My "VOGUE" Photoshoot

This Sunday I had the chance of experiencing of how it is to be a model. I have received a voucher for two for a day of pampering and having a professional photoshoot taken. The day package included mini facial and manicure, professional make up and hairstyle and complimentary drinks. I have taken my Fiancé with me for this special day, since just as me he had never had a professional photoshoot. We had to bring with us 4 different outfits and come with no make-up, hair products or nail polish. Of course, all of these concerned me, rather than my Fiancé. 

We arrived to the studio too early, probably due to all the excitement and anxiety, so we went for a hot cup of coffee at Caffé Concerto before our appointment.

This is us before the photoshoot. To be honest, I felt a bit naked without any make-up. 

The style I chose for myself was Gothic. I had them apply dark gothic make-up, which consisted of pale white foundation and powder, frosty pink rouge, smokey black eyeshadow and thick black eyeliner around my eyes to accentuate them more. My make-up was finished off with deep purple matte lipstick. For this Gothic look I chose simple hairstyle. I kept my fringe and the rest of the hair was curled into funky kinks just to add some drama and volume. For my nails I went for a fuchsia pink matte colour to add contrast to the overall Gothic look. Throughout all 4 outfits I kept my jewellery minimal and simple. I wore silver earrings in flower shape, chained silver bracelet, Fossils beige watch and of course my engagement ring!

My Fiancé, on the other hand, kept his make-up nude ;). Actually he had no make-up applied. Nonetheless, he happily enjoyed the facial, hand massage and drinks.

Here are the photos form the photoshoot.

Outfit 1: Gothic Minimalism

Here I am wearing a black “lacey” dress that is cinched at the waist with a black band. The grey “not-see-through” tights and boot type shoes compliment my Gothic look.

My Fiancé also chose a dark colour palette for his first outfit. He wore black trousers and a cool misty green V-neck jumper, accessorizing the look with brown casual converse shoes and wrist bands. 

Outfit 2: Cerulean Romance

For my second outfit I chose this beautiful cerulean blue frilled dress. The dress has a high collar, which is decorated with numerous frills and is also slightly gathered just below the waist, creating sumptuous volumes and delicate shadows. I adore this dress, since it is almost a piece of artwork in itself. So I could not miss this opportunity to get it professionally photographed.  I have accessorized this dress with simple black high heels and grey tights (same as in the previous look).

Complimenting my look, my Fiancé chose a fitted black suit, which he wore with a light sky blue shirt and a sleek black tie that has a Cerulean blue line along. He accessorized his chick elegant style with formal black shoes. 

Outfit 3: Playful Minimalism

Theme for these shots was young and cheeky playfulness . So, I decided to wear a simple bright pink girly dress, which adds a lovely contrast to my Gothic make up. I have accessorized it with black short cardigan and same grey tights and boots as in my first outfit.

My Fiancé, on the other hand, is wearing a casual outfit in black and grey colour tones, which  nicely suit the minimalistic colour palette  for these shots. Moreover, the texture of his greyscale suit jacket add an interesting rough edginess to the otherwise neat and almost monochromatic look.

Outfit 4: Architectural Checks

For my fourth and final look I have chosen one of my favourite checked items. It is a dress that is patterned in black and grey vertical and horizontal intersecting lines. It is tied at the front and at the back as well, creating a high empire waist. The sleeves are long but I have rolled them up for these particular shots to add more drama to this simple dress. I have accessorized this strongly “lined” and grey scale architectural look with very high heeled beige leather shoes.

My Fiancé also chose a checked item for these shots, which matched nicely with my checked dress. He wore a warm sunny beige shirt and very dark forest green trousers. This contrast of colours add a nice dilemma to my grey scale look. 

So this is me, being a model for just one day. As it turns out, being a model is not as easy as it seems, but rather a difficult job. Even though both of us had a very lovely, fun and enjoyable time; nevertheless, by the end of the day we felt quite exhausted and we were not even the ones working on that day...anyway, career in modelling is not for me; nonetheless, once in a while, it is fun to dress up, pose like a model in front of a camera and pretend that my photos will appear on the covers of VOGUE and INSTYLE... 

LBD for my Fiancé’s Birthday

This last week was kind of a “birthday week”, since on the 18^th September it was my Grandmother’s birthday and the next day, on the 19^th September, it was my Fiancé’s birthday. Unfortunately I could not spend my Grandmother’s birthday with her as she lives in Belarus; however, I did call her to wish her a Happy Birthday and later we spoke on Skype as well. My Grandmother loves to cook a lot of food for special occasions and this was not an exception. As she told me, they (herself, my uncle and his wife) have made 11 different dishes…quite a lot for three people (not counting her 3 year old grandchild who eats little). But I have to admit; I do love and admire her enthusiasm for cooking real feasts on such festive days J

I, on the other hand, chose a simpler menu for my Fiancé’s birthday. I cooked Chicken Kiev stuffed with green onions and mushrooms, served with buckwheat and Mediterranean salad as a side dish. As dessert I bought a Tiramisu cake from Caffé Concerto. Those living in UK will know that that Patisserie is one of the best places to get exquisite and extremely delicious cakes. 

For this occasion I wore a simple yet elegant "Little Black Dress". Its length is just right; a harmonious balance between "not too long" and "not too short". The design and cut are simple with minimal decor. The lovely thing about it is the lace, which I really adore. I have accessorized my look with torquise pendant, bracelet and earrings and of course an engagement ring on my finger!!!

That's the Birthday Boy, looking happy with his presents. He wore simple and more casual outfit, grey shirt and black trousers. As a present I gave him an Italian ink pen, with 3 ink cartridges.  The coolest thing about the pen is that at the end of it, there is a 4GB USB stick. I thought this is very appropriate, since he is an IT specialist.

This is me with my twin sister. Somehow the red eyes from the camera give me a bit creepy look. Strangely enough, she did not get any red eyes; I have no idea why. Anyhow, she also chose to wear her own LBD, however, hers was sleeveless, tied at the waist and decorated with black flowers.

This is the box inside which was the delicious cake!!! They also put it in a lovely red and golden paper bag. 

Cheers everyone!!! Have a lovely week!!!

Engagement Friday!!!

This Friday the 13^th I got engaged!!! Strange date to get engaged but I am sure my boyfriend, or rather I should say my Fiancé, had not planned it that way on purpose. It was such a surprise. I had the most normal and in truth quite tiring and boring day. It was gloomy and raining. I was in college the whole time and after that had to meet up with a friend to give her the dress I made for her during the week. The only thing I was thinking of doing that evening was getting home, have a hot bowl of borscht (Russian soup) that I cooked the other day and watch perhaps something not too scary with my boyfriend…however…little did I know, that that the very minute I was musing those thoughts during my lecture, my boyfriend was preparing a special three course meal at home for me and getting ready to propose!

As I came home, all soaked and wet from the rain I was too busy with getting the dress ready for my friend that I did not pay too much attention to everything. I just saw that my boyfriend had set up the dinner table in our room as if in restaurant and was cooking salmon. This is not unusual, since he enjoys cooking and is a romantic by nature, so he often surprises me with home cooked meals and romantic gestures.

This is how the table looked after I returned from the meeting with my friend!!! He cooked light pea soup as a starter, then roasted salmon with baby potatoes and cherry tomatoes and green salad, pasta with Bolognese sauce and then sweetcorn and beetroot salad. As dessert we had Turkish baklava that he brought back from his recent holiday in Turkey.

Needless to say that everything tasted as good as it looked.

These photos were taken before the proposal. We sometimes just take photos randomly, so again I paid no special attention to this. He did put on a jacket for more formality but I just thought he wanted to look nice in the photo and give our meal a more "restaurant type date" atmosphere. I, on the other hand, was wearing simple casual outfit. It looked more vintagy earlier that day, when I accessorized it with grey tinted tights, light brown suede boot type heels,  long black gloves and vintagy checkered cape-coat. However, since I came home wet, I took off all the wet garments and this is what was left of my outfit. 

So, after a brief meeting with my friend, I came home all tired and chilled, thinking only of eating hot salmon dinner and wrapping in warm blankets…Then, as we sat down to have dinner and after literally three spoonfools of soup and me talking about my day, my boyfriend proposed to me!!! It was very romantic and special and different…it was nothing like I imagined it would be as a little girl or even as I grew older, it was so much better than that … and before I knew it, I held the black little velvety box in my hands…and inside it….the ring. It is made of white gold, has a blue sapphire square cut stone at the center and diamonds all around it in a "flower" shape….very beautiful, elegant and kind of medieval looking….I love it…and well most importantly, of course, I love my boyfriend…so I said YES!!! And now I am ENGAGED to him!!!!

This is my engagement ring, looking all beautiful and shiny on my right hand. I don't really know which hand one is supposed to wear an engagement ring. Some cultures believe it is the left hand, some the right. Very confusing! But I just decided to wear it on my right hand because it looks better with the other rings I usually wear on my right hand. At the end of the day, it does not really matter...

Me looking all excited and thrilled!!!

That's us, after the proposal!!!

So from now on, Friday the 13^th is not a scary creepy ghost story telling day for me, but on the contrary, it will remind me of that rainy September Friday the 13^th 2013, one of the happiest and memorable days of my life, the day when my boyfriend proposed to me and I said yes. 

Medieval Times

It has been a very long and extremely busy week for me; however, now that I look back at it, it kind of flew by me unnoticed, all days merging into one endless one and now I am before yet another Monday morning and a chilly one at that! 

For the past three weeks and especially this last week, my sister, who works as a Costume Designer at a small touring London theatre, was busy making all these costumes for the upcoming play, Shakespeare's Othello. Since there were so many to make, I volunteered to help her. She put me in charge of assisting in the making of Bianca's dress. Bianca is Cassio's jealous lover and has been traditionally regarded as a courtesan in the play.  

The dress has been designed and constructed by my sister. My job was mainly fabric shopping and coordinating the fabric textures and colours together, stitching work inside of the dress and most importantly creating the skirt. Since I love playing with gathers and volumes of fabric, my sister thought I would best fit for accomplishing this task.

So here is me wearing an almost finished Bianca's costume, before my sister takes it away to Portsmouth for the production week in the theatre. 

The dress was inspired by the Tudor period and is splashed with vibrant fuchsia-red colours to signify Bianca's frivolous and sensuous character, as well as to create a strong contrast with colours of garments of other characters in the play.  The dress is a little too big on me, since the actress who plays Bianca is of different size than me.

As you can see, the dress is not entirely finished, the pearls on the sleeve would decorate all of the slashes in the sleeves; however, due to time pressure, only parts of it were done. The rest my sister will complete during the production week.

The dress consists of three layers. The first layer (the one closer to my skin) is the light blush pink chemise (shirt) that is ruffled and gathered at the collar and the sleeve cuffs, which are invisible, since I am wearing the dress on top. Then is the  copper golden with a fuchsia shine the corset. The fabric is amazing, since it changes colour slightly as the light shines on it. So it perfectly suits both the colour of the dress and the chemise. The top layer, of course, is the actual dress, which is fastened in such a way, so as to reveal the other two layers beneath.

I simply adore this dress. I love its bright and bold colours, the way the skirt feels heavy in its drapes and the firm hold of the corset inside.

I really enjoyed helping my sister with the costumes. It was interesting, fun and exciting at the same time, working alongside her, creating such beautiful garments. So, once the play opens in the theatre, as a "thank you" she promised me a ticket to the opening night, so I will get to see the costume that I helped to make "live on stage". 

Picnic Monday

London weather is very unpredictable. Spring started off with snow and hardly any sun and I was already beginning to think that yet again we were not going to have any summer and my lovely summer dresses will have to stay in the closet this season. However, I was very wrong. Since the end of June, we have had in London a proper summer, some days temperatures even reaching as high as 30 degrees! While many people complained that it was becoming TOO hot and failed to look after themselves properly, I was enjoying my summer…and in fact still am…It is end of August and it is still lovely and warm in London. The weather forecasts are for yet another two wonderful weeks of good weather, clear skies and bright sun.

So, I took this opportunity to go for a picnic with my boyfriend in my local park on a beautiful sunny bank holiday Monday.  

For such an outdoor occasion, I decided to wear  "jumpsuit shorts". I don't usually wear such short clothes or jumpsuits for that matter;however, I could not resist buying these ones. They are black and decorated with tiny metallic type beads in various patterns. I have accessorized my picnic look with a hat that successfully protected my eyes against the bright sun.  My boyfriend, on the other hand, went for a casual grey look, brightening it with a multi-coloured stripy rucksack. Actually, the rucksack is where we packed our yummy food for the day!!! 

Below is a photo of the willow tree in the park under which we sat and enjoyed our romantic luncheon.

We made a sort of "mediterranean" picnic, taking with us tomatoes, cucumber, rocket, salad leaves, cream cheese, salami, olives and houmous, and we ate it with wraps. It was lovely, light and summery. As dessert we had juicy sweet watermelon.  

The park, in itself, is beautiful and green and has three lakes, small golf court, tennis court and a mini garden. I love taking walks there in early mornings or evenings, when everywhere is still and quiet. It reminds me of the enchanted forest. 

On the way back home, looking happy as ever, after a relaxing day out.

My Furrrrrrry Neighbourhood

In the area where I live, which is the North of London, it seems that I am surrounded by cats. Everywhere I look, I see these lovely furry creatures. Some of them friendly and are willing to let you touch and pet them, others are more hostile, taking care not to come too close. All of these cats look domestic, or at least part domestic. This means, they mostly live outside, but come back “home” in time for meals or to sleep in warm blankets in rainy chilly days.

I love cats. They are such interesting animals, each with their own sort of personality and air of “authority”. It’s like that note on a postcard I have see once, has said, “Dogs have masters; cats have staff”.

Here are some photos of neighbouring cats. Unfortunately not all cats wanted to be photographed. Some of them ran away before I could get the chance to get my camera ready; while some of them actually got angry and furious and hissed at me…

The black beauty in this photo lives a few houses away from me. She occasionally allows me to cuddle her and carry her around...of course she prefers when I bring her  an eatable treat in return for her "favour" to me.

The two mistresses below are lovely to look at but are not so friendly as they seem, especially the white and grey one.

This white and grey cat started hissing at me as I was following her around trying to get a good picture of her. Every time I focused my camera, she turned away, as if on purpose. Eventually she got tired of me "stalking" her and disturbing her peace and quiet, so she "told" me in her cat language to go away and leave her alone.

The white/black and ginger cat below was very friendly and kind to me. She kept circling me and rubbing herself against my legs :)...she was either feeling too happy that day or it was another one of cat's sneaky manoeuvres so I would give her something tasty to eat...

I wish I could have a cat of my own here in London; however, since I am renting an apartment that does not permit any pets, plus my current busy life style, I cannot commit at present to have a cat. So, the idea of getting a cat would have to wait until my living circumstances change and I can get my own home. 

Sweet Friday!!!

This weekend is starting off with a “sweet note” for me…as today me and my boyfriend went to London’s sweetest attraction, the M&M's World. Until today, I vaguely heard about its existence; however, never REALLY thought that there actually is a whole shop dedicated to the funny little chocolate characters of various colours….

The place is simply amazing and smells of chocolate inside. Everywhere there are figures of M&M's characters and not just the most commonly known Yellow and Red, but also Green, Organge, Brown and Blue…

Moreover, there are various items on sale inside the store such as stationary, T-shirts and caps, jewellery, key rings, mugs and cutlery, stuffed toys and of course chocolates. I could not believe my eyes, everywhere I looked there were M&M's…and I mean EVERYWHERE…

Here are the cutest chess ever...I would not mind playing a set or two with these chess myself.

On the left is the London Guard M&Ms wearing the well known tall beaver hat, with whom I had the greatest honour of being photographed next to. Then, on the right, we can see  Sir Knight M&Ms in his Shining Armour ;) posing in his heroic pose next to my knight in striped knitwear.

There are even  paintings of some of the well known M&M's ;). Below is His Majesty Henry 

M&Ms 8th and his daughter Queen Elizabeth M&Ms. 

In the next paintings we can see the famous outlaw of Sherwood, Robin M&Ms Hood and the two inseparable detectives, Sherlock M&Ms Holmes and his loyal partner Doctor M&Ms Watson. 

I was surprised to see that these chocolate characters have an almost celebrity status!!! 

So for anyone who is travelling to London, aside from visiting some of the more common sightseeing places of London such as Tower of London, Buckingham Palace  and Westminster Abbey, I advise to add this cute, fun and sweet attraction to the list. 

Check-mate

Last weekend, while aimlessly strolling about Oxford Circus, I went into one of my favourite brand stores, Desigual. Their shop and window displays are always so unique, bright and colourful, as is the brand itself. Their prints and mixes of colours and patterns are simply stunning and very different from other brands, which is why I like them.

So, as I was admiring the clothes and the interior décor of the shop, I noticed this beautiful check patterned “man” style tunic shirt. It came with a colourful plaited belt. The shirt was coloured in various shades of indigo and blue. On top, near the collar area there are beaded patterns stitched in, and buttons are in different colours and shapes, which gave the shirt a nice girly and feminine touch. I can actually imagine myself wearing it with black or white skinny jeans or just blue jeans. Unfortunately, I cannot buy the shirt at the moment, as it is slightly out of my budget. 

Then later that day, once I got home, I went through my wardrobe and realized that I already have quite a lot of clothes in check pattern. Here are just some of the check-patterned clothes that I have.

This is a shirt dress that I usually wear with black leggins. Its dark blue colour and thick fabric make it ideal for evening summer walks in London. 

The next garment is a kind of bolero. It originally came with a brown woolen dress but I like to wear it with some of my other dresses. Its design and brown colour add a lovely "vintagy" and "period" touch to the look and can be an a ideal accessory for completing an evening attire. 

Next is a green/white check wasitcoat. It is slightly lose, so I wear it with a black belt, which also emphasizes my waist. In this outfit, I combined the waistcoat with black shorts and black top that has puffed up and slightly gathered sleeves. It can also be worn with white or black leggins. Simple, casual and lovely!

In the next photo, which was taken this Sunday, I am strolling in my local park in this simple black and white check patterned shirt-dress. I seem to like shirt dresses too. At the back there is a tied bow, and at the front I just tied a lose knot. I made 3/4 sleeves, but they can also be made shorter or left long, depending on the weather. This is very useful for London weather, one never knows when the chilly wind may blow and hide the sun with clouds...I wore this outfit with black leggins, but it can also be worn with tights or in warmer days just on its own.

So, after carefully inspecting contents of my wardrobe, I came to a conclusion that even though it may seem like I do have enough of checks to last me a long time, I still find myself yearning for that Desigual shirt. 

Thus, for the present all that remains for me to do  is to fantasize about possessing that unique Desigual shirt, patiently wait until the sale day and free up some "VIP" space in my wardrobe ;)...and in the mean time, I will just have to be satisfied with wearing checks that  already clutter my wardrobe. :)