DIY Halloween Masquerade

It's that time of the year again! Admittedly, there's only so much you can still do in preparing the world's best Halloween costume, as October 31st is only two days away. So, unless you've got a naughty nurse costume hanging in the closet or some pretty creepy hobbies that you keep hidden from mom and dad, it's crunch time!
Do not despair, there's plenty of cool ideas one can come up with even on a short notice. An option that proves to be both low-priced and easy to make is a do-it-yourself mask. A masquerade is a glamourous way to dress up with little effort involved. What you wear with it is up to you, so feel free to either go over-the-top in a fancy cocktail dress or stay casual with a black shirt and a pair of Levi's.

What you will need:
- a plain paper/plastic mask (usually priced at around 3€ & available in all shapes/colors)
- sequins, glitter, ribbons, trimming,... anything appealing you find around the house/at the next department store
- feathers (always look nice and give the mask a more extravagant feel to it)
- glue (you'll have a hard time without this one)
- a little bit of creativity

Now... get crazy! Perhaps it would be a good idea to make some sketches on a piece of paper before you start glueing stuff onto the mask. Also, think about which color spectrum you're looking at. Gold, red, dark green (looks good with peacock-feathers!) and black usually look more glamourous than blue or pink, which are more flashy. However, sometimes sticking to just one color plus a little gold or silver can create a nicer effect than going overboard on the colorwheel. The two images below are great examples of masks that seem rather simplistic at first, but reveal intricate design and complicated handiwork at a second glance.

in retrospect: rave for the environment

I didn't go to the parade to take great photography or shoot award-winning film material. I participated because climate change is a very important issue to me, because I think taking action is always better than simply discussing a matter and its pressing importance. I took part because it sounded like a great idea to spend the day dancing through Berlin with my friends and 350 other people.

Therefore, don't get your guns out when you watch my cinematic snippets of the event.

I was temporarily traumatized after handing back my headphones and finding myself without the tunes of Dirty Doering, which explains why my imbecile self conducted the interview with Peter Esser in German, rather than in English (as I had originally planned). Apologies go out to anyone not understanding a word of what he's saying.

Enough with the rambling ... enjoy!

hey mamaa, i wanna go surfing!

make a change - have a party!

These days, raising awareness works best when firm conviction for your cause is paired with creativity and some kind of appeal for pop culture... On Ocotber 24th, people all over the world will come together and protest against the sky-rocketing amounts of CO2-emissions global industries are still producing. Here in Berlin, the protest will take place in form of a Silent Climate Parade.

The concept is simple: 350 people may pre-register online for a limited amount of headphones. These will be distributed at Potsdamer Platz (in front of the Ritz) at 14:ooh on Saturday. Come 15:ooh, the legendary Dr. Motte (Love Parade, anyone?) and DJ Dirty Doering (Bar25) will feed these babies with finest electro beats - and you will start dancing! All participants will follow an eco-powered vehicle from Potsdamer Platz all the way to Alexanderplatz. For the exact route, click here. Nobody except those wearing the headphones will be able to hear a thing, so curious and confused looks from passersbys and tourists should be expected!

Here's your chance to engage in a good cause and have tons of fun while you're at it. The 350 haven't been reached yet, so registrations are still welcome on the official website.

See you on Saturday!! ;)

SEVEN SWEATERS

When it comes to vintage fashion, you either hate it or love it. Belonging to the latter group of people, I was absolutely stoked to find out my favourite thrift store here in Berlin was having its annual fall clear-out sale. Armed with some nutribars and a 1.5L bottle of evian water, I attacked racks and boxes and scrutinized every item on display. On my way home three hours later, I had 2 gigantic bags full of garments, shoes and handbags sitting next to me in the car... and only spent about 20€!

Among the clothes were seven sweaters, 1€ each. I've finally had some time to properly combine them with the rest of my clothes to test out their 'full potential', if you will... :)

For a more detailed look, simply click on the image to enlarge it.

ein ♥ für blogger

Following a tradition that's been established throughout the past few years, I will share with you 5 of my favourite online blogs. Why? There's a good amount of great blogs out there that you'd really enjoy, if you knew about them. Someone, I don't know who, started this a couple of years ago... I love the idea!



Anyways, here's the deal: Everyone keeping an online blog may use this day to honour 5 of his personal favourites. No restrictions on content or language... just go for it!

5 of my fave sources of inspiration (and procrastination, for that matter...)

1) Le Coolcats Blog - selected DJs and artists signed by the french record label ED BANGER share their thoughts and impressions of day-to-day life.

2) GLAMCANYON - if you've never seen Katja Hentschel's amazing photography, you're either not from Berlin, lacking an internet connection (unlikely, as you're currently viewing an online blog) or have been shacked up at home for the past years. This is one of her many projects, a streetstyle blog focused mainly on people in and from Berlin.

3) Dirtyglam - written by a young swedish girl. Concentrates on fashion, lifestyle and aesthetic photography. Ellen (that's her name) makes great 'inspirational collages', as she likes to call them.

4) Emma Nygren - having gained national media attention and popularity through this blog, Emma Nygren is now featured in the online version of the swedish ELLE and a regular at events surrounding the swedish fashion and lifestyle scene.

5) LesMads - Last but not least, LesMads! Theirs was one of the first german blogs about fashion, culture, lifestyle and art. If it weren't for LesMads, I probably wouldn't be writing a blog myself right now. Hint hint: extremely girly ;)

getting ink done

Have you ever considered getting a tattoo, perhaps during your 'rebellious teenage years'? A surprisingly large amount of people actually answers that question with 'yes', while the number of people that end up pulling through with it is considerably lower.

There's numerous reasons against getting a tattoo, the most convincing ones probably being the fact that finding employment proves to be more difficult and that... well... once you've got a tattoo, you've got it for a lifetime!

Wait- not neccesarily! A new trend emerging from (guess where...) the United States is the UV tattoo. UV tattoos are done in a special flourescent ink (colors range from titanium white to hot pink) and can only be seen under blacklight. While they've been around for the past 15 years, UV tattoos seem to be becoming more and more popular these days. They're easy to conceal during daytime and a great conversation-starter for nights out clubbing.

Negative aspects include heightened risks for allergic reactions and the fact thatUV tattoos are usually about 20% more expensive than the regular job. Decide for yourself and see below for some examples.

Ps. No worries, I myself am not planning to get ink done anytime soon ;)

picture of the day: which way are we gonna go?

affirmation of taste

Admittedly, the image accompanying my post on the overknee trend wasn't mindblowing, nor a qualitative highlight. To my defense, it was taken with my webcam as I am temporarily camera-less. However, I promised a follow-up... and while I am still unable to produce valuable photography, I did recover a couple of images from the web affirming my previous prediction. See below for streetstyle snapshots from the the Dior show at Paris Fashion Week.

Oh, overknees! ;)

Images via LesMads.

Je suis tombée en amour avec...

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