• JahresrückBLOG 2017 | I – Music •

• JahresrückBLOG 2017 | I – Music •
Me on a train. ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬

This year, I finally found a very special new friend: Spotify. This is not an advertisement for Spotify but it has to be told in order to explain my story. ;) So, I’ve always been a huge music lover. Music of all kinds (except for our German “Volksmusik” and “Schlager” and a few genres like “Deutsch-Rap”, which clearly aren’t my thing, but I still like a few German artists, though!) has always fascinated me. My taste in music is extremely wide-spreaded and that’s how my playlists also look like. I have a very soft spot for movie and series scores, especially those from Hans Zimmer (my number one of soundtracks!) and Michael Giacchino (the man who gave → LOST a sound – my personal genius!), I also adore classical music (especially → Claude Debussy and → Camille Saint-Saëns) and I kind of got forever involved with all those Indie sounds that already won my heart during my youth (well, sounds weird to say that cause I actually don’t think I’m not young anymore, haha, but you know what I mean). I also listen to a few hardcore bands (which this year weren’t so much featured in my choice, but I love → August Burns Red and → Bring Me The Horizon!), as well as electronic music (the old → Daft Punk!!) and I also like a few hip hop pieces. Well… I think you get it. 

The thing is: I had somehow let my love for music get lost in the last few years. I don’t exactly know why but one reason might also be that I love to listen to music pretty loudly and I felt like in a house with other people living there it wasn’t appropriate to do so. ;) So I still loved to listen to music, but on my iPhone. And I didn’t stop listening to music, I just forgot how much it gives me to always have something going on in the background or taking the time to actually listen – kind of like my own soundtrack (and hell yeah, I wish I had one!). 

This year, I finally found my way back to music because of so many reasons and I’m so glad it happened. I’m also glad I found Spotify because that thing is insanely amazing – I found so many new artists thanks to their weekly mixes and suggestions and I’m so thankful for that cause I finally got back to music all day. And it definitely is something I need in order to function the way I’m supposed to. Music makes my life better. ♥

I want to share my favorites of 2017 with you, my personal playlist of my most-played and most-loved tracks of the year. And about some of them, I even got a few words to say. :)

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• Beauty | Current Favorites •

• Beauty | Current Favorites •

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It’s been some time since I last showed you my (current) favorites, so here’s an update with five of my current beauty lovers, including short reviews. :)

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• My 9 Favorite Plus Size Instagrammers •

• My 9 Favorite Plus Size Instagrammers •

I spend a lot of time on → Instagram. It’s my favorite social media channel and probably the greatest place for inspiration and inspiring people. Today, I want to introduce you to my 9 favorite plus size Instagrammers:

Georgina Cox • Blogger & Model@fullerfigurefullerbust

George is definitely one of my #girlcrush babes. She’s also the best source for tips for women with a fuller bust, since she reviews a lot of plus size underwear and, as you can see, knows what she’s talking about. I really hope to meet her one day!

Silvana Denker • Photographer & Model@silvanadenker

Silvana is a gorgeous German plus-size model and photographer and last year she started the #bodylove project, which is already known all around the globe. Next week (February 20), she’ll shoot in London, so maybe you want to join her or at least see it live?

Asta Nowarra • Blogger & Model@rolypolywardrobe

Asta is one of my favorite #bodypositive people out there. And she takes the greatest pictures of herself! She’s also an amazingly lovely human being, so please go and check out her Insta and get to know her! :)

Gabi Gregg • Blogger & Designer@gabifresh

Gabi is probably every plus blogger’s idol – she just launched another swimwear collection in cooperation with Swimsuits4all and her success is enormous! She also has one of the coolest styles out there, so taking a look is definitely worth it!

Ashley Graham • Model & Designer@theashleygraham

My absolute #girlcrush – for me, she’s the most beautiful woman in the world and I really love what she does. Her work is amazing and now she’s even the first real plus size cover model on Sports Illustrated. But that’s not all: she also has her own lingerie collection at Addition Elle, which is sold worldwide.

Gisella Francisca • Blogger@gisellafrancisca

My favorite Brazilian plus blogger is Gisella, her style is awesome and she deserves a lot more followers! :)

Denise Mercedes • Model@denisemmercedes

Denise is one of the hottest fat chicks out there – and we have the same swimsuit, haha! :) I like that she’s almost always wearing figure-hugging clothes and shows us all that being fat AND sexy is absolutely possible!

Mona Harlem • Blogger@monaharlem

One of only a handful of German bloggers who really dare to live fashion. Mona’s got an amazing style and definitely deserves to be known!

Denise Bidot • Model@denisebidot

Last year, Denise was the face of the Swimsuits4all campaign called #BeachBodyNotSorry (and the reason why I did → my own project around this hashtag). She’s one of the best-known plus models and absolutely gorgeous.

* all photos are taken from their Instagram accounts

• Recap | Favorite Outfits of 2015 •

• Recap | Favorite Outfits of 2015 •

I’ve decided that a little recap of my favorite outfits of 2015 won’t hurt. :) It was a very busy shooting year and I created lots of different looks, including my special → #BeachBodyNotSorry series through summer (which I will hopefully continue this year). As I always say: blogging an outfit is lots of work and because you just get to see the final result, which is the blog post, I’d like to briefly explain what’s behind it…

1 • First, I have to choose the outfit. Sometimes it starts with a piece I got from a brand (most of the time, it’s just borrowed for the shooting and I have to send it back), sometimes with my own clothes of choice (and I really love re-using them in different stylings, that’s why there’s also something new on the blog – I’ll tell you more about it later!). We try to shoot every weekend and as many looks as possible, that’s why I write down my outfit ideas in my notebook and coordinate what’s possible (and/or important) to shoot. Organization is the key!
2 • The next step is the whole styling, thinking of a make-up that (at best) matches more than one look and can be changed easily but with as much effect as possible. This all – getting ready – takes about one hour. Then we have to find a shooting location. We have a few that we use more often, but of course I don’t want it to get boring here and therefore we always keep our eyes open for new spots. Sometimes we have a plan, knowing what matches the outfit best, but sometimes we just drive around searching for something that could be a cool background in the pictures. I’m happy that we have a car so we can be very flexible and spontaneous!
3 • When we arrive, it’s obviously shooting time. Depending on the light situation, a shooting can take almost an hour, even though we normally try to be done within 30 minutes. Especially in winter, that’s pretty important because it can get extremely cold. I’m not that sensitive, but since I have to take off my coat and warm boots for some looks (I’m pretty sure you don’t want to always see the same outerwear, right?), the wind is killing me sometimes (one of the things I really hate about Hamburg – it wouldn’t be so cold if there wasn’t that constant wind, always, every day – bad for the hairdo too!).
4 • Well, after shooting and driving back home – sometimes changing into another outfit (and maybe another one or two – same procedure every time) – it’s time to have a look at the pictures. Usually, we take around 100 photos and I choose 10. I still don’t own Photoshop (and I probably never will) – I use Picasa and Pixlr Express to change the lighting and color mood of my pictures. This all takes about 1.5 hours – per look.
5 • The blog post is what takes the longest – writing, translating, looking for direct links to my clothes, searching for alternatives,… – two hours or even more are absolutely normal. And when the blog post goes online (outfits are uploaded every Monday and Friday), there’s still social media: → Instagram, → Facebook, → Twitter (glad I don’t use any more!). I want to keep you updated if there’s something new and of course read your comments and answer them!

In the end, one outfit post takes about 6 hours. From the first idea to the finished blog post. Crazy, right? And this is what I love most about blogging. Outfit posts have always been my favorite posts and that’s also how it all started back in 2009. Can you believe that it’s already been 7 years since I started this blog?

Sooo… I already mentioned something new. I called it “style it differently” and you can find it under almost every outfit. I received a comment asking me to show how I style my clothes in different ways. This inspired me to do this: if there’s something I’ve worn before, you’ll find a linked picture of the other styling under the blog post. Easy as that. That’s how you’ll be able to see other ways of combining a single piece and hopefully be inspired to try as many new things as you want! :) I’m not totally done with all looks/years, since there’s A LOT of outfits and many different stylings, so please be a little patient. Anyways, you can always have a look at all of my outfits → here and in the galleries of the years – for example, you can see all looks of 2015 → here.

Now for my favorite looks of last year! Wasn’t easy to choose, so there’s 24 looks – but I’d say that they’re all so different that it’s okay. :) What about you? Which one was your favorite?

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