The Perks Of Being A Ghetto Flower

I probably mentioned it before but I grew up in the Berliner district Kreuzberg, which is like the Bronx in New York. Ehhh, at least kind of. Okay, it’s a little bit similar. I mean, there’s a house down the street with graffiti on it. So since I grew up the hard way I learned very early how to survive on the merciless streets. At night I’m one of those ominous figures who make you switch the side of the pavement. I rule the blocks of old buildings with freshly renovated facades and musty smells coming from the backyards. My gang consists of spoiled only children and revolting law students. I ain`t nobody to mess with, yo.

Convincing?

Pants: Nasty Gal │ Top: Asos │ Jacket: Choies │ Boots: Zara │ Necklace: H&M │ Earrings: Null Karat                                   

Disneyland BAM!

Aaand it’s Mickey again.. or Minnie in this case. I bought the ears when I went to Disneyland in Paris some time ago and I really wish I could spend another day there. Everything was perfect and those different theme parks were soo much fun. I immediately turned into a little girl again, wanting to ride every roller coaster, jump on every carousel and buy all the things with a Disney character on it (basically everything haha). My smile was like tattooed on my face because I couldn’t stop screaming hysterically “ohhh” and “awww”. They charged 6€ for a Mickey shaped lollipop, but they know how to get me.

If there was any chance – I would move in there. I should probably apply for a job and walk around all day in a Mickey Mouse costume. Wouldn’t that be the perfect job for me?!

Dress worn as top: H&M │ Skirt: Zara │ Socks: Topshop │ Shoes: Office │ Necklace: Asos │ Ring: Accessorize                  

Online Shopping Trouble

Hello, my name is Malin and I'm an online shopper. It's my greatest addiction and sometimes my biggest problem. A true love-hate relationship! But I guess I'm surrounded by likeminded people here :) Ordering online is always a risk: You never know whether the clothes will fit or if you still like them when you try them on. If not you cry one silent tear and have to organise the annoying return. But I can’t count the times I received something broken or even completely wrong which I couldn't send back that easily. Then it’s up to me to call the customer service, send e-mails, return the package, wait for my money back.. And most of the time the shop isn’t willing to help. So much effort for something what should be so easy. If it wasn’t for this huge variety online I wouldn’t even bother. And not to forget my laziness haha :)

Here is my toplist of disappointments:

Jeffrey Campbell via Nasty Gal – Broken and way too large (150€)

 I couldn’t wait for these shoes to arrive and had to pay about 30€ for the delivery (including customs duty) – when I finally got the package and tried them on, about 10 studs came off just by walking in my room for a minute AND they were nearly 2 sizes too large :( I couldn’t send them back, it would have been too expensive. I just put 2 soles in them to make them fit and glued all the studs back on, but it was work! I’m sure more studs will come off, even though I put glue on every single one. They were supposed to become my new favourite pair of shoes..

Topshop – Item not as pictured (36€)

When I ordered at Topshop a month ago I didn’t get the shorts I wanted: they looked completely different. The customer service was useless and disorganised when I wanted them to at least pay me the cost of the return, it made me so mad! It took ages and a ridiculous effort to get my money. I won’t order there again. (Okay, probably I will because they sell wonderful clothes, but I will sulk for a while)

New Look – Poor quality and broken (10€)

(I took the picture when I already fixed everything)

I know it’s a cheap shop, but the collar I received was completely useless: The rhinestone was attached in the wrong place and all the studs were loose or fell off. I had to sew on everything, it was less effort than sending it back. I think I never received anything with a lower quality.

Kosmetik4less – Wrong item (2€)

My latest purchase a few days ago: False bottom lashes from a german online shop. They mixed up the numbers and sent me horrible pink feather lashes instead of the plain black ones I ordered.  When I called the customer service they were very nice and told me I could keep them – they would send me the right ones for free. Yesterday they arrived :) At least one good experience, they turned a disappointment into a win! And now I have something to shock everyone at the next motto party haha :)

Did you ever make bad experiences with online shops?

Blue Apple

I’m not big, but I’m blue and even though I’ve never been to New York I’m madly in love with this city. There’s something about New York which makes it incomparable to other cities: it’s vibrant, artistic, mysterious, exaggerated – maybe somehow like Berlin only 100 times bigger and even more exciting! I know I won’t get along very well with the US culture and Berlin will always be my real home, but one day I’ll go there and I won’t be a tourist for a few days I will live there for at least 3 months. I don’t know how or when but I will haha, can’t be harder than moving to Sydney :) Until then I will admire the city by looking down on my skirt.

What I like about this combination is the pastel blue colour scheme, which is the only reason those different pieces go so well with each other. With different shoes and without the cardigan I could easily turn it into a party outfit.

Skirt: Gina Tricot │ Top: Thrifted │ Cardigan: Topshop │ Shoes: Asos │ Earring: Ebay │ Necklace: DIY                           

I made this necklace out of pieces from the shop “Idee” – they didn’t have an “A” so I improvised haha.

CLLCT Yearbook - 16 Year Old Me

The girls from CLLCT are hosting a little project called “Yearbook ‘Class of 2013′ – Bloggerparade”. It’s a throwback to old school times – when we were 16 year old teenagers who were trapped in puberty. Everybody can take part, the task is to show what kind of teenager you were / would be now / would like to be: exaggerated self-mockery highly appreciated! It’s a German project, that’s why I will translate everything.

I actually had so many ideas that I couldn’t decide which one to take: You can tell me which one you like best :)

 The first one is more about how I really was with 16 (kind of haha):

I’m the one sitting in the front row, whose finger is already in the air when the teacher didn’t even finish the question. I get involved with 1000 projects and even lead them. I stay in the computer room until the caretaker has to throw me out in the evening. I have so much to do, I could really need Hermione Granger’s time turner. My favourite subject besides art is mathematics and every teacher loves me. The popular kids only talk to me when they want to copy my homework and I spend my breaks with the other swots. The only topics of conversation are the new headlines for the school magazine, the economic report we are analyzing besides school and the translation of the latest Latin homework.

Ich bin die in der ersten Reihe, deren Finger schon in die Höhe schnellt noch bevor der Lehrer die Frage beendet hat. Ich engagiere mich bei 1000 Nebenprojekten und leite diese sogar. Dafür bleibe ich auch mal so lange im Computerraum bis der Hausmeister mich abends rauswirft. Ich habe so viel zu tun, dass ich den Zeitumkehrer von Hermine Granger  ganz gut gebrauchen könnte. Mein Lieblingsfach neben Kunst ist Mathe und jeder Lehrer liebt mich. Die beliebten Schüler reden nur mit mir, wenn sie die Hausaufgaben abschreiben wollen und die Pausen verbringe ich mit den anderen 1er-Kandidaten. Unsere einzigen Gesprächsthemen sind die neuen Schlagzeilen für die Schülerzeitung, der Wirtschaftsbericht den wir gerade außerschulisch analysieren und die Übersetzung der Lateinhausaufgabe.

The next one is inspired by the person I turned into since then:

I’m the odd bird with the weird clothes who has never cared about other people’s stare, because I life far too much in my own little world. Nobody can really connect with me, but everybody looks surprised when I enter the classroom with Mickey Mouse ears on my head. I am too cranky and too potty to fit in, but I don’t even want to. I’m too strange for the popular kids and too cool for the nerds. Or should I rather say: The popular kids are too adapted for me and the nerds are too lame for me.

Ich bin der schräge Vogel mit den seltsamen Klamotten, der sich noch nie um die Blicke der anderen geschert hat, denn dafür lebe ich viel zu sehr in meiner eigenen Welt. Keiner kann wirklich etwas mit mir anfangen, aber jeder macht große Augen wenn ich mit Micky Maus Ohren den Klassenraum betrete. Ich bin zu schrullig und zu durchgeknallt um irgendwo reinzupassen, aber das will auch gar nicht. Den Beliebten bin ich zu komisch und für die Nerds bin ich zu cool. Oder sollte ich besser sagen: Die Beliebten sind mir zu angepasst und die Nerds sind mir zu lahm.

And those are my latest habits at university which I’m not really proud of haha:

I’m never there and half of the class doesn’t even know I exist. There is always something that keeps me from going to school, if I’m hungover from last night’s party, if I want to spend my day looking at cat pictures online, or if I have an unusual scratchy throat which will definitely turn into a severe cold when I don’t stay in bed all day. Plus the bus drives inconvenient today, it’s raining and the school schedule generally overlaps with my sleeping habits. When I don’t find the room at once I drive back home and when I manage to come at all I’m late. When I enter the room 15 minutes after school started, it doesn’t feel a bit incorrect because they can be glad I attend at all. In spite of everything I make it through the year because I do well at the exams, even though I didn’t study much. When I appear for the tests the teachers double-check my name until they are sure I belong to this class.

Ich bin nie da und die Hälfte der Klasse weiß gar nicht, dass ich existiere. Es gibt immer etwas das mich davon abhält zur Schule zu kommen, ob ich verkatert von der Party am Abend zuvor bin, ich einfach lieber den Tag damit verbringe mir lustige Katzenfotos im Internet anzukucken, oder ich ein seltsames Kratzen im Hals habe das ganz sicher zu einer heftigen Erkältung wird wenn ich nicht im Bett bleibe. Außerdem fährt der Bus heute ungünstig, es regnet und überhaupt überschneidet sich die Unterrichtszeit mit meinen Schlafzeiten. Wenn ich den Raum nicht gleich finde, fahre ich einfach wieder nach Hause und komme ich überhaupt mal, bin ich zu spät. Wenn ich 15 Minuten nach Unterrichtsbeginn gelassen die Klasse betrete ist mir das kein bisschen unangenehm, denn sie können froh sein, dass ich sie überhaupt mit meiner Anwesenheit beehre. Trotz allem bestehe ich das Jahr, weil ich in den Prüfungen gut abschneide ohne viel gelernt zu haben. Wenn ich zu den Klassenarbeiten erscheine, checken die Lehrer meinen Namen 3 Mal bis sie sich sicher sind, dass ich überhaupt in diese Klasse gehe.

Business Look = Beyoncé Concert Outfit

Who run the world, Girls! Who run the world, Girls! Who run this mother-…I can’t get this out of my head since I went to the Beyoncé concert last weekend. I will probably knock my head against a wall sometime soon. I’m not even a real fan, I went there for free haha :) First time I went to such a huge concert, it was more of an entertainment show with a breathtaking stage performance than a concert as I know it.

Before the concert I went to university and dressed up business-like / (seductive) secretary style. We've got some male professors and I mean: who actually studies for good marks if it's so much easier to.........fail.

Cashmere sweater: P&C │Skirt: Asos │ Shoes: Office │ Choker: Thrifted │Ring: Sportsgirl                                                 

This is one of my favourite basic sweaters since it’s completely made of cashmere – it’s sooo soft!

It’s so cold right now, I had to dig out my faux fur coat again, ugh!! At least it’s one of most elegant things to wear.

And tadaa: Different top, different look: This is how I went all “If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it! Oh, oh, oh..”

Top: Evil Twin │ Earrings: H&M │ Heels: Zara │ Necklaces: Collected from different parts of the world                                 

Proof I was there:

;)

I understand Beyoncé, I understand.

Black Daisy

I’m not a big fan of flowers in real life, but printed on my clothes I sure love them. Of course I think that flowers are beautiful and a sweet decoration, it’s just that you spend money on something that wilts after a few days and you could have bought a real present instead. And giving away roses is so cheesy! Plus I'm far too lazy to look after plants.. whoops just now I realized I didn’t water mine for a few days now.. haha good luck it’s raining all the time during this joke of a spring!

And isn’t it cool how the blue colour catches the eye? The outfit is all black, but the jacket with those little colour spots is enough to pull the whole thing together. You can even take off the sleeves, there’s a zipper on each side – will come in handy in summer!

Jacket : Nasty Gal │ Leggings: no-name │ Top: Asos │ Hat: H&M │ Necklace: Market in Melbourne │ Boots: Zara              

Rocket Nails / Carnival of Cultures

If I ever surprisingly performed a career as an astronaut and travelled to other planets I’d probably wear this design on my nails. I spontaneously bought one of the new polishes from Manhattan, a metallic blue fast drying beauty (Named 101S). It was really hard to get it off though. The colour already looked very “outer spacy” and a simple rocket with stars seemed to be the best idea. Was very easy to draw with a striper!

Here comes my inspiration for all those other universe conquerors whose adventures in outer space are limited to watching Star Trek, jumping really high and drawing rockets on fingernails.

This weekend we had another cool festival in Berlin, called the carnival of cultures. It’s all about ethnic diversity, funny costumes and dancing. I’ve been wandering around on the street festival since Friday and on Sunday was the big parade. Berlin always pretends to be little Rio de Janeiro that day. We’ve seen it a million times before, so I spent most of my day at a garden party only a few meters away from the carnival. When we finally got up to watch the parade we ended up following a wagon of our own culture – the techno culture. Dancing to hot Samba rhythms just isn’t my thing.

Frog In A Blender

What’s first green then red and is spinning around? Look at the title. Ha.ha.

If you look closely you’ll find the frog and the blender in my outfit, but probably my associations just went bananas again. 
It’s cool how easily you can make a look a bit less overdressed by adding trainers! It was still a daring look for university but whatever.. If I added a sporty jacket instead of a see-through shirt, it would look even more casual, but I liked it that way. At least I tried to knot it in a way to hide most of my belly ;D

Top: Topshop │ Shirt: Cheap Monday │ Trainers, necklace & skirt: Asos