the great gatsby

so let's begin.
i had this promise i'll read the book first. i mean the original. i fail at that a lot of the time (cloud atlas, the hobbit and almost any film i saw based on a book). but now i was very set on the idea and did it. kinda. i read it the day it came out here, loved the book. even though it was kind of dragging sometimes, especially in the end, i really liked it. i liked it so much i even started reading a story about zelda fitzgerald, scott's wife, who inspired him. i mean not for this book (although i think that their story is a bit similar to daisy and jay's) but in general and later. anyway... where was i...
oh yeah...

the story
i hope you sort of know what's going on there, if not there are better sources for that then me (and i recommend the book, it's only like 200 pages long). i don't know, google it. i can give you just a very brief concept.
so there's this guy, nick carroway. he moves to the long island, his neighbour is jay gatsby. nick has a cousin, daisy. she was in love with jay but married another guy, tom. so they all live there and jay wants to renew his relationship with daisy. meanwhile tom has a romance with a married woman. story continues, bunch of things happen. we know the story from nick's point of view, it's like he's the writer. jay is madly in love with daisy, he wants her to leave tom and come live with him, get married in her hometown blah blah blah. to impress her he throws these famous big parties in his house. they're spectacular, especially in the film.
spoiler alert!
jay eventually dies, nobody comes to his funeral, turns out jay was only posing as this rich man, nick is depressed. daisy stays with tom, his romance ends tragically.
spoiler alert over!

the book is very thoughtful and gives a fresh perspective on some things, especially the classics in general, at least from me. i was sort of tired of all these good endings and 'and they lived happily ever after' which happens in most modern books, at least in those that i read.

anyway, the 'book side' of this is maybe for another time.
let's talk costume!

(as i think of it now, i'll probably do a series, this is real and to long for a one post. i'm thinking gatsby, tom, nick one post, daisy one and the rest one. good?)

the costumes in general were designed by catherine martin, baz luhrmann's wife and a great production designer. she won two oscars for moulin rouge, one of the most beautiful films (in the visual sense) i have ever seen. she collaborated with miuccia prada, making 40 pieces from her past collections into more roaring twenties looks.

i love the twenties in general, want to know why? let me know!

till next time (probably this week)

love,

qofr

p.s. good links:
the great gatsby prada costume preview
miuccia prada on designing costumes for the great gatsby
miuccia prada designs costumes for the great gatsby
first look at miuccia pradas great gatsby costumes
you're welcome

flying

oh my god. it happened again. no, not the hangover version but my one.

i'm the worst blogger i know, granted i don't know many but still the crown of procrastination goes to my lazy head. 

if it makes you feel any better i failed a lot of things not only posting on my blog 'regularly'. time just fly's so fast!

this time i won't promise i'll be better. cause i fail a lot. 

this time i'm just gonna do it.

so... hi

as for news, london happened.

i miss it, i miss kat, i miss melissa and i miss jake (we have to meet). and i miss piccadilly waterstones, and tate modern and v&a. and lush and even boots. come on, why can't i live there!?

also... my fascination with costumes continues with anna karenina (the new one) and the great gatsby (in cinemas right now). posts coming up.

what else... i got some stuff maybe i'll show you that (you want to see my stuff??)

and i'm on a book ban :(

that's that for now,

check out my instagram (@mondaysfashion) and tumblr (foxy-dreams.tumblr.com) for some daily fluff

love you lots,

qofr

burgundy and burgundy

i kinda liked the last haul. so i'm doing another one :)

you may have seen a sign for this post on my instagram.

i finally tried asos! 

i've been visiting them for some time now, but never got around to ordering anything. plus i didn't really know how was the shipping time and other stuff. but my sister, tsutsanka, sort of convinced me to try.

so i did.

and i'm quite pleased, especially by the delivery time. it was before the estimated date, only 1 and a half week of waiting.

i ordered two things.

a midi long-sleeve jersey dress in a really deep burgundy.

 and a long-sleeve shirt with some interesting detailing near the collar.

 it is a bit more grey than on the website but still looks pretty flawless. the panels are a light burgundy and a deeper shade of sort-of red.

this weird thing on the right side is actually a pocket! it was a really nice surprise, a new thing for me (that kind of shape for a pocket).

btw i adore these buttons, so cute!

so, asos good job :)

in other news. i watched the spring breakers the other night. do you want to know my thoughts on that or should i just stop?

love,

qofr

crochet and polka dots

soo... as a warm-up for the future...

i have a very small haul for you.

a thing i've never done here, ever. but i just wanted to ok? like something new.

so, today was the day. it finally got warmer than 2 degrees and i started thinking about spring. my most recent obsession and pretty much a must-have for any season are collar, especially shirts and dresses. i adore the look of those with my uber present sweaters and zipped hoodies. the only problem is that when you have a long sleeve shirt and a hoodie and it start to get warm, it's just not pretty. 

now thanks to the wonderful h&m i found a perfect solution - no sleeve shirts.

they're just as cool but they keep you cool (see what i did there? :])

yesterday i bought these two, but i plan to search for some other colours and prints cause i absolutely love these.

the first one is cream crochet with some brown buttons

(i must warn you, it's pretty see-through, not everything but the contour shows through.

a flesh coloured lingerie is advised)

the other one is a very pretty plumy colour with cream polka dots scattered all over.

the buttons are sort of a pearly material i guess.

they are now in the l.o.g.g. section in h&m. if you want these, i would advise to go a size higher cause they're a bit tight on the 'lady bits' section.

i'm considering doing a little spring looks series featuring these and many more. 

how do you feel about this?

hope you have a wonderful spring,

love,

qofr

y or n?

you it's about time to write a post when after typing i into your browser instead of your blog it goes to imdb and ben whishaw (my latest obsession). and you sit more on youtube than on tumblr.
i'm gonna improve i promise.

so... what do you think about going into costume design? my craze with actors and skyfall/cloud atlas resulted in eager searches at 5 am for q's cardigan or his tie.
and i came across this great blog, hello, tailor. she reviews costumes from tv shows and films. she even discussed the cardigan (yes, i want it. i want it so badly. h&m prepare for an attack. you too, second-hands).
maybe i could review films like that as well? jacqueline would come out of my magical box of secrets and help me :)
what do you say, yea or nay?

my first would probably be skyfall. cause it's on a loop on my pear now.
should i do the same for the costumes for our school play?

let me know if you want. you don't have to but it would be super nice of you :)

take care,

love,

qofr

pratchett's beard

one line and i can be flirty.
one line and i can be seductive.
one line and i can look like a panda.

as a follow up to my last post, i'm gonna talk about makeup. a while ago, i stopped wearing it. i put on only a bit of powder (which rubs of pretty quickly, i touch my face a lot) and i am good to go. it wasn't that much of a shock for me or my mates, my skin is pretty nice and i never wore much makeup. i put it on sometimes, when i want to look pretty or ridiculous (or both at the same time ;]) but for everyday some mascara and lipstick is just fine.

but there is the other side of spectrum of the makeup wearers. the ones that are obsessed with it and pretty much addicted.

i had a friend like that. she wore heavy, black eyeliner and lots of mascara. add that to blush and bronzer plus lipgloss and the image of b. comes to mind. i saw her once without any of that on. and, big surprise, i couldn't even recognise her. 5 years down, completely different woman. i told her that she looked so young and very different. and beautiful. back then i thought that she wore so much makeup only to cover some scars or something. but she just didn't like her face au natural.

makeup gives us the unique chance to fiddle with our appearance without surgeries or changing clothes. you can create a makeup look and feel like a diva in it, dress like a diva and probably be a diva for the night. though that you can cover yourself too. and my question here is, why would you want to do something like that?

why hide behind foundation and eyeshadow?
why hide behind ginger hair and the diva look on your eyes?

love,

qofr

shakespeare's beard

i had my hair redone tonight. once again, again and again since i was about 13. highlights, temporary, ''for 4-6 weeks'' and finally permanent. first time, second, sixth, once a month. now that i think of it, it sounds crazy.
now i know people who have never seen me with my natural hair. i have friends who forgot that i didn't have bright ginger hair from birth. even my mum thinks i look weird without my orange shaggy head. to be honest that's probably the most mental think, looking from a far, even i feel incomplete without it. now even i have troubles with imagining myself with my natural hair. i don't really have many photos and it just looks weird that way. did you see me with natural hair? i feel that maybe once or twice but it was so long ago...

the same thing is with curling. naturally i have this part straight part curly, wavy hair type that probably most of us has. but i love it super curly. and i'm lazy so i got it done at a salon, like permanently until it grows back. i got so used to it i can't even remember styling my hair the other way. like when was the last time i washed my hair actually in the shower and blow-dried it? it must have been almost 4 years ago.

[well maybe i'm exaggerating a bit, but you get the idea]

my question now it why the heck? why i spend my pressssiousss time and money on another dye and a few hours at hairdressers?

because i create myself.
and i want to look nice, for myself mostly but if somebody sees me and they think i look nice, it's always nice, nice....
but why? why don't we just lower our standards, even towards ourselves, and stop obsessing over looks.
but you do feel better with nicely done hair, going through the street, or even sitting alone in your room (story of my life).
i think that everybody does all that beauty stuff for different reasons.

for my purposes i can tell you why i do that.
as i said before, i create myself. and i really don't like how my hair looks naturally, so i hide it when i can.

but this brings up so many more questions.
but i will tackle this and the makeup issue in the next post.

for now,

love,

qofr

p.s. i think this might be the first post in the ''opinions'' series i told you about like weeks ago. i know, reflex is useful.

air

hi?
*where the hell have you been?*
places you don't want to hear about. it was magical at times but mostly it was dark, cold and terrifying. i hope that now i will be back for good.

a lot has happened during my free weeks. the fashion weeks mostly. i was going to do a review of some of the shows transmitted live. but i missed the ones i wanted to watch and it was a disaster in general. plus i'm not sure if anyone apart from me is interested in that kinds of posts. let me know?

i also have some new stuff. lookbook? for wintery spring, which is what it is outside here? anybody?

i had a ton of stuff to tell you. and i wrote the beginning of this post and got distracted for 3 days. so i don't know. if i think of something, follow me on twitter and i'll probably remember at like 3 am and tweet it.

good, i hope i'll see you really soon

sooner than you think....

love,

qofr