently had some time to spare on Frankfurt Airport and came across a new Calvin Klein ad with Alexander Skarsgård. A gorgeous man who happens to appear in films and tv-shows I sometimes like (Eric in True Blood), and sometimes I really don’t (Melancholia).

He’s also a model for Calvin Klein, need I say more?

Skarsgård stars in a 10-minute video for an amazing Calvin Klein fashion film for Provocations (I’m a sucker for good fashion films). Fabien Baron directed this film campaign (best known for his work at Interview magazine) and to put a cherry on top, the film features music by one of my favourite Icelandic composers Ólafur Arnalds.

It’s mysterious, beautiful, sexual, captivating, and the breath-taking images will stick with you for some time after watching it.

Enjoy.

Don’t have the time/patience to watch a ten-minute video? Here are some stills from the video which were later used as print/online ads.

Alexander Skarsgård for Calvin Klein

Alexander Skarsgård for Calvin Klein

Alexander Skarsgård for Calvin Klein

Alexander Skarsgård for Calvin Klein

Alexander Skarsgård for Calvin Klein

The Wolverine film review

Hugh Jackman as ‘Wolverine’

The X-Men film series is based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. In 2000 the first film came out (X-Men), followed by two more X-Men movies and two spin-offs. One spin-off was called X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) and the sequel to that, The Wolverine, was released in the USA on July 26 2013.

Movie: The Wolverine

Date of release: July 26 2013

Cinema: CineStar Berlin

3D

Plus: Hugh Jackman is on top of his game. Not just physically, but the torment that is etched on his face throughout the movie is very believable. It feels like he really has been around for centuries and has seen a lot. Plus somehow a hard, bitter man who softens up even just the slightest bit is sexy as hell.

Balance between comic book story telling and bad ass action hero is great. In general I’m a sucker for good action one-liners and bas-ass funny quotes. Wolverine had moments where he was bad-ass and cheeky in a typical action-movie way, but it was never lame. It always seem to stay just on the right side of the line where it’s still believable that he says these cheeky things because he’s been around for long, has seen it all and really doesn’t have ‘time for this bullshit’.

Minus: The story itself is half predictable and the other half confusing. The characters around the damsel in distress were not explored and significant enough to remember the exact relation and therefor causing confusion. That ninja was good, then bad and then good again – or was that the other guy?

Conclusion:

I wasn’t blown away and also not disappointed. There were definitely some epic moments, beautiful images and great acting (especially the scenes where Wolverine has nightmares). There were also moments where I knew exactly what was going to happen in a Hollywood kind of way and found the supporting characters (the female main role) could have had some more depth.

Having said that; the plus sides definitely made up for the down sides!

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Grade 1 – 10? 7,3!

Jennifer Lawrence for Vogue

Jennifer Lawrence – Vogue.com

Vogue is not a bible for me; simply an overpriced magazine with overpriced items inside but I can’t help admire the beautiful fashion pictures it contains. I’m not a big fan of the actors-turn-model-for-one-issue and often feel they’re mixing two worlds that don’t need to be mixed, like some people would say of a whisky and coke.

For the September issue of this year’s Vogue US however, they’ve asked Jennifer Lawrence (the 23-year old actress from ‘Hunger Games’ and ‘Silver Linings Playbook’) to shine on the most important cover (of the most important issue) of the year.

There’s something about Jennifer Lawrence. She’s beautiful, refreshing, goofy and simply an amazing actress. Anyone who has seen the interview after her fall on the Oscar stage while trying to climb the steps to receive her Oscar, has fallen in love with her a little bit.

Apart from the surprisingly stunning pictures, which is not always a given – sorry Katy Perry -, the editorial about the young Oscar winner is also very amusing.

Excerpt from Vogue US interview:
David O. Russell, the man who directed Lawrence to an Oscar in Silver Linings Playbook, remembers bumping into her during awards season, 2011. “I would see this tall blonde at events, and I never understood who she was,” he says. “She looked like an Orange County girl—or Malibu Barbie. And I was like, ‘Who is that?’ And someone would say, ‘That’s Jennifer Lawrence,’ and I would say, ‘The girl cooking a squirrel on a stick in Winter’s Bone?’ I never recognized her! She always looks different.”

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To read the full interview go to the entry on Vogue.com

Three buffed men in black

Berghain panorama bar; a famous, legendary, freaky techno club in Berlin for the young, hot and hip. I need to find the best outfit or they won’t let me in. I haven’t had eye shadow on my face in years but I’ve got to bring it all tonight or they won’t let me in. “Let’s play the gay-card, they might let us in for sure!”Unfortunately, the 2ndmale-player to actually play the gay-card has a date with a Russian girl so he’s out of the picture. “If they don’t let us in, flash your boobs!” “Maybe you should flash them anyway and they might let us in for sure!”

One hour, one make-up and dressing session and half a liter of beer later, we are on the way. The building is not impressive, but the three buffed men in black at the entrance sure are. In line we talk more tactics but I just say: “well, we can’t really change anything about it anyway, so we’ll see”, but you can see every brain waiting in line calculating their chances. It’s time. We’re up next. One of the guys looks us up and down and asks “zwei?”,we: “nein, drei”… “no, step out of line.”

As we walk the short distance back to the taxi I hear my fellow party people arguing about why we didn’t get in. I wait for the feeling of rejection to kick in, for a door in the back of my mind to open a can of unknown insecurities but as I’m standing there in my party outfit and a summer jacket, I actually just feel cold. Next stop: Watergate. Same game, different club. This time, after rejecting the people in front of us, we get in.

As we stand in line to buy our tickets and get frisked, I wait for the feeling of victory to kick in but all I feel is the frustration of having to pay € 12,- entrance for the party. After ordering a beer for € 4,- (!) we immerge ourselves to the dance floor. The DJ is ugly with an ‘80’s mustache but he’s good and I’m surrounded by young, hot and hip people. At least, I think so because it’s so dark I can’t recognize any features of my fellow young, hot and hip people standing further away than half a meter.

After an hour an a half of expensive drinks, dancing to techno and hurting my ears to the loud repetitive beat I think ‘fuck it’ and go home. Some people might argue that I should’ve stayed to ‘get my moneys worth’ but why waste my time in a place where I’m not enjoying myself? The only time I’ll pay €12,- to get in without blinking, is at the cinema. I’m not saying I don’t like dancing in clubs, and going out in anything other than a bar but the whole ‘being a young, hot and hip person in a young, hot and hip club in Berlin’ -game has been wasted on me from the start. For me, going out is a way to have fun and blow off steam, no matter what you look like or how much money you can spend. Because it doesn’t matter what clothes you wear or how much make-up you put on your face because the next day – hung over as hell in sweatpants and laziness – we’re all the same.

I should’ve told the DJ I loved his moustache.

Miley Cyrus photo shoot Terry Richardson

One of the pictures of Miley Cyrus’ photo shoot with Terry Richardson, August 15 2013

There are actors and musicians in this world that will never be able to shake off the role they played when they were young and will be forever known for it, or, they never move past it because they’re not given the chance. I mean, where did Jonathan Taylor Thomas from Home Improvement go? Luckily for Ryan Gosling, he was given the chance. However, I still see the nervous, skinny, non-sporty little dude with the early-Nick-Carter-days-haircut in the high school tv-series ‘Breaker High‘ – I just can’t get past it. But that’s a different story.

With all the former kid-stars being in the news lately in a negative way (think Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Bynes), it’s good to see a once-kid-star actually make it happen for herself as an (almost) adult. Miley Cyrus. She’s cheeky, doesn’t give a fuck, and knows what she’s got. She’s not a molded celebrity who lost touch with reality and will do anything to stay famous. It appears Miley Cyrus is much more down to earth, knows her sexuality but doesn’t necessarily exploit it and really just does what she wants, and gets respected for it.

How else would you get Will.I.Am and Pharrell excited to work on your album with you?

Just last week, she did a photo shoot with famous photographer Terry Richardson, a unique character of his own, and the pictures were posted on his online blog. It’s funny, weird, raw, sexual, and she’s not afraid to get ugly. Hannah who?

Go to Terry Richardson’s blog to see all photo’s.

One of the pictures of Miley Cyrus’ photo shoot with Terry Richardson, August 15 2013

Miley Cyrus’ new album ‘Bangerz’ will be released on October 8.

Into the wild – book review

Official picture taken from the film ‘Into the Wild’, 2007

As a great Eddie Vedder fan, I saw the film Into the Wild – based on a true story – a few years ago without any expectations except loving the soundtrack, which I naturally already did before taking the time to watch the film. Besides becoming an instant fan of Kristen Stewart, I was immediately intrigued by the story of Chris McCandless and thought the movie was nicely done to tell the tale, assuming a lot of the side characters Chris meets on the road were Hollywood-written.

Spending a month in the woods in Canada, I felt it was finally time to pick up my copy of the book Into the Wild, which I had in my possession for over a year.

I devoured the book in three days laughing out loud, gasping, and wiping the occasional tear. Seriously? Yes, seriously.

I was struck by the detailed research and form of telling the tale of Chris McCandless life and journey by Jon Krakauer. Grasping what I believe is the essence in all different aspects of the last years of his life, with a logic and humble conclusion all the while warning the reader that it might be different from how you perceive it.

This is something that occupies my mind frequently in every day life and found it refreshing, liberating, and comforting to read a story that is based exactly on that concept: facts and point of view.

Krakauer constantly reminds the reader that what he takes from it might be quite different from what you, the reader, might take from it (even though I am mostly ‘on his side’). A style of ‘objective truth’ that comes back in the aspect of the book where different people say different things about Chris, who met him in his final years. An important angle which, I think, is a big piece of the puzzle that I hadn’t realized was missing in the film.

Even though I’ve finished two other books in the mean time, Into the Wild and the story about this idealistic and motivated kid is all I seem to think, talk and dream about for the past few weeks. In a weird way – since the story isn’t all rainbows and butterflies and definitely doesn’t have a glorious happy ending – the story is inspiring and moving and, as a 24-year old, makes you think about life and your purpose in it.