Style Note in a Bottle

Style Note in a Bottle by priscillaobermeier

Although I love the romantic scenery of Fall in Berlin offering so much colorful moments to photograph, my latest assignments for L-atitude brought me into a breezy beaches mode. Following in the footsteps of Christopher Columbus, researching the magic of several beautiful islands and their local gems... Like a modern-day pirate on a treasure hunt.

xxx

Act, Write, Direct, Play!

Messed Up Life Shooting, West-Hollywood, Los Angeles - Photography by Charles Divins

Directing actors Markus Obermeier (l - yes, my husband) and Irwin Moskowitz (r) - Photography by Charles Divins

As a storyteller with quite the active imagination (and over-active mind), I can't have enough tools to express myself. Whether it is through writing, dancing, playing an instrument, singing, dressage ...I'm quite eager to learn as much "languages" as possible. In Los Angeles I happily dedicated the majority of my time to learn and shape my act of screenwriting and I enjoyed being the apprentice of ... well, Hollywood. The thing I like most about screenwriting is creating unforgettable characters. To construct a new life, with habits, preferences, philosophies, and to layer after layer build humans with a mind of their own.

Silence of the Minds

In the last weeks my quest for happiness drove me to the practices of yoga. I noticed more and more often how my mind wanders while my hand is trying to write. To focus I tried to dance, run, walk, read, talk, but nothing brought me back to the inner calmness needed to let my most creative thoughts come up... and be, well... authentic. And isn't a writer without his authentic voice only a shadow of what could be?

Right before my birthday on October 12, I told myself that it is time to to realize (meaning not only think about, but actually write) the non-fiction story that has been part of me for a long time, but which due to a lack of writers courage and an overload of “mindful wandering” never has been produced. It’s this one story, which comes to me in moments of silence (I do have them, I just seem to have difficulties to keep them) and asks to be written down. As if its urge to be told, is bigger than me. It’s a writer-story relationship which can only exist if I can be quiet and listen, if I can peel off the layers which keep me from talking to this voice inside of me, but every time I try to have a meaningful conversation the buzz starts.. and the wandering follows. As if I locked up this wonderful writers companion, threw away the key and now the guards don’t let me enter anymore.

By Priscilla Obermeier for L-atitude: Flying High: the new altitude of luxury

Photo collage by L-atitude

"Take a shower at 43000 feet? Lay underneath 600 thread Egyptian cotton sheets on your full size flat bed? A personal mini-bar? A spacious wardrobe and changing room? Chat with a friend on your own mini-sofa? Some airlines go a class beyond first and indulge travelers with sheer opulence." - L-ATITUDE, By Priscilla Obermeier

Read my complete article Flying High: the new altitude of luxury on L-ATITUDE.... I'd love to hear your thoughts!

xxx

Mao's Last Dancer: The Courage to Fly

The beauty of a story told through movement by a ballerina or danseur noble captivates me every time I watch them dance. It's their grace and strength, their determination to fly, despite pain, which inspires me to write and photograph who I am, instead of what others expect me to be. Yesterday I watched the movie Mao's Last Dancer , based on the auto-biography of Li Cunxin, one of the world's greatest ballet dancers (and the sixth of seven sons born to peasants in rural and poverty stricken China), whose fight to be free to dance on his own terms, created a standoff between the Chinese and the American governments and this morning.... I watched it again, as it touched me in so many ways.

Ever since I learnt about China's Cultural Revolution as a teenager in History Class, I have been intrigued by the remarkable stories of creative individuals living (or surviving) under Mao's regime. The movie (and book) 'Mao's Last dancer' is one of them. It's the story of Li and somehow it's the story of all of us who love the Art of Dance, of those who sacrificed to do what they love to do, of those who found the courage to live their own life. It's a story of determination, passion, integrity and love. A journey filled with dreams shattered and revitalized against the backdrop of rural China, Madame Mao's Beijing Dance Academy and the Houston Ballet. The ballet performances are amazing, the story remarkable. Adult Li Cunxin is portrayed by virtuoso classical dancer Chi Cao and the ballet scenes are amazing. Directed by Bruce Beresford (from Driving Miss Daisy). Choreography by Graeme Murphy.

I watched the movie and felt encouraged to continue my path as a writer in search of courage to write down the journey I'm part of and have been part of in the last 4 years. I'm taking the first steps to what will be a book which captures what it takes to fly. 

It's true you know...Before you can fly... You have to be free. And it takes courage to perform a grand jete and express you are.

xxx

I, Victory

Early morning at Hotel Park in Split, Croatia

Outside our Hotel... Beauty in the people

“History is written by the victors. The oral tradition is created by the people. Writers fantasize. Certain is only death.” - From “Public Secret” by J. Bernlef

I was a teenager when I read “Public Secret” by Dutch author J. Bernlef, and my existing curiosity in the personal stories of people whose past and sometimes present is intwined with historical events and changes, found a companion. Bernlef’s books are filled with perception and acute observation, and through his captivating storytelling, an intimate friendship between me and the characters in his books was inevitable. Public Secret is set in the early 1980s Eastern Bloc and entails the story of writer Tomas Szass, whose life is made into a documentary ordered by the state. A documentary that is also a propaganda film. But Clara, a young assistant, secretly pieces together the edited sequences to create a true picture of Tomas' life. Finding the courage to live a life that’s your own, or share the truth despite it all..., has always been an inspiration to me. When I traveled myself to South Eastern Europe, for the first time, in 2008, I was captured by the beauty of the countries I visited. Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Estonia...Proving me that the beauty and elegance within people, within a country, survive their sometimes painful past. Waiting for the boat to Venice in Piran, I watched people pass by I and hoped to one day read about their stories. It's there where victory lays.

xxx

By Priscilla Obermeier for L-atitude: Finding Designer Classics

Photo collage by L-atitude

 "What better way to indulge a passion for dressing up than to find wonderful designer fashions from times gone by? Vintage garments not only resemble the visionary - or even revolutionizing - methods of their designers, they embrace us with the intimate stories of their previous wearers and help us to stand out today. Mixing modern designs with the style of the roaring twenties, golden ages, Hollywood’s original glamour, lavish dinner parties or Post-War eras, is in vogue. With Europe’s supremacy in Fashion History, it is the perfect place to find exclusive vintage finds." - L-atitude, By Priscilla Obermeier

Read my complete article Finding Designer Classics on L-atitude.... I'd love to hear your thoughts!

xxx

Once upon a dress...

Every time I walk on the Ku'Damm, I'm captured by its buildings. The white ornate facades and X-large doors, make me travel back in time and peak in to the lives of its once Avant Garde elite, of a Golden Twenties Berlin... I open the doors to see myself dressed up in a beaded flapper fringe dress to meet my girlfriends in our favorite Salon before we go out to watch Josephine Baker dance to gramophone tunes in a club on Pariser Platz. Or a bit more forward in time, the 1950s, to meet a beau for a walk in the park in a cream colored Balmain dress with layers of tulle, which makes me feel like a princess (leisure wear is not anymore what it once was). Fashion is an expression of its time and therefore time is connected to its fashion. Having that said, fashion can become quite the treasure, searching for fashion of times gone by, quite the treasure hunt.

Writing about vintage fashion in Europe made me discover beautiful vintage boutiques in Paris, London, Florence, Amsterdam. It showed me, how much reference to the past has become part of today's style choices, creating a unique mixture which gives inspiration for the future. We now can wear a 1920s beaded fringe dress over our skinny jeans, finishing it off with a fitted leather jacket and All Stars (at least I would..). It requires a sense of individuality to add a sense of vintage. Which is exactly what its original wearers have been, when the pieces, in their own time, were considered modern, or even revolutionary. Individuals who put the "dressing up" into their way of dressing.

xxx

By Priscilla Obermeier for L-atitude: Once upon a time in Moscow...

Photo collage by L-atitude

"Legend has it that Moscow was founded by a Prince. An appropriate beginning for a city whose splendor and love affair with luxury survived many waves of invaders, political revolutions and the strict limitations of the Soviet era. Nowadays futuristic skyscrapers, lavish shopping malls, chic restaurants and innumerable boutiques, are as much part of Moscow’s cityscape as the dazzling Red Square....." - L-atitude, By Priscilla Obermeier

Read my complete article Once Upon a Time in Moscow on L-atitude.... I'd love to hear your thoughts!

xxx

By Priscilla Obermeier for L-atitude: Fascinated by Faux

Photo collage by L-atitude

"...Although ‘imitation jewelry’ was already known in antiquity, it was Coco Chanel who coined the term “Costume Jewelry” in the 1930s, turning non-precious metals and faux pearls into high fashion, allowing women the “look” of fine jewelry,without the price tag..."  - L-atitude, By Priscilla Obermeier

Read my complete article "Fascinated by Faux" on L-atitude.... I'd love to hear your thoughts!

xxx

Style Note: Ballet Class

The gene code - part 3: Grand Jeté

“Ballet is not technique, but a way of expression that comes more closely to the inner language of man than any other.” - George Borodin

I relish any opportunity to watch dancers at work (see also my post Ballerina Girl !). From Break Dance to Ballet. From "All that Jazz" to the Cabaret! When designers get inspired by the art of dance, I can't help but be excited. Although it was last year's collection, I decided to share a video made by GENE during their presentation of the GENE Dance Collection, based on the art and admiration of dancing. A reflection of movement, mind and soul.

It's the story of a ballerina defining strength through grace. It's the story of her dedication to her craft. Her imagination and appearance, her way of the delivering a fairy tale in the most beautiful way. The collection is divided in three parts containing daily life, stage life and the inner world of a dancer. Clothes are “dancing”, fabrics are moving, flowing lines give the wearer the feeling she dances, even when she sits...resulting in a signature style as obsessive, strict and eternal as the art itself, making it impossible to know the dancer from the dance.

xxx

The 2010 GENE Dance Collection,  Photography by GENE

The gene code - part 2

S/S 2012: The Contradiction Collection -
Photography by GENE

S/S 2012: The Contradiction Collection -  
Photography by GENE

I have to say... It's quite exciting to watch GENE move forward at rapid speed (and me sprinting next to it, trying to keep up!). When I started talking with Creative Director Lora Nikolaev about defining the heart and soul of her collections into words, conceptualizing the personality of her label, I realized that GENE embodies the personal style, global mindset and philanthropic spirit of Lora, a true GENE woman. And it was exactly this personal style, global mindset and philanthropic spirit that made me grasp the opportunity to be part of a label in process, and manage all its Fashion Communications from Berlin. Sometimes life, simply gives you lemonade.

After great successes at CPM Moscow and St. Petersburg, we now move forward to meet a Paris audience at Paris Kult. We welcome French www.carnetdemode.com (& Madame Figaro) to our online sales partners. We celebrate a new partnership with Mercedes Benz, who will be part of the next fashion shows. Great work is being done on the online store (coming soon...), preparations of presenting the S/S 2012 Contradiction Collection on the catwalk in Sofia. A collaboration with the Freedom From Fear Foundation resulted in a specially designed GENE item to support the great cause of filmmaker and former CNN correspondent Milena Kundeva (soon to be sold...). And in 5 days exclusive online shopping portal Fashion Days will open its "doors" to offer its members a selection of Lora's favorite items from GENE collections, against amazing prices.. (limited days, limited offer!).

A new GENE(-ius) chapter lays ahead. I've started running.

xxx

Musthave: "Faux"

My vintage 1950s costume necklace & Indy's vintage truck

I love to get inspired by all the things around me. It can be a sentence I read in a book, the notes of a street musician, a dress in a window, a pattern on a fabric, a tree-lined boulevard, a painting, a picture, a word I overhear in a conversation (I'm good at eaves dropping...), a dog asking for attention, a lyric in a rap song (I love Eminem), a chair, the way people dress, the smell of fresh coffee, one of Indy's toys. And happy go lucky, I also get inspired by my editorial assignments. One of them made me research the amazing world of Carole Tanenbaum and her vintage costume jewelry line Carole Tanenbaum Vintage Collection.

Style Note: A Lovely Day in Paris

La Parisienne

La Parisienne, un esprit, un style, une allure unique

Ever since I learnt my first French sentences (“Ca va? Ca va bien.”) from the first page of my French textbook in high school, I knew I loved the language. Speaking French is like singing a lullaby with some raw notes. Chicago not The Sound of Music. It’s romantic confidence, as two things are for sure: The French are romantic and they are confident (I’m absolutely of the notion that the French are not arrogant, they know themselves well and they are confident, which is clearly different). Their language an expression of who they are. 

To me France has always been Paris. Like the U.S.A. has been New York, the U.K has been London, Belgium has been Antwerp, The Netherlands, Amsterdam, Germany has been Berlin. I think big urban cities with their international and mixed climate, their diversity (from punk to boho to the corporate guy to posh), their shopping and dining options and the fact that I can practically walk everything (and if I get tired I can jump in the subway) are marvelous. They sort of make the rest of the country look like...’the rest of the country’. It might sound strange to those who calm down strolling the beach, walking through a forest, or by gazing over mountain tops, I calm down in the hustle and bustle, the honking and the cursing, the expressiveness of the city. By simply staring at skyscrapers and ornate facades or passing an ancient dinosaur or fashion photography in a museum. And by observing other people.