MUSIC / Tom Odell

Here's a voice like I haven't heard in a while. Blues, cracked, at times croonish and with an intensity well beyond his age. 

Tom Odell is a 22 year old British songwriter whose debut album Long Way Down was released two days ago. With his EP Songs From Another Love he won the BRITs Critics' Choice Awards 2013, a prize given to those artists who are likely to gain mainstream success but have not yet released their debut album. 

His fame is now rising and the debate's open: is the boy gaining fans thanks to his catchy ballads and blond locks, or does he have what it really takes to be considered a true artist? Watch him perform live - even through video - and I think you'll find the answer.



ps. Video of the first single, "Another Love".

One of my favourite songs, "Hold Me" and its stunning live version at the Burberry Prorsum Womenswear AW13 show.

Cover of The Beatles' "Oh Darling" and Taylor Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble".

BUSINESSWOMEN / Merily Leis and Paula Pärnaste of SWÄRK

So that's what Merily of Sequin Magazine has been up to these last months!

She's a young Estonian fashion blogger, whose style I like a lot. Her outfits are cute and classy and she takes beautiful pictures - Tallin is now amongst my top must-go travel destinations thanks to her. 

A couple of days ago she announced the launch of the business she founded along with her friend Paula. The two girls are the heads, hearts and hands behind SWÄRK, a clothing company that sells upcycled man shirts. 



Is it bad that I want one for myself? I think they're great, and it doesn't harm that the brand design - from the logo to the photography, to the website - is supercool! SWÄRK shirts are unique, eco-friendly and.. they ship world-wide!

Congrats Merily and Paula, the best of luck on your business venture!

ps. Click through to check out SWÄRK's Facebook page, blog and Instagram.

COOLNESS / Hollywood Star Charts by Dorothy

Here's a cool star chart which both stargazers and film lovers will like. It's called Hollywood Star Chart, by British design studio Dorothy, and its constellations are made of actual movie stars!

The star chart comes in two versions, and in special golden and silver editions. The Hollywood Golden Age Star Chart - tells the studio website - is based on the night sky over Los Angeles on 6 october 1927, the release date of Al Jonson's The Jazz Singer, the first feature-lenght motion picture with synchronized dialogue. Its release heralded a new age of filmmaking and a decline in popularity of the silent film.

The Hollywood Modern Day Star Chart is based on the night sky over New York on June 16th 1960, the date of the first showing of Hitchcock's "Psycho". With its new approaches to storytelling, characterisation and violence it is seen as a key movie in the start of the post-classical era of Hollywood.

ps. Be sure to check out Dorothy's Song Map and Film Map prints! They're great to get lost in ;)

(via Coolhunting)

EDIT: On June 7th The Hollywood Star Charts were featured on Design*Sponge. TOLD YA!

VIDEO / Round Round Song by Adrian Sieber

That goes round round is not only the title of Adrian Sieber's song but many of its scenes as well: they are actually GIF images and cinemagraphs, with lots of nice effects and ideas. The result is a surreal and catchy music video. Check it out!

FASHION / Fashion Victims by Yolanda Dominguez

On 24 April, an eight-storey factory building in Bangladesh collapsed, killing more than 1200 people who worked there in dangerous and unsafe conditions, at a minimum wage, employed by big names of the fashion industry.

Spanish artist Yolanda Dominguez tried to raise social awareness around this event and its causes through a "living", an urban action in which the audience is involved, which took place in one of Madrid's busiest shopping streets. On the pavement, women in fashionable clothes and accessories lied covered in debris, much resembling the bodies found amongst the ruins of the Rana Plaza building.

The workers who were killed and those who are still working in the same conditions in third-world countries are the real "fashion victims", in the most tragic sense. Dominguez's action is a call out to more responsible production and consumption behaviors. Something has to change.

 

 

ps. Yolanda Dominguez's website and blog

(via Junkculture)

TREND / Holographic

I know I'm a bit late to say this, but I like the holographic trend. I wouldn't wear a whole iridescent suit, or foil-like leggins, but I think a clutch or a pair of shoes would make some perfect statement accessories.

ps. How great is this holographic building designed by Hiro Yamagata for the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum?! (via My Modern Met)

GRAFICA / Love Aesthetics' New Blog Layout

Go go go go check out Love Aesthetics' new blog layout! The old one was already perfect (and will always hold a spot in my heart, it'll take some time to get used to the novelty), a great example of the "less is more" philosophy. Stripping simple is sometimes the best solution to get your message (pictures, personal style, thoughts) through. 

ps. I'll tell you more about the woman behind the blog very soon. Here's her Pinterest page, in case you want to have a sneak peek into her minimalist world.

STYLING / Rosa Rosae Rosae

We woke up this morning to find a bowl of roses waiting for us on the kitchen table, with a note by our dad that said "To my beautiful women" (we are four sisters). I wish you could smell their perfume through the screen!

TWO BY TWO / Mint + Pink

Images via Pinterest: palm trees + sea, duvet + sunset.

LADIES ONLY / Don't Freak Out! by Garance Doré

Because we are all human, and summer is drawing closer.

Hilarious account of the infamous First Swimsuit Try-On of the season by illustrator and fashion blogger Garance Doré. Lots of not-so-serious tips and a refreshing real-life point of view light years away from that of glossy fashion magazines. Here's to summer fun (almost)!