Sandra‘s Closet

Today I would like to show you some of my favourite looks by Stella McCartney for this summer. As you might already know, I am a very big fan of the British designer. The daughter of Paul McCartney designs clothes for modern confident women. They look stylish, feminine but are also very comfortable and work through day and night.  A lifelong vegetarian, Stella doesn`t manufacture anything in leather or fur. She uses a lot of eco-friendly and organic materials. The soles of her shoes have a stamp saying: “Suitable for vegetarians“.
Could becoming an environmentalist be more in vogue?

Below you will find my own selection. For further enquiries and store locations, please visit Stella`s homepage. For my Zurich based readers, I recommend a shopping trip to Salvatore Schito (In Gassen 14, 8001 Zürich). The store carries a lovely selection of her designs for this summer. A wide range of her accessories can also be found at Lovers Lane.

Just for your information: The prefix “vintage” should only indicate that those pieces are from previous seasons. You might be lucky and find some of them still at www.yoox.com or www.theoutnet.com.
Get inspired!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht

Emilio Pucci, the Marchese di Barsento, scion of an old aristocratic Tuscan family, was the godfather of colourful prints and lightweight non-crushable dresses in the fifties and sixties. His designs changed the world of fashion dethroning the dull and heavy fabrics of the previous post-war era.

Today, original Pucci prints from his early creative years are highly collectible items. Especially his “palazzo pyjamas” in wrinkle-free silk jersey captured the psychedelic mood of the 1960s and became the jet-set uniform worn by many celebrities like Grace Kelly and Elizabeth Taylor.

It all started on the slopes of St.Moritz in 1948 when the highly gifted skier Pucci was spotted by a Harper`s Bazaar editor in his own designs and was featured later in the fashion magazine. In 1951 he established his own company in his Palazzo Pucci in Florence and remained head designer until his death in 1992. 
Christian Lacroix and Matthew Williamson were among several designers taking over the brand`s legacy until in 2008 the Norwegian Peter Dundas started to bring the Italian label to new heights.

Since today, the brand has never been relegated to history and continues to be an integral component of every fashionista`s closet.

Are you tired of seeing your new bag hanging on other shoulders in the city? Would you love to have a designer bag in good quality just for yourself?
Fendi has the solution: The DIY Baguette Bag. The raffia (trend material this summer) bag in the iconic baguette shape comes in a pretty presentation box including a DIY embroidery kit with multicoloured threads, needles, thimbles and inspirations for your arts and crafts. I love the idea of creating an individual hand made piece and still having a brand accessory but I don`t agree with the price. Almost €800.- that I am doing most of the work myself is definitely too much.
Great concept – bad pricing!

LoL, Sandra

The summer is full of ethnic inspirations, take a journey through Africa and get the beat of the new tribal fashion drum. From impressive masai-inspired prints and bold leopard patterns to powerful beadings and silhouettes, the designers were experimenting a lot. Batik, ikat and tritik techniques helped to create vibrant dyed fabrics with an instant touch of the exotic.

I am always telling my girlfriends if you have enough space for storage, please do not throw out too many things. My tribal look that I wore recently is a proof of my advice as sometimes the rising of a trend might take a few seasons: Dark brown suede belted dress by Prada S/S 2009, clutch, shoes and accessories all by Louis Vuitton S/S 2009.

Great eye-catchers are the leopard-printed stockings. Mine are the Fogal Parda ones, available in two variations.

To keep you posted: For F/W 2010 Wolford will launch awesome leo tights and stockings in four different colour combinations: sahara beige/black, black/black, green/black and fuchsia/black. You should definitely get a pair of those.

One thing is for sure: The new desert queen will be the leader of the fashionista tribe.

LoL, Sandra

What do you wear at a place like that? Missoni would be my answer, especially this S/S 2010 collection that is an hommage to the nomads. A sense of lightness is indispensable, layering the key to a comfortable and breezy look. I always love to pack my Missoni outfits for travelling as their signature knitwear doesn`t crinkle and you can dress it up or down. It works perfectly both ways. Missoni pieces have always been a good investment despite their high prices. They are seasonless and you can wear them for many years.

Many greetings from a very peaceful place!

LoL, Sandra

If you don`t want to spend so much on such an eyecatching dress that everybody will remember you in, the smocked version from the H&M Garden Collection in organic cotton with a floral pattern is a great choice. The price (£29.99, $39.95, €39.95) is very attractive and like that you can`t go wrong.

To the Ladies in Red!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht and Courtesy of Stella McCartney and H&M

Green comes in all shades this summer. Due to the military trend on the runways, camouflage prints and olive colours are among the must-haves. In addition floral patterns were seen everywhere along with soft pastel peppermint tones. Here are some of my suggestions to get the look right. Start mixing different shades and add some flower accessories like the cute Vivienne Westwood bag or Oscar de la Renta headband above.

A great entrance makes the combination of camouflage and animal print. A military jacket like Balmain’s stunning interpretation here is the absolute It-piece this season along with Stella McCartney‘s camouflage print dress.

Mint green is always lovely in union with different water colours like turquoise for example. Do the unexpected and add a bold accessory to get that twist that is so hard to copy.
My preferred choice is yellow as it works great with all sorts of green.

Happy Saint Patrick`s day to my Irish readers!

LoL, Sandra

After the success of Chanel`s latest nail polishes “Jade” (mint green) and “Particulière” (taupe), a new hype will start when the “Les Pop-up” collection for summer is going to hit the stores in April / May. So ladies get yourselves on the wait lists now! The new limited shade to have is an electrifying turquoise blue called “Nouvelle Vague” reminding me a lot of Andy Warhol.

The It-colour for lips will be Rouge Allure in “Génial”, a wonderful fresh coral tone. Peter Philips, Chanel`s creative director of cosmetics, used the bright pouts already on the Chanel Haute Couture S/S 2010 runway. See for yourself how beautiful and vivid it looks.

Something else caught my eye at the show: The futuristic shiny silver on the models` nails, looking almost liquid or foiled. Obviously, the holographic polish was the revived Chanel Duo Platinum Silver which was only available in the UK in 2007. Hopefully it will be our turn now.

LoL, Sandra

Since Balmain`s relaunch in 2006, Christophe Decarnin is at the helm of the old French fashion house. He is an amazing designer and I am truly in love with his tough-chic looks. Decarnin is the leader of the disco. This season his military chic is again influencing the chain stores wherever you look. Four seasons in a row Balmain is on fire for me, so so so hot!!! All the pieces I got are my favourites. As I am very petite, the tiny dresses and the amazing jackets with extremely tight sleeves and embellished shoulders seem to be made for me. My trophies this summer will be the destroyed jersey shirt and hot pants. This is perfect combat chic with an easy feminine edge to it.

But let`s face up to the facts his collections are extremely expensive. Therefore I spotted something to avoid the red-hot price tags. Have a look at the Loha Vete collection available through www.luisaviaroma.com and www.matchesfashion.com. You can find similiar T-shirts with lace inserts that are approximately € 210.- and have a good quality (the Balmain one is about € 800.-). The distressed pants are also looking pretty cool.

The least expensive alternative would be to do it yourself. I would recommend using scissors and probably a nail clipper for the small nicks. Take a tee, cut holes into it and poke at some of them with your fingers to enlarge the gaps. Enjoy!

Decarnin is keeping the wheels of fast turning fashion. But let`s see how long this will last… hopefully a long time!

LoL, Sandra