Mr.StrictlyIntimate
the Life, the Love and the Sex of Vienna.Archive for Label
One Step Closer to Reflecting Myself [Part IV]
Autumn is slowly coming and gently asking us to enter our hearts and closets and homes. Though being gentle in announcing oneself it rather intrudes us in a way we actually don’t want it to for we crave summer, sun and heat. But still, autumn is coming and so I think, ‘Embrace change. Embrace the chance to get yourself all dressed up in a new wardrobe, a new mood, a new interpretation of who you are. AND, embrace the wake up call to finally get your apartment done and ready for a colder season to follow, winter.’
Elle Decoration UK – October 2012 Cover
So after three phases and a short break I finally arrived in number IV: One Step Closer to Reflecting Myself
Phase I: On the Hunt (for the Perfect Apartment) [Part I]
Phase II: Designing a Happy Home [Part II]
Phase III: Bit by Bit [Part III]
To me, a home is where the heart is! Ergo: where my heart is there am I. Further ergo: Where I am there should be the real me; my own reflection; my own interpretation of who I am and who I want to be. Not just to myself but to anybody who comes into my private walls as a guest. Therefore, my personal space should be an addition to what I represent. When I enter the room I should feel as if it underlines my personality rather than projecting something that isn’t there, or presenting myself in a light that doesn’t fit the part. It would feel like someone trying to fit into an Alexander McQueen Couture gown though one knows one is completely Atelier Versace; meaning less feathers more sparkle. (Don’t get me wrong here: Alexander McQueen IS a part of my religious belief. Trust me, I worship him and now Sarah Burton for what they’ve created!)
Alexander McQueen Spring/Summer 2013
Alexander McQueen Spring/Summer 2013 Detail
Decorating and furnishing come together to be a process – a long lasting one. Not just a rush of emotions and motions that overwhelm your senses to tell you to simply get it done as soon as you can to get it over with. NO, if you want your apartment to reflect your innermost, your character, your ambitions, your motivations, your style, your fashion, your love and your passion for life; it takes some time to evolve.
That is what I did – I gave myself time to evolve within my new environment. For three months I have my own place now and it feels more like a home to me than anything has ever done. Every single day it comes closer to where I can say my heart is… but it isn’t perfect yet. To be honest, I don’t think it can ever be but at least it can be close to what I want it to be – a place where I can relax once I have entered the double doors; a place I can call home; a place where I can be myself without compromising, without having to apologize, without the necessity of defending flaws. Here I am perfect, if I want to be. If I feel like it.
Autumn calls for action – it calls for inspiration! And so I took my best friend ELLE Decoration out for some last walks in the sun trying to get inspired by what is around me; colors, shapes, shades, street signs, maps, people. I felt like a child in a candy store being surrounded by all those fabulous colors, spirits and voices. With a little help of VOGUE and GQ I always feel perfectly safe when it comes to my fashion choices but with my apartment I still feel like I do not have the grip on what is my style yet. At least not completely. BUT, every time I open ELLE Decoration I feel like I have IT, the one thing that makes me visualize fabrics and shapes, color schemes and patterns in a way I have never imagined before. Fashion isn’t just who or what you wear; it is how you live, how you furnish and how you decorate too!
So, for my bedroom I always felt white, completely – a white bed, a white big open closet, a white standing mirror and a white dresser. I always added color with just my clothes, the bedding and my big purple Prada box. But now I feel like those white walls finally need something new – I feel shapes, well, more like pattern. A mathematical pattern of triangles on two walls in an L-shaped constellation to surround my bed and my door while on the opposite wall only the closet with my beautiful clothes sets the tone. This, to me, sounds like a perfect equilibrium of fast moving, ever changing fashion versus unwinding, calming body and mind.
For the bedroom my eyes is on this triangle patterned wallpaper in Charcoal Grey/Off White called ‘Goldsmith’ by Custhom, £170 per 4m roll, Green and Fay:
ELLE Decoration UK Pattern Book S/S 2012
(picture: ELLE Decoration iPad APP)
For the bedroom as well as my living room I still have to find the perfect fabrics to decorate the windows but I am sure that these ideas will come up in no matter of time since I find myself to be in a very creative mood and a very inspired place right now. So, stay tuned for more and get yourself a little bit inspired by the last summer days until autumn conquers our hearts, wardrobes and homes.
XOXO
P.S.: Inspirational Song of the Day
JEM – Amazing
(as featured on the Motion Picture ‘Sex and the City: the Movie)
Burberry Prorsum: The S/S13 Amazement
Burberry Prorsum Womenswear Invitation
With tears in my eyes and a heart that was skipping a heavy beat every time a new outfit appeared on the runway, I was watching the Burberry Prorsum fashion show from London Fashion Week today. Let me tell you one thing, apart from the beautifully touching and perfectly fitting music, Christopher Bailey has created a Spring / Summer 2013 collection for Burberry that just blew me away and left me shivering breathlessly and speechlessly.
I just sat there staring at the amazingly drafted clothes and thought to myself, ‘THIS must be what heaven feels like.’
I know, this all might sound a bit overly dramatic but believe me if you’ve been through what I’ve been through and if fashion turned out to be the only thing that can save you from failing you will find yourself in a world where everything all of a sudden seems brighter and more beautiful just because you can dress up and go out; or simply wake up in the morning and jump out of bed because a new outfit is waiting for you; or you can just sit there, staring at your wardrobe putting together outfits for a whole week, losing yourself in the most precious of fabrics, designs, labels.
To this date, nothing made me feel more beautiful, precious and happy than wearing Burberry. It is not about people seeing the label you wear because mostly, they can’t see. It is just about the feeling it gives you to know you’ve bought yourself something that is marvelous in design and quality; reflecting tradition that was found back in 1856 with Thomas Burberry and that still lives on. It gives me the feeling that I can live on forever if I just work hard for all the goals I want to achieve; for all the dreams I have in mind; for all the love for fashion I have inside me – to let it all out and create something uniquely amazing. For myself, and for others.
Bright Metallic Trench Coat
Bright Metallic Trench Coat Detail
Metallic Python Vinyl Capelet
Metallic Python Vinyl Capelet Detail
Metallic Corset Jacket
Metallic Corset Jacket Detail
The collection couldn’t have been more inspiring, more soothing, and more diverse in fabric than it has been. We saw trench coats from metallic lurex mixed with a technical fabric to make it lightweight and comfortable yet perfectly structured. Also an amazingly bright, bold and beautiful capelet in metallic python leather and bright vinyl with a python leather laminated with reflective foil to act as a frame for the tailored transparent vinyl. Corset jackets made from metallic and silk fibres crafted in plissé fabric featuring a bustier bodice and corseted back to give a sculpted silhouette.
Peacock Feathered Trench Coat
Peacock Feathered Trench Coat Detail
Tailored Satin Capelet
Tailored Satin Capelet Detail
Sculptural Dégradé Bubble Coat
Sculptural Dégradé Bubble Coat Detail
What didn’t just make me gasp but let Anna Wintour surprisingly turn her sunglass protected head with amazement (there you see the connection to the headline) was the marvelously beautiful peacock feathered trench coat with iridescent peacock plumage rosettes, crafted using couture techniques. Each of these feathers was placed by hand and afterwards stitched into a geometric floral design. The trench is finished with a collar made of rich satin and heritage-influenced epaulettes, cuff straps and a satin belt.
Absolute highlights have been all those beautifully tailored capelets, especially the ones made from floating satin. The canopy shape shelters the shoulders from the cold and is detailed with a leather latch. The dégradé effect on the blue coat results from a design painted by hand. Printed on silk the hand painted color changes its character to a dramatic twist.
Laser-Cut Leather Caban
Laser-Cut Leather Caban Detail
Last but not least, I found this caban to be worth mentioning for its pure beauty! Crafted from rich leather in a unique lace design it is laminated with a thin layer of metallic foil while the leather is laser cut then washed to soften the metallic sheen.
If this collection doesn’t take away all the doubts of fashion haters that this world is uniquely rich of talent, depth and beauty I can just say screw you! What Christopher Bailey created for the Spring/Summer 2013 season is not just divine but one of the most beautiful Burberry Prorsum Womenswear collection I have ever seen! Kudos, Christopher Bailey!
XOXO
P.S.: All pictures courtesy of Burberry.co.uk. You can see the whole show and shop the looks exclusively for one week: Burberry Prorsum Spring/Summer 2013 Show.
The Airport
All packed with my favourite Burberry pieces and four killer outfits I am currently sitting in a café at the Vienna International Airport waiting for my boarding to begin. One more hour to go…
As I am sitting here I am observing the people in their partly hideous, partly glamorous, and partly weird outfits. I see green and red coloured hair. I see some Dior and I see some H&M. I see some people who care about what they are wearing and I see some who don’t – at all. I see MacBooks and iPads and HPs and Sonys. People with mobile phones in busy calls and people just typing or texting or playing with their iPhones and Samsungs and Nokias… I see people already drinking beer (am I the only one with a correctly working watch reading 10.57 am?) and I see some having coffee or tea or water. Wait… I need another coffee.
I sit here, observing all these people while listening to the new album of one of my favourite bands The Gaslight Anthem. ‘Handwritten’ was released in July by Mercury Records and is a masterpiece that stands for itself. Those who came across this band before will maybe know their major hit songs ‘The ’59 Sound’ or ‘Great Expectations,’ which is one of the few songs that nowadays really, really gets to me.
You know what? I love it here – I love the people uneasily looking at their watches every ten seconds just to make sure the plane doesn’t depart without them. I love the people busily occupied with themselves and the people wandering around to grab a bite, or a drink. I just love the busyness in the air – damn, I am addicted to that.
I will relax now to read my VOGUE – stay tuned because there is way more to come. Today is a very busy day.
XOXO
P.S.: Here’s a little hint on where I am really going:
Nelly Furtado – Spirit Indestructible
[Album: The Spirit Indestructible]
Trails of War [S02E04]
Outfit of the Day: blue Burberry swim pants; trench colored Burberry polo shirt with classic house check collar; black Guess Jeans; black vintage Gucci sunglasses and classic house checked hight-top Burberry sneakers again accompanied by the beige colored bag I bought at the market in Zagreb.
Change of an Outfit for the Evening: black big checked Burberry shirt; trench colored Burberry Trousers; classic bow tie from my childhood (yes, this bow tie really is about 17 years old!) and black shiny Burberry shoes accompanied by my Petar Petrov silk evening jacket and vintage Longchamp bag.
10.00am
Breakfast not at Tiffany’s but on our very own terrace. Since my sister decided to stay awake with three others until 6.30am we were the only one having breakfast together. Thank Burberry she doesn’t need that much of sleep because of sleeping through the days before. After half an hour of eating and enjoying the sun we diced that again the motto of the day has to be: ‘Summer, sun, beach read and Burberry.’ And me in the middle lying there with a perfect tan which seems to be a mixture of shiny red and most beautiful brown.
13.30am
Thoughts by the sea: ‘I sit here with my book on a stone in the middle of the sea. It is so cold that it is quite hard to keep my feet in it longer that a few seconds. Usually I am quite tough but it is relatively hard today. Maybe because I was lying in the sun for about two hours heating up my body. That makes it ten times worse. So I just sit here with my summer read ‘Summer and the City: A Carrie Diaries Novel’ by Candace Bushnell and think about how life could be in New York City and if my dreams of being a famous writer will ever come to life. You never know. I never know. I can’t know. Right now I doubt a lot. I am doubting myself 24 hours a day. I can’t stop it. I can’t stop myself from doubting myself and now I sit here wondering why the hell I am not where I should be at the age of 25. Well, should I be here at the age of 25? Or, who decides where I should be? Are my goals set too high or am I becoming a failure? I am afraid of becoming a failure. Really, really afraid. How can I stop it?’
19.00am
The day was quite calming and relaxing with a bit of lying in the sun, a bit of eating ice, a bit of cooking and a bit of walking through the city of Klenovica discovering a view secrets in a ruined hotel. To be honest, we had to climb over a fence which was quite hard wearing my trench colored Burberry Jeans and my black shiny shoes but I did it anyway because my thirst for adventure was too big to hold back. I was so impressed by the charm and image of the hotel that I have decided to dedicate a bigger entry to this wonderful picture after a bit of research.
While being in this ruined house I was wondering about its history and at the same time about my own history and how it could be compared to some rooms of this historic building. Walking through the rooms, along the narrow spaces that once where from what I imagine it sparkling hall ways I felt as if I somehow belonged there; as if something was touching me. Maybe that is the reason why I feel the necessity of researching more about the history of the building and about what happened to the people inside it. Did they come out alive? Did they die? It is weird but I could almost feel them screaming while running for their lives in the war. And that is what it looks like. Destroyed by war. Clearly. Undeniably. Irrevocably. But I guess I should wait with suspicions and impressions like these until I know way more about the history. It was obvious that the country still had to recover from all the terror going on between the years of 1991 and 1995 and one could feel that there still was a lot going on in dealing with what happened to the country and to the families living in it. Life marked them in a way they can never forget.
8.15pm
R, Speedfreak, Markus and I decided to hide a secret message that I wrote to the four of us. I hid it in a very special and secret place not to be found by anyone else except for ourselves in one year. This message will be a very inspirational thing for me because even if we do not return in one year I know one thing – we were there in Klenovica. Together. And we shared a few days of summer and of our youth where we were free, happy and full of energy. I will relish this special day and this special message that only I know for I wrote it and let no one read it. So it marks me, and accompanies me on my ways to wherever I go knowing that friendship can be found wherever the heart is and wherever people are honest with one another.
10.50pm
Right now I am just covered in a black Guess Jeans and a cashmere Tommy Hilfiger sleeve drinking a glass of white wine while chatting with the guys I came here. Eight other people. 4 Women. 5 Men. Everyone for himself / herself great in a very special way. And of course the three people I shared a house with. There is my sister who is my number one; maybe even my closest friend besides K. Maybe even the only friend whom I will keep for the rest of my life. Maybe even the only one I feel the necessity of, come what may, live and breathe and fight for. Then there is Speedfreak, someone I think of as being truly intelligent and made for something incredibly special but whom still has to find his place in this world. With Speedfreak comes Markus – his boyfriend. One of the kindest, most decent and most modest people I have ever met and for whom I have the greatest respect for being simply honest and down to earth. Three people I had a lot of fun with BUT still I want to say thank you to all eight of them for having the nerve to have me around all the time. I really enjoyed the time with each and every one of you and believe me – you all are great, special and intelligent and I appreciated the time we spent together.
For now, I have to say goodbye because I have to pay my attention to the crowd sitting in this room with me. We have some things to talk about, to discuss and to remember. So farewell, my dear reader and we’ll see each other for the season 2 finale of ‘The Diary of the Traveling Burberry.’
XOXO
P.S.: All pictures taken by Speedfreak.
Zagreb Needs Ties! [S02E02]
The Burberry Check Tie I Already Have
Wednesday
Outfit of the Day: Black, waxed Guess Jeans; black and white cashmere Burberry sleeve; olive green and black H&M Military Jacket; black Burberry Scarf; silver Fossil watch; black vintage Longchamp bag and my shiny black Burberry shoes.
5.00 am
Good Morning my little Monster would be Lady Gaga say when she gets up in the morning; I on the other hand just scream and shout at my sister, ‘Where the hell is my coffee, is there a reason my coffee isn’t here? Have you died or something?’ In fact it took ten minutes to realize that I neither am Miranda Priestley nor the editor in chief of Runway; the fashion magazine from the book and the movie ‘The Devil wears Prada’.’
7.00 am
The rain started the minute we walked out of the house trying to get our huge suitcases and bags packed with clothes (mine of course with a load full of Burberry) into S’s car. Let me tell you one thing – the rain didn’t stop until this very hour with us sitting here playing a round of Trivial Pursuit and UNO. It is heavily pissing outside and we are sitting here with stacks of beer and bottles of wine as well as big bottles of water playing along with the weather as well as with the games my sister brought with her.
Croatia Klenovica: the Rainy Wednesday Arrival
Who could have thought that she would come along with just a half empty suitcase and I would have to carry myself with a huge trunk, a bag and a second bag. You know, some boys just need all their stuff with them and where the hell was I supposed to store all that Burberry, all those new Vogues and my Clinique products? (I think I do not have to make it clear that I confiscated the whole wardrobe in our room to put my stuff in and let’s be honest, she can keep her stuff in the suitcase. It’s not that Burberry. I wish it were.) People with a certain style and image just have to have everything with them in order to keep this image so here I go with a heavy trunk trying to look as elegant as possible when heaving it into the car…
3.00pm Are we there yet? Well, yes we are.
…and later that day into the house we rented. We have three of them. They are called Shell boxes. And they have the size of one of my Burberry Shoeboxes. R and I are there with Speedfreak and Markus. Two rooms. Yes, I have a roomy. My sister. And it is quite OK since she doesn’t snore (THANK BURBERRY) and sharing a room equally makes me control the way she looks. So, I can pick a fight whenever her outfit isn’t picture perfect in my eyes. And I do complain a lot about that. I always did. But, when you see her you might realize that it helped since her style is relatively cool, chic and effortlessly pretty. 10 years of complaining and styling and giving tips (although she never wanted them) had to pay their tribute someday. And that day finally came.
Thursday
Outfit of the Day: After several changes I have decided on wearing my white Massi Milano shirt; a classic house checked Burberry tie; a grey beige Tommy Hilfiger sweater without sleeves; a trench colored Burberry stead man jeans; a black Tommy Hilfiger belt; a dark blue Tommy Hilfiger suit Jacket; classic house checked hight-top Burberry sneakers and my vintage black Longchamp.
8.13 am
It is Thursday by now, I was already out for a run (btw: the sun is shining, shining, shining high above the clear sky); in the shower and had a little self-made breakfast buffet by Speedfreak. You know me: No cooking, no cleaning; no cleaning no dishpan hands; no dishpan hands no hundreds of thousands of Euros for La Mer Hand Balm. You see – my thinking always makes sense and as Christine (my work colleague) puts it; a little less money for La Mer a little more money saved for my very own Birkin Bag. So in the end I am winning.
Croatia Klenovica: the Sunny Second Day
1.30 pm Zagreb – Mission Burberry
After about two and a half hours of driving and laughing and fighting with a 20 feet woman (that’s an insider my dears) we arrived in Zagreb and started the hunt for the newly opened Burberry shop. The hunt unfortunately turned out to be a bit of a disappointment since I was looking for a great tie from the new collection but unfortunately, the only tie they had was the exact one I was already wearing. So there goes my message out to Burberry and Zagreb both at the same time: Zagreb Needs Ties. Desperately. Just like I do for fulfilling my plans of buying a Burberry tie in every country I travel to. So, as it seems I will have to come back to Zagreb/Croatia in order to fulfill this plan one day.
5:45 pm – Tea Time
Running around all the time not buying something because there isn’t anything I haven’t already seen or what I desperately need I finally decided to calm down a bit. So we went to ‘The Regent’ hotel close to the botanic garden and drank a cup of tea and coffee and had a little strawberry cheese cake. My sister, Speedfreak and his boyfriend Markus went to see the botanic garden but since the wind is quite heavy and I am not a big fan of plants I have decided to stay at ‘The Regent’ updating my blog and getting a bit of work done. That is the one thing I hate about a holiday – sometimes work and certain important tasks fall behind so one’s gotta do what one’s gotta do in order to keep himself financially fluent in order to being able to invest in all the Burberry one needs.
Now I sit here by myself relishing the fact that I am along for a little bit not having to talk and later on maybe flipping through the pages of my Vogue España with Lily Donaldson on the cover.
That’s all for now. Do you miss having me around already?
XOXO
P.S.: All pictures by Speedfreak.
