Here are my February 2016 favorites (with a lot of Fashion):

* What is a capsule wardrobe

* A yarn necklace spotted at Missoni fashion show

photo : Susanna Lau

* Jewelry at Valentino Couture Fashion Show

* My favourite outfits at the 2016 Oscars and Cesars:

* V10 sneakers by Veja

This new model was launched to celebrate Veja 10 year anniversary. The V10 sneakers come black, white or tricoloured but I prefer the black ones.

* Meditation for Beginners: 20 Practical Tips for Understanding the Mind

Here are my January 2016 favorites:

* A dress at Armani Privé Couture Spring 2016 Fashion Show

* The two-minute rule against procrastination

This rule si very simple: if you can do a task in less than two minutes, do it straight away.

* Leaf through a digital edition of early 20th century French illustrated fashion magazines

illustration by Pierre Brissaud from July 1920 ‘la gazette du bon ton’

* A first review of my clothing purchases

* A woman wearing a nice beanie

* The US and Canada are banning plastic microbeads from cosmetics

Polyethylene microbeads (that you find in scrubs for example) are polluting the oceans. They are not yet banned in Europe but you can avoid them in your cosmetics by checking that the ingredients’ list doesn’t include polyethylene.

Here are my December 2015 favorites:

* Christmas palm trees

In Malta during the Christmas Season, you can see illuminated palm trees in some gardens.

* My tips to fight procrastination

* Judith by August Riedel

I’m fascinated by the determination shown by the portrait of this murderous heroine.

Here are my November 2015 favorites:

* Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun, the portrait-painter of Queen Marie-Antoinette

I’d love to see Vigée Le Brun exhibition in Paris. French painter Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun painted celebrities of her time such as Queen Marie-Antoinette or Lady Hamilton and also touching family portraits.

Madame Vigée Le Brun and her daughter, Julie, circa 1789 (self-portrait)

* Changing Fashion for the Sake of the Climate

Fashion Revolution France team is organising a colloquium on Fashion’s environmental impact. The colloquium takes place on December 7 in Paris and will be translated into English. Entrance is free but registration is required.

* A picture of Diana Rigg wearing a pantsuit in the Sixties

* An Art Nouveau walk in Vienna

* Does Divestment Work?

The New Yorker is wondering whether divestment such as fossil-fuel companies divestment is efficient. According to the article, divestment doesn’t decrease share prices so it doesn’t hurt financially the targeted companies. It mainly harms the companies’ image.

* The Case Against Buying Christmas Presents

Here are my October 2015 favorites:

* Clémence Poésy wearing trousers and embroidered pull-over

I like the contrast between the sobriety of the shoes and the trousers and the teal sweater with embroidered bird and snake.

* Denim patchwork at Saint Laurent 2016 Spring-Summer Fashion Show

This denim patchwork jacket gives me recycling ideas for old jeans.

* A bamboo print skirt at Armani Privé 2015 Summer Couture Fashion Show

* A Japan inspired belt knot tutorial

Here are my September 2015 favorites:

* Charity Fashion Live

Charity Fashion Live team recreates London Fashion Week looks using charity shop clothes. Those creative stylists show that you can be stylish on a budget with a little imagination. You can also check Charity Fashion Live video.

* Emma Watson wearing an Edun black dress

Emma Watson in Edun. Photo : Sarah Slutsky

* Useful procrastination

* A belt

I found it in a charity shop for a small price. It will prevent my jeans from sliding down!

The girl on the drawing is wearing my jeans, my belt and a bird print People Tree top

* A tip for a lighter wallet

You can use a photocopy of your loyalty cards that work thanks to a bar code. It will lighten your wallet, you will avoid losing your cards or having your card eaten by a checkout belt (as it happened to me this summer).
Another idea: photographing the bar code of the card with your smartphone and showing the picture to the cashier.

* Every Thing You Own is a Relationship You’re In

Some reflexions by David who tried Marie Kondo decluttering method

* Life’s Priorities

Often we feel like we lack time but isn’t it a convenient excuse? Next time you feel like saying “I don’t have time” try saying “it’s not a priority” instead. It’s an interesting experiment.

In August, everything slows down so I have more time to go shopping, start reading again and discover new favorites:

* Some Muji notebooks

I have found the ideal notebook! It’s without lines and with a rigid cover (it’s important if you want to draw in it). It’s made in Japon and it costs 2.5€ at Muji. I bought three notebooks but I will buy more of them next time (in case Muji stops selling them).

* Wild cats print by Stella McCartney

Liv Tyler wearing Stella McCartney wild cats print shirt and pants. photo: Kevin Mazur for Getty images

I like this colorful print, only I would wear separately the shirt and the pants in town because together they look like a pyjama (a very nice pyjama though).

* A Maltese house entrance

* Maus by Art Spiegelman

Maus is a comic that tells the war and deportation memories of cartoonist Art Spiegleman’s father. It’s a difficult subject but the book is full of humanity. I couldn’t stop reading until the end.

Back cover of Maus

* Plants are intelligent

And their intelligence works like a complex network, comparable to the Internet

* Sewing can change your body image

Blogger Jenny Rushmore tells how sewing clothes that fit her well helped her to stop hating her body.

Here are my July 2015 favorites:

* Vienna

with its palaces, its parcs, its 19th century buildings…

Schönbrunn palace in Vienna

* The Redress challenge: 365 days wearing second hand clothes

* Fashion designer Stella Jean mixed and colourful style

I like her reinterpretation of the striped shirt. photo : Garance Doré

* Fifties beach outfits

* The siesta

because it’s especially enjoyable during heatwaves

* Playing the Granny Card: a new generation of powerful women turning age into an advantage

Here are my June 2015 favorites:

* A picturesque marine themed house facade in Gozo, Malta

Its door knockers and plates are decorated with fishes

* Some Fifties evening dresses

* Multicoloured drawing paper

I don’t know yet how I will use it but meantime all those colors put me in a good mood.

* 8 illustrators I follow on the Internet

* A fly swatter

I bought a fly swatter. I know it’s not glamorous but it’s very efficient against mosquitoes and it’s not toxic unlike insecticides so it’s one of my favorites this month.

When I pursue mosquitoes

* What if we needed to slow down to be happy?

a conversation with Matthieu Ricard and Pico Iyer on stillness

Here are my May 2015 favorites:

* A prehistoric beauty

the sleeping lady (c. 3000 B.C.). National Museum of Archaeology, Malta

* My list of health food stores in Malta

* Another Happy Day blog

Lilly has a radar to spot beautiful things and her blog Another Happy Day is an eye candy that you can enjoy even if you don’t speak French, with her streetstyle inspirations, designers or luxury cosmetics’ discoveries and inspiring pictures.

* Cate Blanchett print gown by Giles at Cannes Film Festival

photo : Pascal Le Segretain

* Busting 4 ethical fashion myths

* De L’éthique sur l’étiquette new campaign (in French)

De L’éthique sur l’étiquette is the French counterpart of Clean Clothes Campaign. For their latest campaign, they invite people to put labels in shops to ask brands to pay a living wage to all garment workers. I find it’s a fun way to support them.