hearts on my knees

- Für Deutsch bitte runterscrollen! -

[EN] Ello people!

I had a rather quiet and uneventful weekend and am finally back with a new outfit post. Now that we are heading straight towards winter time here in Australia it gets dark early (5.30 pm) and I don't have the chance to take outfit photos after work anymore because it's already dark when I get home.

I'm trying to adapt by taking photos in the morning before work or when I'm on lunch break but neither am I good at getting up earlier, nor a fan of taking pics with the self-timer in the middle of the day with heaps of people walking past. I'm sure all of you who have done it before know these weird stares you get.

Jarryd always does a good job taking my photos on the weekend when we are out and about together, so I'll just try to stick to this routine too. 

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[DE] Hey ho!

Ich hatte ein eher ruhiges unspannendes Wochenende und bin endlich mit einem neuen Outfit Post zurück, juhu!

Jetzt wo wir hier in Australien mit strammen Schritten Richtung Winter stiefeln wird es schon ziemlich früh dunkel (17.30 Uhr) und ich schaffe es nach der Arbeit gar nicht mehr rechtzeitig nach Hause um noch Fotos machen zu können. Wenn ich daheim ankomme ist es immer schon dunkel.

Ich versuche mich an den neuen Tageslichtrhythmus anzupassen indem ich entweder morgens vor der Arbeit oder mittags in meiner Pause Fotos mache. Leider bin ich aber weder gut im Frühaufstehen, noch darin Fotos mit Selbstauslöser zu schießen während tausend Leute vorbeilaufen. All diese seltsamen Blicke, die man da zugeworfen bekommt, ihr kennt das sicher.

Jarryd ist aber inzwischen richtig gut im fotografieren und ich frage ihn immer wenn wir an den Wochenenden zusammen unterwegs sind, ob er mal schnell knippsen kann. Ich hoffe wir behalten diese Routine auch in Zukunft bei.

 

 

// cardigan: temt // necklace: accessorize // dress: cotton on // belt: vintage

// tights: dangerfield // shoes: kmart //

[EN] Okay, let's talk outfit now for a second.

I am SO in love with my cozy new asymmetric cardigan! I had been looking for such a piece in such a beautiful shade of army green forever and finally found it the other day. I shouldn't have spent the money as I have to save up but that day I was so frustrated. I spent ages at the Department of Transport to get my German driving license changed over for Australia and they were just such idiots and I was soo upset, so I went to the mall afterwards to reward myself for not killing anyone that afternoon! The tartan dress had to come home with me too because you can never have enough checkered pieces in your wardrobe and the cardigan alone did just not make up enough for the stupidity I had to put up with before.

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[DE] Okay, jetzt mal was zum Outfit.
Ich liebe meine neue kuschelige asymmetrische Strickjacke SO sehr! Ich hatte schon so lange so einen Cardigan in so einem schönen Army Grün gesucht und dann letztens endlich gefunden. Ich hätte eigentlich gar kein Geld ausgeben sollen weil ich sparen muss aber ich war an dem Tag so frustriert. Ich hatte mich geschlagene 3 Stunden beim Straßenverkehrsamt rumgeärgert um meinen deutschen Führerschein aud Australien umschreiben zu lassen und die Beamten da waren (genau wie in Deutschland) solche Vollidioten und ich war so genervt... Also bin ich danach erstmal ins Einkaufszentrum gegangen um mich abzuregen. Ich brauchte eine Belohnung dafür, dass ich an diesem Nachmittag keinen Mord begangen habe!
Das Holzfäller-Shirtkleid musste dann direkt auch noch mit weil man eh nie genug Kariertes im Schrank haben kann und der Cardigan alleine nicht Belohnung genug war für den ganzen Bullshit mit dem ich mich da im Amt rumgeschlagen hab.

[EN] What about you? Have you rewarded yourself with clothes, accessories or make-up for something lately? Leave me a comment.

Btw it would be uber cool if you could give my Facebook page a like please! :)

Have a lovely day!

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[DE] Und ihr so? Habt ihr euch in letzter Zeit auch für irgendetwas mit Klamotten, Accessoires oder Kosmetik belohnt? Erzählt mal was in den Kommentaren.

Übrigens wäre es megacool wenn ihr meine Facebook Seite liken könntet bitte! :)

Ich wünsche euch einen wundervollen Tag!

outfit essentials - a little wish list

 

Hallo Hallo!

[scroll down for English]

DE - Oha was isn jetzt los? Jetzt bloggt die plötzlich auf Deutsch oder was?

Ja! Ich hab mir überlegt, dass es doch viel schöner ist zusätzlich zum Englischen noch in meiner Muttersprache zu bloggen. Da kann man sich ja dann doch noch etwas präziser ausdrücken und noch mehr rumschwafeln (hähä, das wird was...). Also von nun an gibts Bad Taste Toast auch auf Deutsch.

Ich entschuldige mich direkt mal im Voraus für meine Kommasetzung, die ist nämlich katastrophal! 

Egal jetzt, weiter zu den wichtigen Themen: Shoppen!

Kennt ihr vielleicht den Versandhandel Witt-weiden?

Ich kenne den noch von früher als richtigen Katalog, so aus Papier und zum Blättern - ist ja heute kaum noch vorstellbar. Ich habe entdeckt, dass es den Shop noch immer gibt und dass sie ganz hübsche Sachen im Angebot haben. Im Internet-Zeitalter natürlich auch online bestellbar.

Ich hab vor lauter Freude mal meine Favoriten (Eulen! Nudetöne! Karos!) in einer kleinen Wunschliste zusammengefasst.

Achja: nicht wundern! In Deutschland naht zwar der Frühling, aber hier in Down Under warte ich sehnsüchtig auf den Herbst (ist ja alles andersrum), daher "autumn edition".

Zu finden sind diese Artikel übrigens, na klar, auf witt-weiden.de !

Habt einen schönen Tag meine Lieben!

 

EN -  Hello everyone!

Okay guys, just so you know what's going on above: I've decided to blog in my mothertongue too. Starting from today you will find my texts in English and German so nobody's excluded.

Anyways, now for something more important: Shopping!

When I was younger I remember my mum regularly receiving the Witt-Weiden catalogue - made of real paper and, yes, in the mail (that's how old I am!). The other day I discovered that this company still exists. They are a bit more modern and have some lovely clothes and home textiles! I've put together a little wishlist with my favourites (owls! nude tones! plaid!).

While the whole world is waiting for spring, here in Down Under autumn is approaching fast so I made the wishlist an "autumn edition".

All the items above can be found on witt-weiden.de!

Have a lovely day!



(all pictures borrowed from witt-weiden.de)

foxes and lace

Hello guys!

It's still August but this outfit shows that I am getting all excited and ready for autumn. It's the same as every year: I can't wait for cozy chunky knit pieces, all the hot pumpkin latte goodness, colourful fallen leaves and wrapping myself up in huge scarves to take a walk through the streets in cold weather. I love it! Hopefully I'll get as much autumn as possible before I leave for Australia.

I see the new collections with lovely coats, boots and cardigans in the shop windows everywhere and feel really tempted to stock up on warm pieces but always have to promise myself to not break my shopping ban. I also won't really need autumn/winter clothes as it will be summer in Perth when I go there. Soon I'll be wearing breezy dresses again, it seems so unreal to me.

What about you? Have you already bought some nice pieces for the colder season? What are your favourite autumn trends this year?

Leave me your replies in the comments.

Happy Thursday!

the moral issue: high street or second hand?

Hello loves!

The other day a friend's comment on Facebook called my attention and I've been thinking about it lately. Her comment went something along the lines of

"Since the opening everyone's running around with Primark bags, I'm so disgusted! Where does the clothing come from? Please read up on it!"

It is really hard to find out the truth about the circumstances under which c think ertan brands produce their items, but we're all clever enough to conclude that t-shirts for 3 € are most likely not fairtrade products that are produced under employee-friendly conditions. Instead they're probably from sweatshops in Bangladesh (or other poor countries) where people struggle to make a living with their really low wages - at least that's the worst case (and most often true) scenario.

I don't want to support this industry but I also don't want to be forced to spend 60 € on a t-shirt. Of course it's awesome to buy products that are 100% eco-friendly, fairtrade and were produced by sewers who get a decent wage but only if I can afford it.

At the moment my monthly income allows me to spend 50-100 € on clothing (or electronics or books or music or whatever luxury good I prefer). Yes of course I could buy cheaper groceries (but we have the same problem here: fairtrade and/or organic food is pricey), I could move to a cheaper flat and cut down on a million other things to save up for these fairtrade sweatshop-free brands which offer 60 € t-shirts - but hey no one can expect this from me, let's be realistic here! You might say I'm an egoistic bitch but I say there is a limit when it comes to sacrifices. 99% of the people in the world would never lower their life standards to improve the life of a sewer in Bangladesh because 99% of the people in the world are not Mother Teresa (that's my personal opinion, no official statistics by the way).

I'm not an egoistic bitch but I'm also not Mother Teresa, I just think there are other things we can do to indirectly boycot certain brands that exploit workers in poor countries: thrift shopping, upcycling and swapping.

It is only a small change but it's at least something to buy second hand clothes or upcycle or swap items.

I know it's ironic to post an outfit which includes Primark and H&M with such a post and I have to admit I bought this dress directly from Primark, but the cardigan, belt, shoes and bag are second hand. Sometimes I can't help but shop at the high street shops, however I try to mainly buy my clothing and accessories second hand on flea markets, in thrift shops or via Ebay. I've also swapped a lot in the last two years.

I think it's a really good thing that vintage clothing has become trendy again over the past years and that many people have developed an awareness of the fact that second hand does not mean shabby and worn-out.

Flea markets are so popular again now, they have been made more hip by adding live music, good food and organic lemonade stands. People are celebrating the reselling and buying of second hand stuff, the reuse, refurbishing and upcycling of old things. And the positive effect behind this new movement: we don't buy (as much) from high street shops and popular brands anymore.

Same thing with Etsy, DaWanda and similar websites: if you buy an item there it is handmade or second hand, you support small independent brands and self-employed designers and the money goes straight into their pockets.

Last but not least swapping: If you aks me it's the most genius concept ever. You can get rid of what you don't need anymore and get new things without even spending money. I once had the chance to talk to one of the founders of the very successful German swapping website Kleiderkreisel and she told me this idea for the website emerged out of the thought that it is wasteful and irresponsible to throw away clothes and spend money on new ones when you can swap instead.

I am interested in your opinions. Do you think about where the clothes come from when you buy them? Do you care or ignore the sweatshop problems in the fashion industry? Do you support fair brands and the higher prices for an overall better product and production quality?

Let me know what you think in the comments.

Happy Thursday! :)

cats and dogs

Hello loves!

How are you? I hope you're having a good week?

Mine has been uneventful so far, apart from some good news: I have teamed up with PersunMall.com, a lovely online shop for everything a girl's heart could desire clothing-wise. Their range consists of many beautiful dresses, tops, bottoms, shoes and accessories (you might remember my autumn/winter wish list?). Playful and cute print dresses, effortlessly cool oversized jumpers, sexy crop tops - you can find it all there for reasonable prices. They even order free international shipping, how good is that?!

PersunMall were so kind to send me this adorable little dog print blouse and I really couldn't wait for it to arrive. It's the Vintage Style Dog See-Through Shirt and as you can see it's the cutest piece ever!

When I first took it out of the bag I must admit it seemed a bit short. Online I had seen that it comes in a high-low style, which is awesome, but the front is really short and I wanted to save the world from seeing me in a belly top, so I went for the more elegant version and wore a high-waisted skirt with it.

As for the quality, it is made of breezy very light polyester, very comfortable and not itchy on the skin. Furthermore the fabric does not wrinkle, so I can decide wether I want to wear the shirt tucked in or not without any sign of wrinkles.

But what I like most about it are - of course - the cute dog print and the little golden collar tips.

How do you like this lovely little ensemble that makes cats and dogs collide? :)

A big *Thank you!* to PersunMall for sponsoring me this pretty blouse.

By the way if you would like to support them you can also follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Blogger or Youtube.

Happy Thursday!

now playing: letlive - casino columbus

the new just not right skirt

Hello readers!

No I'm not dead, but I have to apologize for not managing to post more than once a week. I'm sorry, but it's been crazily busy at both of my jobs and in addition to the stress I've also been struggling with an on-and-off cold and swollen tonsils since last week. It's a war, I'm seriously starting to believe that my body is working against me. Feeling good, feeling ill again, feeling good the next day, dang...

Anyway, I couldn't afford calling in sick at work so I pulled through last week, hence the blog neglection.

So finally here I am again with a new outfit post! The temperatures still don't want to rise much here, but at least the icy wind has vanished and it's possible to wear skirts without freezing off your private parts. At least that's something right?

I totally wanted to wear my new skirt because I adore the colour so much! So off I went with it today - and do you know these days when you're wearing a piece for the first time in daily life and notice that there's something just not right about it? Well, this skirt, my dear readers, is an asshole! As long as you stand still it will look super pretty with its flared shape and drapery in the front and all, but once you start walking, oh boy... In the back it will stick to your butt like glue and in the front it will crinkle and roll its seam inside and crawl up your thighs in less than a minute!

I kept pulling this stupid thing down each 5 minutes! All day! Damn you H+M!

Seriously people, if you see this skirt in their recent collection, don't throw away 10 € for it...

Happy Monday (well, as happy as this day can be)!

now playing: funeral for a friend - the distance

favourite february pieces

Hello guys!

I had absolutely no money to go shopping this month, but I have a couple of nice things lined up on my wish list that might be purchased next month - at least some of them. Can't wait for the next payday, seriously.

Until then I can dream...

// darth vader top // drop dead shirt // left cardi // right cardi //

// galaxy skirt // velvet skirt // eiffel tower dress // bunting sweater //

Oh if I could only buy them all....

Well, let's see what'll be in the mail next month.

Have a nice day guys!

now playing: radical face - ghost town

all that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream

Hi guys!

This is another planned post that publishes itself automatically while I'm on holiday in Barcelona.

This outfit is what I wore to work last week on a cold, rainy and windy day. It's already real fall weather in Düsseldorf and I'm beginning to layer shirts and wrap myself in cozy cardigans.
For an uneventful day at the office I chose my new favourite skinnies, they are super-comfy due to a lot of stretch. I finally fit into H&M's pants sizes properly, it's a miracle. Before my weight loss I was somewhere between 42 and 44, the former often too tight, the latter always too big.
Now I fit into a 40 perfectly, which makes life and pants-shopping so much easier (and cheaper).

It's crazy how you can see the change of seasons in the change of clothing now - I'm switching from flats to lace-ups, from light cardis to army parka, from breezy pants to jeans.
And from t-shirts to shirts with longer sleeves and wider cut so I can wear an undershirt (grandma always told me to keep my kidneys warm, that's an advice I will follow for the rest of my life to keep cystitis away).



Hooray for fall! I can't wait to stock up on cardigans when I'm back from sunny Barcelona! :)
Have you seen my first fall wishlist 2012 in my last post? I will hit the shops (and websites) to go treasure hunting as soon as I'm back in Germany.

Have a lovely day!