Until a couple of years ago, black dominated my wardrobe. Although I am now open to bright colours as well as soft, elegant hues, it is still my favourite colour. I love it in summer when my skin has got a sun tan (my black & golden evening look here) and wear it a lot in the cold season. Sadly temperatures dropped, I have to scrape my windscreen in the mornings and started to get out my coats, boots, sacarves - and also my favourite faux leather leggings.

Autumn trend: Ponchos and capes

I have shown you my outfits with capes here and here, today my black poncho by Bonita makes its first appearance together with my new ankle boots from Mango. I love my black leather platform booties from last year but was now looking for lower heels and I am really happy with these!
Paired with a studded bag it is kind of a cool and fierce look but I softened it with pearl jewellery and made it my own style!

“Sweatpants are a sign of defeat. You lost control of your life so you bought some sweatpants.” 

Quote by Karl Lagerfeld, 2012.

I'd never leave the house in joggers (sweatpants) except for the gym. However, I think King Karl wasn't referring to the more sophisticated type of comfy trousers in silky soft-touch fabrics.

Recently I found these black trousers with contrasting side stripes at Zara's sale and couldn't resist but wanted to wear them right away. I love to style them with stilettos and a classy blazer in the warmer season but due to the snow today's look is more comfortable and practical with my favourite leather booties and a stretch blazer.

LUX JOGGERS / JOGPANTS

TROUSERS WITH SIDE STRIPES

BLACK BAGS AND BOOTIES

FOLLOW ME

FACEBOOK  |  TWITTER |  GOOGLE+  |  PINTEREST  |  INSTAGRAM

After my casual styling of these black faux leather leggings this is an elegant version today. Not the typical elegant look though but a slightly edgy one. I have paired my trousers with a real vintage lace blouse which is at least as old as I am! It was far too big but my skilled seamstress altered it for me and now I usually wear it in a style mix with jeans and heels.
Also my faux fur coat (seen here last year) received a bit of a makeover, she took it in on both sides as I prefer wearing it tighter and without a belt.
Alena joined us for our photo session, also wearing black and our favourite nail varnish "angora cardi" by essie.

I hope you are all having a happy Christmas wherever you are! My children and I enjoy our time together here at home before they have to return to their universities and I will be back on the blog in January. I wish my amazing readers around the world all the best, health and happiness for 2015!

________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

FOLLOW ME

FACEBOOK  |  TWITTER |  GOOGLE+  |  PINTEREST  |  INSTAGRAM
________________________________________________________________________________________

I really hope you won't get bored seeing me in faux leather leggings again... Currently I am a huge fan of them as they are so stylish and very versatile (shown in a black and white look here and in burgundy here). Today's look is a casual version with my red ZARA tunic, comfortable shoes and my new plaid scarf. The cosy scarf is a gift from lovely Beata who blogs at Fashion Adventures At Any Age. It has been a great pleasure meeting her and her gorgeous daughter for the second time while I was in London a couple of weeks ago. Beata keeps on spoiling me with the most beautiful gifts! Although we are still enjoying very mild and sunny weather (check out my Instagram) a woolen scarf is the perfect accessory for this season. 

In my next post I will show you an elegant styling version of my leather trousers!

________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________



GANZ CASUAL IN SCHWARZEM LEDER

FOLLOW ME

FACEBOOK  |  TWITTER |  GOOGLE+  |  PINTEREST  |  INSTAGRAM
________________________________________________________________________________________

It goes without saying that shopping has been part of my trip to London last week... Besides Notting Hill with its more exclusive boutiques, I especially like the area around Covent Garden where you find major brands as well as small individual stores, cafés and restaurants.

You may have noticed from my recent outfit post that I am in love with black (again). Especially paired with nude tones I think it remains my favourite combo! I was looking for a black vest for a long time but a lot of them have a bit of a masculine touch and personally I prefer a feminine look. Finally I found this softer version at Zara and love the flowy cut and the double-layer collar. Underneath I am wearing a silky tunic style top - leopard prints seem to be my eternal love ;-)

Luxury at Forzieri is not an issue of price, it’s a state of mind.

My personal winner of today's look is my new Michael Kors bag sent to me by Forzieri. I am more than happy to introduce you to this global luxury retailer focusing on bags, shoes, accessories and home decor by Italian and other European brands. Their wide selection includes emerging designers as well as iconic brands and I especially appreciate their worldwide shipping at very reasonable rates. As I do a lot of online shopping, customer service is very important  for me and I have been very pleased with the fast, trackable shipment - which is always important but essential before Christmas!

Currently I am sorting out my handbags and my plan was to start with timeless classics. I was looking at slightly larger handbags as I tend to carry a lot of stuff with me. This "Selma" bag in a greige tone (it is called 'Dark Dune') ideally matches my style and I can use it with a variety of looks, from more elegant, black outfits as well as a jeans & blazer.  

________________________________________________________________________________________

I am sure there is something on your personal wishlist too...
For my readers Forzieri is kindly offering a 10% discount plus free express shipping with this code: LADY10
________________________________________________________________________________________


MY FAVOURITE BAGS





MEINE LIEBLINGSFARBKOMBINATION

Selbstredend war ich in London letzte Woche auch shoppen... neben Notting Hill mit seinen wunderhübschen, exclusiven Boutiquen mag ich die Gegend um Covent Garden sehr gerne, wo ich alles auf einmal finde - die bekannten Marken genauso wie kleine, individuelle Läden und dazu hübsche Cafés und Restaurants.

In letzter Zeit und auch auf meinem letzten Outfit Post habe ich wieder mehr und mehr Schwarz getragen, am liebsten mit Nudetönen oder Camel, es ist meine Lieblingskombination! Auf der Suche nach einer schwarzen Weste war ich schon lange, aber die meisten waren mir zu maskulin, zu streng und ich mag einfach feminine Looks lieber. Bei Zara habe ich diese fließende Weste mit doppeltem Kragen gefunden, die ich jetzt im Winter gut mit meinem langärmligen, seidigen Leo-Shirt tragen kann -  an animal prints kann ich mich echt nie satt sehen ;-)

Der richtige Mix an Tradition, Handwerkskunst, Design und Kreativität

Mein persönlicher Favorit ist heute aber meine neue Michael Kors Tasche von Forzieri. Noch immer in Familienbesitz ist Forzieri heute ein Weltklasse-Onlineshop, der italienische Marken und europäische Designer in 150 Länder liefert.  Die große Auswahl an Taschen, Schuhen, Accessoires und Deko reicht von neuen Designern bis zu bekannten internationalen Marken. Da ich überwiegend online shoppe, sind mir eine reibungslose Abwicklung, schneller Versand und günstige Versandkosten besonders wichtig und meine Tasche kam superschnell und perfekt verpackt an. Nicht nur, aber gerade jetzt vor Weihnachten mag ich dabei wirklich kein Risiko eingehen!

Momentan bin ich dabei, meine Handtaschen auszusortieren und nach und nach durch neue zu ersetzen, dabei setze ich zunächst auf zeitlose Klassiker. Speziell war ich auf der Suche nach einer etwas geräumigeren Tasche in einer neutralen Farbe und habe mich letztlich für die große "Selma" von Michael Kors entschieden (es gibt sie übrigens auch in einer mittleren und kleinen Größe). Die beige-graue Farbe nennt sich "Dark Dune", ist wirklich vielseitig und passt sowohl zu einem eleganteren Look in Schwarz, als auch zu Jeans & Blazer. 

________________________________________________________________________________________

Für Euren persönlichen Wunschzettel:
Meinen Leserinnen bietet Forzieri einen 10% Discount plus kostenlosen Expressversand mit diesem Code: LADY10
________________________________________________________________________________________

This post is a collaboration with Forzieri

1. THIS is the photo backdrop I have always been aiming for... exclusive Notting Hill residential area. From your kind comments I know you love the green rural backgrounds of my posts at home which I tend to call "cow background" ;-) I do live in a beautiful region of Bavaria and certainly appreciate the clean and healthy environment with fields on my doorstep and mountains around my town. That's my current life and I want to remain authentic. But sometimes I feel business looks require a bit of an urban feeling as seen on Olivia of corporate catwalk, Kat of with love from Kat or Hedvig of The Northern Light. Know what I mean???

2. Low heels - flat ankle boots, plimsolls, lace ups and loafers have been the no.1 footware in London! With this look I wore my tortoise plimsolls from asos, an alternative to my flat leather booties (worn here).

3. Black - I have seen a lot of black in the city! It may have to do with the season but it is also the dominating style. Black opaque tights, short skirts and a coat plus an oversized scarf seemd to be the preferred daytime style besides black skinny trousers. I felt very comfortable in my faux leather leggings for our Sunday adventure (breakfast in Notting Hill here) - our great afternoon event with NIKE is coming up on the blog soon!






LONDON STYLE

1. DAS ist der Hintergrund, den ich immer für meine Fotos haben wollte... eine wunderschöne Wohngegend in Notting Hill. Ich weiß, dass vor allem meine internationalen Leserinnen die bayerische Landschaft lieben, die Ihr normalerweise auf meinen Fotos seht! Ich nenne sie gerne "Kuh Fotos", denn es sind halt Wiesen und Kühe, die es bei mir gibt ;-) Und da ich meine Heimat liebe, authentisch bleiben möchte und schließlich nicht einfach schnell am Nachmittag für ein Fotoshooting nach München (oder Notting Hill!) fahren kann, grünt und blüht es meistens auf meinen Fotos! Aber gerade für Büro- oder Abendlooks hätte ich manchmal einfach zu gerne städtische Hintergrundkulissen wie Olivia von corporate catwalk, Kat von with love from Kat oder Hedvig von The Northern Light. Ihr wisst, was ich meine???

2. Niedrige Absätze - flache Stiefeletten, Slippers, Schnürschure und Loafers sind hier in London zweifellos die Nr. 1, wenn es um Schuhe geht! Zu meinem heutigen Outfit habe ich meine Slippers von asos getragen und mal nicht meine Leder Booties, die sonst ständig zum Einsatz kamen (wie hier).

3. Schwarz - ich habe sehr viel Schwarz in der Stadt gesehen! Es hat vermutlich mit der Jahreszeit zu tun, aber es war auch einfach die dominierende Farbe: Kürzere Röcke, schwarze, blickdichte Strümpfe, dazu ein Kurzmantel und ein voluminöser Schal - alternativ schwarze Skinnies. Übrigens wenig Jeans (außer bei deutschen Schulklassen!!) Ich hatte für unseren tollen, ereignisreichen Sonntag meine schwarzen Lederleggings an. Zu unserem leckeren Frühstück in Notting Hill geht's hier und unseren fantastischen NIKE Event seht Ihr nächstes Mal!

STYLE INSPIRATION