Coffeebeanlilly: September 2012

♫ *Come up to meet you*Tell you I'm sorry*You don't know how lovely you are*I had to find you*Tell you I need you*Tell you I set you apart* ♫

Coldplay's lyrics to 'The Scientist' from last night's concert in Hannover are still echoing through my head. Autumn is slowly pushing summer out of the door and I get more and more melancholic while I snuggle up on the couch, listening to 'A Rush Of Blood To The Head'.
The song makes me think about how many things we usually take for granted. Not only in relationships but in general as well. Life is always changing but we naively like to believe things will stay the same. Until we wake up one day to find what we had is gone.

Today's outfit is inspired by a good friend who recommended a little café to me where we had awesome homemade cakes. Afterwards we strolled through the close by park and I realised once again how beautiful Germany is in autumn and that it might be my last autumn for a while.

Favourite colours in autumn: ruby, cream and gold

♫ *Nobody said it was easy*It's such a shame for us to part*Nobody said it was easy*No one ever said it would be this hard*Oh take me back to the start* ♫

With Love,

Coffeebeanlilly

Hi Lovelies,

My heart still beats really fast when I remember the day I spotted and bought my new (and perfect) trenchcoat.
It certainly is not the first one I bought, but it's going to be the first one that I'll keep. There was always something not quite right with the antecessors of this one, which made me sell them. I was wondering what it was that made me feel uncomfortable in all the other ones and due to my experiences and some research I found out and want to share with you now the most important things to keep in mind when bying such a classical piece:

1. Do not let yourself be mislead by certain trends!
Last year's trend colour for trenchcoats - camel - looked aweful on me! Just because it is 'en vogue' doesn't mean you have to buy it. Remember it is a classical piece and you might still want to wear it in 20 years.
2. Know which colours suit you!
And I'm not talking about red or blue trenchcoats, but about the different shades of brown. Be aware that your skin tone might look fresher when you are wearing cooler colours or warmer colours. An easy way for me to test this was by applying nailpolish. On one finger I had a very warm blood red and on the other more like a raspberry red. Raspberry is more pinkish, which means there's a higher amount of blue mixed in the red, where as the blood red has a large amount of yellow mixed in it (orange=warm, blue=cold) The raspberry one suited me best, this means cooler colours ususally look better against my skin. Therefor I knew I had to watch out for a trenchcoat with a greyish tint.
3. Don't cut corners!
It may sound corny, but you're better off putting aside some money! Don't get me wrong, there's nothing condemnable with not wanting to spend too much. However, good quality has it's price. Sure even I can't just go to Burberry and buy my dream trenchcoat right away, but the point is: instead of spending 40 Euro on a quite thin trenchcoat which is a polyester mix and crinkles badly everytime you sit somewhere, you should wait until you are able to afford a better quality one. I know waiting for something you want badly really hurts, but you won't regret it!
4. Choose the right length for you!
Be realistic when you stand in front of the mirror and judge your build. You don't have kilometer-long legs like a model? Don't worry, you are still beautiful! Just keep in mind that certain coat lengths might make your legs appear even shorter. The most common differentiations are: short trenchcoat (ends just below your bum), medium (ends in the middle of your thighs) and long (ends approximately a hand width above the knee or right on it).

And here are my inspirational outfits for you:

Casual