Sandra‘s Closet

O’gzapft is! My German readers will know what I am talking about. In Stuttgart it is soon to be Wasen time and in Munich it is soon Oktoberfest season! Those traditional festivities require a stylish look emphasizing your Bavarian spirit.

BOSS Black is launching Mid July a capsule collection as part of F/W 2011 which will include two dirndls and five traditional costumes  for men. Available online at www.hugoboss.com or in selected stores.

Enjoy your beer in style!

LoL, Sandra

Dress: Dirndl 2011 – 50214956 – 10151258 – 963 UVP: 499,00 €

Dress: Dirndl 2011 – 50214956 – 10151258 – 970 UVP: 499,00 €

Jacket: Colmont – 50211595 – 10147924 – 203 UVP: 349,00 €

Shirt: Ronny 16 – 50205480 – 10146452 – 212 UVP: 89,95 €

Leather Pants: Nevis – 50211592 – 10149563 – 240 UVP: 399,00 €

Neckwear: Bandana – 50211845 – 10149827 – 622 UVP: 129,95 €

Hat: Severinus – 50208771 – 10148761 – 001 UVP: 109,95 €

Jacket: Schorsch – 50211921 – 10118284 – 022 UVP: 449,00 €

Shirt: Fridl – 50211479 – 10149516 – 501 UVP: 119,95 €

Trousers: Stachus-W – 50211924 – 10139323 – 505 UVP: 119,95 €

Neckwear: Pocket Square – 50211822 – 10149811 – 531 UVP: 34,95 €

Neckwear: Oblong Scarf – 50211821 – 10149811 – 531 UVP: 119,95 €

Belt: Augustiner – 50212285 – 10150187 – 510 UVP: 99,95 €

Jacket: Hans – 50211923 – 10149663 – 240 UVP: 399,00 €

Shirt: Fridl – 50211479 – 10149516 – 610 UVP: 119,95 €

Trousers: Stachus-W – 50211815 – 10139322 – 202 UVP: 119,95 €

Neckwear: Pocket Square – 50211822 – 10149811 – 622 UVP: 34,95 €

Neckwear: Oblong Scarf – 50211821 – 10149811 – 622 UVP: 119,95 €

Belt: Augustiner – 50212285 – 10150187 – 610 UVP: 99,95 €

Jacket: Schorsch – 50211921 – 10118284 – 032 UVP: 449,00 €

Shirt: Fridl – 50211479 – 10149516 – 301 UVP: 119,95 €

Trousers: Stachus-W – 50211925 – 10141951 – 320 UVP: 119,95 €

Neckwear: Pocket Square – 50211822 – 10149811 – 801 UVP: 34,95 €

Neckwear: Oblong Scarf – 50211821 – 10149811 – 801 UVP: 119,95 €

Belt: Augustiner – 50212285 – 10150187 – 810 UVP: 99,95 €

Jacket: Sepp – 50211922 – 10141843 – 302 UVP: 349,00 €

Shirt: Fridl – 50211479 – 10149516 – 411 UVP: 119,95 €

Trousers: Stachus-W – 50211815 – 10139322 – 410 UVP: 119,95 €

Neckwear: Pocket Square – 50211822 – 10149811 – 692 UVP: 34,95 €

Neckwear: Oblong Scarf – 50211821 – 10149811 – 692 UVP: 119,95 €

Belt: Augustiner – 50212285 – 10150187 – 410 UVP: 99,95 €

Shoe: Festor – 50211896 – 10130716 – 601 UVP: 429,00 €

Most of us might be in the mood for art, the Biennnale, Art Basel just in front of us, so much to be inspired from. Have you ever dreamt of carrying your favourite piece of art around with you? Here is your chance to explore wearable art. Meet Des Artistes:

The Munich based label is an eco-and socio-conscious line of conceptual printed tees featuring work from notable and emerging contemporary artists. The T-shirt becomes a canvas upon which to inspire and explore the human spirit.

Launched in 2009, Des Artistes reflects a creative mindset that is fueled by contemporary art. Every season the brand showcases artists from a range of backgrounds, genres, ages and cultures to maintain its ongoing evolution. Every artist is acknowledged on every tee, rightfully so.

Des Artistes strives to use the finest organic and sustainable fabrics in combination with super low-impact waterbased inks. The aim is to make awareness with real art that inspires. To that end, a portion of sales will benefit a different charitable organization each season.

Below you can find some of my favourite tees:

108 (born 1978) is an Italian artist in the field of street art from Alessandria.

108 has moved from working in traditional graffiti art to painting large and mysterious figures that invade public spaces. He was one of the first writers to use numbers instead of letters for his name. He started to work when he was a child on the streets of Alessandria, and used different names. His work has appeared on the streets of Milan, Paris, London, Berlin, and New York City. His first works known by people are enigmatic “blob”-like yellow shapes. It is his firm intention to make visual chaos. His new works are labyrinths, dead trees, 3D objects and installations, but especially black and gloomy shapes.

“My art is about following my impulses as to what I feel is beautiful, interesting, and poetic.”
–       Franco Mondini-Ruiz

The son of an Italian father and a Mexican mother who grew up in San Antonio, Mr. Mondini-Ruiz gave up a law career to become a full-time artist in 1995. His first works were installations that favored kitschy found objects, then smaller assemblages of same. Accessibility, portability and spontaneity were key concepts.

Invited to be in the 2000 Whitney Biennial, Mr. Mondini-Ruiz sold objects on the street in front of the museum, some of them made on the spot, for 10 cents to $10. A few years ago, he took up painting in earnest, determined to initiate people into the joys of art collecting and also to bring different communities into contact with one another. He staged shows in Charlotte, N.C., San Antonio, Rome and Florence, selling quantities of paintings for $99 or 100 euros each in a few hours. Demand never exceeded supply: if someone wanted a painting that was already sold, he would make a copy, guaranteeing that it would be ”as good or better.”

Charles Anderson is a painter whose work plays with the relationship between art, its context and those by whom it is viewed. His paintings explore art’s role throughout history and the ever-changing importance of painting within the art world.

Charles incorporates a diverse range of techniques to create layers of imagery taken from aspects of popular culture: newspaper headlines, beer bottle labels, nightclub flyers and fashion among them. The results are rhythmical paintings which provoke more questions perhaps than they answer, constantly challenging the viewer’s senses and understanding of what constitutes art. Does a fabricated relationship create the image or does the image define the relationship? In the end, it is the viewers who decide by drawing whichever connotations of modern life are relevant to them. The work of this award-winning artist is included in international collections, including British Airways.

Elvira Bach is a Berlin-based artist. In 1982 at the age of 29, she was invited to participate at the documenta VII, one of the most important modern and contemporary art exhibitions. Many of her works have been strongly influenced by her time spent as an artist in residence in the Dominican Republic.

A recurring and central theme in her sensually bright and vigorous paintings is the woman in her sexually-determined existence. It turns out that the similar-looking women depicted in her paintings is Bach herself. In 1978 she began to paint self-portraits often disguised as still-lifes, using an array of utensils and accessories with which she defines herself as a woman. Explicitly erotic elements dominated her work in the early 80s. In the late 80s, her work began to transform to a more reserved style.

Proceeds will be donated to SOS Kinderdorf / Children‘s Villages.

For my Zurich based readers, I recommend a visit to Nina Arnold-Shah, owner of Kids and the City. This week on Tuesday, June 7th and Wednesday, June 8th, she is having a very special Shopping Spree at her house where you can explore those amazing designs among other great stuff. For further enquiries, please do not hesitate to contact her on her mobile +41 79 768 37 23.

See you at Nina’s!

LoL, Sandra

Origins was kind enough to let me try out some of their amazing products. I’ve been a fan of all-natural skin care brand for quite a while and was eager to test their newest addition PlantscriptionTM . I wanted to use it for a couple weeks before I shared my thoughts with you.

Plantscription™ Anti-aging serum with Anogeissus.

Although it’s not a prescription, in just 4 weeks nature’s next generation power plant has noticeably reduced wrinkle length and depth without the irritation.

It has visibly helped repair the vertical fret lines between the eyes, the stubborn  furrows across the forehead and the deepening frownies that frame the mouth.

The skin is firmer, smoother and more lifted-looking. With continued use, the results have improved. And for CHF 95.-, satisfaction is guaranteed (or your wrinkles back).

Drink Up Intense Overnight Mask

This is my favourite Origins product. I am having very dry skin so this works its magic for me. Instantly, the skin feels replenished, smoothed and soothed.

Use it twice a week or as desired, gently massage onto the clean skin at bedtime and tissue off excess. It smells so good that it is a true pleasure going to sleep with it.

Skin depends on water for its youthful functioning. But all day long, skin loses vital moisture. And the busier you are, the more it loses. This intense moisture replacement mask with Avocado and Apricot Kernel Oil deeply and instantly quenches compromised moisture reserves and builds a reservoir for tomorrow.  Japanese Seaweed repairs skin’s barrier to prevent future dehydration and signs of premature aging. It truly works. CHF 35.-.

LoL, Sandra

For F/W 2011 Diesel is introducing its most iconic bag: the Divina bag. Available in three variations, the premium denim bags are manufactured in the same manner as the denim lines, going through the same washing process as 5 pockets do.
The result: shaded color effects and a worn naturally used look. Personalized with the Diesel flag and enriched with black leather handles and trims, the Divina expresses Diesel’s DNA in every aspect.

The dirty sand treated denim and leather Divina, aka the supreme bag, is defined by treatments that create uneven and unique products, making each bag is different from one another. The dirty wash process gives the bag its ‘rusted’-like color. The handmade application of resin on some parts of denim result in a contrasting shaded color effect, while the shade treatment enhances the shaded color effect and gives it a peculiar dirty sand nuance. CHF 449.-

The grey embossed denim and leather garment washed Divina has a particular treatment. A silicone pattern that is placed under the denim gives the material its decorative element: fake croco. The pumice stone wash creates a natural vintage effect. CHF 529.-

The blue denim and leather garment washed Divina with rivets and embroidery is handscratched and manually treated with sand paper, while the golden spray treatment oxidizes and bleaches the denim, giving the bag its Diesel character. CHF 449.-

To come to a conclusion: It is big and very versatile. An oversized bag that is adaptable to all day long situations, whether you go to work, on a shopping spree or off to a weekend trip.

And here come the good news: The bags are available in the Diesel stores in Geneva and Zurich from now on, whereas all other countries will have to wait until September 2011. But nothing like a thrill of anticipation!

LoL, Sandra

Treat hair from the inside out with ten new luxury products by Paul Mitchell featuring proven ingredients to restore dry, damaged hair: HydroMist Blow-Out Spray, HydroCream Whip, KeraTriplex Treatment, Keratin Intensive Treatment, Moisturizing Lather Shampoo, Keratin Cream Rinse, Texturizing Sea Spray, Styling Treatment Oil, Finishing Spray and Shine Spray.

Paul Mitchell was part of the Vidal Sassoon team before he moved on to create his own universe. Today, Paul Mitchell products are the number 1 hair products in the US.
The “pioneer of the blow-dry” lived in Hawaii where he got inspired by the natural aspects of the area. Hawaiian natives have used the fragrant juice of the Awapuhi ginger plant to moisturize skin and hair since ages. On the Big island, Paul Mitchell has a farm where to this day all of the Awapuhi used in the John Paul Mitchell Systems products is harvested there. Its aloe-veranesque nectar helps to nourish the hair deeply.

The KeraTriplex is a protein that is derived from sheep’s wool. A medical break-through that is also used in cancer products. Paul Mitchell owns the technology and is launching the awapuhi treatment on a global approach. It is virtually identical to human’s hair. It improves shine up to 35%, prevents colour to fade up to 67% and reduces breakage up to 80%.

The KeraTriplex treatment is only done in-salon. It is a highly concentrated blend of exclusive keratin proteins that repairs and seals from cuticle to core. An infusion of moisture for softness and shine. Last week, I was invited by the Paul Mitchell team to test it:

First you start by washing the hair with the Moisturizing Lather Shampoo.

Then the first step of the treatment, the KeraTriplex Treatment, is worked into the wet hair.

The second step, the Keratin Intensive Treatment, is applied with a brush.

With a little heat, the treatment can even better work its magic.

After carefully having rinsed out the hair, it can be styled as liked. Just be careful not to blow dry it too hot.

The treatment is amazing. It leaves you with this “Can I touch your hair” look.

For a store next to you, please click here. For my Zurich based readers, I recommend Anja Stähelin Hair Company in Erlenbach.

LoL, Sandra

Besides their iconic little turquoise blue boxes, Tiffany & Co. have given us another reason to love them with the launch of a new microsite and mobile app called “What Makes Love True“, a triumphant social media splash!

It’s all about love and it plays to the hopeless romantic in all of us. This is one site you’ll want to book in a lot of time for browsing. There are heartwarming stories of true love from real-life couples, tales of happy-ever-after engagements, tips on maintaining a healthy but thrilling relationship, playlists for romantic moments and Tiffany’s most exotic picks for special locations in NYC (MET Roof Garden is a must). And if you aren’t already totally loved up with the site after all those features there’s also a a short film by Edward Burns all about love and couples in New York.

As for me, Tiffany’s site about love is love at first site!

LoL, Sandra

Fondazione Prada announces the opening of Ca’ Corner della Regina presenting the project of OMA/Rem Koolhaas for its permanent venue in Milan and a selection of works from the collection, kicking off a project that will promote cultural exhibitions, research and study of contemporary artistic languages and more.

The show, which opens on 1 June to coincide with the Biennale 2011 in Venice, will feature works from the Fondazione’s collection, including Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Anish Kapoor, Louise Bourgeois, Blinky Palermo, Bruce Nauman, Pino Pascali, Donald Judd, Francesco Vezzoli and many more.

Since its beginnings in 1993, the Fondazione Prada has left deep traces behind and today aspires to make more leading into the future. 
The exhibition “Fondazione Prada – Ca’ Corner della Regina” is curated by Germano Celant and definitely worth a visit.

LoL, Sandra

Exhibition details: Fondazione Prada – Ca’ Corner della Regina

Open days: Wednesday, June 1; Thursday, June 2; Friday, June 3, 2011


Public opening: Saturday, June 4 to Sunday October 2, 2011

While being in New York, one trend caught my eye: White nail polish.

Personally, I like the opaque version very much. It emphasizes the shape of the nails while looking cool and fresh. Moreover it suits every skin tone. The only downside is the maintenance as the white hue doesn’t last as long as other shades.

My favourite tone is Ecume by Nars, which is part of their recent summer collection.

Ecume is described as “An opaque white nail enamel that is at once vintage-inspired and avant-garde in sensibility.”

If you like to take it one step further, get inspired by stylesetter Alexa Chung. She painted little palm trees or tine hearts on her white fingertipps. I am loving it and you?

LoL, Sandra