V's World

Spring Favorites from L.K. Bennett

This weather is crazy, even depressing. However, we decided not to go back wearing our winter clothes and take out our spring favorites from L.K. Bennett this week - now more than ever!

Bay Silk Cardigan: This stunning silk blend cardigan is showstopping and timeless. Bay boasts subtle seasonal hues that are set off by unique gold buttons, and contrasting trim. Perfect to add sleek elegance to your work wardrobe or enhance your casual chic attire.

Cannes Laser Flower Pattern Court shoe: A subtle and feminine court, Cannes is set apart by the intricate laser cut detailing on the leather body. Set atop a slender high heel, this is a stylish on-trend choice for work and play.

So, Mr. Weatherman - bring it on!

xoxo

Blogger Lookbook 2013: Music Monday with Clare from Milky Tea Kid

The lovely Clare from Milky Tea Kid is a music blogger and musician. We actually came across her work on Twitter and were immediately hooked. She is such an inspiring and creative person, always out there mingling among the creative crowd to share the latest music stuff with her community. We are very fond of her and wanted to find out more about Clare’s music “addiction” in our interview:

1. I noticed your particular interest in understated bands and the not so well known newcomers. What are your personal favorites among the understated bands and the newcomers that inspire you? Do you have any idols? “What I really like about music is that there will always be new bands and artists to discover with great music that is waiting to be heard. One of the reasons why I started Milky Tea Kid was to spread the word about music that should be given a bigger audience.

Currently, I am really impressed with an artist called Among Savages and his latest album ‘Wanderings of an Illustrative Mind’. It is full of creative sounds, melodies and lyrical content, which ticks all of my boxes! I also recently saw a brother/sister duo called Wild Belle in a dingy little back alley venue in Brighton and thought they were great.”

2. You are a musician yourself, what inspires you the most and what sort of music do you play? “I have noticed that I get most inspired when I see an amazing live performance by a band. There is always a moment afterwards when I have a burst of creativity. The music I play is a reflection of the music I listen to, which is more or less anything. Although, if I’m honest there is probably a limit to how much death metal I could take!”

3. What was the first instrument you played as a child? “The first instrument I learned to play was piano. I had lessons for years and only when I switched music teachers did they find out I was doing it all by ear and not actually reading the music!

I got my first guitar when I was 6 years old and my dad taught me a simple little tune, which I played non-stop for a day until I could play it perfectly. Now my guitar collection is up to 10 including a bass guitar and a ukulele.”

4. Which do you prefer: digital or vinyl? “I have to say I am a big fan of vinyl. I was recently given an old retro-looking beaten up record player and I absolutely love it. Vinyl is the one medium I will not think twice about buying. There is something about spending your time in a record store; sifting through a cornucopia of music and finally coming across that elusive record.”

5. What was the last record you bought?“The last time I went to the record store I came home with Graceland by Paul Simon and Creedence Gold (compilation album) by Creedence Clearwater Revival.”

6. When did you first discover your passion for music? “There has always been music playing in our house, but my earliest memory of realising the impact of music was when I was 11 years old and my parents took my brother and I to a Rolling Stones concert at Wembley Stadium. I don’t think I fully appreciated the significance of seeing one of Britain’s greatest rock bands perform at a legendary venue at the time. I do however, remember feeling that I was witnessing something special when I saw 100,000 people going crazy for a man with quite an impressive swagger.”

7. What’s currently your favorite song or your favorite band and why? “This is always a difficult question for me to answer because I like so many different artists at the moment, but I will tell you a couple of songs that I have had on repeat for a while now. ‘Live Your Life’ by Yuna is a great chill out tune with a lyrical message that I really appreciate. The other track is ‘Holiday’ by Electric Guest and is a down right catchy track. The singer, Asa has a stunning voice.”

Wow, those are some really great tunes! We will definitely keep “stalking” Clare to discover more treasures from the music industry and we hope you find it as inspiring as we do.

Happy Music Monday!

xoxo

photo credentials: Maren Farra www.marenfarra.com

Sweet kisses from Liv Tyler at Cannes Film Festival 2013

Liv has teamed up with German director Wim Wenders for a short film based around Magnum’s 5Kisses range leaving quite an impression at the 66th Annual Cannes Film Festival on May 17 in France.

Director Wim Wenders knew: every kiss tells a different story. And we have to admit while watching this short film, our eyes were glued to Liv’s beautiful lips - just wonderful! As Liv Tyler says at the end of this short film: “Some things shouldn’t be questioned, you just gotta do them.”

She is darn right - have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

kisses to all of you

♥

20s Cocktail Attire with Carey Mulligan and Leonardo DiCaprio in The Great Gatsby

This week “The Great Gatsby” is finally coming to the movie theaters which makes us travel through time. The movie is an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel of the same name. It was co-written and directed by Baz Luhrmann, and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, and Joel Edgerton. It follows the life and times of millionaire Jay Gatsby and his neighbor Nick, who recounts his encounter with Gatsby at the height of the Roaring Twenties.

1920s fashion clearly defined itself as the fashion of the modern era. World War 1 was finally over; art and creative expression were alive again, and with it came new and colorful fabrics and materials. The roaring 20’s was an era that saw the Harlem Renaissance, ladies voting and a sudden increase in affluence for the middle-class.

Hats, shoes, dresses, handbags and jewelry all complemented each other, creating a classy style that was both unique and harmonious. To get the full impact of this style it needs to be seen in living color as black and white photographs simply don’t do it justice.

In the 20s the fashion world has been jazz-dancing towards flapper dresses, skull caps and long reams of glass beads to celebrate. Ladies were also very elegant and sexy - even contemporary.

“The Great Gatsby” is a perfect revival of this amazing era, which literally made us speechless. It was very impressive to see the lavish and luxurious set on the big screen.

In the gallery above you see our personal style highlights and hope we could enthuse you with the first impressions of this movie.

Let’s go practicing some basic Charleston dance moves.

xoxo

A new makeover for V’s World

This month is full of inspiration which is why we decided to give you a little sneak peek of what to expect within the next few weeks: a pretty makeover for our blog!

We wanna thank you folks for being such a wonderful community and for staying with us for so many years. Without you, we could have never come this far.

Since we are now becoming more and more like an international magazine, we decided it’s time for a new design and content plan to provide you with more entertaining and useful news.

In the gallery above you see a little sneak peek of what to expect. However, we surely don’t wanna spoil the final surprise, which is why you’ll see only a screenshot of our work in progress version.

So, stay tuned and take pot luck ♥

xoxo

Hello bikini season: we are happy to announce our collaboration with SURANIA

Mr. Weatherman currently does not really put a smile on our faces so that we simply decided to escape to some summer hot spots during the next two months. Thus, we are so excited to finally be able to launch our beach series, starting with our first bikini special.

A few weeks ago we were contacted by SURANIA, the only brand that enables customers to design their own swimwear to be tailored, and asked, if we wanted to create our own bikini. Well, seriously, who would have said “no” to this amazing opportunity, especially since summer season is on its way.

Nowadays it’s quite tricky to find the perfect bikini – not only regarding to size and style. Alright, many brands offer this “mix and match”-concept where you get to combine your favorite tops with different bottoms, but it’s still quite a limited choice you have. Besides, in our opinion, this idea is so yesterday, which is why we were totally thrilled to actually design our own bikini – custom made and especially tailored for us, or in this case, especially tailored for V, since she is the lucky one from our editorial team to try out this great concept by SURANIA. ;-)

At the pool or on the beach, swimming costumes are your second skin and have to be comfortable and show off your personality. Who hasn’t thought at one time or another, why don’t these panties fit me right and why doesn’t this top enhance my figure.

At SURANIA the first thing you will find is a wide range of styles to choose from which adapt perfectly to your body, your desires and your tastes. According to the brand, the second thing you will find are the hottest and most exclusive fabrics on the market. We will certainly have a closer look at this one when checking out V’s custom made bikini.

But before that we wanted to find out more about the brand. SURANIA is composed of a team of highly-respected professionals with extensive experience in the swimwear fashion textile sector. They are a dynamic and creative group. Since every woman thinks differently and has special needs, SURANIA was established with a view to covering two needs: allowing women to design their own bikini or swimsuit to their tastes and to manufacture the garments to their measurements.

We are totally hooked by this idea and tried to gather a little more information from the founders:

Who are the people behind SURANIA? The siblings Mariona and Marc Vidal are the entrepreneurs behind SURANIA. They belong to a family of 3 generations dedicated to the Spanish textile industry with companies like Punto Blanco (founded by their grandfather, Pere Valls, and their granduncle, Manuel Valls), H . Loewenthal Group (founded by their mother Carmen Valls).

When did you first have the idea of creating a platform for customized swimwear? 3 years ago we had the idea of selling custom bikinis online for two reasons: each client is unique and special and they can design their own bikini from their preference, providing the chance to many women who do not find her bikini in the traditional market.

What fascinates you most about beach- and swimwear regarding fashion design and style? Our inspiration is to offer each customer the opportunity to design their own bikini.

What are the characteristics of the current collection and what inspired you? Thanks to the SURANIA’s team, we offer trends and patterns that are trending, but the customer is finally who is going to decide what is the best for her. This year, the photographic digital print and the fluorescent colors are the best).

SURANIA ships worldwide to many different countries that each have different physical cultures and fashion sense. What’s hot in Brazil can be a total flop in the US for example. Did you take this into consideration while designing the collection? From our point of view, we have found that Brazil is the most different country, as the patterns are more extreme than in Europe or USA. Although, it is surprising how customers agree about styles from around the world.

What are your personal beach trends for 2013? Our trends are photographic prints, flowers libery, fluorescent colors and prints with smooth combinations (a bra embossed with a smooth panty, eg)

If you have to describe your brand with five adjectives, what would it be? fresh, happy, versatile, adaptable, SURANIA

Well, we hope you find this concept as inspiring as we do. We could not wait to design our own bikini, own that top which feels so good in our favorite color or with the hottest pattern, and be able to choose the perfect bottom to go with it.

In the next story on our collaboration with Surania, V will tell you more about her custom made bikini. We already know that we will definitely see lots and lots of PINK :-)

Till then, let the sun shine and have a wonderful day!

xoxo

Music Monday

What shall we say: is anybody out there really a “Monday person”? We think, on a Monday even the happiest person on earth is allowed to be a little reserved and maybe even a bit grumpy.

Thus, for us, it’s even more important to put ourselves in a good mood: posting about fun stuff on Facebook, making plans for the weekend, pinning an uplifting photo on Pinterest or simply get inspired by the Music Monday on Twitter. There are lots of tunes for almost anybody out there and usually it really works getting your mind off things.

So, no matter if you are a Monday, Friday or Wednesday person, have a lovely day and don’t get worked up.

xoxo

Our favorite picks for mother’s day

Today is mother’s day and for us, it’s the perfect occasion to put on some of our favorite spring/summer lovelies and spread the love.

dress by Lena Hoschek: this cancun dress literally begs for summer and automatically puts you in a good mood.

pumps by L.K. Bennett: these are Kate Middleton’s favorites and we can totally relate. The built-in comfort factor ensures you won’t want to take these off, as they take you from desk to dinner effortlessly.

tote by Michael Kors: this is a classic. The canvas tote is the perfect bag for a Sunday afternoon or any other leisure activities.

ring by Ted Baker: this bow shape ring just gives our outfit a little girly, romantic touch - perfect for mother’s day!

So, enjoy this precious time with your beloved ones and have a wonderful Sunday!

xoxo

Blogger Lookbook 2013: Inspiring photo impressions with Lukas

Lukas is such a creative person. As author and digital consultant he surely gets around and has that certain “je ne sais quoi” you need in order to stand out in the social media jungle. We personally admire his photo impressions he takes on his travels: on his platform #Gesichtet (engl.: spotted) he captures incredible moments, the most curious things and fascinating people from all over the world. If you ever need to get your mind off something or are looking for new inspirations, you should definitely check out his site and dive into the crazy and at the same time wonderful world of what’s happening out there. Life is full of beautiful, funny, strange and extraordinary things and sometimes we just need a little reminder to actually see it. And that is exactly what we LOVE about Lukas’ feed!

As you can tell by his photo stream on flickr, Lukas surely isn’t a stay-at-home-guy, which is why we asked him about his favorite apps he just cannot live without on his travels.

„These are the apps I regularly use and don’t wanna miss:

flickr: by far my favorite community on the web since 2006

Path: nice to edit images

diptic: image processing and editing

ATM search: somehow my wallet is always empty ;-) – thus, I use this app quite often to find the nearest ATM

runtastic: running without runtastic would be like running without trainers

call a bike: I only say one word: “Shareconomy” – sharing is the new black.

And then of course there are also the usual ones: twitter, foursquare, facebook, facebook page manager, instagram.”

Well, that’s definitely quite a cool choice of apps which reminds us to check out the latest stuff in the iPhone App store more often!

Anyways, we hope you’ll find Lukas’ stuff as fascinating as we do and maybe you’ll find a little inspiration for your next vacation either on his flickr-Account or by browsing through the app store.

Till then, remember to cherish every single moment life brings us. Happy inspiring Friday!

xoxo

photo credentials: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lukasch

LAST MINUTE CALL: FASHION CONTEST HALLHUBER SPRING LOVELIES 2013

This is your last chance to win a new spring outfit. What you have to do? Simply create your own personal HALLHUBER spring style worth EUR 300 and post the respective links of your favorite products from the spring/summer collection in the comment section on Facebook.

So, pick your favorite items and win your personal spring outfit! The contest ends tomorrow.

xoxo