Totem.

took this from a book when my sister got her x'th tattoo.

I want one like this (not that 'angry' maybe) on the back of my jeans-jacket.

Happy Birthday.

I'm not a big fan of oh-so-wise sayings on oh-so-fancy pics
- but -  I missed my own blog's 1st birthday, which was december 13th, so I have an excuse this time.

And for all of those who celebrate another guys 2011th birthday these days:
I wish you a very merry christmas!

Thank you all for stumbling by - or even following elilos.blogspot - you are all very welcome and I hope to have you visiting in the coming year as well.

One Wise Granny

Schwalbe Martin.

What a wonderful vehicle. Electrical drive, up to 81 km/h fast, original-oriented retro design (the "Schwalbe" is a german classic), dynamic, powerful, safe, easyly rechargeable... I WANT IT.

Call me french.

If I was forced to decide on only one brand to wear for the rest of my life
I would choose french EKYOG. There's nothing more to say.

Winter

It is pretty cold, fucking foggy and I am incredibly greatful for the existance of hot chocolate with cream-whip and warmhearted friends.

I'm sorry I can't link to a source this time, please tell me if you know whom to credit.

Procrastination...

... is strolling vimeo for awesome videos.

Procrastination from Johnny Kelly on Vimeo.

Belated Halloween.

Mound by Allison Schulnik from garaco taco on Vimeo.

Everyday.

via oldchum

I just ordered a biweekly delivery of fresh veggies and fruits from an ecological farm near Berlin. I love to be surprised by what they will bring and along the way I get to know (and am forced to use) vegetables that I would probably never buy myself because I never heard of them. 

Lately I also learned some about vegan nutrition (as my sister turned vegan, I am not even vegetarian) and stumbeled over raw diet as well, wich I both find very inspiring for my daily cuisine.

Our daily bread, or: Deliver us from evil.

I leave it as the film does: uncommented.

Urban international.

Istanbul - Berlin - Berlin

Pallet Furniture.

Simply supercool. And the products & the pics show how very basic material can be totally stylish put into a great form and set up in a nice space. My favourite is the lamp. It really motivates my creativity to find shapes and build furniture myself. If you prefer to just copy these please honor the inspiring idea by puchasing the instructions via studiomama for like no money... You can even find the instructions for a pallet-stool *gratis*.

I found the pics via Maurício Arruda

Ncn.

via fashion-conscience.com

Ncn. = No comment necessary.

Homestory approach.

These images do not (yet) have much to do with our home - it is still a chaos we're trying to fight. But I promise some insight soon.

The image above I found on "Old Chum" (about wich I blogged here before) which is one of my absolute favourite blogs. It is not an interior-design blog, the most inspiring stuff I find there is kind of abstract, in the sense of not directly applicable for my flat. The succulent above is, and as soon as I can turn my focus to things like plants I will definitely start a small succulent-garden. Until then there are for example the floors that need all our attention. We emptied the kitchen yesterday (and chased out the mouse that apparently lived behind the counters), ripped off the ugly PVC-flooring, scrubbed the floor (smelled like mouse-pee) and then sanded the old lack-finish so that today the new finish can follow. It will not be moss like in the pic below it will be fresh shiny white lack.

The image above is also via Old Chum, it is a print by Andrew Moore. It was taken in Detroit, where the most charming derelict buildings of the world seem to be (search google images: 'detroit derelict').
Below: the M3 chair by Thomas Feichtner. Which is a new object of crazy desire :) I found it via Love the triangle, the blog of my dear friend Josephine.

Woah! Is this reale?

Yes it is Reale, a fashionbrand from Milano. 

And I am reale'ly (haha, what a pun!) inspired by how they combine feminine + sporty with a laxly, slightly vintage'y look, because usually the combination of chic and sporty makes me feel uneasy, I imagine it to be clean, cool, virtuous and a bit inhibited. In short: this combination makes me think of expensive & exclusive fitness-centers (like the one my dad goes to, haha).

As far as google-translator helps me with their website, I understand Reale to be a "soft-eco"-brand, which is how I would call it. They are not certfied producing "green", but they are seewing in Italy (no starvation wages - hopefully; and supporting local artisans), choosing high-quality materials (also experimenting with bamboo fiber and seaweed for example), avoiding offcuts... and casually making extremely cool stuff. 

"The brand guidelines are based on three fundamental points: 

a controlled real 'Made in Italy', 

the concept of "Slow Fashion"*, 

the use of materials and ideas that contribute to environmental protection."

this is what google translated me from their website - so no guarantee ;)

* I guess I will make my WIS (What Is Sustainable?) #2 about the concept of "Slow Fashion".

For a preview of the upcoming collection:

Ornithology.

The Road to Glory by Wes Lang

Arschkalt.

Eventhough these days are still sunny you can feel winter coming. It is cold, I have a cold and the air is smelling like snow (we're still far from snow I hope, but this smell...)
No wonder I got hooked by these hot coats by EDUN:
(Luckily I found one 2nd-hand, akin to the olive one but for a hundreth (really!) of the price)

Collage

As I just moved into a new flat there might be some interior posts coming up here. Searching the web for inspiration I found this wonderfull rock'n'roll collage via The Selby.

ANSOHO

 

The designer and owner of ANSOHO, Anna Sophie Howoldt, lives where I live (Berlin) and comes from where I come from (Lübeck, north of germany, at the baltic coast) and like me studied i.a. arthistory and philosophy. But Firstly she studied fashion design. And eventhough it was never thaught during her studies (as it still is not in most of the fashion design schools) she decided to run her label consciously ecofriendly. She started ANSOHO already in 2006, which makes her a pioneer in the ecofahion section, and says that the sustainable aspect came naturally, not as sales promotion. Her first collection was made from recycled shirts, today she's more a luxus brand. One with a sytle I admire. Check out her collections, especially in the older ones are some inspirations for DIY's.

images from ansoho.com, text referring to carlasblog.de

Women, know your Limits!

Fashion in Format.

Format is a fashionlabel from my now-hometown Berlin that impresses me not only with it's clothes but also with the nice shoots and the amazing beauty of the model.
I love her haircut, eventhough it is quite "very Berlin" (listen to the song by Herpes). My hair is a bit shorter - but it's growing ;)

for more information about Format (in German) visit carlasblog.de
for more pics

Swimming Sushi.

Do you love sushi -that healthy stuff from Japan- as much as I do?
Then you have to face the same problem I have:

Tuna is completely over-fished and salmon is usually farmed under industrial, environment-hostile conditions. Also most other sea-food ingredients are usually from problematic sources – hardly any of them being sustainable. In addition, the frozen fish, transported by cargo-airplanes leaves a double carbon-footprint: freezing and transportation. So if you want to consume ethically, you have to refrain from sushi as they are served or sold in most places.

source

But art will help. What? Art??

The interdisciplinary performing arts unit post theater has created a series of performances about the cultural history of fish-consumption, “Fish-Tales”. As part of their research, they traveled to Denmark, Iceland and Japan, to learn more about fish. Art can raise awareness, but the artists of post theater wanted to offer also a solution for the problem. Hence, they opened their installation/restaurant nekkko that serves sustainable sushi.

All major ingredients are as regionally and seasonally shopped as possible and most ingredients are certified organic. There are also vegetarian (V) and vegan (VV) variations in the mouthwatering menue (Berlin-Brandenburg). In order to reduce the friction, noise and energy of  the typical conveyer-belt system of running sushi, post theater replaces it with a miniature water canal. In it, wooden rafts in the shape of a boat or fish float in a circle, carrying the sushi to the diners. Some examples of what might float by:

* * * *
Zander Nigiri
Raw zander-fish painted with lemon, rapeseed oil, Tabasco, sugar, Maldon sea salt

Trout Nigiri
Home-smoked trout with dashi, brown butter, horseradish, lemon

Bacon Maki

yummy!

Fried bacon in thin slices with fried slices onion, marjoran, soy sauce, honey

Deer Nigiri
Pink roasted deer with cranberries, Mirin, horseradish

Beetroot Maki (VV)
Red Beet with pumpkin seed oil, soy sauce, Balsamico, honey

Carrot Mousse Gunkan Maki (V)
Carrot mousse with crème fraîche, saffron, ginger, lime, honey

Tomato Nigiri (VV)
Tomato filets marinated with Maldon seasalt, pepper, oliveoil, soysauce, rucola pesto
* * * *

nekkko is a pop-up restaurant, so if you want to try it - check out the dates. And you know what? If you cannot get enough of it - learn how to make it for yourself, either in one of the workshops, or with the book soon to be published.

Now: who's coming with me on september 18th - workshop and dinner??
Update: I was there - it was marvellous. delicious. soon to repeat.

(source for many text parts and round image: nekkko website)

Fish-Tales (Trio version) from post theater on Vimeo.

tiny town Big Berlin.

why is everything sweet in tiny?

Tiny Town - Berlin from Sam on Vimeo.

Tarte.

well, it's really a cake for sunny days - and today I heard that the seasons are renamed as: spring, shit, autumn, winter - but I wanted to share this beautiful cake with you since I saw it but not before I tried to make and eat it myself. I finally did and I can only say: I was so proud (no, I don't see a problem with a 'feminist' proud about her cakes...) and it was gi-ga-great and dazzling-delicious, yay. I found the original Stella-Cake (inspired by Stella McCartney's citrus-prints) by appolinas via todayyouinspiredme, I changed the recipie to a more european version (half the amount of butter of the original american version, cream-cheese instead, less sugar, more fruit). I will also soon add my version of the recipie to this post, with all european measures and so on.

WiS #1: leather.

WiS stands for THE question that made me insecure since I started this blog:
What is sustainable? What is sustainability?

Some things seem quite obvious, some answers are not as questionable as others, such as: cotton produced without pesticides is good. or: to use the bicycle whenever possible instead of the car is good. (yes, I just state these and at this point leave out the "because ..." and all potential additional circumstances that would be to consider).

The above product (mypaperbag via Lilli Green) is not, as the name suggests, made from paper, it is made from leather. Associative chain: papebags are more ecofreindly than plastic bags. cottonbags are even more ecofriendly (are they?). What about a leatherbag... can leather be ecofriendly at all?

First I have to say I am not a vegetarian.

Which means that I am ok with eating dead animals, which includes that I am ok with them being killed for ending up as my food. I am concious about it. For me personally this also includes that I eat meat only once every two weeks or so and if, then mostly bio-certified.

Transferring this principle to leather would mean, that I am ok with products made from dead animals skin. Admittedly I love leather. It is a beautiful strong, soft and natural material. And as I consider it very longlasting and a byproduct of "meat-winning" (I use this term as I am explicitly not okay with what is called meat-(mass-)production) it seems to me to have two sustainable aspects:
firstly it stands against throwaway-culture of cheap and sleazy products and
secondly it is part of the efficient and not thriftless and thoughtless use and spoil of the animal.

You might laugh but I mean it - It makes me think about what I learned about native americans when I was a little kid, how they were respectful with and valued nature (and animals) and were thankful for every bit it provided them.

Of course these ideas have some presuppositions: the animal should not be killed for only the leather. the animal should not have suffered from mass-production-conditions, neither during lifetime nor when being transported or killed.

I could only find one label/certificate (by the International Association of Natural Textile Industry (iVN)) that comes close to my ideas, but it rather focuses on an eco-friendly production-process of the leather and health-standarts for workers. It does not say anything about the "production" of the animal or the endproduct made from the leather...

Do you know more?
and what do you think about leather and it's sustainability in general?

yellowgrey.

The dress is perfectly mine! well, unfortunately it's not mine. but the simple cut, the bright and original but somehow still decent pattern and of course it's eco-aspect makes it a dream-inhabitant of my wardrobe, or rather the place my body wants to inhabit ;)

I'm not sure if the bag would go with this dress, I'd rather say no, but anyways - I have enough other stuff to combine it with, haha. just missing the bag still. damn it.

images and items via fashion-conscience.com, bag by Melie Bianco, dress by Fair+True

What a windy man.

Looks like a painting, is a huge photograph. I took a photo of the photograph at:

exhibition "Basic Instincts"

about fashion, design, art and architecture of the netherlands

Villa Elisabeth, Invalidenstr. 3, Berlin

ends july 31st, opening hours: 12:00-19:00

I really recommend you to go there, admission is free.

News from Filly.

Lookbook is out for autumn.
What can I say... again (check the earlier post) I love it.

Not only the designs and colours, also the photographs. First some of the tissues seemed too rough for my taste, I'm a softie, haha, but as it says "textured raw silk tussah" I guess I'd feel as snug as a bug in a rug in it ;)

Taste the Waste

It’s a system that we all take part in: Supermarkets constantly have the complete selection of merchandise on offer, the bread on the shelves has to be fresh until late in the evening, strawberries are in demand at any time of the year. And everything has to look just right: One withered leaf of lettuce, a crack in a potato or a dent in an apple and the goods are sorted out...

Amazing but true: On the way from the farm to the dining-room table, more than half the food lands on the dump. Most of it before it ever reaches consumers.

When it comes right down to it, no one actually thinks this is okay: Food is not something to be thrown away “because others have nothing to eat”, as younger people would say, and as for the elderly: “I was around during the war and we were glad to get our hands on every crust of bread!” That’s one side of the story. They discover the other side when they venture a look into dumpsters: behind their local supermarket and, if they can summon up enough courage, in the trash cans outside their own door. We’re not talking about chicken bones and potato peels here. The topic at hand is perfectly edible food, some still in the original packaging, and frequently enough not even the ‘best before’ date has expired.

If we were to save merely half of the avoidable garbage, that would have the same effect on the world climate as when we took one out of four cars off our roads.

And on famine, too. My mother always reminded me to eat everything on my plate: “Children in Africa would be glad to have that food.” We children never took her seriously. How were the leftovers on our plates supposed to get to African children? The rising prices of wheat clearly illustrate the point: These days we buy our food on the same world market where developing countries buy theirs. If we threw away less and bought less as a result, the prices would drop and more would be left for the hungry.

(selected quotes from the website to the film, rearranged)

Rrrrrrain.

Rainy days in Berlin, shitty summershoes I brought and cold wet feet for hours made me think about the Melissa/Vivienne Westwood Booties again. I wanted them since I saw them but still don't have the money to buy.

old chum.

via their blog Old Chum, through wich I could scroll for hours and hours I discovered the Old Faithful Shop that "stocks quality goods for simple, everyday living. We are drawn to products that are well-made, classic in design and when possible hand-crafted by a human being. We feel that the best products are the ones that age well and stand the test of time - items that will exist long after we do not."

This principle has an ecological aspect in itself (no, not plastic or nuclear waste that "will exist longer after we do not", but valuable, because practical and beautiful stuff, that can be used over generations).

And I fell in love with these two things: the Totem Cups are my absolute favourite available through their online shop and the bird house I found on the blog, don't know if it was ever available via the shop - if I had a garden to hang it I would hunt it down through all the web immediately.

The blog is really worth a "read" (well, it's more a view), you'll find a lot of 'ethnic' images, nostalgic stuff, wise (yes, really) sayings, uncommon interior design, nature. Just as I like it, as you probably noticed by now.

words by Anthony Carter, from his book "Abundant Rivers"