My perfect summer sandals

Since the end of last week when the BlOGGER login issues forced me to use Firefox which proved somewhat painful, I've been totally lazing off the blog over the last few days and I feel guilty for it. Truth is I'm a lazy person by nature (guilty as charged) and it's no good for me to take a break from something that is not my job (as in smth I'm being paid for) since it does no good for my motivation. But again - it's all BLOGGER's fault!

Anyways, now that I'm officially back into action, I will try to make extra effort bringing in some cool content and I'll start by showing off my new shoes! I've been looking for new sandals for some time now, and when I stumbled upon this pair at OYSHO last week at ATHENS MALL - it was love at first sight.

Here are several reasons why the shoes are perfect: they are wedges (exactly what I wanted), they are also clogs (which I also wanted), they are very medium height - which means I don't need to calculate exactly how much time I plan to spend on foot before putting them on, end - they were only 40 Euros, which means I can still get a new pair of flat sandals that I also really want without feeling like I'm spending too much.

To be honest I'm lusting over some block-color wedges too - I'm totally loving this trend, and who knows, I might just give in to it. But the classic brown leather goes with pretty much everything and until I can afford a giant wardrobe that some lucky ladies have - I'm gonna stick with practical approach to fashion.

Summer's here: hot looks from latest editorials

Summer has officially arrived in Greece, or, at least in Athens. It's 33 degrees Celsius during day which means it's time to ditch jeans and shoes in favor of shorts and sandals and add a few extra light summer tops to my wardrobe. I also put together this mini scrapbook of the best looks from summer fashion shoots by some of the best magazines for style inspiration.

Alexis Johns for PAPERCUT MAGAZINE

Aline Weber by Benny Horne for RUSSH

Bambi Northwood-Blyth for HARPER'S BAZAAR AUSTRALIA June/July 2011

Isabeli Fontana for VOGUE PARIS June/July 2011

Angela Lindvall for ELLE RUSSIA June 2011

Eniko Mihalik for VOGUE ITALIA May 2011

Liu Wen by for VOGUE CHINA June 2011

Remik Kozdra & Kasia Baczulis for PAPERCUT MAGAZINE

Paint It Rouge: a red lipstick experiment

I haven't used a lipstick for quite some years now. Instead I've been wearing all sorts of lip gloss - from pearly to glossy and semi-transparent - and whenever I tried a lipstick on, I felt that it looked too harsh on me - almost vulgar. But we grow up, our tastes change and this season I got swept away by the RED lipstick trend.

Of course, it's a classic, and never really went out of fashion, but suddenly I started seeing it everywhere - from catwalk shows to red carpets, so I decided I simply must get a red one myself - even though it felt (and still feels) quite dashing and experimental to me. So I went and got this "Lady Danger" matte lipstick from MAC - it's my first experience with MAC cosmetics in fact (there were no MAC stores in Kyiv, Ukraine where I lived until recently) and I was totally pleased with its quality. As for my red lip EXPERIMENT - I believe it was successful! I'm still getting used to my red-lipped look but already loving it. I think it was just what I needed to spice up my makeup style.

Below I enclose a number of celebrity and catwalk show pics for more Rouge inspiration...

Julianne Moore

Bonnie Wright

Rihanna

Penelope Cruz

Marc by Marc Jacobs

Gucci

Best of latest lookbooks: H&M, Zara TRF and Topshop

I decided not to turn my blog and focus more on personal posts and features. However occasional collections of latest looks from my favorite shops can't hurt, right? So here I bring you selected images from latest lookbooks by H&M, ZARA TRF and TOPSHOP.

H&M (Summer 2011 Campaign)

ZARA TRF (May 2011 Lookbook)

TOPSHOP (Gypsy Rocker Summer 2011 Collection)

STYLE OBSESSION: Shopper bags

I've always been a fan of BIG bags. And not so much because of style, but because of the freedom it grants me to carry all things I may need and still leaves extra space to squeeze in a water bottle, a cardigan if I get too hot or a magazine. Now lately I've been running around with a rather modestly-sized (by my standards) cross-body bag and it surely has it benefits, but recently I found myself falling deeply in love with the SHOPPER bags. Fact is I've never had a bag exactly like a shopper, also most of them are also supplied with an extra strap for cross-body wearing and of course, the allure of space inside is so hard to resist. The color-blocking shoppers by the Greek brand Fullah Sugah and the classy brown one from ASOS are among my top choices.

FULLAH SUGAH

FULLAH SUGAH

ASOS

ASOS

ASOS

FULLAH SUGAH

TOPSHOP

Color & stripes explosion from Mango

Just yesterday I posted the looks from MANGO summer collection modelled by Scarlett Johansson, but I just couldn't resist those latest pics from another Mango summer lookbook called "COLOR & STRIPES" starring model Eniko Mihalik. I never get tired of stripes, and I they seem especially hot this summer varying from classic white-n-navy-blue to the most striking color combinations. Moreover, as Mango shoes us - stripes work great for smart color blocking!