without music, life would be a mistake (nietzsche)

this week sees one of my dreams come true, at least partially.  i'm finally going to experience what it's like to be at a proper music festival.  well, the coke live festival here in krakow might not be as big as coachella, glastonbury or rock werchter, but it sure is going to satisfy my craving for seeing some of my favourite bands playing live.

with festivals becoming such huge events, even fashion wise, it is pretty obvious that little miss paranoia here has been planning her festival wardrobe months in advance.

tonight i get a sort of 'test-run' in dressing appropriately for a music event.  do not ask me how i am hours away from attending a gig by french metal band gojira tonight: the things you do for love are inexplicable to say the least.  but at least, tonight's gig will give me some practice.  black will have to be the main colour here, and comfort an absolute priority - handling a moshpit in heels is not advisable.  so i'm planning on wearing a t-shirt dress and my studded converse or wedge trainers.  i shouldn't go wrong with that, should i? metal heads may not be as fond of inverted triangles as hipsters, but i'm afraid that's as far as i can go in metalling myself up!

gojira by tikkamars featuring a motorcycle jacket

on to the weekend, and my personal musical highlight of the year: the coke live festival with biffy clyro, franz ferdinand and florence and the machine headlining the main stage over two days.  after meticulously studying every single instagram or feature from the festivals already done and dusted this summer, i'm planning a relatively easy wardrobe which can take a fair amount of elbowing to the front row and the apparently obligatory rainfall. oh, and of course, i will finally have the chance to flaunt my flower garland without getting any odd looks.

biffy + franz by tikkamars featuring river island

florence by tikkamars featuring head wrap headbands

what do you think of the two outfits above? any tips or experiences you care to share on festival wear? i'd love to hear xx

confession #000054

... or, david bowie is in my head

if you've been following closely enough, you'll know that last week i went for a quick break to london. initially, the aim was to go catch up with some close friends and visit the roy lichtenstein retrospective at the tate modern.  as an afterthought, i figured i should try my luck with visiting the david bowie is exhibition at the victoria and albert museum as well.  tickets online have long been sold out for this so i didn't know whether i would actually manage to go in.  i'm delighted to report that the stars aligned in my favour.

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confession #000050

... or, yet another guilty pleasure (part deux)

as i mentioned earlier last week, the eurovision song contest, and all the fanfare and paraphernalia that goes with it, is one of my guilty pleasures, which i get to enjoy on an annual basis.  last night saw the second semi-final of this year's edition ... and boy was the #eurobitching on fire! well, the night did give us a lot to comment about ... 

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confession #000049

... or, yet another guilty pleasure

if there is something that i'm somewhat ashamed to confess, is my utter love for the eurovision song contest.

i know.  it's embarrassing:  the contest is über-commercial, camp, rigged, monumentally pointless and an overarching affront to good taste. but, somehow, every february and may for the last 20 odd years, i feel this sudden urge to religiously follow first the malta song for europe festival or whatever it's called at the beginning of the year. then,  come spring, i feel the need to watch the maltese contestant face yet another disappointment in not placing among the top spots.  well, with a few exceptions of course.  my little patriotic self must acknowledge dame spiteri, la losco and the woman with 155 pairs of shoes' successes ...

with the onset of facebook, it has become a sort of tradition to watch and comment on the contestants' get-ups, gimmicks and vocal abilities - the more vitriolic comment, the better! last night's first semi final was no exception!

today, i'm bringing you my little round up of those outfits i loved , the outfits which made me cry a loud 'wtf' and one particular moment when i felt like going 'oooooowwwwww' ...

let's start with the best dressed ... 

cyprus: even though i'm not a fan of fitted dresses, this was a winner for me.  i loved the teasing nude lining under the sparse black lace, which even made the maltese commentators wonder whether she was wearing any underwear.  i found this dress sexy but in no way trashy which can be quite tricky for black lace to pull off. 

estonia: now this dress was really up my stream.  i loved its flowing simplicity with the little embellishment detail.  it may have looked like curtains on stage.  it possibly could have done with a little less material, but for me, this was a very close contender for the top spot in my personal hit list

denmark: throughout the whole show i cared for only this and another song i'll be admitting to watching on youtube a few times today later on.  i didn't care much for the uneven hemline - that's so mid-2000's but other than that, the rest of the outfit, including the bare feet worked for me.  i suppose it spoke to my hippy/flower child inner self.  and i loved the drummer boys in the back ... especially the one with the undershave who also played the flute.  how do you say 'hello' in danish? 

moldova: i really loved the effects on this dress ... but! hadn't we seen something like this (fair enough, minus the special effects), on a local stage, circa 2005? deja vu? 

on to the 'wtf's ... 

serbia: as i wrote last night on facebook, katy perry called and she wants her dresses back! i felt i was watching the california gurls video all over again, expecting their boobs to turn into foam making machines.  even the singers seem to be feeling sick at the sight of each others' candy coated outfits in this pic!

montenegro: yes, we had to have dancing spacemen, but then again, what is the eurovision without the gimmicks? 

croatia: i might have actually lived with the coats worn with torn jeans and hipster deep v t-shirts, a bit a la brandon flowers (the killers) but no, we had to go for the full traditional look which turned into a visual description of the song's title: mizerja

ukraine: not much to say other than "get a well fitting dress next time!"

slovenia: oh god, i'm so over peplums (when was i ever a fan?)  the sight of this leather one gave me the creeps to say the least ... 

belarus: for a moment i thought i was watching a typical greek eurovision entry there.  it had all the ingredients: perma-tan and overly stylised hair, fringed micro-mini dresses, disco ball, hips shaking to ethnic-inspired music ... i suppose this is what 'playing safe' means by eurovision standards ... 

and my 'ooooowwww' moment ... 

i read so much about roberto bellarosa - belgium's singer (yes, the only one i cared enough for to learn his name) - and his need to shave / wax his eyebrows last night that i couldn't help but warm up to him.  yes, he's somewhat awkward looking.  the big bushy eyebrows probably don't help much, and i can imagine that he had mustacci tal-muzew, in other words that pre-pubescent 'tache, from quite an early age.  but there is something which i find totally endearing about him ... much like our very own gianluca (there i go, all partiotic and stuff).

so there, tonight i'm leaving you with these two boys' official videos for the eurovision song contest... it'll be something like the 15th time i'm watching 'love kills' today ... i suppose i should really be ashamed about this!

confession #000035

... or, my first love

back in the day when i was a wee kid, i fell in love for the first time.  it was a strange kind of love, because it was with a music video.  and till this very day, i can't fall out of love with it.  

my first (and long lasting) music video love is *bows head in pure embarrassment* is a-ha's take on me.  hitting the uk charts in 1985 when i had just turned six, the video was impressively avant-garde for the time, cleverly blending animations with reality, bopping to a heady mixture of glorious 80s synthpop.

that most captivating of scenes...

every so often i close my eyes and picture the romance between the gorgeous (yes, i suppose i still fancy the voice behind a-ha) morten harket and a cute-looking bunty bailey, revolving in between hand-drawn sketches and a somewhat misty diner.  that's when i don't have prompt access to youtube.  otherwise, i can catch myself clicking on the repeat icon.  i know, it's somewhat sad.  

certainly, pitbull and christina aguilera's recent revisiting of that most iconic of cheesy synthesizer tunes has not done much to lessen my undying love for this song, or video.  hearing it every other hour on my radio work companion, it comes as a surprise to me as well that i don't just break into a song and dance.  

in honour of this musical throwback thursday, here's my polyvore take on bunty and morten's looks for a modern-day casual date.  

take on me by tikkamars featuring lace socks