Week 13: Grace Kelly. Manus X Machina. Fashion in an Age of Technology.

Do you remember the latest MET Gala? The MET Galas are traditionally held to celebrate and support fabulous new exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum. This year’s celebrated exhibit is Manus X Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology. The exhibition explores the marriage between technology and fashion, showcasing astonishing creations by the most famous fashion designers which illustrate the perfect symbiosis of complicated handmade pieces with machine work.

The exhibition is open at the Met Fifth Avenue through August 14, and I strongly recommend you see it. From the moment you step in you will feel a grandness and sacredness of the place, the kind that you experience in lavish medieval cathedrals or mosques.  The circular exhibition space beckons us to look into its numerous alcoves with couture creations which are placed on pedestals like sculptures of Saints. The dimly lit museum wing is haunted by beautiful soul-reaching melodies. Only the fashion artifacts are magically lit, attracting your gaze.

Despite the spellbound crowd with their iPhones glued in hand, the experience is almost mystical and pilgrimatic. Find all hope - You Who Enter Here should be written before the entrance, because Manus x Machina will leave you inspired.

The centerpiece of the exhibition is this exquisite Chanel gown created by Karl Lagerfeld. 

This dress's meters-long train sparkles like a gilded altarpiece.

This dress— made of a synthetic fabric called scuba knit— was hand-molded, machine-sewn, and then hand-finished, with intricate embroidery in pearls and gemstones forming a glittering baroque pattern.

Why have I decided to include this exhibit in my Grace Kelly Week? Because I believe some of these gorgeous pieces could have easily been worn by Grace. 50s silhouettes are definitely my favourite!

If the Devil wears Prada, Demons certainly wear Alexander McQueen.

Fabulous handmade Chanel gown from Fall/Winter 2005 Haute Couture collection.

I call these the hedgehog-dresses.

The famous Yves Saint Laurent dress known as "Sardine" is even more stunning in real life. The photograph cannot reflect how brilliantly the "fish skin effect" was created. It is mesmerising.

I hope you enjoyed the post! Let me know if you would like to see more exhibition reviews or want me to attend and photograph a certain event/show for you.

Week 13: Grace Kelly. Best Looks of Princess Grace.

Grace Kelly is a timeless style icon. Her wedding dress has been continually named one of the best bridal outfits of all time. Grace's film and casual looks are still getting copied all around the world. Even before she became Princess of Monaco, Grace always looked a perfect picture in her simple, elegant dresses, candy-coloured suits, and sophisticated, yet never showy, evening gowns. Let's have a look at the best outfits of the most beautiful Hollywood actress who ever lived.

1. Pastel Colours.

Grace Kelly loved to wear pastel coloured outfits. Pastels are great for summer and create a classy high-society air around the person wearing them.

2. The Perfect Silhouette. 

Big full skirts will make your waist look tiny with curvy hips, and will make everyone swoon over your gorgeous figure. Avoid high heels, and try to wear your "Grace Kelly" style dresses with pretty flats or kitten heeled shoes

3. Elegant Black.

Black never looked boring on Grace because it contrasted beautifully with her blonde hair. Moreover, she always added something special like white gloves, a beautiful brooch, or a string of pearls to make her black outfits even more elegant.

4. Bows

Grace Kelly adored bow details and pussycat bow blouses, especially after she became a mother. This feminine type of blouse is an essential wardrobe piece for every feminine lady and can be worn with high waist pencil skirts or with an elegant pair of trousers.

5. Green

Grace Kelly was proud of her Irish heritage and considered green a very lucky colour. She especially loved sea-green.

Let me know what other Themed Week you would like to see!

Week 13: Grace Kelly. My Eliza J Pink Dress

I discovered Eliza J on Nordstrom’s website when I was looking for an outfit inspired by Grace Kelly. It was love at first sight! The delicious pastel pink colour, elegant 50s silhouette, rose lace, and a full crisp skirt; the dress was rapidly added to my shopping cart.

When the dress arrived, my husband immediately asked if they had it in other colours (as a matter of fact they DO) and that I should purchase them all! The moment I put this dreamy pink dress on I felt incredibly feminine and classy. The silhouette of the dress is very flattering and makes my waist look tiny.

I felt really lucky to find something so similar to Grace Kelly's signature style and in one of her favourite colours.

These wonderful photos were taken by my friend Agne Gadišauskaitė at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Eliza J has other gorgeous pieces (check out my new favourites at the end of this post!). The brand's dresses and skirts are all beautiful, very feminine, and have a fabulous vintage feel I adore.

MY LOOK:  Dress - Eliza J (they also have it in black here), Heels - Pigalle Christian Louboutin, Bag - Dior (similar here), Gloves - bought on Amazon (here)

More Fabulousness by Eliza J:

Week 13: Grace Kelly. 5 Summer Beauty Weapons

Summer is in full reign and it’s about time I share some of  Grace Kelly's and my own beauty secrets as well as some hot-weather essentials.

1. Must Have Box

Firstly, I would like to start with subscription boxes. I have been curious about beauty and fashion surprise boxes since I was living in London. One of my best friends, Ania Pawlak, who now has her own blog, Beauty Obsessed, had been getting some of the boxes when we were living together and it was always fun opening them with her.

Special Edition Resort Box by Popsugar. 

Subscription boxes are so popular because they give you a sense of excitement every time you open a freshly delivered package filled with surprise goodies. There is always some great product by some brand you have never heard of, cute things you would never try otherwise, or something that you didn't even know you needed.

One of the most beloved subscription boxes in the US is Popsugar Must Have. They  not only have makeup and beauty products, but lifestyle and decor items as well. I was thrilled when Popsugar selected me to be one of the bloggers to review their June box. To be honest, I completely forgot about it until this morning when I woke up to a package. It felt like Christmas!

The June Box has 7 items, including a card game, a very sparkly nail polish, deodorant wipes (I didn’t know such a thing even existed!), a sarong, and a very cute bottle opener. Here are the pictures of the surprise items that arrived in my Popsugar Must Have Box.

Check their website to see "inside" previous boxes. Each one is so different and has a great curated collection of items. It is great that you can get a box of fabulous goodies for a fixed monthly price and get items triple the value or even more. So you don't have to worry if there is something you don't actually need.

Let me know if you have ever used a subscription box service. I would love to hear about your experience.

2. Hand cream

Grace Kelly was obsessed with keeping her hands moisturised and always had a little hand cream in her purse. She revealed that it was one of her most important beauty secrets and that "a woman's age shows on her hand much quicker than anywhere else."

Following her advice, I do actually keep a tiny pack of hand cream in my purse and a big one on my bedside table. My favourite small one is Magic Food Banana Hand Milk by Korean brand Tony Moly. It not only has the cutest packaging but smells absolutely delicious and is quite cheap. I get my Korean beauty supplies in a Tony Moly shop in NYC, 35 W 32nd St, Korea Town.

3. Self-tanning

Princess Grace of Monaco is famous for her beautiful fair skin, but not a lot of people know she loved spending time on the beach and swam a lot to keep her figure slim. Grace knew the importance of keeping her skin hydrated and protected from the sun with lotions with higher SPF.

I naturally have very pale skin as well, but I don't think it suits me. I just simply prefer to be tanned. It was easy to get a beautiful bronze glow when I was living in Miami, but now in New York I have to use self-tanners.

Here are my favourite self-tanners I currently use:

4. Fabulous Floaties

Ok, not really a beauty secret, but a fun, bright float is a serious summer 2016 essential if you have a pool or a beach nearby. It adds fun to your tanning process and also looks great in pictures.

5. Lipstick

I am wearing Anastasia Beverly Hills in Dusty Rose.

Grace Kelly didn't wear much makeup, especially on hot summer days, but she almost never forgot to put on lipstick. She preferred bright red and dark rosy hues.

I, on the other hand, have never been a huge lipstick fan, but during one of my visits to Sephora, I tried Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid matte lipstick and fell in love. So many beautiful colours to choose from and, most importantly, it stays on for hours without feeling gross on my lips like most lipsticks tend to.

So there are my 5 summer 2016 beauty weapons inspired by my latest purchases and Grace Kelly's own beauty secrets. Do you enjoy reading beauty posts? Let me know in the comments!

Week 13: Grace Kelly. Shop 50s Style!

Later this week I will share Grace Kelley’s most iconic and beautiful looks, but today I want to present our new Theme Shop. I have handpicked gorgeous dresses and other beautiful items that will help you create that flirty 50s look.

As a bonus I am sharing my favourite pieces from SheIn. SheIn delivers worldwide either for free or for a very small shipping fee and they have some of the prettiest clothes for VERY affordable prices.

Shop all of these gorgeous dresses on SheIn!