The masterpiece of architecture, Gaudi's magical La Pedrera or as locals prefer to call it Casa Milà draws you in and swirls you around leaving no-one indifferent. The same happened to us for this shoot. We wanted to do justice to a beautiful burgundy velvet wrap dress by Staša Randal.
Staša is a Croatian fashion designer based in London. Although very young Staša's designs have already been featured in Glamour UK, Tatler and British Vogue to name a few. You can shop Staša's current collection on Trendcy independent designer shop while the dress from this post is from upcoming Fall/Winter 17/18 collection and will be available for purchase early this Fall.
StaÅ¡a is a contemporary womenswear brand founded in 2013 by Croatian designer StaÅ¡a Randall. Known for its minimalist, clean and geometric cuts, the label is focused on fabric quality and tailoring, bringing together form and function in every single piece. ‘Keep it simple’ is the philosophy behind the clothes and accessories inspired by modern architecture, Asian fashion from the 1970s and 1980s, and 1990s minimalism. The collections are designed in London and made in Croatia.
I styled this gorgeous Staša wrap burgundy velvet dress with black velvet lace up sandals with feathers from Misguided and maxi pearl choker and necklace from H&M.
Another thing I love about this dress is that you can wear it dressy with heels or as a wrap coat as part of hippie look with boots and dress or denim shorts.
Generally I love trying new recipes, my only condition is that they are healthy and that I can prepare them in under 45 minutes (with pre-made or purchased dough). However, during Summer even in air-conditioned apartment it gets unbearably hot standing by the stove or oven to long.
Since my family loves quiches and since we had plenty of fish and poultry past week I decided to go with meat free Sunday lunch and prepared this easy and light zucchini pie with vegetable soup and fresh salad. My whole family loved it including Anabela who can eat all of these light and healthy ingredients.
I did however made the dough myself which took few minutes longer but you can also use purchased pie dough no problem and get the same result quicker.
INGREDIENTS
4 zucchini
3 eggs
2 onions
2 oz grated Parmesan cheese
1 purchased pie crust (defrost earlier if you purchased frozen crust)
1/2 teaspoon well chopped fresh rosemary (fresh herbs make huge difference)
1 and 1/4 cups milk (if you like more condensed you can use cooking cream)
Herbs & Olive Oil Pie Crust
1¼ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
¼ cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
½ cup very cold water
½ teaspoon fresh thyme, leaves only
1 to 2 tablespoons freshly grated cheddar
Crust Directions
1. Combine the flour, salt and olive oil and mix in food processor for about 5 seconds. While the food processor is still on, slowly pour the very cold water over the flour and keep running until the pastry begins to come together, after about 7 to 8 seconds. Do not over mix it!
2. Add in the thyme and grated cheddar cheese and pulse just a few times so that the thyme and cheddar become incorporated into the dough.
3.Put the the dough on to a floured work surface, knead just a few times, gather to form a ball and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before rolling it out.
4. Preheat your oven to 400 F/200 C. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll out on a lightly floured work surface.Transfer dough to a pie plate, gently pressing the olive oil pastry into the pie plate.
5. Prick the dough with a fork and bake it for about 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and lower the oven temperature to 375 F/ 180 C.
DIRECTIONS
1. Slide zucchini and onions as thin as you can (without peeling the zucchini, just wash it really well). Place the sliced vegetables in a large bowl. Sprinkle with 1tbsp of salt. Cover with plastic wrap and keep refrigerated for at least 1 hour up to over night not more.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F/180 C. Unroll purchased pie crust or homemade one into 11 inch quiche dish and press hard in the bottom and sides of previously oiled dish. Stab it around with fork all over.
3. Take zucchini and onion out of the fridge and squeeze out excess liquid with clean hands. Arrange vegetable slices in quiche dish.
4. In separate bowl, lightly beat eggs, milk, cheese and fresh rosemary. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over zucchini and onion slices.
5. Bake 45 minutes or until top is light golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes before serving with salad.
Puppa sleeveless tube, button up mini dress with detachable sleeves makes an ideal slip on and go Summer dress. This soft denim cotton dress can also be worn as a midi skirt as it has an elastic band top. This dress is a second dress of my denim capsule collection for Puppa brand and for this post I styled it with up-cycled denim tote and a delicate choker.
This simple soft, thin cotton denim mini dress is up-cycled from men's button up shirt. It's super versatile piece which you can wear over white button up top or t-shirt, wear it as a midi skirt with tank top or as a Summer mini dress as featured on photo bellow. The dress has removable sleeves with decorative bows. I sooo wish I had this dress back when I was pregnant! I was always looking for dresses loose around the belly.
This classic mid size tote is up-cycled piece made from unsold denim fabric. It has a zip up closure and it features decorative ruffles up front.
One of the few denim accessory pieces I added to this collection is this thin denim lace up chocker. I am kind of done with black velvet chokers for this year, I wore them quite a lot and I found this one to look amazing styled with oversized white button up shirts or dresses.
My everyday black leather slip on sandals by Uterque are not a part of capsule collection for Puppa but are the most comfortable slip-ons I had in a very long time. Sure, they might not be an appropriate footwear for dressy evening looks but they are absolutely ideal for discovering new city as a tourist.
All photos Andrina Peric
Ever since I started scouting independent designers for Trendcy online boutique which I co-own I also became more conscious shopper. I always checked fabric and stitch quality while shopping in physical stores but with experience I discovered that shopping slow, sustainable fashion brands in majority cases also means shopping better quality, fit and more unique design.
The Reformation has became one of my go to brands when it comes to shopping for dresses. This is not the first time I am posting about this Los Angeles brand. I listed them as one of my Top 10 Favorite Brands to Shop from as one of The Best Sites to Shop Boho Chic from.
For this post I styled my Summer go-to pieces into a casual but romantic #ootd for exploring Barcelona.
This large, round raffia shoulder bag has became my everyday bag this Summer. I use it to carry groceries, fruit, vegetables and flowers from the market as well as beach towels and my beach essentials.
The day when we were shooting this in Barcelona close to magic fountain and history museum another mini storm was about the break out with quick shower to cool off hot Summer streets. The bellow Hitchcock movie set like shot was taken as my friend and photographer Andrina was loosing patience trying to take a good shot while tourists were franticly trying to find cover before the rain starts so they continued to end up in our frame. At the same time I tried to warn her when a 'new batch' of tourists were about to 'photo bomb up' - thus we got a photo as bellow.
As always, after the rain, sun comes out along with the calm. Despite the ruined hair we kept the good vibe of this shoot and snapped another few pics before heading home.
All photos: Andrina Peric
After successful blog post collaboration with sustainable fashion brand Puppa from Slovenia we teamed up again recently for another project - up-cycled denim capsule collection. I worked with Puppa design team to create a small, cotton denim, Summer collection of dresses and casual accessory which will be available in Puppa online shop by the end of June.
PUPPA FASHION
Puppa is a unique slow fashion brand from Slovenia who hand-makes high quality up-cycled women's clothing, ethically, while producing zero waste.Puppa's goal is to prove that up-cycled clothing doesn't have to be less fashionable and less trendy then fast fashion pieces we are bombarded with in advertising.
When you shop Puppa limited edition pieces you can look good and feel good because you will be wearing high quality, super soft and comfortable limited edition clothing without hurting the environment. All of the clothes is hand-made by skilled seamstresses in Slovenia who used to work for well known Slovenian luxury brand Mura.
Puppa offers limited edition collection such as LaKatWalk capsule denim collection as well as made-to-order pieces.
Made to order means that you can provide your measurements via online form on their web shop and they hand-make selected piece from their shop according to your measurements so it fits you perfectly.
WHAT IS UP-CYCLING?
Many are not really sure what up-cycling means and they confuse it with second hand, already worn clothing.
To up-cycle means to reuse a piece of material to create an object of higher quality.
Puppa uses left over high quality materials from luxury brands or new, unsold clothing pieces (for example men's denim shirts) to create new women's clothing pieces.
LAKATWALK DENIM CAPSULE COLLECTION
I got an idea for LaKatWalk Denim capsule collection from curating my closet when it was time for us to do our yearly 'Summer move' from Barcelona to Dubrovnik. You know how you have those pieces of clothing you wear over and over again, Summer to Summer without them looking worn out and dated? I realized that many of those pieces are actually a soft cotton denim pieces. Even when they wrinkle a bit from sitting in airplane they look stylish.
Once I curated my most worn Summer pieces to pack them up I also realized most of them are dresses so we decided to play with some seasonal trends and create light Summer dress collection which can be accessorized in a way that it can serve as a full Summer wardrobe no matter where you spend your vacation.
Some of the pieces you will notice will be multifunctional and you will be able to wear some dresses as a skirt or a top or a dress, depending if you are going to the beach or for a late dinner date.
OVERALL DENIM DRESS
Overall denim dress is one of my favorite pieces from this collection and a very trendy dress to wear this season. I choose for this one to be in midi version as when you walk around the city as a tourist this length is decent enough for whatever landmark you might be visiting.
I usually wear denim overall dress with white or navy stripped t-shirt for day or with off shoulder white long sleeve top and heels for evening walk.
To accessorize the dress I used gold and red accents in form of a red bandana neck scarf, gold star earrings and platform sandals.
I choose to wear the dress with Puppa denim backpack which fits your swimsuit, sunscreen lotion and a towel if you are going to the beach or your daily handbag necessities. The backpack also closes tight so you don't have to worry about behind the back sneaky thefts.
All photos by Andrina Peric
I am anxious to hear what you think about this first look in my denim Summer capsule collection?
Do you wear denim a lot in Summer as well?
The other day Anabela and I were passing by the neighborhood florist on our way home from the park. She got in to smell the flowers, she gets really close and buries her head in the flower pot and breathes in deeply and then saids 'Mmmm!' with her eyes closed. 😃 This is when I saw the florist finishing one of these large, round rattan basket shoulder bags and I got one to wear as my beach bag this Summer.
I didn't want to style this rattan shoulder bag as part of an obvious Summer beach look but rather explore a more classic Summer day look (yes gold is super classic in my book!) with combining classic button up with pleated shinny gold evening mini skirt. Next, I accented the look with touches of red with classic red bandana, red lipstick and shinny, patent leather sky high stilettos.
I really love how this Missguided gold pleated skirt shines on the sun and how it compliments the raw, natural color and texture of this shoulder bag.
The currently super popular round rattan bag shape takes many forms, some wear it as a more polished mini handbag basket which I intentionally choose this handmade, maxi bag with leather shoulder straps which I will use for my morning market trips but also as a beach bag.
As another red accent option I wore Murano glass heart necklace by Trendcy designer Mandali Mandrilla from her unique, handmade jewelry collection, made in Croatia.
The button up shirt on the photo is a classic J.Crew tall, slim cotton button up which I styled off shoulder by buttoning up only bottom three buttons, I pulled it off the shoulder and tucked it the collar neatly all around the shoulders and up front. It's just important to wear well fitted skin color or white strapless bra and high waist fitted pants or skirt to keep this shirt in place.
For this post I tried to channel my inner disco diva (cause God known I haven't went out after dark much since I had Anabela 😉 ). I choose to style this one of a kind eNVy room cat print tunic with sheet patches and detachable fluorescent, pearl and crystals adorned collar with over the top, silver, sparkly tights from Misguided.
eNVy room is a Croatian fashion brand best known for their unique wedding dresses and evening looks. Their style is feminine and elegant. The fabrics they use are high quality, airy and romantic like tulle, lace and silk. Although the brand does not conform to seasonal trends their pieces are surely conversation pieces, equal part timeless and modern.
My favorite part of this tunic is detachable neck collar which allows you to style tunic more or less casual. I wear this tunic tucked in with high waist black skinny pants in black and white elegant look.
When you add the collar you get the pop of color in the outfit and it's perfect evening piece which then only needs black skirt, tights or pants with heels to complete the look.
One watch out is underwear/bra to wear with this tunic. Since the shoulder and chest cut-outs are fairly low it's ideal to wear this tunic with no bra or with skin color strapless bra or stickers.
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