The Art of Seduction

Everybody has a weakness.

Mood | Desperado

War Zone

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"I don't want to be heard, I want to be listened to." - Twenty One Pilots

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Pillow Talk

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Casting models for a fashion show sounds like fun right?

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Sitting at a desk staring at beautiful people all day long with the theme of 'changing climates' in mind, making light conversation to get a sense of personality, contrasting characters, looks and attires in the hopes of orchestrating moments of fantasy on a whirlwind night of excitement and passion. That is the point of a fashion show c'est ça?

During casting for our annual University fashion show, I noticed all of these beautifully diverse international students come in to audition, so confident in their attire and determined to kill the game with an air of indescribable elegance and professionalism. Dark hair and eyes, caramel, coffee, porcelain and toffee skin tones. Afros, braids, twists and straight black hair. Instantly I felt a pang of annoyance over how such diverse beauty was so underrepresented in the world of pop culture. 

Beauty is limited to light hair, pale skin and tinted eyes right???? Wrong. 

It is true that we base talent and beauty on what we are used to seeing the most. Now due to the immense coverage of people of colour in day time TV (Empire, Scandal, How To Get Away With Murder and Grey's Anatomy) the game is changing...but not quite enough. 

I ask myself where are all of the Japanese, Indian, Thai, Malaysian, Latina, African influencers? Why aren't they storming the fashion, film and beauty industry like their white counterparts? Why are people still calling my new hairstyle dreads instead of braids? Why was it that we initially placed pale skin tones in a section that represented the Tundra climate and darker skin tones in a section that represented the Arid climate? Why are black people still playing ghetto characters and white people CEOs in the film industry? Where is this ignorance coming from?  My brain switches to overdrive at the thought of having many different forms of beauty being represented in the media all at once. 

What if we cultivated an integrated community so special that people in every race and culture would feel empowered, confident, beautiful? 

So who is in the position of power to increase diversity? Producers, casting directors, scriptwriters, fashion and beauty magazines. As much as you don't want to believe this, our brains are set in automatic pilot and therefore our thoughts are heavily controlled by outside influencers. 

However with the right people in charge, what could the future hold?  An influx of people with different appearances, backgrounds and versatile stories to tell in the media and film industry. Our standards in terms of talent and beauty will change and subsequently they will rise. Prejudice in society will continue to dwindle because people will no longer fear what they think they do not know. People of colour will be seen on TV in equal ratio to their western white peers. Kids will begin to embrace their point of difference. We'll cherish that and play it to our best advantage. We will no longer accept the standard of looking and acting the same.

Maybe I want to help with that. Maybe I want to change pop culture. 

Fast Lane

Black Panther

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That's the thing about a black panther in a dark forest, nobody sees it coming before it pounces.

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Isn't it boring to be a girl? To be interested in fashion, makeup, Instagram and attracting attention. To be paid to look pretty, or cheery or energetic but never intelligent, dark, cunning. Never the mysterious beauty who embraces her strengths. Nobody wants to know that girl because that shit doesn't sell. 

Stay happy, stay smiling, stay Marilyn. And if you're insecure enough, maybe the world will look your way.

What would your mind look like if you had to turn it inside out and present it to the world? I'll show you mine so you can show me yours:

I never stop asking questions, especially about things that are wrong in the world. Sometimes I get so frustrated with myself for caring so much and then irritated by people who don't care enough. I'll break every rule that I find traditional and old fashioned just to make a point. Ah proving a point - I'll go above and beyond to prove you wrong...even if I'm wrong. I'm easily toyed with, everything gets to me. A mix of sensitive Cancer and fiery Leo, I think about things and I think about them twice but I'll always make an immediate decision. I'll never cry over the same thing twice.  I live like I'm going to die at age 35. Because 20 years is enough to make a difference. I thrive when I am alone, my mind is my home. If my eyes are closed, I am somewhere I want to be; envisioning cities I want to visit, and things I want to happen. They often do.  I watch everything with the eyes of a cat. I don't miss anything, I am ten moves ahead at all times, probably because of my habit of thinking out scenarios consistently. The only thing I fear is failure. I don't fear much else.

I have certain hibernation periods where I won't talk to anyone for days. In that time I'm learning something new and often accumulating new ideas. I don't attract attention unless I want to. It's almost like a game in my head, figuring out what makes people tick and how people succumb to charm.

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So there you have it, two sides to a coin. The social media culture of persuading people to believe that we live a life of only "highlights" is misleading for so many young people. There are young people who sit in front of their screens believing that their life is only as good as their latest Instagram photo. Fashion is here for us to represent how we feel but how we feel is still the most important factor.  As much fun as it is to play dress up and channel different personas of ourselves, it's important to remember that we will always be worth more than fashion.

Character Assassination

I believe there are things we do for people and things we do for ourselves. The key to materialising what we want to do is differentiating what we are doing for people and what we are doing for ourselves. 

They say a writer isn't just one person but a collection of persons living in one body. Every week, I display a part of myself to the Internet world on this site. You don't need to meet me in person to know who I am. You probably know me better than some of my friends and family. 

Don't be fooled by the false names and scenarios, if you look deep enough you'll find me on every inch of this site. 

Character assassination. I take part in it everyday, highlighting my traits and deep thoughts, my strengths and my downfalls. You could say I do it for myself and that's 20% true but honestly? I do it for you. I write to convey:

Emotion: 

I want to make you feel something.

Concept: 

I want to get a message across to you.

Teleportation: 

I want to take you to somewhere you've never been before.

Clarity: 

I want to change your story by changing mine.

They say style is a form of expression that gives you permission to flaunt who you are without uttering a word. That is 100% for me. I dress to convey a mood, a character trait or culture - past and present. I don't do it for you because there is nothing you can learn from it. You must create your own. You must dictate what is valuable to you and what isn't. Dig deep and determine what you want to show to the world but do it for you -- not for them.

So today I take part in fashion for myself so that in ten years I will be able to take part in fashion for you in the hopes that I can convey emotion, concept, teleportation and clarity in the products that you may one day choose to use as your form of expression. 

As with the writing, I have been writing for myself from the age of 10. Ten years have passed and I hope my writing - like your favourite TV shows, movies and books - will change your story...or at least your thoughts. 

DEVIL - may - care

For one night of the year, the world allows you to either take a mask off or put a mask on. But why does everyday feel like Hallowe'en? 

86,400 seconds pass by in a day and everyday we spend a little bit of unnoticeable time constructing a new mask to display to the world. As if our original faces are too ugly to show. Doing jobs we don't like, studying subjects we have no true interest in, focusing on the lives of others, envious and bitter that everything we want is not yet ours. So we continue the cycle and put on masks in the hopes that it will help us to get to where we want to be.  Constantly hiding behind popularity, social acceptance and praise based on fabricated truth. Living an inauthentic life. 

This year I've learned that living for the sake of others, money or social acceptance is metaphorical suicide. I have to be myself and that means accepting the good, the bad and the ugly. I see people online who only embrace the positives and lock the negatives in a pandora box that will eventually breed the loathing of themselves or others. Forming a depiction of happiness so fake that it can only be pure. 

They say all creative people - actors, writers, artists, singers - were born with just a little bit of insanity but the truth is creative people release those negative energies back into the world through form of expression. They acknowledge them, embrace them and then finally let them go; Creating dark music, writing stories, playing a bad character. I've come to learn that stifling my level of creativity for the sake of opposing opinions is simply not an option. This isn't a site about continuously positive events. This is a site about embracing good fortune and also life tragedies. Releasing all energies through the art of fashion, writing, and imagination.

Opportunity Cost

Photo credit: Kamile Kvaukaite

Drinking wine at 3AM on a Friday night with old friends. Baking muffins, brownies and all sorts of delicious cakes in an old apron that is too big, hair that is too messy and fingernails covered in dough. Reading books that make my heartbeat uneven. Lazily drinking coffee on rainy afternoons. 

Owning and running a successful company. Creating floods of wealth. Holding international conferences. Writing New York Times bestsellers. Travelling the world.  Making an impact...on a larger scale. 

I want it all and with that, I am a living contradiction... because we live in a world of give and take. To get something, you have to give something up. And if I'm constantly giving things up, am I really ever going to have it all? 

Temptation is always forcing us to choose. Heads or tails. Left or right. The choices we have to make are that simple but the consequences are more complex than we can ever imagine. Sacrifice is the name of the game and temptation is always the dealer. 

I recently started looking up theories behind some of Shakespeare's oldest plays, often trying to link the connection between a lot of the greats: Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, The Merchants of Venice, Julius Caesar. To state the complete obvious, there is one thing the main characters all have in common: greed. Which makes me wonder from time to time do I want too much? Do we all want too much?

Sometimes I think I do but then I say why not? It's all there for the taking. And then I watch myself fall into that trap. It's all there for the taking but there is always a price to pay. Everyday, the devil  - like a debt collector - comes knocking on your door, looking for things as simple as your favourite pastimes or complex things, like a piece of you, to take away. There's always a trade... an opportunity cost. 

IT GIRL

Photo credit: Kamile Kvaukaite

Why is it that the media would rather praise girls who are externally beautiful than girls who have inquisitive minds? 

Nobody cares about the girl who is creating the cure for cancer...unless she's about to make a billion dollars from it. It seems to me what the world cares about these days is which Instagram filter suits who better. Who should get lip injections and who shouldn't. Why thigh brows are the new 'thing' to have. 

The media dictates our beauty standards and 80% of us don't look closely enough to see that. It's okay, they never wanted you to read the fine print anyway. 

Every couple of years the standard changes. In the 90s you were beautiful if you had a thigh gap, small features and pale skin. In 2015 you are beautiful if you have plump lips, a small waist, wide hips... and thigh brows. We are the poppets that keep on dancing. 

Except we have this one super power that allows us to gain control over our poppet masters. Something that we were all born with but simply don't use enough. Intelligence. The one thing no media outlet can put on a scale of 1-10 because intelligence is divergent. A robber band durable enough to pull in any direction. 

The dreamer who sits in the library from dawn until noon to read the latest Jackie Collins book.  The protagonist who stays up late at night scanning the Internet, working on a business venture that is going to change her future. The enthusiast who realises she can create anything out of absolutely nothing. The skeptic who replays her favourite environmental & health documentaries just to absorb any hidden information. The activist who stands up for her opinions no matter what. The supporter.  The believer. The overachiever. 

Here's to the ambitious and motivated girls who strive to finish university, a personal project or even that broadsheet newspaper picked up from the local grocery store. The girl who doesn't give up when things get tough. The girl who completely immerses herself in the world she lives in. The girl who is simply aware of her surroundings. If you are this girl, then please stand up and be proud of yourself. You are the new IT girl. 

Intelligence is the new sexy. Being able to hold a conversation with depth is the new 'cool'. Not just 'Hey' and 'How are you's'. Confidence is the best selling accessory on the market. This is the generation where being yourself is finally okay. Our generation is making the unattainable, attainable. It's time to start living spontaneously, it's time to dig up that dream you've buried so deep into the dirt, wipe it down and start repairing it. 

Give Vogue something real to talk about. 

Empress In the Wild

The September Issue

I spent the late hours of last night thinking of the colours red and yellow and how orange falls right in the middle. A seductive sunset on a late Sunday evening. 

The unquestionable arrogance of the colour red, its mischievous appeal and the crazy overwhelming sign that screams danger alert.  The allure of living on the edge, the feeling of diving into an ocean daring the power of the waves to drown you... if they can. That ultimate intuition that lingers in the back of your mind assuring you that you are in control of life - the people in it, the materialistic goods, the unwavering beauty of nature - nothing can stop you. Until you take one step too far, taunt one human too many and simply lose balance on the tight rope of destiny. 

And then there is yellow. Admirable. Comfortable. Enlightening but cowardice. Yellow takes a step back when the rope looks too wobbly. Yellow avoids danger and dire consequences. Yellow would rather live a safe and simple life than ever consider making a deal with the devil. Even if it means reluctantly leaving you behind because the risk of sacrificing itself for another human being is too much to ask for. Don't mistake yellow for 'selfish', if anything yellow prides itself on it selflessness...once all signs of negative harm cease to exist. Yes, in that case optimism and positivity  for yellow is the name of the game. 

2015 has been the most busiest year of my life thus far. I've been so focused on discovering new parts of myself that I didn't even know existed. Sometimes life taught me the lessons I needed to learn, other times I took notes from psychological books that are now dear to my heart, but most evidently the people around me taught me the most important things. 

I laugh when people think I am the only person behind this site. A lot of people aren't aware of the kind of effort - not to talk of the kind of money - that has to be endlessly showered upon Diamants au chocolat. I can honestly say that not a penny of the thousand of euros that went into this blog this year belonged to me. So when I wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat knowing that family, friends and even you are counting on me, I sit up straight and jot down ideas, new strategies and new discoveries. Everyday that I pour effort into this brand is a risk for me. Every time that I ask my parents for large sums of money I remember the risk I am taking. I force myself to understand that I am gambling with other people's hard earned money. 

Having shingles last month tore down my confidence and everything I believed in. I felt like I was letting people down by being ill. In that time, I shut the whole world out and decided that enough was enough. But then this striking bolt of electricity ignited the dwindling fire inside of me. If I've come this far, I can go a little further. I started reading and writing again, creating in the process some of the biggest projects I will endeavour in the next 4 months. I was taking my life back from the disgusting pain that is often disguised as negativity. So I practised positive thinking, making lists of everything I am grateful for and most importantly staying recoiled inside myself to learn more about my own  mind. 

And what do you know - a few days later I received an invitation to New York Fashion Week. My life long dream. Recalling the days I made my own magazines out of paper, filling them with 'editorials', journalistic writing and even a savvy contents page. The times I spent as a 12 year old writing 'books'  in A5 copies with my siblings. Countless summers spent sketching and creating my own clothes. 

Right now, I know I will always dance with two opposing spirits: optimism and risk taking. And just as characteristics of the colour red oppose the characteristics of the colour yellow, they still unionise as one to form the ever beautiful mix that is orange.