Oh! Paparazzi

Nothing fancy. No special events or occasions. Not a single reason to boost the mood. Just a grey rainy day in Geneva. And what all women do when they are (fairly) moody? They go and buy new shoes! That's exactly what I intended to do today. Quietly. Under the cover of a bad weather. So no one knows. 

(Just for you to understand, I've already got a stamp on my forehead from my dearest friends, saying "The Shoe Addict"! ...so yes, I am trying to "make it or fake it" these days. Yet, more often, I still fake it). 

Well, I bet you guessed the end of the story. I entered a store and... was almost immediately spotted by one of the friends - a wonderful style consultant who was also there. No comments. No shoes. Just beware of paparazzi. 

...At least it gave me a reason to share with you my TESSful look of the day.

So, TESS of the day:

Blouse, Sweater - all by Tara Jarmon,

Coated jeans - Caroll,

Scarf - Galeries Lafayette,

Rubber Boots - CHANEL, 

Watch - Karen Millen,

Umbrella - Ferre.

Keep TESS: Taste.Elegance.Sophistication.Style!

Your Tess

      

Wake Up and Be Awesome

Good morning, TESSies! Hope you are all feeling great today. 

Personally, I woke up this morning, feeling an unreasonable boost of energy, happiness and joy! Well, why not, in fact? If you are not there yet (I mean, emotionally), then put on your best smile and rock the day! As an alternative, you can always put on your best dress... and rock the date;) You choose, but keep TESSfully shinning inside and outside! 

In order to inspire you, let me share this idea of a warm-yet-chic outfit, which can easily go from day to night. As you may already know, I adore over-the-knee type of boots. Nicely paired with a moderately long dress (i.e. leaving a light hint of the 'bare' skin between two items) this outfit gives a strong boost of not only happiness and joy, but also sexiness and awesomeness. 

So, wake up, be awesome, stay TESSful and enjoy your (hopefully) sunny Sunday!

CLOTHES: Georgette Bishop Sleeve Dress Rachel Zoe, €232 (TESS), Draped Jacket with Leather Helmut Lang, €708 (TESS)  
SHOES: Black Suede Over-the-Knee Platform Boots Le Silla, €535 CHF (TESS)
BAG: Leather Satchel Chloé Marcie, €575 (TESS)
ACCESSORIES: Eye Dazzler Cuff Bracelet Dream Collective, €145 (TESS), Small Solid Pyramid Earrings Moratorium, €163 (TESS)
COSMETICS: Limited Edition Diptyque L'ombre Dans L'eau Eau De Parfum, €104 (TESS), Nail lacquers MAC, €12 (TESS), Chanel, €20 (TESS), Sinful Colors Professional, €18 (TESS) 

***What's YOUR favorite OUTFIT for the WEEKENDS?***

Keep TESS: Taste.Elegance.Sophistication.Style!

Your Tess

      

Chanel S/S 2013 Ad Campaign

They say that good shots speak for themselves. So, without any further overdue let me share with you these astonishing print campaigns from Chanel: Ready-To-Wear S/S 2013 and Cruise 2013. TESSful work! Now, let the pictures do the talking. 

TESS #1: Chanel Spring/Summer 2013 Ad Campaign 

The new seasonal campaign celebrates a comeback of 42 years old British supermodel Stella Tennant to the brand, that initially made her successful. Together with fashion newcomers - 16 year old models Yumi Lambert (Belgian model) and Ondria Hardin (American model), the trio brought to life an amazing series of eccentric images.

All Images are courtesy of CHANEL

TESS #2: Chanel Cruise 2013 Ad Campaign

Modeling powerhouse of Cara Delevingne (British fashion model) and Saskia de Brauw (Dutch artist and model) rocked Chanel Cruise 2013 campaign, posing for the camera of Mr. Lagerfeld himself. The Resort collection was inspired by Marie Antoniette, what made the grand Palace of Versailles an ideal place for a shooting.

All Images are courtesy of CHANEL

*** So, what's YOUR FAVORITE AD campaign of S/S 2013? ***

Keep TESS: Taste.Elegance.Sophistication.Style!

Your Tess

      

Kiddie Couture

Well, it was said a lot about Golden Globe Awards this year. You may even be sick and tired to read about those 'fabulous suits and gowns' that hit a red carpet that night. But wait, here is a new twist. A mini one. (You see, just another prove of our TESSful theory that Small is the New Big). 

New York based photographer Tricia Messeroux decided to recreate the ceremony, starring this time tiny celebrities instead of real ones. Several lucky kids were chosen to dress and pose like Golden Globe A-listers. Obvious question is... how it can be done so quickly?! The original 70th ceremony of Annual Awards took place on January 13th, while less than a week later we already enjoy a full portfolio of little cuties posing in the same outfits. Clearly, none of the dresses were revealed before the ceremonial night... 

So, that's how it worked. On Sunday night, Tricia Messeroux watched the show together with a designer Andrea Pitter to select the looks, on Monday - they booked models and selected fabrics, and on Tuesday - shooting rocked the place. 

“All day Monday we were shopping for props, shopping for garments, for fabrics and details, and then she [Pitter] just made it all day,” Messeroux told ABCNews

The choice of celebrities, which Tricia wanted to 'shrink', was driven by three main criteria: “the detail of the dress, the person, and if it is possible to keep kid appropriate”. From the moral stand point, the photographer rejected all deeply décolleté dresses, which apparently were trendy this year. 

Look how TESSfully these little cuties work the red carpet gowns! Fabulous! 

Halle Berry

Anne Hathaway

George Clooney and Stacy Keibler 

Kerry Washington

Lucy Liu

Taylor Swift

Have a look at this short video on how the shooting was actually done:

Keep TESS: Taste.Elegance.Sophistication.Style!

Your Tess

      

La Dolce Vita

There is one side of my life what you might not know... yet. I love baking. I really do. I love doing it spontaneously. Like it happened today - I woke up with a strong desire to warm up this snowy-chilly-winter morning with something fresh and home made. Usually I go for cheesecakes, but because the Baking Beauty is so-o-o time-consuming, I stopped at this TESSful apple pie. Never done it before but fell immediately in love with this 'rosy' idea.

Voilà, here goes my Sunday baking experience in case you want to repeat (highly recommended, by the way)! So TESS!    

TESS #1: Ingredients for the crust 
125gr soft butter,  3 tablespoons powdered sugar, 1 whole egg, 1 sachet (~10gr) of vanilla powder, 1 teaspoon orange zest, 100gr ground almonds, 150-200gr all purpose flour.

TESS #2: Put butter, sugar, vanilla powder and orange zest into a bowl and mix properly.

TESS #3: Add one whole egg and ground almonds followed by flour. Add flour slowly and in small amounts. Dough should be soft and pliable.

TESS #4: Roll out the dough into a baking pan (22-24 cm / 9 inches in diameter). Put dough into the refrigerator to chill while preparing the filling.

TESS #5: Ingredients for the filling 

400ml milk, 100ml white wine, 3 egg yolks, 1 sachet (~10gr) of vanilla powder, 1 teaspoon orange zest, 6 tablespoons powdered sugar, 4 tablespoons all purpose flour, 5-6 apples.

TESS #6: To make the filling, mix flour with sugar, vanilla and orange zest.

TESS #7: Add egg yolks with small amount of milk. Stir until a smooth consistency is achieved. Add the remaining milk and white wine.

TESS #8: Boil the mixture, stirring constantly to prevent lumps from forming. Let it cool off.

TESS #9: Using a vegetable peeler, prepare multiple ribbons from apple skin.

TESS #10: Form roses out of apple ribbons.

TESS #11: Pour the filling over the dough and spread it evenly. Place roses on top.

TESS #12: Glaze roses with heated confiture or jam (diluted with water). 

TESS #13: Preheat an oven to 180°C. Bake until the dough is baked through, and apples become golden.

TESS #14: Bon Appétit! 

Enjoy your winter weekend with this fresh-baked TESSfully done delicious apple pie. So tasty, so yummy, so pleasing to eye!

***So, what's the most TESSful recipe in your cookbook?***

And by the way, let me know if you tried this rosy pie. I'm curious to hear if it worked for you.

Keep TESS: Taste.Elegance.Sophistication.Style!

Your Tess

      

(Window) art... on Sale

As I continue travelling around, I got a new portion of the fabulous boutique windows for you to have a look. Remember, we've already talked about window decoration in NYC and how artsy it can be done (especially... esp-e-e-e-cially, during the Christmas time). 

So, here is the new update for you. This time - from Moscow.

These TESSful windows belong to TSUM (pronounced tsoom), one of the most renowned department stores in Moscow. TSUM is the largest, most over-the-top shopping mall in Russia. Moreover, it is the largest fashion department store in the whole Eastern Europe. It carries more than 1000 brands of fashionable apparel, perfumery and jewelry, as well as “TSUM Globus Gourmet” gastronome, a fusion restaurant, a cigar room, a café and champagne-bar “Veuve Clicquot” ...just to name a few.

When it comes to windows (well, that's where we started, right?!), TSUM has 38 of them. Seriously, 38!!! This is more than any other department store in the world. The decoration of these 38 'vitrines' changes 5 times per year. Truly amazing!

Here comes TESSful Winter design... yet already on Sale.

2 Petrovka, Moscow, Russia

And, don't forget to check out these TESSful windows from NYC!

Keep TESS: Taste.Elegance.Sophistication.Style!

Your Tess