Hedi Slimane. 

A synonym for Saint Laurent aesthetic.

For the most beautiful minimalism. For the most impressive simplicity.

A man who created identity of the Saint Laurent girl. 

Who is the Saint Laurent girl?

She's strong. She parties a lot. Gowns and suits look equally powerful on her.

  Sometimes she's a boy. Leather jacket is her second skin.

She's fearless. She's a rock star. She's sexy. She's French.

She wears black. Dances a lot, too. She's ageless.

I think she likes to drink.

Her favorite designer? Hedi Slimane.

Her favorite photographer? Also him.

She's the girl I fell for.

The girl I'm falling for every day. 

The girl who greets me every time I open my closet.
She's you. And me.

My constant inspiration. My muse.

Anthony Vaccarello, do not mess her up!

Courtesy of Vogue.com and W Magazine

Fashion month is just around the corner. 

The mess.

The maddness.

The magic.

Since there will be a flood of fashion week content all around the web (in which I'll be drowning, gladly), I'm going to tell you something about my second biggest love (Paris is the first) when it comes to fashion week - Stockholm.

So, why Stockholm?

The city itself. 

Often described as 'Scandinavian Paris', Stockholm really has some of that parisian je ne sais quoi. Minimalism as a way of living, signs of scandinavian design everywhere (from buildings to bags), street style - the whole atmosphere during fashion months reminds me of Paris. Okay, and I love Ikea.

Bloggers.

Swedish blogger scene's my absolute favorite for many reasons. 

Their style is definitely what I like the most, since it completely matches mine: it's a beautiful love story between minimalism and statements, classics and trends. (Or maybe it's an orgy?) 

They play with trends, but stay loyal to their personal style.

They have innovative young designers.

And not only do they wear them, but also almost every blogger has a label or has done a collaboration so they wear each other's pieces, pick their favorites from the collection and post about it. It's obviously a marketing thing and there's nothing romantic about it, but still it's nice to see how they're contributing and developing Swedish fashion industry.

There's a street in their street style. 

What we see in New York, Milan, London and Paris is nice, but it often feels like a show-off tour of IT girls wearing IT pieces from IT designers. It's fatiguing and no fun.
Scandi bloggers opt for high street brands as a base of their outfits, embellishing them with one to two designer pieces. Nothing extravagant, yet very stylish which is the whole point of street style, in my opinion.

They hang out. 

It's probably why I grew so fond of them. Even though most of them are represented by the same agency so they have to work and travel together, it's obvious they have great time travelling, partying, working out or brunching together.  

They often write about the importance of friendships and family, all the way letting their readers have a little insight into their personal life. And those are the stories I love to read, to be honest. 

Oh yes, and every fashion weeks starts with a big blogger breakfast, sans exception, known as 'breakfast with the crew'. So cute.

Embrace the fashion wave, people, let's go surfing!

If there's one thing I love about summer sixteen it's the festivals. This year I managed to visit all of them (by 'all' I mean those who fit in our student budgets) and it was ah-mazing. Complètement magique.

I won't talk about the whole experience since there's nothing new to say, so I'd like to focus on what I learned during a month full of festivals, travelling, packing and unpacking, dancing, living.

1. It's all about the journey, not the destination. 

Actually, it is all about the destination and the people you choose to spend your time with. It's probably the most important thing.

2. Your criteria for choosing the right accomodation changes drastically . 

And it kinda goes from 'We have such a cool furniture in our apartment!' to 'We're lucky enough to have tap water in here'. From posh to hobo in a week, my friends.

3. You gain specific surviving skills.

Learning to spend a whole day without food, having three-hour-beauty sleeps that actually work, being able to spot your friends in a crowd among thousands of people, finding the best shortcuts, developing a unique sign language with your friends ('Put your left hand in the air when you see me'), having personalized orientation marks ('We're at the four trees'), ninja walking through the crowd etc.

4. It's easier if you're fit.

Dancing 7+ hours, walking several kilometres a day, climbing the stairs (there are always some stairs), the inevitable acclivities... Quite a challenge if you're not used to any kind of physical exhaustion.

5. Festival fashion or how all girls look the same.

Okay, fashion is for the boys as it is for the girls, but GOD how girls easily blend into the crowd. Princess Leia hair or braids, chokers, high-waisted shorts, cropped tops, backpacks, perfect make ups and contouring, fringes - it's just too much effort, visible effort to be exact. And it all looks the same.

In my opinion, simplicity's always the key. And don't forget your sunglasses.

In the end we all end up dirty, sweaty, dusty, muddy, happy.  

6. Never wear white shorts if you're not ready to exit the festival wearing brown shorts.

Don't ask me how I know.

7. You miss out on songs you love the most waiting in the freaking line for the toilet.

Don't ask me how I know either.

8. You hug a lot of people. That's beautiful.

9. Don't be afraid to take as many photos as you can even though you look like a complete mess. 

Be afraid when you see somebody tagged you.

10. The ugly truth. 

In order to breathe again at the end of the day, you have to pick your nose. And we all know how serious picking I'm talking about.

This could've been a post every blog has during its (r)evolution, with attention drawing name almost every forgotten or blog under construction has - relaunch, toujoursAnja 2.0, brand new toujoursAnja etc.

To be sincere, this is the relaunch of toujoursAnja. 

But before I jump back into my beloved abysmal ocean of trends, fashion and street style, I wanted to rewrite the post from a year ago, probably the only personal post I've ever written, because this has been the most turbulent year of my life so far, I needed a clean slate and just to see how much I've changed during the past year. Here we go.

In 2015:

I realized many things.

First of all, I'm a bit spoiled. Even though I consider myself very modest, I've been a passive-aggressive drama queen for a month when I realized this summer's not going to be how I imagined it to be (full of travelling and adventures). First I was disappointed. After days of psychoanalyzing mysef, I realized that I'm very lucky to have been able to travel every year. Obviously I get carried away easily by my expectations. And then make a big fuss and act like a spoiled brat.

2016: Still modest. This has been the best and the worst summer of my life, full of travelling, adventures, adrenaline, big changes and emotional rollercoasters. I've quit being passive-aggressive drama queen - now I'm just aggressive. And a queen. And more sarcastic.

Second. Sometimes I just need to chill out. I love my routines and stick to them with great satisfaction. Classes, trainings, food, almost every single aspect of my life has a routine. This July I didn't have much time to breathe properly, so any form of routine was out of the question. I felt like I was drowning without them. At this point I need to learn to balance my life better, but without pressuring myself. Routines can be a good thing if you don't become a slave to them.

2016: Ok, I haven't mastered the balancing act yet, but I'm definitely not pressuring myself the way I used to.

Third. a) I'm very grateful for everything I have, but I wasn't actually saying 'thank you' as often as I thought. And in the time of crysis, these simple two words are just what people need to hear.

b) I expect people to tell me 'thank you' way more than I say it to them.

2016: a) I think I'm saying it more nowadays.

b) I don't expect people to tell me 'thank you' way more than I say it to them.

c) I've learned a lot about myself and it's a love-hate relationship that I have with myself right now. I've grown in every possible way by trying to finally see and accept my flaws (apparently, I have A LOT of them). Obviously I'm a bit handicapped when it comes to expressing my emotions and I'm not exactly the easiest person to talk to, so this could be a public "Thank you, Sorry, I love you" to all of the people who were (and are) beside me throughout the year.

 I must say it's not that pretty when life constantly kicks you in the ass, but I guess you also have to hold onto yourself, which I'm still learning to do. But you end up kinda... better, I guess. Richer. Stronger. (Does anyone else sing Daft Punk right now?)

 Fourth. I have no idea what I'm gonna do with my life. I know, you don't have to figure out your life in your twenties, but still it makes me wonder when I'll know exactly what I want from it.

2016: All that + to be happy every single day. Positive vibes and shit.

Fifth. I clean and do housework like a pro. Also I'm a great interior designer/stylist/decorator. My intuition is great when it comes to aesthetics. I should get paid for this.

2016: I practically became a housewife. Student-housewife if that even exists. I've mastered multitasking in every single way. Cooking, cleaning, studying, walking the dog, hanging out, training, going out, drinking, dancing. Just a regular Thursday.

Sixth. Dog. Poop. Everywhere.

2016: Well, the dog's all grown up, so: BIG. Dog. Poop. Everywhere.

Seventh. (general conclusion about the past year)

Shit happens, let's dance.