Double Glitter and More Colour

Two things to lift your spirits when it's cold outside and you're ill and need some cheering up.

 
You might be surprised to find me painting my nails with glittery nail polish, as I'm really not the glitter type of girl. But when you're coughing your head off and missing the Christmas spirit, it works, believe me.

I used two layers of a bluish nail polish already loaded with glitter, plus another golden one, with bigger glitter bits added.

Sorry for the poor pictures, my camera cannot deal with the amount of shine my nails emit.
To tell you the truth, me neither, I keep staring at my nails and turning them in the light.

Taking pictures of my nails totally makes me feel like I'm 16, so just to be on the safe side, let me add a foolproof DIY as well that you can happily do even in bed, and to inject some colour into the winter gloom!

Take a simple black blazer (which you thrifted in the hope of maybe creating some outfits that are at least a bit grown-up and sleek). Choose some colourful buttons you have collected over the years (or bought a bottleful of them in Liberty when you were in London and felt a strong urge to get something that wasn't gonna hurt your budget but would still have Liberty patterns on).

Cut off the black buttons and sew on the colourful ones, preferably with colourful thread. I chose bright pink, of course. When in doubt, choose the harshest colour available!

I'm trying my best to cure myself and dare the cold to take some outfit pictures, preferably with my newly re-buttoned blazer, but till then, have a colourful and happy winter! :)

Stuff used: Essence Colour and Go nail polishes, Second hand blazer and Liberty buttons.

P.S.: I've created a Google+ profile, so if you're using Google+, look for Madeline Quaint!
I still haven't figured it all out. :)

The Sea, The Sea

So my dear friends, I've been away. Here...

I went to England to see my Boyfriend, who works there at the moment, and we spent most of the time just absorbing the presence of the sea. Looking through the pictures in wintry Budapest, I hardly believe I had been there...

This time I didn't dare getting into the ice cold sea, though my Boyfriend went in a good few times! That's him!

What amazes me is the scope of the Atlantic. How enormous things can be!

And when you look through the rock pools, how tiny...

That's the magic of the seaside.

Oh, and the sunsets...

It's almost impossible to believe that this beauty exists, and that I had the chance to experience it. How wonderful the Atlantic is in the winter! 

Ice Flower

I remember a blogger mentioning how common it was to find an original Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress in thrift shops, and how you'll eventually meet the one that's your size. ( I forgot the source, sorry.) I thought, oh well, probably in the US... So I couldn't believe my eyes when I spotted this DVF dress in one of my favourite second hand shops!

One thing I always look out for when second hand shopping is materials I couldn't afford new, and silk is definitely one of them. A heavy silk jersey wrap dress, what else can you wish for for the winter? A pattern called Ice Flower, maybe. Which is what this lovely pattern is called, which I've found out after some online detective work. It makes me think of ghosts of jellyfish rather than flowers, but that's just my personal weirdness. 

Oh, and it cost just the same as all the other, cotton or polyester, no-name dresses... After finding out how much these wrap dresses cost new, I'm really marvelling at my luck now!

This shot reminds me of the days I used to do Hungarian folk dancing, as this twirl looks just like a folk dance move!
I was just wondering how many time Hungarian folk dance and DVF was mentined in one page when I found this interesting blog entry of Diane's looking through the DVF website. Guess what, she visited Budapest in the summer! Really nice of her that she writes about her experiences and am I glad she liked my city!

Wearing: Second hand DVF dress, Calzedonia tights, Chinese booties, 

Promod trench, C&A hat and scarf.

I've seen this before... 

A new feature, yay! In this section you can click over to a previous outfit featuring certain components of the current one. (Gosh, that sounds businesslike!)

In other words, check out my remixes, girls. :)

Same trench, different season: The Wind of Change, my first post ever in glorious spring!

Illustrated Shoot - Hearts of Gold

It's rather nice when Mother Nature provides us with golden accessories - like these fallen leaves.

December is on the doorstep with the festive season setting in. Obviously we don't celebrate Thanksgiving over here in Hungary, but to all the US bloggers - have a great time celebrating! If I could thank you for anything, it would be your continual support of my little blog.

Thank you, all of you with hearts of gold all over the world, for taking the time to read my words, leave comments, share your views! You make my life so much brighter! :)

Spreading some love always feels nice. :)

Wearing: Promod dress, Second hand jacket, Accessorize tights, Chinese shoes, 

Jojó Art Shop handmade felted scarf, Promod belt from another skirt, 

Jeans Club beads, H&M flowers in my hair.

Glamour in the City

Are you wondering how the hat goes with this outfit? Well, I didn't choose it to wear for myself, but carried it to a photoshoot I had the pleasure styling!

We had such a great time the day before with Gabi, the subject of the portrait/glamour session, working out her outfits and combining pieces of her wardrobe and clothes and accessories I'd brought. The main thing for me was to create looks she'd feel comfortable and great in - and most importantly, truly herself.
Here are some of the many great pictures Zsófi took that day.

Meet wonderful Gabi, with hairclips made up by me with flower pins I'd brought, after Zsófi's genious suggestion to use fallen leaves.

How gorgeous is the setting? No wonder we couldn't resist playing with the leaves!

(You might remember this overdress of mine from this guest post over at The Ginger Diaries blog. It suits Gabi so much better! :)
Here are some other pictures in another outfit - a darker tone in another great setting, a steep old street.

Zsófi is a brilliant portrait photographer - catching so much of Gabi's personality, and so many facets of it.

It wasn't the first time we worked together with Zsófi Raffay on a photoshoot and I sincerely hope there will be many others! :) Here's Zsófi's website and her blog, plus her Facebook!

I'm wearing: 

Promod trench, Takko jeans, Shoe Zone boots, Zara bag, Chinese scarf, Debenhams hat.
Gabi's wearing:
In the first look: Her own dress and shoes,  my overdress and trench, hairclips by mother nature. :)
In the second look: Her own dress, coat and scarf, and my Debenhams hat.

Illustrated Shoot - The Day of

These pictures are inspired by John Wyndham's book, The Day of the Triffids.

As you might have guessed, it describes how giant human-eating plants take over the Earth.

It sounds quite like a terribly corny horror, I know. :) But it's much more about human nature than creatures of fantasy. It describes a post-apocalyptic London haunted by armed bands so well, sensible Englishness turned upside down and inside out, that when I went to London and my bus went past places mentioned in the book, the memories of the Triffids welled up really strongly. I'll always see Swiss Cottage surrounded by man-eating plants.

Not a word of fashion was mentioned in this post, but at least you can read what I wore... :)

Wearing: Zara dress, Second hand silk jacket, Doc Martens, Random hat and scarf and tights,

Jojó Art Shop handmade flower pins.