OF CONCRETE JUNGLES AND WEEPING WILLOWS
25 July 2021
Hello my sweet dandelions,
and a big warm and lovely welcome to this weeks very belated post. Firstly – SORRY BABE. Secondly, right now it is 12:12 PM (you have a wish!), Sunday the 25th and I’m tipping this to you. What might come as a surprise – Time-Management still isn’t my #1 skill???
Well, I had one of my best friends over for the weekend, who moved 250km north last summer, so I think we have quite a good excuse for the belated post. Nonetheless, I’ll try to keep things scheduled next time, hehe. Though this could be difficult, again, since momma is going on vacay Sunday next week! GUESS WHO’S EXCITED, AAAH. Probably I’ll finally get the shade of crisp tan that we’re all waiting for, so that nobody needs to put on their sunglasses anymore when looking at my photos, being blinded by the beautiful skin shade I’m carrying named “cream cheese”.
Back to the post – driving with my bike to an open-air movie the other day, I drove along a lake that runs through my beautiful town. Next to this lake is a long row of weeping willows. Naturally, I’m not that much of a nature-lover, but oh boy, I felt like the queen of forests riding my bike along this track. I don’t know if it was the thick air, the sun on my back, a big rush of tiredness that I’m feeling constantly at the moment, the song on my ear, or just really the beauty of those trees, but I suppose I just turned into a nature lover that moment. Well, to be fair, I still love my city and its ugly concrete buildings, but this feeling of dreamy ease was quite a delight. So, quick recommendation for in between – take your bike and ride somewhere beautiful. Might just be a 5sq meter area of grass, but greenery feels soothing. For concrete lovers, too.
Besides feeling eased and dreamy driving next to the willows, I had the idea for this weeks look. Plus, I looked for a good excuse to take my sage shoes and lime bag out for a date all week anyway, and where would these babies fit better than in front of even more juicy, living companions of their colour family? Exactly. In a bar where you are actually supposed to wear kitten heels and not somewhere, where you're sinking into piles of soil. Still, I liked the idea of green in green on… white!
And now we are really getting into the look. Who knows me knows that (meanwhile) in summer I’m all up for white clothing. Reflecting the sunny daylight and giving a nice contrast to tanned skin it just sparks a different light around you then our beloved black and darker clothes do. But if you think about it, it is really easy sense. The bright time of the year = light clothing. When I say light, I mean that summery clothing works best in light shades, just as well (and that is much, much more important) as lightweight fabrics. Just as the linen skirt you see me wearing here.
When it comes to summery fabrics, linen is the first one that pops up in our minds. Legitimately. If you ever asked yourself why - Linen absorbs a large amount of moisture (from what I read, roughly 1/5 of its own weight) before really soaking, which keeps it cool under the armpits, my friend! Or on the legs, in my case. Besides, the fabric-structure itself is pretty lightweight, which makes it all breathable and flowy. Well, that point being said, it surely depends on which piece of clothing you’re wearing in which cut, but it’ll never be fully, sinching in tight, so your skin will get the one or other breeze, still.
Next to linen, lightweight cotton makes for a good choice, either. But I’m accentuating the “lightweight” here. Not talking about your thick and wooly cotton sweater.
The molecule-structure of cotton fabric allows air circulation, which also results in – airflow. Plus, it also dries quickly. So all in all, linen and cotton have the same advantages – only plus point linen has, due to its composition, in my opinion, it feels a bit more valuable.
Despite Linen and cotton being my coolest summery friends, they come with the most annoying disadvantage – CREASES. I. Don’t. Know. A. Single. Fabric. That. Is. Such. A. PAIN. To. Iron. As. Linen. Just keep that in mind. Sometimes a fabric blend between Linen/Cotton and Polyester helps out, though. Otherwise, Linen clothes tend to “wear in”, just as your shoes do. Meaning – the more often you wear and wash your linen pieces, the slighter the creases will turn out.
Last word on the fabric-nerd-talk: another lovely summer-fabric is silk. Preferably vegan silk, for sure. Silk has a natural weightlessness to it and also, in the first moments is cooling, afterward it adjusts to your body temperature – how nice is that? Just be careful, as silk doesn’t absorb sweat that nicely. So maybe rather opt for something that’s not touching your armpits, like a skirt, dress, … you name it.
Let us finally hop together into the why-did-yoko-wear-this-like-that! My fabric choices are made clear at length by the previous paragraphs – the skirt is linen-blend, the shirt is a lightweight cotton. The colour is lightweight white. Hehe.
I do love this skirt because for me it’s the perfect length. Neither too short nor too long, giving me an easy breeze every now and then through the slit on the side. The side slit also makes it a bit more cheeky, which I do indeed enjoy, not wanting to look like a granny. For this reason, I also tucked my granny blouse into the bra. When I’m saying granny-blouse, I literally mean granny blouse, as I stole this from my granny's wardrobe while she was sorting hers out. Always keep your eyes open for the little gems, my friend. They come when you least expect them. Well – that being said, I do love those two pieces in general.
This blouse is from my grandma -
always keep your eyes open for the little gems, my friend. They come when you least expect them.
They fit together well, since the skirt is figure-hugging, the shirt fairly loose. Trying to accentuate the hardly trained abs, and also because I wanted a bit more contrast in the middle of my body (colourwise) I tucked the shirt into my bra. The other reason why I did so is that there’d be no sign of the form of my body whatsoever if I didn’t. Sometimes it really helps to play around a little with what you’re given and what you can get out of it – tie knots, tuck stuff in, tuck stuff out that you’d actually wanted to tuck in, turn it around, … .
Well, and there you have a look. Aaah, almost, at least! The shirt itself with the skirt alone, all white in white, would be a tiny bit boring if you’re not on your way to a Fête Blanche. Who read the last posts might’ve noticed that I like a bop of colour every here and there, to make an outfit look more interesting. And how do you most easily do this? With shoes and bags. Those two are very forgiving when it comes to daring colours. So, in this case, I went for the lovely new lime-coloured quilted linen bag I bought on Sale last week, together with some kitten-heeled square mules in a sage colour. If you then add some nail polish in the same colour on your finger and toenails, you nailed the master class of fashion-colour.
Jewellery-wise we were keeping it low this week. I don’t like to sweat under a lot of metal on my neck in summer, so I just went for the smallest golden necklace I own, paired with golden hoops, that you can barely make out. The outfit just has the same dreamy touch as the weeping willow does – too much jewellery could’ve easily destroyed that. Less is more. Especially with 28° degrees outside.
Now quickly to the tiny Yoko-Drip-Tip: Wear Bikinis as Tops. I do this all the time at the moment. And with bikinis as tops I don’t mean that you should limit yourself just to that. Play around. Wear your sports bras. You know, what I mean to say is – functional clothing can be pretty clothing, too.
Big Plus that comes with the bikini trick – when meeting your friends next to a water spot – who’s prepared for a quick dip into the water??? Huh, that’s gonna be you my dear! (Not that skinny dipping isn’t an option, hehe, but if you feel like covering those babies and with babies I mean boobies, then this might be for you).
See you handsome fella over there in two weeks!
XX
Yoko
