Designer Love of the Moment

Hi everyone, 

Sorry for the fairly long post-break, I've been busy savoring the last few days of holidays with my boyfriend before heading back to university.... The sadness of long distance relationships!!

And as you all know, Kym is still driving around in the US and shopping til she drops, haha!

Anyhow, today I thought I'd write a little about a designer brand that I love, which I thought might be interesting, as I tend to talk mostly about fairly cheap and affordable brands and not so much runway fashion. I'm sure you've heard of it: KENZO Paris, a luxury designer label that was founded in Paris by the japanese designer Kenzo Takada in 1970. Having been a little forgotten in past years, Kenzo made a huge comeback this season with an incredibly trendy new collection that has inspired many brands to copy them (I'm looking at you, H&M, stealing all the prints!!)
I have spent houuuurs looking at their gorgeous designs. The collection consists mostly of fairly abstract prints: Salvador Dalí inspired tiger prints, big, bold, black eye prints, dreamy cloud prints and bold letterings of the brand. I'm especially taken with their jumpers. One of them, the green Kenzo Tiger jumper, has become all the rage among fashionistas in past months, and I really understand why!
The color adds a statement to any outfit, the slightly street wear inspired design screams individuality and glams up any outfit, and the KENZO logo print insinuates luxury. I want one soooo bad, but at approx. 300€, these babies are just waaay out of my budget. You can check ebay, however, a few fairly good dupes are on sale up there for about 30 to 50 euros. Definitely worth it.

If you'd rather go for something less iconic than the green Kenzo jumper, there's plenty more gorgeous pieces in the collection. More printed jumpers, embossed boots, embroidered bags, shiny skirts, funky parkas, beautiful scarves. I am genuinely really in love with all of them. The only problem, once again, is the more than hefty price tag. At 300 to 600€ per item, all of these gorgeous garms at far out of my reach. For now, at least. In the meanwhile, I will continue swooning over the brilliant cloud-printed jumper in soft colors, the knitted logo jumper, and especially the tiger embossed leather booties.

If like me, you are really impatient to get your hands on similar items, there is plenty of fashion houses that have been, if not completely ripping off, then at least inspired by the Kenzo prints. Check out some of the items H&M has recently released, such as their all over eye-print leggings, the eye-print skirt, their dupe of the green tiger jumper (which I have to admit I own), or some of their eye-print tops. Seen this before, anyone?
While I do think it's shameless (and actually surprised that it's legal?), I am still grateful that I can buy similar prints for a tiny fraction of the price. Kenzo, make a cheaper line for poor girls like me!!

Any luxury labels that you are in love with? I'm thinking of making my "Designer Love of the Moment"- and where to find dupes, a kind of monthly article. Interested? Comment below!

B's Monki Haul

As promised, a little quick picture haul of a few of the items I picked up from Monki (and other random stores) during my week of holidaying in gorgeous Finland. I keep going on about them, but they truly are my very favorite brand, ever. Wish they did free shipping to Europe on their website, argh! Probably going to head to Utrecht or Amsterdam or Rotterdam one of these days to pick up a few more things, I am just too crazy about them not to.
One thing which I've mentioned before but will mention again as it's quite important, though: their sizing runs a little different than for most other stores, I find. I think it's great, as I actually think it's a lot more accurate and representative of real life, but basically their size XS is about a UK size 8, their size S is about a UK 10-12, their size M is roughly a UK 14-16, and their size L is more like an 18, so be careful not to buy anything too big! I, who sometimes struggle to find something that fits nicely in other stores because they run quite small (Forever 21 runs pretty tiny in my opinion), buy most of my Monki clothes in a size M (or wow, even the odd piece in S) and only get the L sizes when I deliberately want the item to be extra long, or extra slouchy. They also use average or 'normal' size models a lot of the time, which is really refreshing and is part of why I rate this brand so highly. Anyway, here goes: 

"Tough Love" print jumper, 30€ via Monki (love this, as it's very similar to the muuuch more expensive jumpers with prints and slogans by Wildfox Couture. This is such a steal if you compare the prices!) And I could really use a bit of a pop of such a bold color in my wardrobe, as it's usually 99% black and the odd bit of blue or white. This is also 100% cotton, which is great quality for this price.

All over kitty-print canvas tote bag, 8€ via Monki. I am and always have been a cat lady so I genuinely just couldn't resist this. I'm also obsessed with totes, so it's pretty much perfect for me. They're so cute!

Grey acid wash 3/4 length sleeve tshirt, 15€ via Monki. I love everything and anything acid wash, and grey is such a nice transition color to wear in late summer all the way to winter. So gorgeous tucked into some jeans with some cut-out boots and a piece of statement jewelry. Love the high neckline, too.

Did I mention I am genuinely obsessed with socks? Here's a few I picked up recently. The first ones are from a random store, but the chain and the pattern ones are from Monki, too, for just 3€ each!! 

Black and white patterned vest, 15€, via Monki. I love all things monochrome and rarely wear color, so this crazy patterns is a great way to include a bit of pop into an otherwise boring outfit i.e. jeans. 

And here a few other random things I picked up while in Finland: Moomintroll postcards, glass and keychains, because I really love them! Finnish postcards from the Design District, as well as the goooorgeous Monki payment receipt (it's got cute little birds and adorable figures printed on the back!) as well as the gorgeous plastic bag that my clothes came in. Did I mention I loooove that shop?

And finally, the velvet-y biker jacket which I picked up from H&M on the main shopping street in Helsinki. I actually just went in to buy a boring pair of black basic tights, but saw this, then thought it would be waaay to expensive, but had to get it when I realized it was only 19,95€. Genuinely one of the best bargains recently. Lovely material, I really love the shoulder detailing, too. It's also a perfect transition piece to wear on chilly late summer nights all the way til autumn and even winter!

So yes, that's what I picked up, sorry for going on and on and on and on forever about Monki, I can't help myself, it's become a little of an unhealthy (for my wallet) obsession. I keep and keep and keep buying more of their stuff! The quality is just amazing, and the designs so fresh and new and gorgeous. You can find all of the above items on their online shop: http://www.monki.com/