Bourgeois Punk by Party Noire

Romanian couterier Alina Cosma just launched under her label Party Noire her latest collection called Bourgeois Punk. And I like it!

Well with the current preoccupation with vampires, I am convinced (since as legend goes vampires originated from Romania, thanks to Bram Stoker) Romania should be the IT place to travel to this year! And all things Romanian should witness a sudden surge of interest from their fellow brothers and sisters abroad! The country still has vast nature reserves and agricultural produce yet unexploited. People are warm and friendly.

Back to Bourgeois Punk, the new collection, was conceived with a strong focus on the 24-hour dress to suit the lifestyle of the modern woman. Cosma says that the main source of inspiration were her own needs: “My genuine appreciation of time, quality and comfort, longevity and individuality in design was the driving force behind the creative process for Bourgeois Punk. I experimented with clean, even sober silhouettes, and bold yet functional details such as rolled in shoulder straps that continue for the length of the dress or dress sleeves ending in cufflinks. These are dresses to work in and have fun in while still retaining a cool sophistication and a bit of daring that makes them very desirable.”

According to InStyle magazine, Cate Blanchett, Jessica Alba and Anne Hathaway are already fans. For more information check out her website

Rock & Roll Chic Handbags

Check out these latest retro music inspired handbags , from Living Dead Souls’ shoulder guitar bags to Momaboma’s vinyl record shape handbags.

Momaboma's vinyl record handbag

Living Dead Souls is known for their punk music, 50s/60s glam rock inspired fashion while Momaboma an Italian household name - famous for their mixing and matching of different materials like old army bags to pages of old magazines printed on canvas to create 50/60’s look to their designs. I don’t know about you but these retro fashion items sure look cool to me!

Colour Up Your Accessories

What's Hot Now? "..Bright colours and old fashion colourful jellies and lollies strung into a necklace!" . Must be the economic doldrums hanging around us that has inspired me to search for colours and the brighter they are the better.

Why are we so drawn to candy stores? Besides the sweet offerings inside, it is also the visual stimuli we get - seeing the colourful wrappings, candies and the fond memories they invoke in us when we were children.

Above photo is a candy store closest to where I live, and going in there, I was like a kid in a candy store literally - took me about 10 weeks to go through 20 different types .. and I still have a few rounds to go (grin!)

Inspired by the candy store, making lolly necklaces is not something new, it has been a popular fun activity in children's birthday parties as long as I can remember. However they don't last, either the temperature gets to them, or the kids! Besides necklaces, you can make cufflinks or bracelets whatever that takes your fancy. Be creative.

Instead of real candy, our alternative will be to use colourful glass or wood or plastic beads that resembles lollies to make these accessories. Check out this image, taken from a bead shop here in Venice and one of their creations on display. And I am off to make one of my own now.. ciao!

I've Got Lemons In My Shoes

A combination of my favourite things this summer – the colour yellow, lemons and plimsolls.

Why yellow? As described by Pantone.com – yellow would be the colour for spring/summer 2009. They call their yellow shade Mimosa, shows warmth and reassurance in the current economic uncertainty and political change. Although personally I have avoided yellow for a long time due to it not being very flattering with my skin colour, but the bright lemony yellow does! But for me I chose yellow because it reminds me of my favourite fruit for the season - LEMONS.....

I love lemons, simply adore them! Lovely bright yellowy lemons. They seem to be saying to me '..hello summer' and '..hello sunshine'! So tart in taste hence great as flavouring to desserts and wonderful as a thirst quencher! In Sorrento, Italy, the lemons there are known to grow as large as a grapefruit and are famously made into Limoncello - a liqueur and digestive, which gets its flavor and distinctive bright yellow color from the infusion of the skins of these lemons in pure alcohol.

Not forgetting their health benefits – taken every morning with water acts as a tonic for the liver, helps digestion and while its high content of vitamin C treats and prevents infections. The smell of lemons are also known to lift people’s spirits and clear minds! A good tonic for the current state of worldly affairs. Don’t you think?

As for my plimsolls (they are Superga from Italy and no I am not advertising on their behalf) are what you may say an alternative to the all time favourite Converse (too many people are wearing them)? The shoe is a great combination of tone down street wear and the nautical look which is hitting high street fashion brands today! And in this current financial/economic climate, the price for a pair is €49 (approximately USD69) – so rather affordable. Getting the 2 looks for the price of one is a bargain!

So who is to say that cool is always new, how about combining your favourite things (old or new) and make it the new cool? What are yours?

Have a great summer!