Fashion reflects our emotions, mindsets and wishes. If I want to feel like I own the world, I will always choose a little black dress, silk stockings, and one pair of my endless number of black heels. We all have that one outfit which makes us feel like 1 million bucks, and this is mine. Of course, it's what’s underneath that counts, so I round it off with a set of luxury underwear, anything from the delicate see-through lace of the Evie range, or a leather set like the classic Odile range— there’s nothing missing from my lingerie drawers. Add a smear of red lipstick, and there you have it. Wonder Carina. I am transformed into this bad-ass woman who knows exactly what she wants and how to get it. This feeling of confidence comes from within and radiates out. People notice that I am "different", I get more comments on my charisma on the days I’m wearing my power outfits. What they see is a confident woman all dolled up, but they have no idea that I’m wearing my very own version of a comic-heroine’s armour underneath. This is why I feel like kicking ass!
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Discover the There is a group of women that have influenced my style over several years now. The smartest and loveliest women I know, my friends. Alone, I’m just a girl who occasionally feels confident. With their backup, I know I can take on the world & be the most bad-ass woman on the planet. I've asked my friends about what being a bad-ass means to them, and their replies were actually quite surprising to me.
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One of them, an American artist who has been travelling the world alone for her art, says she never really feels like bad-ass. She says it’s because style isn't her forte, but honestly I disagree. She’s one of the toughest women I know, and I hope that reading this will make her realize what an amazing person and great inspiration she is to me.
Completely different but equally inspiring is my lawyer friend from Sweden. She says that fashion to her is a statement, a way of showing the world who you really are. But what makes her feel badass is embracing colours like no other friend of mine. Yellow, purple, blue — she has it all. And she kills in it. If I wear something other than black of navy (even if it’s just a pink scarf), it’s probably down to an outfit I saw her wear the day before.
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Last but not least there’s my cosmopolitan girl. We went to school together and she’s a badass lady through and through. I don’t need to ask her about what she thinks on this topic because I know she will never take any sh*t from anyone. Although she’s the youngest of my friends (early 20s), that girl knows exactly what she wants. And her style reflects that. She’s lived in London, Boston and is now back in NYC where she’s showing the Brooklyn hipsters how to do style correctly. Her collections of handbags are to die for and you know you’re one of the blessed people/inner circle when she shows you her walk-in wardrobe. Even her apartment is design goals. She’s the main influence when it comes to my "dress, skirt or nothing" attitude. And I’m grateful that’s the way it is.
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On this note, I want to mention that those and many other girls are a daily source of inspiration for me and I’m happy they are part of my life — no matter where they are in the world or in their lives. This is what actually makes me bad-ass: the support of strong and powerful women. That includes my grandma. It includes my mum, aunts and the one or another friend, co-worker or housemate.
We need to see how important it is to have each other’s back.
Carina.
Carina is a Digital marketing professional by day and a multi-tasking creative at night. This German lady has been working on her blog, carinapatatina, since she made the move to England. Her love of fashion can be witnessed in her #OOTD InstaStories, while the passion for theatre and travel usually surfaces in her musings about everything and anything. Her favourite EOB piece? The Colette Thong. Because nothing beats nude lace with naughty black straps.
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