November 6th, 2016

The Story so far

Brexit, Grexit, refugees, welcoming policy, Panama papers, Je suis Charlie, Bataclan, Nice, Munich, Aleppo, Nurcia, Erdogan, Trumpification, Guccification, Burkini on the beach, Blatter and Roussef, AfP und FPÖ, UEFA “Euros” and Olympics, zero interest policy, David Bowie and Prince, Russia and Ukraine, Obama in Cuba, Chanel in Cuba, Pokémons all over the world …

Time flies. Some events are just fleeting buzzwords but some profoundly change the world.

In the middle of it, me, an elementary particle in this world, torn between “left brain” and “right brain”, law and fashion, German discipline and Mediterranean easiness, between masculine pragmatism and feminine dreaminess, childlike spirit and adulthood, Nordic melancholy and Balkan passion, Jil Sander-like simplicity and Dries Van Noten opulence, and yes, sometimes between good and evil.

Odete vs. Odile – Photographes by Blerta Kambo

I certainly have no earth-shattering events to report and there’s no chance of me changing the world profoundly. I’ll leave that to the Kardashians of this world. This is just an attempt to share with the world in this enormous electronic diary called WordPress my thoughts on life and style, history and culture, art and travel, male and female, home and abroad, and my view of beauty.

Almost everybody will be familiar with those series recapping the story so far at the beginning of each episode, even if the last episode was shown only a week ago. Well, this blog celebrated its third birthday in June and I have made myself scarce with blog postings during the last two years. It’s therefore about time to look back over the last two years.

With this in mind, here is “the story so far” in pictures. Continue reading →

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September 16th, 2015

She, her Shoes, Sigmund Freud and Women’s Rights

I have surely used the magic word “shoes” more than once in this blog, but a blogpost specially dedicated to shoes was missing. When I started writing, I remembered that “Sex and the City” episode “A woman’s right to shoes“. Do you remember? Carrie and Stanford attend a baby shower party thrown by a friend. Upon arriving, every guest has to remove his footwear according to the house rules. When Carrie plans to leave the party, she discovers that her brand new Manolos have been stolen …
I must admit having been one of those crazy fans who organized “Sex and the City” TV evenings with friends mixing Cosmopolitans and who even almost ruined her bank account buying a pair of Manolo Blahnik stilettos in the boutique of Marion Heinrich in Munich already at the beginning of the “SATC-mania”. As it turned out later, it was a visionary investment; I do still wear those Manolos 😉

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March 3rd, 2015

Three Weather Hairspray

Someone will probably remember that Schwarzkopf commercial from 1989: “Hamburg, 8.30 pm, rainy. Perfect hold for my hair. – Three Weather Hairspray. Stopover in Munich, quite windy. Perfect hold for my hair. – Three Weather Hairspray. Onward flight to Rome, the sun burns. Perfect protection for my hair – Three Weather Hairspray.” I do not know why I felt a bit like the woman from that hairspray advertisement while travelling during the last winter months.

It is not that my hair always looked as perfect as in the commercial, let alone that a chauffeur drove me to the aircraft. In addition, golden curb chains and huge 80ies style earrings like hers have to be left at home or with my checked-inn luggage, in order to avoid airport security scanners running wild. By the way, with due respect to the efforts of the hairstyling products manufacturers: I do not believe there do exist hair products that can protect any hairstyle from the “famous” Hamburg weather. Sometimes, speaking out bluntly is a must – I am afraid 😉

Continue reading →

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January 9th, 2015

The Ladies in Red

The previously barely known to the general public Lupita Nyong’o in a scarlet Ralph Lauren dress and Emma Watson in a backless, cool red Dior Couture apron dress with slim black trousers beneath at the Golden Globes in January 2014 (I guess the dress trousers combination in January should sound the fashion bell for the HeForShe campaign in September), the red blazer (one of seemingly hundreds of the same) worn by the Chancellor Angela Merkel at the World Cup Final in July, the uauuu red duchesse high-waisted shorts worn by the modern bullfighters models army at the finale of the Dolce & Gabbana fashion show in September and the red Alexander McQueen dress worn by Amal Alamuddin during the rehearsal dinner before the wedding with George Clooney (is he really no longer a bachelor?). Year 2014 was quite full of red fashion moments.

Runway picture via Style.com: Dolce & Gabbana Spring 2015 Ready-to-wear

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December 8th, 2014

Tirana Mon Amour

In front of Tirana’s landmarks: the Et’hem Bey Mosque, the Clock Tower and the statue of Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg, Albania’s national hero

It was the 17th of August two years ago, no special date, only that I was visiting Tirana exceptionally during the holiday peak season. As the border official saw a pale-faced woman holding a German passport in her hand in front of him he must have thought I was German – an unusually small-sized German woman. No Southern European walks around completely untanned at midsummertime. But then he read my name and place of birth in the passport, raised his head and said in this typical rough-loving Tirana dialect which is simply untranslatable: “Ahh Tirana! Come in, Jonela!” At that moment I knew that this town will always be my home!
After several blog posts about Frankfurt and some other European cities, it is high time to dedicate a blog post to my home city Tirana.

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November 7th, 2014

Uniforms: A Trilogy

A Garment of Military Origin

Yes, the piece of clothing I am wearing on the picture, is a Burberry trenchcoat, originally an item of clothing developed for the British Army during the First World War. It was once a military uniform that became fashionable in the decades after the Second World War.

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October 15th, 2014

Style Nouveau on TV

Two weeks ago, I was invited by Agon Channel in my homeland, Albania, for talking about the phenomenon of blogs. The recording of the talk show has been finally uploaded to YouTube. My readers who do not understand the Albanian language, may probably enjoy a bit the special sound of the language and the Mediterranean gestures;-)

Thanks a lot to Agon Channel and especially to the team of the show “Te parët”, Brunilda, Artion and Qetësor.

Stay tuned! There is a lot more to share on this blog in the next days and weeks.

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September 30th, 2014

Just an Ordinary Summer Day

Leaving aside the fact that this summer in Germany somehow passed by before it started at all, an ordinary summer day in my life does not quite look like in those pictures. This is, of course, mainly due to the German summer or better “the earlier German autumn”. Well, castles or a retro Fiat Cinquecento are not really part of my everyday scenery, too…

Apart from that, fearless in terms of fashion as I am, I can strut down in a hot summer day carrying a white embroidered parasol and a dramatic fan or put a silk scarf on my hair à la 50ies Riviera film scene. This does, of course, bear the risk of being stared at by less bold fellow citizens , but this is just one of the many good aspects of democracy: ..”: Everyone is free to do what he pleases, unless and until he does not infringe the freedom of others. …

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September 7th, 2014

The Simple Life

Have you ever heard about the Diggers? Looking through the pictures I had chosen for this blog entry, this name from the history lessons at school came suddenly into my mind. The Diggers tried to reform the existing social order in England around 1650 with an agrarian lifestyle based on their ideas for the creation of small egalitarian rural communities.
Not that I do cherish any agrarian-socialist utopian dreams, but – like any metropolitan – now and then I do feel the urge to spend a few days of simple life in the village, without the beloved high heels, the hectic lunch dates, the exhibition openings, the cocktails ….

I have dedicated this blogpost to those days I spent in villages. They let me breathe freely again, take my mind off things and remind me of old times when in my ex-communist homeland Albania voluntary work of city dweller in agriculture was even obligatory.

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August 14th, 2014

Man o Man!

Let’s talk about men….. Well, most of the men topics have been comprehensively treated by Carrie and Co. in “Sex and the City” as well as by Hannah and her friends in “Girls”… Here, I just wanted to write down some reflections about men’s style.

June 2014, Florence, Octagonal Hall at Pitti Uomo, wearing a top by Ann Demeulenmeester, skirt by Stella McCartney and Lanvin sandals

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