New Year's Twist

So, over the last two months I went through the dullest and greyest slump I can ever remember.
I wasn't sad, I wasn't sick (except for a little cold) I just stopped doing everything and stared at the ceiling of my bed instead. No bad thoughts, still no sadness, just dull, meaningless staring. I stopped biking, cooking and eating well, working out, yoga, running, meeting friends. And I had absolutely no motivation to change this state. It felt so weird because I didn't want to do anything else but staring at my ceiling. When I had work to do, I finished it and went back to bed. When I didn't stare at my ceiling I stared at my computer screen and binge-watched Friends. All of the 10 seasons. I really loved the series for their exceptional characters who all accepted each other for who they are, awesome idea. But I wasn't happy either. Not happy, not sad, just dull. I have no idea how that happened, but I blame the weather. Winter really hit me between the eyes.

Good thing is, I started to find my way back. Eating well, drinking green smoothies, running, playing tennis, enduro tours. Motivation still is nowhere to find but being sick of this oppressive dullness helps a lot, too. I hope that my old habits come back when I push them myself.
Motivation follows, happiness follows, that's the plan.



But wintertime is always fashion-time for me, which luckily was the one thing that stayed with me.
I collected a lot of inspirations over the endless days at home, got some key-pieces that I cant wait to try out in spring/summer.
I got fed up over wearing jeans, so some other bottoms found the way into my closet.
Flared Midi Skirts and Cullotes are my absolute favourite right now.

Tibi always comes up with a great range of flared skirts, I love the combination with the cropped blouses! 

Source: style.com

 Oscar de la Renta was shining with a perfectly feminine collection again - I would

 LOVE to find a skirt like that. The feather-straps on the sandals are also gorgeous! 

Source: style.com

I also discovered my love for sneakers! Plain, simple sneakers with a chic twist are my favourite.
Shoes in general, I want to wear more pretty heels this year!

Janoskis are my absolute favourite right now. In my eyes, the perfect plain sneaker 
Source: primedelux.com

 

It takes me a looong time, to find heels that I like. Either they are too high to walk on or the shape doesn't fit or or or....but I want THESE!
Source: bodenusa.com

Twisting styles up is the most fun. Chic cullotes with vans, sheer blouse with a sports bra underneath. Love it! Found at theclassyissue.com

Yeah, my main goal this year is to celebrate my womanhood a bit more.
New Year's came a little late for me. Still doesn't feel like a real wake-up-call but it's a baby step. Baby steps back into happiness!
For the smirks here and there:

Love,
pwp

Off-Topic; Essen Motor Show 2014

Ever since I got my drivers license, another stupid, ridiculously expensive industry draw my interest: Cars.
Don't get me wrong, not the 'OMG look at those rims, daaamn check out the V8, aaaaaw yeaaaaah AMG bro!'-kind of liking cars, I prefer slight understatement wagons and engines around 2.0 l and 170-220 PS, like the Volvo V60, Skoda Octavia RS or the BMW 320d.
Another question for 'what the fck is wrong with me?'-category but then I think about my passion for Grey's Anatomy, Sex and the City, baby cats and the movie LOL (the original version not the messed miley-cyrus-one) and calm down again.

Anyways, I absolutely wanted to visit the Essen Motor Show, I can't remember the last time I went to a trade show. It was kind of smaller than I expected and I'm still a rookie, so I just wandered around and took pictures of what I was interested in.
Suprisingly, Skoda presented the best booth in my opinion (they had free slushies! And the hostesses were wearing clothes which actually covered their bodies!).
I really like the brand and their refreshed line, huge props to the marketing head. (VW...'cough)
As I follow the Rally circuit (WRC and ERC) for over a year now, another highlight for me was to see the new Fabia R5 without the prototype paintjob (even if I'm sure the only R5 thing about this R5 was the body, haha).
BMW was lined up pretty nicely, too, but I don't like their new 'signature-white'.
The rest was filled with the standard stuff: Formula One, DTM, a few Dakar rigs (only a month left now!) classic cars, hot rods, motorcycles, merch, rims, suspension, etc.

My highlight was the drift show in the middle of the trade, even if I don't like this drifting-jdm-stuff, the skills these guys showed were incredible!
The guy with the LED's on his BMW absolutely won the style award but the two japanese rigs, a Toyota GT86 and a Mitsubishi FTO (I did a little research, this Mitsu has a Nissan RB25DET engine AND was reconstructed to rear wheel drive, seriously crazy shit and it absolutely sounded like it, too) totally smashed the hall (and my ears) with their exploding turbos. 

The lightning was really really bad for taking pictures with my poor equipment, so only a few (hardly edited) pics made it here...I should've taken my small digicam with me, this little magic wand.

All in all, a really cool side trip into the world of cars! But I'm gonna keep spending all my money on bikes I think, haha, even if I can't wait to put my feet on the pedals of my dream car...someday.

Love,

pwp

G&A; Dedicated To Kannibalen Records

Funny, how things come together sometimes.
About a month ago, my favourite label Kannibalen Records released one brilliant track after another.
It all began with Dabin and their dreamy track called 'Bloodless', the snowball effect kicked in and I discovered some many other perfect tracks.
I clearly remember my discovery of Kai Wachi, Apashe and Snails this summer and I was remarkably impressed how the founders BTSM have a way for exceptional talents.

Anyways, after their release-explosion a month ago I spammed all my social media accounts with their tracks but I thought the idea of a whole blog post only filled with soundcloud-links would be a bit boring.
The day BTSM and Apashe released their genius track 'The Grave', I couldn't resist and enter a giveaway by them and I won two of their T-Shirts!

I wanted the pictures to be something special, just like Kannibal Rec are to me. So I made use of the early sunset in wintertime and experimented with lights and wet weather. I actually took the pictures with my small digicam because I don't have a self-timer remote for my DSLR. This tiny little fella does some incredible work!

Love,
pwp

Impressions; How To Change A Life

So, 3 months have passed since my last post, moving took a lot of time.
I spent a day at one of the wonderful places of my new home with the talented photographer Stefan Klinker, we made some nice fashion shots but also captured the great scenery.
Oh, and to keep the tradition, with the matching soundtrack of course:

(c) Stefan Klinker

The fashion is following the next days.

Love,
pwp

Spotted; Minju Kim - She Makes Me Love Fashion

Right now, I am facing the probably most groundbraking change of my life.
New town, new home, new job, new hobby and two exams that decide over my occupational future.
And all of this is happening in an extremly short amount of time.
I am not going to leave the country, I am not leaving my usual socioenvironment, I am not graduating.
BUT the thing that makes all these changes so groundbraking is the fact that every single change that I am facing, is solving huge problems that I had to cope with over the past years. And all of a sudden, life is giving me the opportunity to change all of this practically over night. And this scares the shit out of me.
The past month I have been doing nothing but sitting in our university library and hammering japanese kanji in my head. But due to underutilization, it's getting harder and harder to focus.
Fear made me sitting at my desk staring at ideographs instead of keeping the balance between action and studying. Fear made me treat people unfair, fear made me sit down and start thinking about me and what I am making out of me. Fear made me extremly, extremly impatient.
Yesterday I realized, I started to fear practically everything.

And then she came: Minju Kim, the winning Designer of the H&M Design Award 2013.
As I am not following the recent happenings in the fashion industry, I apologize for being almost a year too late for that. I am pretty sure I wouldn't have appreciated her appearance as I do today, but I would have loved her collection anyway.



There she is, simply doing what she loves. Breathing life into her drawings, knowing who she is and being full of inspirations and ideas. When you hear her talking, you see her and her designs being one. She brings her pure self to life and I admire that so hard. I immediately understood why the Jury chose her, not just for her remarkable collection but for her capability of using herself as her biggest inspiration.
I know it's a funny coincidence that her main inspiration was a japanese Mangaka and I have to admit that her designs make the small Otaku-corner of my heart beat a lot faster.

Her subsequent collection called 'Be Cover', which she presented at the SHOW2013 of the Antwerp Academy of Fine Arts was the final evidence, that my mind wasn't just impaired by my emotions: Her fashion is amazing and I admire her designs. And her drawings!

 Source: trendland.com

I can't wait to see her H&M collection, I already decided that my complete Wishlist will have to wait in line because my desire to have some of her pieces in my closet is unbearable! My No.1 piece of choice is her jaquard coat from her winning collection 'Dear My Friend'.

 Source: fashionfoiegras.com


But above all, I love her for taking away all my fears. Reminding me, that simply doing what you love gives you the faith life and how you are living it.
So next week, I am finally able to do what I love. I can live where and how I want it, I can ride my bike how I love it, i can dress up how I love it, I can sleep, eat, work and love how I love it.
And no bad circumstances or outcomes can take that away from me, I simply want to do what I love.
I finally have a home for my heart and I am incredibly grateful to get the opportunity to do so.
Until then, I'll keep working hard for my exams.

Is that what you call a Muse? Maybe.
Anyway, Thank you, Minju Kim!

Love,
pwp

Impressions; The Fall/Winter Dilemma

I have no idea where this is coming from, but since fashion became my valve of creativity and I started to understand the cycle of collections, fashion shows and presentations, the Fall/Winter Season constantly disappoints me.
While I jump around my screen singing 'I want this and this and that and those aaaand that!' when the Spring/Summer Collections start to spread, F/W constantly makes me go: 'meh.'
This years 'meh':  Leather, Camo, 'Grunge', Overknee Boots, rose, stale patterns (especially tartan). Boooh!

The industry has changed a lot, thanks to our digital generation, it takes an eyeblink to transfer high fashion designs to shopping-trends. Big advantage: Searching for affordable alternatives is a lot easier. Big disadvantage: You get flooded by every little piece of trend EVERYWHERE.
So you kind of get forced to wear whats in the stores and there's no option of 'not-liking' trends. Or wanting to wear something else. Take it or leave it. Sink or swim. Consuming society!
Don't get me wrong, there are some inspiring, beautiful trends like the white, rounded shoulders and unisex that I like, but that's not what you get in the stores. I should definetly start second-hand shopping.

Ok, back to topic. Meanwhile, my natural 'after-meh'-reaction is going black and earth-coloured.
Surprisingly I found some pretty pieces in the stores, which leads me to my inital intention of this post: Here are my most-wanted pieces for my Fall/Winter wardrobe!

Dress: H&M , Jumper: Primark (Naturally, I can't find it in Germany), Necklace: Zara

Pants: ASOS, Skirt: H&M

How and if I'm dressing up with the stuff can be found here soon, of course!

Love,
pwp

Spotted; Interesting or Ridiculous - Mountainbiking in the Fashionworld

When I spotted this picture of Rihanna in some kind of Moto-pants, I was like 'and I thought I look uncool running around in my racing pants when I'm too lazy to change!' and forgot about it.
but yesterday I spotted the same picture again...in the german Grazia Magazine. And then I was like 'What the heck'
I never thought I'd be able to teach something to the fashion world...but this is clearly a Troy Lee Designs-Pant-thing! I think it's pretty obvious to the mountainbike-readers, but for the non-mountainbikers, see it for yourself!

The most significant feature, which sets TLD pants apart from other Bike/MX-Pants is the fabric between the legs, on the knees and the back. It's a corrugated soft fabric which makes the TLD pants more comfortable than any other pants I know, especially the shorts. Rihannas fashion-version is, naturally, not designed for function, so the significancy is only generated by the colors. But I think the cut and the colours are pretty obvious, and even the blue shade is suspiciously similar.
Very very interesting I say. I'd like to know who designed this one!


So, next I was like 'naaaah, that's not worth a blog post' so I continued skimming around my magazines.
But I absolutely didn't expect this in the next Magazine (InStyle Germany) :

And then I was finally like ' What the f'###?! They've GOT to be kidding me'
Even if all the listed models are designed for skiing, the K2 and the Anon are very similar to MX/Mountainbike Goggles and can be used for our helmets too, like my old one, the Adidas Burna.
But when I look at the picture, all I can think I about is how hard I have to start laughing everytime I see some Biker/Skier/MX'er wearing his Goggle without a helmet. Seriously? Goggles?


I'm not the person who is interested in trends or setting trends or whatever it's called, but when it starts to affect both the worlds which, I thought, are clearly seperated, I'm really curious in where this is going.
But seriously? Racing pants belong on track and Goggles belong on your helmet. Nowhere else.
Sorry Rihanna!

Love,
pwp

Spotted; Megavalanche 2013 - My Friends Impressions

Every single year, when it's time for the Megavalanche in Alpe D'Huez, I'm always like 'what the hell! Are these people crazy?! Why the heck are all of them delighted by struggling trough snow, mass starts and endless hours of physical pain?!'
But this year, after I followed some friends trough their experiences of this years Mega on facebook, I'm getting more and more in the mood to try it myself. The mountains and the trails look stunning! I don't know if I'm capable of the skills to make it trough the mass starts, but the voice in my head that whispers 'go out and practice for next year, come ooon!' gets bigger every day.
I'm still more anxious than motivated, but I remember somebody saying that curiosity always comes with anxiousness, so maybe I should give it a try and start exercising?
But at first, I want to show you the pictures which got my thoughts on.


For the music, I find this one really fitting, haha:

Mass start, you know what I mean?!

Thank you so much Daniel, Julia and Claire!

Love,

pwp

Spotted; Berlin Fashion Week + LaLa Berlin 2014

Usually, I am always disappointed of the Fashion Week in Germany.
I don't know, but no show or street style or whatever made me go 'wow, this is so inspiring!', so I stopped following the news around it.
But this year, I accidentally tripped over a photoalbum at style.com, and I went like uuuuh I wanna know more!
For the background music, I recommend you a summery piece of dubstep, oh yeah:

 (If anybody knows which show these two pieces belong to, please don't hesitate to tell me!)

Additonally, I found some pretty pieces of Lala Berlin's spring/summer collection 2014.
Nothing special or new compared to this year: powdery pastel colors, black and white, common patterns.
But she styles her pieces exactly the way I like it: Straight on top, feminine on the bottom. Love it!

Source: Vogue Germany

The spontaneous show of my great role model, the german It-Girl Bonnie Strange, disappointed me a bit.

It's cool to catch the attention of the audience with exceptional ideas and a lot of bare skin, but I think she's more capable than that. I wish she would take the next step and make more use of her own fashion sense to create an inspiring collection rather than trying to be exceptional, because she already is!

Check out the whole show on thegoldenthings.com 

Love,
pwp

Video Material; Must-Watch Webseries

Since webseries got quite popular over the past years, big companys and great filmmakers started to produce some really worth watching webseries about mountainbiking and the people of the mountainbike world. Unfortunately I don't have enough time to spend my time watching all the videos and series, but I have a Top 3 of my all-time favourites that I want to share with you!

1. Life Behind Bars 
(Note: I have HUGE girlcrush on Brandon Semenuk which makes his videos first place anyway)


The 18 episodes tell several stories about Brandon Semenuks life as a freestyle mountainbiker but also about his everyday life. I love it! It's produced by Red Bull so you get to watch a lot of great landscapes and action.
Find the full series here.

2. Finally 1-4

These videos are just...legendary. From first to last! I remember clearly how everybody was waiting for the next finally episode to come out and battling for posting it on facebook first.

The reason why I chose this one is that the song of Adam Braytons Part in the End (Pendulum - Blood Sugar) founded my addiction to Drum and Bass music! Thanks for that!

Orpheusproductions is the head of this series and you find him here on Mpora, his other videos are absolutely worthwatching, too!


3. Coastal Crew



Episode 1-4 is not available in germany so I had to post Ep. 5 for you. This series is about three guys from British Columbia, they filmed and edited everything by themselves. As you can see it's already 2 years old but I think it's still worth watching. Today, the Coastal Crew gained a lot of success in the mountainbike world with their unique concept of a 'Freeride-Crew'.

Here is a handy playlist to watch all episodes. I hope you're able to watch them in your country!

Love,
pwp