Sweet bits: the city of Copenhagen

Copenhagen opera house

Last but not least: after my fashion week – end experience I found a little time for sight-seeing and shopping in Copenhagen. It was last Sunday, I had time for a little boat tour and going to the Ripley museum, which was nice. I’ve been to Copenhagen before, but that’s long ago, and I’m only remembering very little.

Copenhagen is a modern city that offers an eclectic choice and variety of shops (- like the Louboutin shop, I couldn’t resist going there), restaurants, museums and spare time activities. The city is pulsative and vibrant and as I tweeted right away, when I arrived: full of beautiful people. Yes, the Danish are fascinating, the male and the female, I found many people with very dark hair and blue eyes, which I am finding exotic.

Let’s go to the Ripley museum first, the museum of curiosities. Where I find the tallest and smallest men, the bearded woman who got several proposals of marriage on one day, a fish wearing glasses, a bat wearing hollywood paintings on his back, and – the thing I just had to try: the love throne. I had to place my middle finger  on a special reader and then the throne would tell me whether I’m sensational, a sweetheart, a wild thing or passionate…Well see, what the throne said:

Ripley museum, Copenhagen

I loved the Danish bakeries, I think apart from the French, they are the best!

Danish bakeries

When you go on a boat trip, obviously you would only get one perspective: from the sea. I was a little bit disappointed seeing the little mermaid only from the back – but then again her pretty back deserves some attention as well… I embarked on Nyhaven for a little guided tour – I was surprised how small the city actually is, for the fact that it is so modern.

Copenhagen, black diamond library

Copenhagen, dragon’s tower

The little mermaid, Copenhagen

Copenhagen, spiral church

I could tell right away, the Danish love social gatherings, wether it would be the fashion week or the marathon, which took place on that Sunday, and made it almost impossible to move through the city.

When, after the boat trip, one is hungry, it is a good idea to go to one of the restaurants on Nyhaven. They more or less all have the same menu, offering burgers, steaks, fish in all variation from pickled (herings) to grilled. If burgers and fish aren’t for you, you can do as I do: I ordered Avocado salad with  chicken:

Although Sunday isn’t the best day for shopping, I want to give you another eye candy – a little impression from the Louboutin shop in Copenhagen, where I bought the Bibi 140 tartan pump, which I am also wearing in this post.

It was a hard decision between the golden glitter pump and the tartan pump – but Bibi finally won me over. They are too cute, plus I’m somehow a Brit at heart – so they are perfect and will always let me have fond memories of Copenhagen…

I hope you enjoyed this little fabulous getaway from your office desktop, lap top, or perhaps even mobile phone?

I completely fell in love with Copenhagen – what city did you fall in love with this summer? Let me hear about it!

xox, the Flamboyante

Ahoy! Impressions from Alanya

A week has passed since my return from the Turkish Riviera – all the more I am pleased to share my impressions from my vacancy. My impressions are of the ruins of Alanya, the sea, the beauty of the Cleopatra beach, turkish foods and a cheeky photo of myself on a pirate boat tour. Since I am sticking to my beauty routine even in my holidays – I took a picture inside the Xperia spa in Alanya, where they offer a fish pedicure. Not my cup of tea though – little fish nibbling off skin on my feet – what are they: mini barracuda? No thanks! What has been fabulous though were the turkish steam baths, body scrub included, which is perfect before tanning and for an even beautiful tan.

The foods were – depending what you’d choose – rich and healthy, of course you’d get fresh fish caught from the sea. I found the way they’d display the meals funny, the meals were covered in plastic so you could see what they’d actually look like. Turkey is also known for copying big designers – they are specialized on luxury handbags – especially those with a logo including an L and a V…But I wasn’t tempted to buy a fake Louis Vuitton bag, since I am more into understatement, if you know what I mean…

There is a story about the Cleopatra beach, which is a truly beautiful beach: it is said that in 65 BC Marcus Antony purchased the city nearby the sea to express his love for the Egyptian queen Cleopatra.

Hope you’re enjoying all the little stories around Alanya and my photo stream…

Have you already made any holiday experience yet? If yes, where?

Hope your summer is dazzling so far…

xox, the Flamboyante

Sinfused at the festivals

Am I fashionably late for a new post, dear friends? I do have to admit that writing from the turkish Riviera where I am at the moment is quite a bit of a challenge. I am staying in Alanya, a small village by the sea, until Sunday, enjoying the turkish hospitality, the sun, the sea and the vibrance a small holiday village brings with it.

So today I am catching up with a post about the Donauinsel festival, which already ended last Sunday. It’s an annual event in Vienna, where a vast selection of national and international bands are playing over three days on a 4.5 km long strip next to the Danube- in fact it is the biggest open air festival in Europe! Ofcourse you’d also find plenty of possibilties to eat and shop souvenirs for example you can get your name engraved into a rice corn.

Whereas the past few years I actually stayed away from the festival – partially because it is really crowded each year and partially because I have been abroad the past few years – this year I took the courage to go there. Plus it was a fabulous opportunity to sport a fierce festival outfit – I was wearing a  studded Levis denim vest, a  Moto crochet hotpant, a  hot rocking crystal embellished Tee by SINFUSED clothing ( I was gifted ) and By Malene Birger biker boots as well as a Alice by Temperley belt with star studs – well basically all the studs and rhinestones I could find, to make sure people will be aware of me and I won’t get run over by them 🙂 – … oh and of course in the right festival outfit manner, I bangled up as much as possible. To add some zing I used Deborah Lippmanns magnetic nail lacquer nails of steel, it is a nail vernish that allows you to draw a cool pattern by using a magnet – you should try!

I captured my impressions of the bands, the people celebrating, the foods and the little shops – so let’s let the pictures do the talking and please enjoy my impressions from The 2012 Donauinselfest!

I really hope you enjoyed the photo stream from the 2012 Donauinselfest.

Have you planned going to any festivals this summer? I personally love me a good festival in summer and have already a few really good ones under my belt such as the Hard Rock Calling and Hyde Park Calling in London and the Sunsplah festival in Austria.

I will be back from my holiday on the turkish riviera on the 1st of July with some more dazzling news and stories, plus I will be announcing the winner of the June giveaway so make sure you’ll be back soon!

xox, the Flamboyante

MAYANUR and Sand in the City

Last week there was this perfect day with the perfect weather. Lately I found myself dreaming intensively about going on holidays and traveling far. The perfect location for  dreaming and enjoying the sun is the Sand in the City – a beach style location with small bars, sun beds and even a  space for beach ball…

Even more perfect that I recently got gifted a handmade short – the tulip short by 100% love. The designer Maya Nuranti is based in Bali, where she is producing her clothing line, together with her sister Mia.

I teamed this short with a hat I got on my travels to the Dominican Republic, a simple H&M blouse with peter pan collar and lace loafers, sporting a beach dandy look on my hangout at the Sand in the City.

I wore this beautiful handmade short with pride. Just imagine: it came all the way from Bali to Austria!
Later in the evening I made the beautiful handmade short with an adorable tulip print fit for dinner – by adding an amazing Alexander Wang heel and another thing I’m quite into at the moment – a slit sleeve blouse. I am heading to the Indochine21 in first district, known for exquisite Asian cuisine ranging from Japanese to Indonesian.

While I am waiting for the main course I am dreaming and planing my next exotic get-away. If you want to get your hands on a piece of Bali you can do so over the Mayanur website or find them on Etsy. You should really check out the amazing hand-made feather earrings as well. I got myself the blue and white ones as a little extra treat. Whatever it is you choose from Mayanur’s designs – you can be sure it was made with 100% love!

What are your traveler’s dreams made of?

xox, the Flamboyante

We’ve built a palace so you can shop

This is not a fairy tale, it’s actually true. Vienna has built a temporary palace inside of the museum of applied arts – the MAK. This boutique style expo is called Modepalast – the fashion palace. In the last three days one could shop, browse and marvel at the work of about 90 designers, most of them national or based in Austria. To me that’s good news, because three months ago I embarked on a journey, where I was going to find out more about the fashion of my country, the sense of fashion and the people involved in it.

This time I was able to look at a bigger picture, all the labels of Austria were together in one spot. Some of the designers I knew from long time ago and some were completely new to me.

That was my question answered, now let me answer some of your questions:

Has the clothing been nice, interesting, stylish? Did I see must haves, wants, arm candy? Is this a place to spend and get fabulous fashion in return? Considering the eclectic choice of clothing for children, women and men, jewellery, accessories, shoes, home deco – well all kind of unique or hand-crafted things – considering all of this: yes, yes, yes!

I’m sure you’ve seen one or the other thing you fancy…

Some of the designers were:

Ayo van Elmar

Ivan Asen 22

amateur

La femme Mimi

Tata Christiane

Ivan Jankovic

lila

Saperlipopette

A shop I really loved was:

Bee Zee Eco Kid  – I stopped there because they did the cutest toys and clothing for babies and toddlers. The two girls at the stand were extraordinarily charming. The materials of the clothing line are not only eco friendly but the small company also pays attention to sustainability as they support an African fair trade community. I’m immediately taken….

No wonder at all the label won the best green designer 2012 award of Modepalast Vienna.

Also no doubt, the Modepalast is a place where fashion meets art. You’ll find yourself thoroughly pampered and catered for and it is a wonderful platform to socialize.

I know this has been a long round tour and I hope you’ve enjoyed it so far. You may even now think that Austria has some cool and genuine designers. Last but not least let me show you whom I met on the event.

Ayo van Elmar, who’s fashion she herself describes as contemporary afrocentric chic. I loved the vibrancy of her clothes, plus I absolutely love all sorts of ethnic fashion, I absolutely adore African fashion.

I’ve heard of this name earlier but to my surprise the designer has been someone I knew from my past modelling time. I couldn’t help saying it, but I felt so proud of  her being such talented designer and createing such a beautiful collection – it’s just so nice.

And I meet the best of Austrian fashion bloggers – of course there is more – but more of that later.

It kind of was an exciting moment. Just imagine: you start out on something and suddenly find yourself in the middle of that something. There was Anna Heuberger of H. Anna, who is a fashion and beauty savvy blogger and a theory of drama (almost- finished) student, writing in German. There also was Teresa Hammerl of Colazione a Roma, who’s a blogger for fashion, loves all things Italian and is a free-lance journalist and fashion reporter. I really thought her outfit was special – so well put together – reflecting her personality:

                                                 Anna Heuberger of H. Anna

Teresa Hammerl of Colazione a Roma

One or the other might hopefully now know more about my home country Austria, about the fashion scene, the designers, the bloggers…I’m calling it a day – for today. But before I leave, let me suggest you put the dates for next year’s Modepalast 2013 on your calendar. If you love, breathe and need  fashion then it  will be a great excuse for a trip to Vienna.

Let me know what you are thinking about Austrian fashion – has it been a new terrain for you?. And hopefully see you there next time!

xox, the Flamboyante

Blockin’ it cheap and chic

I have a plan to boost my health and well being this spring, so today I head off to the Naschmarkt. It’s a huge food market offering a variety of international food products, vegetables and fruits, flowers, clothes and all sorts of things.

The plan is to eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetable and to drink plenty of water. I brought a large straw bag with me and a dress I got a couple of months ago, when it was still freezing here in Vienna. I was very much looking forward to the day I could wear it. Today it had finally be a bit summery. This dress is just right for going to the markets, it is comfortable and stylish. The Naschmarkt has a lot of eateries and hang out places as well, it is always crowded with all different kind of people from young to old and tourists as well, they go there to eat and drink, have fun and socialize.

I was on the look out for some nice fruits and other interesting or exotic food treasures.

Dou you know what these are? I actually never ate them. The Naschmarkt is well-known for  Turkish products like bread, olives, goats cheese. Of course you’d find all sorts of meat and fish, which scares me a bit to look at, so I pass quickly at these stands. Then there are all types of restaurants, plenty of Asian cuisine ranging from Korean to Vietnamese to Japanese, of course Austrian restaurants and sort of pubs – we call them Beisl, you’d find Lebanese cuisine and a few cool cafes to meet the lovely and hip folks.

I feel good in this place and fabulous in my dress, which has been amazingly inexpensive. It’s okay, even advisable when you buy something that is more a trend. I’d rather invest in something timeless – and in summer spend my money on eating well and out and spending quality time. A key to a good looks and vibrancy is feeling good – about yourself and life, there are so many nice things to explore and appreciate.

I found myself some nice fruits but now I am on the look out for something more exotic to fill my kitchen cupboard.

I am really getting tired and need a little rest. Luckily the Naschmarkt is nearby the city center. The plan is to relax, drink a little coffe and then maybe do a little window shopping to get some style inspiration for new outfits. It’s quite handy to do that when shops are already closed – there is no temptation.

The over dimensional wafer buiscuits are typical Austrian, the so called Mannerschnitten– perhaps they are world famous.

On my way home I stumble over the most exciting thing of the day. Is it fate or co-incidence? Well it must be some kind of magic…

This dress! This is what I saw when I walked past the Akris store,it was an incredible co-incidence. This surely  is an amazing dress. As you can see the concept of dress is similar to mine if not the same. Ofcourse the tailoring is different, although it was tucked in the back.When it comes to design and quality this dress is uncomparable to mine, no question. It is made of rich and heavy silk and has an incredibly creative and adorable graphic print- on the ‘top’ of the yellow block  little men are seated, enjoying their point of view.

Do you want to know the price tag? Remain seated – the dress costs 1,700 Euros. I couldn’t spend that ammount of money on a dress – never saying never – but if I had that much at hand I would rather spend some time on a sunny beach somewhere in the pacific or south pacific. Oh well…hopefully soon. Well my dress had cost less than two percent of the other dresses price – you do the maths. So one more time: my dress next to the other dress:

I can say this with all my confidence, I still felt like a million dollars – because I had a beautiful day! It’s certainly an art to channel a certain look, not so much a question of money.

xox, the Flamboyante

Ps: Have you entered my summer accessory give away? Let me help you look fab and save a little money at the same time for some quality time!