Spring?

Scratch that, after a few clear days it's been snowing all day today again.
Winter is giving it one last try!




























But I'm wearing flowers and enjoying the unexpected sunspots on my pictures...
Spring will arrive eventually!






































This vintage leather skirt I picked up when one of my favourite second hand shops was closing down became one of my most worn pieces. As well as trasporting me to the 70s, it's keeping me warm while the last breath of winter lasts.





















By the way, at the moment the below picture is a much closer representation to how I actually look like when I walk the streets of Budapest... With an extra pullover and a huge scarf added. :)

Wearing: Thrifted blouse and leather skirt, H&M flowers, Calzedonia tights, 

Promod boots, New Yorker coat.

Pavia, Oh, Pavia!

Travel - the only valid reason I see for waking up at 3 in the morning.






































This is where I'd disappeared to for a few days! Pavia, Northern Italy.






































The weather was quite wintry, and it seemed like a permanent haze hung over the area, so my pictures are all a bit dreamlike.



My sister won an Erasmus grant to study at the university here, and I accompanied her to help her move. Pavia is gorgeous, and the university is so atmospheric. The second oldest in Italy, it was founded in 1361. How amazing! Above is one of the inner gardens of the university, and below is my sister, Anna, walking by the university buildings.




























I'm sure she'll love it there! (She already does! :)

We also went into Milan for a day, where I really enjoyed the letterings of signs...





















































And was quite creeped out by the famous Duomo, which looked really mysterious in the haze...





















It also has a row of mummified priests inside, nicely dressed up, and some weird carvings on its walls. How bizarre is this web-toed creature with a huge, cute bow?




















































So I went to Milan and didn't look at any of the posh shops, but instead I'm writing about imaginary creatures on church walls. If this blog wasn't already called Quaint, I would rename it right now.

Illustrated Shoot - Peacock

Peacock feathers remind me of Art Nouveau, of lean and soft lines, gentle waves, pleasing symmetry and the most beautiful deep and broken colours. Of gardens with winding paths that lead to sweeping green grass where birds flaunt their colourful attire. Of misty evenings when hazy shapes lurk in the shadows...





































And if we’re talking blogs, of Pandora, of course.






































And the headpiece fixation continues... I created this one from two separate headbands bought in England, which I couldn’t resist, as they immediately made me yearn for beauty. That’s a good thing. :)






































The weather is terrilby wintry nowadays, yesterday snow was swirming everywhere during a few blizzards through the day and cars went slower than strolling people. Hardly weather conditions that beckon you to take pictures outside! So sorry, but indoors pictures it is for a while!

Wearing: DIY headpiece created from Primark headbands, gifted gown,
mismatching nail varnishes by Miss Sporty and Essence.

Valentine's Pictures

I was called in by my photographer friend, Zsófi Raffay to style a Valentine’s day shoot…




















Featuring the Red Fish.









































No, not really. :)
We just couldn’t resist playing with him, though apparently he’s a male fish, so this attire might as well have been a Mardi Gras outfit for him.

In truth, I helped Zsófi with a special shoot Edina requested. She’s a mum of two, and was keen to create some beautiful and sexy photographs for Valentine’s day. (She said they’re 80% for her and 20% for her husband – we agreed that was a completely rational ratio. :)




















It was a first for me as I’ve never styled a barely-dressed shoot before, so I was pretty nervous beforehand! However, once I met Edina and we had some giggles and pooled all the pretty props we’d brought, we had great fun! There were lovely lingerie, thigh-high stockings, colourful gowns and feathered boas, headpieces, pearls, a mask and some more traditional pieces of clothing too, so she can show off some pictures to all of her friends.

Here she is in the famous headpiece, isn't she simply gorgeous?









































I’m not gonna share all the pictures with you, sorry, but let me tell you, Edina is absolutely wonderful on them! It turned out that she’s a natural talent for coy poses. :) It’s great to see a lady relax before the camera and start to shine! It’s all worth it when you see the pictures and read what others comment on them – we all deserve to see ourselves as beautiful as we really are!

Before - After

Enjoy Valentine's day lovelies, make yourself shine, let's say 80% for yourself, 20% for others! :)


Pictures by Zsófi Raffay
Make-up by Ági Pacsuta
Styling by Me :)

Roses are Red

In all honesty I got a few stares wearing this headpiece at work... Though I did tuck in the lace neatly, so that I can actually see. :) 




















I bought this fascinator-headband for a photoshoot I styled (more about that in my next post) but I couldn't resist composing it into an outfit. To start out with, I thought it would be hopeless for me to wear such a blunt red headpiece with my red hair, but I ended up really liking it with some accessories in different shades of red.






































Regardless of the stares, I'm looking forward to wearing this again. For instance on Valentine's day! As we don't celebrate it traditionally here in Hungary, not much happens on the 14th. There are more chocolate adverts on TV, but that's all really...
I decided that this year instead of huffing and puffing about consumerist conspiracy, I'll celebrate my way, and just enjoy what goes along with it, sporting some extravagant headgear and bright red lipstick.

I won't buy anything though! I'm not falling for the consumerist stuff, ha. :)

Wearing: H&M headpiece, New Yorker dress, Promod belt from a skirt, 

Cazedonia tights, Promod boots.

Tell Me Your Dreams

Well, you know I've been dreaming of snow... Finally, it's been snowing all weekend!
I'm so happy! :)







































I had to run out with my tripod to snap a few pictures! Then I put on one more sweater and picked up my umbrella to fend against the wind, and set off for a lovely, wonderful, beautiful, snow-filled walk in the Castle.






































The Castle District oozes history, there are always moments I feel I could be in another century.






































Or a few decades back... Being told off for wandering into a side street by the president's residence by soldiers was a major let down... I hope we're not becoming a police state! Come on, I don't think I look anything like a terrorist. A girl with a see-through umbrella and a camera surely isn't a major threat.






































There weren't many tourists about but those who dared the icy wind were in for a sure treat...






































Look at the Chain Bridge!







































And the Parliament behind a curtain of snow...





















Ah, bliss! :)

Wearing: Doc Martens, Jeans Club sweater, Takko jeans, New Yorker coat, 

C&A circle scarf, umbrella from an underpass. (I wore a few more layers, rest assured! :)

A Beginning and an Ending

A nice blogger asked me to design a cartoon of a girl playing dress up to use for her blog header. She wanted something pink and blue, but not baby-ish, and preferably a little girl who looks like her. This is what I came up with!

Unfortunately you can't check how much the drawing resembles her as by the time I finished the design, she decided she will give up blogging... This is really sad, as her blog was a nice one and I was looking forward to seeing it evolve! Also, now this little doodle won't get used for anything much. I thought I'll at least post it here. If you fancy using it for something, for instance as an illustration, feel free, just link back to me! Drop me an e-mail and I send it to you in a bigger size. :)

Oh, and don't forget my blog's Facebook, I'm rather enjoying playing around with it! :)