My Top 21 Tracks of 2014

Since there are only three days of 2014 left I've decided to share my top 21 tracks of 2014 before it's too late. Now why 21? Well, I'll be honest with you. At first it was a regular top 20, but then I realized I totally forgot about a song and I'm not telling which one. There were some songs I really had to add to the playlist, even though some - lots of - people aren't really fan of it (already guessing which song I might be talking about?). But I definitely love it and I think it has really deserved its place in this list.

Some of you might think that it's filled with songs from Lana Del Rey's new album "Ultraviolence", but unfortunately I'm gonna have to disappoint you guys. I've chosen to put only one song of Lana in this playlist because otherwise it wouldn't be fair. And besides, it's not like you only eat sweets. You just eat them from time to time, and it's the same with Lana and me. That doesn't mean I don't like other music or artists. It means that they're all different and have other moments to listen to.

Enjoy my 21 favorite tracks of 2014!

Thank you, hope you enjoyed them and take care.

My Merry Christmas Eve

This evening it's Christmas Eve! For allot of people this means being together and having a nice and sometimes extravagant Christmas dinner. Well, at our home we actually don't, but no matter what you believe, you (and we too) just can't deny that there is a little bit of extra something (I don't know how to call it) in the air. Just like everybody in the world we love watching Christmas movies and singing those cheeky Christmas songs. Since we like watching Christmas movies more than singing I've chosen to share with you are most beloved films of this wonderful season.

Dr. Seuss's How The Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)

Edward Scissor Hands (1990)

Home Alone 1 (1990) & Home Alone 2 (1992)

Die Hard (1988)

Gremlins (1984)

Thank you, have a nice Christmas Eve and take care.


Note: Wish I could call it a Pippin Christmas because of reasons.

Cheer Me Up

Sometimes we've gotta go back in time and listen some of those songs that always get stuck in your head. I pretty much did that the other day, but I didn't go back that much, just like seven years or something. - Whether I'm feeling old? Not at all! (Oh, I sure feel old at the moment) - I'm talking about Sean Kingston's hit "Beautiful Girls". Well, at first my sister and I were listening to some Justin Bieber songs (it's okay to listen to Justin Bieber) and stumbled upon this song right after listening - actually viewing - the Justin Bieber and Sean Kingston collaboration "Eenie Meenie".

So, the video shows us teenagers from the 50s until now (okay, 2007 is not now, but you get it) at the - what I'd like to call - milkshake bar (why don't we have those in Belgium?). Surprisingly this music video inspired me which I didn't expect because it's just a "silly" music video. Actually it's not the complete video that did the trick; it just took a couple of cheerleaders. Well, to be more specific I'm kinda intrigued by the 50s cheerleader's uniforms, and especially their sweaters.

Don't you just adore them? I'll share a little secret with you: those sweaters are 70s Varsity sweaters. Oh well, they look good too, especially the "Tigers" one. Anyhow they'd stil give me the 50s feeling if I'd wear one of them, which will probably never happen. I don't know why, but I'll always have this kinda love and admiration for the American 50s and especially the youth culture of that time.

Thank you, and take care.

Is It Really Worth It?

Those who have been following the blog from the start - I'm talking about 3 years ago - might already know I'm not a huge fan of Primark. Reasons? Well, I'm just not a huge fan of poor quality clothing. Besides that, those clothes are only made to sell. It's not like they've got some spirit, philosophy or feeling - you know what I mean? - in them like it actually should be. And it's not like they'll last a lifetime... Okay, nothing lasts a lifetime but I've got two sweaters from my dad and they're about twenty years old (no kidding!) and they still look like they're brand new(ish). I've heard from Primark shoppers that they throw out all their clothes once a year to go buy new ones at Primark. So, I'm guessing that their sweaters won't last twenty years like my dad's.

Now please don't get me wrong, I'm not a hater. I'm just a disliker (there's a huge difference). I can, and I certainly already did, appreciate some pieces I've found there. And yes, I've already bought some things in Primark (now don't you call me a hypocrite). The stuff I've bought are pretty basic, such as this white oversized (see-through) shirt and this black fedora. For both I only paid 18 euros (11 euros for the shirt and 7 euros for the hat), which is really really cheap. And this is exactly why my relationship with Primark is so difficult. Finding these essentials for such a tiny price makes me love it, but that their clothing is made in sweatshops makes me hate it.

But my question is, why do people love it so much, and sometimes even refuse to buy their clothes elsewhere? I only started questioning myself this since yesterday, because they've opened a new store in Brussels. And I have to be honest, I did not expect that many people waiting for it to open. Like why should you wait in front of a store, that's gonna stay at the same place for about five more years, to be the "first one" to buy its low quality products? If it was a sample sale, I'd probably be one of the first ten people to stand in line, but Primark for... I just don't get it. It's ridiculous.

For the Dutchies over there I've got a nice article on shops like Primark and Action you must read; just click here.

Thank you, and take care.

The Cut

Today was officially the last day of Summer 2014, which means we'll have to say goodbye to (naturally!) tanned skin and sun kissed hair, which we had to do a whole lot earlier here in Belgium. I might be one of the few who's not suffering from summertime sadness (typical reference to Lana Del Rey: check!).

The main reason why I'm not summer's biggest fan is that my hair gets damaged. And when I say damaged I mean VERY damaged; it's more than just dead ends. Luckily I've got lots of products which should help decrease that so called damage, but these won't work for my dead and split ends. I've gotta be honest with you all, there are lots of products that claim they prevent and/or even will get rid of your dead/split ends, but, as you may've already guessed, it's all lies.
Even though lots of girls won't like this, according to me (and most people) the best way to get rid of these is just to cut them off. And that's exactly what I've done last week.

Unfortunately - some might replace this with luckily - it looks like nothing has changed at all. I only "lost" like five or seven centimeters, but it's healthy again (actually I just lost the "unhealthy part", so yeah... Doesn't matter). As you may've noticed by the "tone" I'm writing this I'm not completely happy with my "new haircut". Mainly because I like something new and fresh once in a while and it looks precisely the same.

Since I'm quite fond of the 80s and 90s I also find allot of inspiration in hairstyles from those two decades. Many people, like my parents who "were young" that time, think I'm crazy when I say that I like those hairstyles (or other stuff from the 80s and 90s). Probably because they think that youngsters should "keep up with their time" instead of going fishing for trends from more that 20 years ago.

For example when I bought my Docs 2 years ago my dad asked me whether I was going for a New Wave look and wondered why I didn't buy myself a pair of Uggs instead (quite ridiculous). And when I bought my creepers last year he said: "Yup, my girl is a New Waver." He said that with a smile - or was it a grin? - because he thought it was pretty cool (I'm guessing he was a New Waver himself).

Now about the haircuts I'd really like to have and which I'm totally in love with (not exaggerating!). One of them is pretty short, like boyish short but I'm okay with that. Actually I've been wanting a pixie cut for quite some time (four or five years), it's all because of the short nape (LOVE IT!). And you know what's keeping me from getting one? Well, my mom of course. I don't know why but mothers just don't like it when their daughter wants a short haircut. Hopefully I can talk my mom over to let me cut my hair by Spring 2015 it is (give it some time).

Thank you, and take care.

Note: I've had lots of problems with the pics... As you can read on Twitter

Too many pics Too much inspiration
— Nesrine Naïmane (@NSFrenchFries) September 20, 2014

Gonna have to do this the easy way
— Nesrine Naïmane (@NSFrenchFries) September 20, 2014

I'm No Barbie Girl

FINALLY! That horrible month of - not gonna mention that word, because I hate it - is over. Finally I can focus on other things again such as this blog!! Last month was the longest month ever, it was so tiring. Well, even though I'm enjoying my freedom at the moment I'm still pretty nervous and not completely at ease. This will continue until I get my results at the end of this week... No fun. No fun at all.

Hopefully I won't be as disappointed as I was when I saw the Barbie-collection by Forever21. I heard about it last month and I got all excited. Of course I was dying - I'm exaggerating - to get myself a piece or even several pieces from the collection. They said they were gonna launch it at the beginning of September, and they did on September 5th. So yesterday (apparently I wasn't that excited) I checked it out because I thought that I'd better do that before getting disappointed when visiting the store.

And guess what! I really got disappointed by this "exclusive collection". Well, I've gotta admit that I might've expected too much from Forever21. Even though I got disappointed there are still two pieces I like. Unfortunately both can't be bought in the European webshop and one of them isn't really "Barbie" (talking about the varsity jacket). I really love that jacket to be honest, mainly because of the sheer fabric which makes it look so sophisticated. And because I'm a sucker for monochrome clothing I can only talk good about the entire outfit.

By "being Barbie" I mean that they've just designed clothing without any Barbie spirit (cannot be explained). Such as that T-shirt with three Barbie dolls printed on it with the subscription: "I woke up like this." I'm sorry but wasn't it supposed to be all about Barbie? So step aside, Beyoncé!
According to me this T-shirt is a perfect example of a designer who's thinking economically rather than creatively which is such a pity.

You can't even shop the whole collection in the  European webshop. They're only selling two pieces, a bodysuit and a PJ set. I don't know... Perhaps the other pieces got sold out really quickly. But when I searched in the US webshop I saw that they've got the entire collection (USA privileges?). I'm just guessing that, when it comes to the webshop, Europeans won't be able to shop the complete collection. But I'm pretty sure that they do sell the complete collection in the shops.

Thank you, and take care.

Going Gingham

Re-examinations, re-examinations... My hate for this word is growing with every exam I finish. You would think it'd be the other way around, but unfortunately it isn't. Waking up early and being tired when eating lunch. That was pretty much this week's recipe for one very tired and unproductive blogger (I'm feeling so sorry for that).

Even though traveling by train, which is why I had to wake up (very!) early, has made me lose lots of time, I did spend my time well. Besides trying not to fall asleep when reviewing my notes in the morning, I've spent most of my rides back home with trying to draw something. And this is what you'll find pretty weird, but I wished those rides took some more time. Apparently - and I'm not kidding- my drawing skills are better when using public transportation.

Unfortunately I didn't get to finish any of those drawings because I only get to focus like half an hour on my drawing. Well, I do get to sit on the train for an hour and fifteen minutes, but when 45 minutes have passed I realize I brought my sketch book with me. And that's one of the reasons why I never finish a drawing. Another reason is my fear of screwing it up and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Sometimes (read: every single time) when I draw something that looks good I think: Let's just keep it that way before, you know, making a mess out of it. This pretty much reminds me of Charlie Brown and Lisa Simpson... Perhaps I'm just like them but I just might not know it yet. 

I don't know if there are more people who do this, but before I start drawing I usually draw some lines. This is some kind of "warming-up" for my pencil. It's a way to make sure my lines won't be harsh or sharp when I start with the real deal - a cool kid'd say: "Really-o-deally-o." But I'm not cool so I'll just keep it with "real deal". Most of the time I tend to draw a gingham-like pattern and that's pretty much when I realized that this minimalist pattern is pretty interesting.

According to me this pattern is a pure classic which is why I just can't dislike it. Although it might be a classic, there are people who arent quite fond of it. My brother for example, I'm guessing he might, even though he's a fan of black gingham, associate it with a picnic cloth but he might not be the only one (I'm not a fan of red gingham; reminds me of the countryside).

And I've gotta be honest, pink gingham is to die for. If I'd find myself a bodysuit like the one underneath, I'm gonna buy it immediately! No kidding! This is yet again me giving in to the temptations of wearing girly stuff. Let's just hope this thing I've got with pink is just an affair and not some long term relationship. I know there might be some people thinking the same, and I'm guessing there are also some of you hoping for the opposite to happen (more pink?). Even though I might be firing with pink for a moment, but my heart will always belong to black.

Thank you, and take care.

June All Over Again

It's has been August for 10 days already and I've spent half of them studying for my reexaminations (it pretty much sucks). Even though I don't really like the act of studying, but I do like learning (yes, there's a difference between learning and studying) something new. And of course I like to do it in a fun way. This basically means using lots of colors - mainly pink because it's the only marker that works properly - in my summary, using Japanese words when I actually shouldn't and adding some doodles. Well, I actually use those doodles when I don't feel like writing anymore and they usually end up in the trash when I've rewritten - keeping it neat - my summary on my laptop. And rewriting it on my laptop makes it easier to share with others, remember: "Sharing is caring" (I use this when my baby sister won't share her Barbies with me).

Another "study-habit" I've got is listening to music while studying. I know lots of you think it's the worst idea in the world, but it keeps me focused. Besides when you listen to music you won't have to deal with the noise around you (why do my neighbors have a dog?). To the ones who don't have to deal with barking dogs and lawn-mowing seniors: You, my friend, are one lucky potato. 

Something I'd like to share - sharing is caring - with you, my potato-friend, is a little playlist containing my most played songs of the moment. Even though it says "of the moment", it doesn't mean "music of now". I don't quite know how to put this right, but let's just say that there might be lots of songs people of our age - about 18 - won't know. But if you're about 18 and you do know these songs, then maybe you and I should become best friends or something (I'm just saying). So, I called this playlist "M A D o n n a" and I don't know why as I tweeted earlier. Maybe I'll know why I named it like that in the morning... Sometimes it just takes me a while why I give stuff their names.

Making this playlist on @YouTube and idk why I called it M A D o n n a 💿 #DontAsk

— Nesrine Naïmane (@NSFrenchFries) August 10, 2014

So yeah, here's the playlist that keeps me focused while I doodle, write in pastels (you know, the BIC 4 Colours Fashion), mark with the only marker I own - don't wanna buy a new one because it's unnecessary - and rewrite to share it with the ones who also think that sharing is caring.

Thank you, and take care.

Fiji Flu

Today has proven that I'm not good at planning at all. I already knew I was awful at planning ahead, but today is the only proof I've got of it. So yeah, as I did every day this week, it started to turn into a habit, I got up today and went to work. I entered the shop said hi to my co-workers, but then I saw two weird-looking faces staring at me. They asked me: "Do you have to work today?" The question pretty much confused me, because I was convinced that I had to work until the end of the week. And then one of them showed me the weekplanning. Apparently I wasn't planned for Sunday. At first I thought somebody might've forgotten to put my name up there, but I soon enough realized that my calendar didn't say: "Work today." Well, actually it says "バイト" (baito) which means student job, but that doesn't matter.

After the whole "I don't have to work today-thing", I left with a confused smile on my face. Before leaving I took some stuff with me I'd put in the fridge. One of those things was a bottle of Fiji Water. I must tell you that Fiji Water is the most wonderful water in the world (I might be exaggerating a little bit). And yes, it is water from the Fiji Islands and we all know - well, I guess we all know - that those islands are actually made from hardened lava. So, as the back of the bottle already told me, water from Fiji is filtered by hardened lava (isn't that cool?) which gives it extra nutrients. The extra nutrients plus the great taste and the great design of the bottle makes me wanna drink this water every day for the rest of my life (no kidding!).

Writing about Fiji Water makes think of Rocket Power. Does anybody remember that episode where they all start talking with funny voices because The Squid, Sam for those who can't remember they used to call him Squid, got this contagious disease called the Fiji flu? Well, for those who can't remember here's the video. Even though I'm a fan of the Dutch dub, I'll share the English original. And for the few who are aching to see the second half of this episode, you can just click here.

Thank you, and take care.

Note: Sorry, for the different size of pictures on the blog. It's because I take pictures with an iPhone 5 and I often forget to switch to "Square". That's way the pictures on last post looked pretty "long". iPhone-users will probably understand.

The Ugly Yawner

Today's been the beginning of my last week at Superdry., well at least for now. As (almost) everyday we try to make the best of it. This actually means goofing around most of the time, but we do get work done everyday. Remember that working hard doesn't always mean that you've gotta stay serious (I'm just saying). We usually tend to speak English in different accents, such as Russian, German or French ones. We just love doing that. Another thing we really like to do is bringing up memories. I'm not talking about personal memories, but I'm talking about "old" sitcoms. Using quotation marks reminds me of Joey from Friends. I was misusing "air quotes" today too (completely on purpose), because I all of the sudden thought it'd be funny and I wasn't wrong.

Not only Friends was part of today's nostalgic bit, but also Family Matters. I just keep on asking myself why I had to go to the stock to perform my version of "The Urkel". They kept asking me to do it again, but I promised myself to keep it to that one (and last) time. Well, maybe I should do it just one more time for the nostalgic kick. Besides, it sure looks cool the way the others do it, so it's perfectly possible that I might look just like them doing The Urkel. And I just have to mention that almost all of the boys look like young versions of Bill Cosby. To be honest, I'm quite a fan of it because I tend to look like Bill Cosby too sometimes. Although that's what my dad says when I wear an oversized sweater. 

And from Family Matters we hopped to Full House. And I sure couldn't deny that I had a huge teeny tiny crush on John Stamos, or Jesse in the series. With his dark hair, blue eyes and James Dean-inspired bad boy look he sure knew how to charm the 7-yearold me. I'm quite sure I wasn't the only one who fel for the man with the Elvis Presley obsession. He must've broken lots of girls and woman's hearts. Actually I think he still is, because I just saw a pic of him and now I'm pretty sure he still knows how to break hearts. 

What actually surprised me today was the fact that a girl who is one year younger than me didn't know what we were talking about. She really didn't have a single clue. It's pretty weird because she's like a few months younger than I am (I was born in October so it's perfectly possible). Oh well, I'm just gonna have to embrace that fact. Unfortunate for her she didn't get all the jokes we were making. 

Please, enjoy these pictures of my outfit I took while waiting for the bus at the bus stop (of course...). Photographing is a better thing to do than just standing in the rain and yawning like some idiot who didn't get enough sleep (ugly!). So yeah, I didn't take any pictures including my face, just the outfit. 

Thank you, and take care. 

Blazer / Zara

Top / Armor - Lux (vintage)

Jeans / Zara

Creepers / T.U.K. Shoes

Belt / Versace (vintage)

Umbrella / Zara

Nails / Rimmel London

Unicorn Blood

After a whole month of fasting we finally get to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, also called the Sweet Festival. It has been a pretty tough month but I made it, so don't you worry about me. This year again Ramadan sure was a beautiful month of blessings, forgiveness and tolerance. I'll just keep to this, because I'm not really into preaching. It's not really a thing for me to do that. It's mostly because I'm always afraid to say something wrong or offend someone when I talk about religion. So yeah, I'm not gonna go there.

We'll be ending Ramadan the same way we began it: with CHANGE. Remember, no more eating and drinking during the day and stuff. Well, for me the biggest change was no more wearing nail polish. I'm not kidding, I'm dead serious. It's so hard for me not to wear any nail polish especially during summer. It just add a little bit more color to your day (and outfit). And you might've already guessed it... I've polished my nails again after a whole month. Hey, a girl has her priorities. 

Besides you'll never guess what color I polished them (no peaking at the pictures please). I got my inspiration from a few My Little Pony-ponies. These ponies weren't mine because I only like the newest generation of MLP, but they're official property of my baby sister. So, no judging about the My Little Pony-thing. I actually thought they were (and are) pretty cool that's why I just had to take some pics with them (no peaking please). By the way, I like the white pony over the purple one. 

There is only one girl, my dear colleague, who might've already guessed which color will have the honor to cover my nails. Stefania, if you're reading this, thank you allot for giving me this little gift which actually means quite allot to me. 

Now that has happen I can finally unveil the color which I'm quite a huge fan of at the moment. It's SILVER! To the ones who've already peaked: You should be ashamed, very ashamed! To the ones who've waited until I mentioned it myself: Thank you for your patience. The color is retro but futuristic at the same time. This might be because it was one of the '00s most favorited used color (remember Britney Spears in her silver tops and dresses?). Besides that, it also reminds me of UFO's, I really like those. 

Some pictures of me showing off my new nail polish and my sister's MLP-ponies. Oh, and please don't mention the poorly done nails. It's my right hand that has been photographed and I've done that hand with my left had (I'm a righty, you'll probably understand).

Thank you, and take care.

Note: the title is Harry Potter-related. 

Normcore - Dressing Down Instead Of Up

Last post I told you that I kinda wasn't inspired by today's fashion anymore (by fashion I mean today's contemporary fashion). Well, that's pretty much what norm core is all about according to me. It's sorta what a modernistic fashion style, almost to be called a movement. People just trying to put a clean and neat outfit together. Accessorizing is excessive. That's actually what norm core is all about, I guess. Few people say it's a new hipster movement but I hope it isn't. Not because I don't like hipsters, but rather because that means it would reach its height and then just become tacky. 

The "hipster beard" is a great example, even tough it hasn't that much to do with clothing, but it's style. At this very moment almost every man is walking around wearing a beard while most "hipster guys" are already shaving their beards off. According to some it's because it has reach its height and I'm actually one of those "some". And it's not that I don't like beards or something. It's just that most guys who've started sporting a beard are kinda "wannabe-hipsters" (they just go with the flow). 

Trying to stand out by looking as normal as possible. Pretty ironic, isn't it? Doesn't matter, almost everything carries a bit of irony in it (did I already mention that I'm a huge fan of irony?). I also like to compare this movement in fashion with a literary movement: Avant-garde and Dada. People, in this case fashionista's and fashionisto's, who think fashion has reached it's height so they start wearing ant-fashionable clothing such as Dr. Martens. The same happened in Avant-garde in the 20th Century. (Perhaps I'm thinking to far or just far enough. It's up to you to decide)

So what I basically like about norm core is its simplicity and minimalism. It's mostly about monochrome and I'm (really, really) found of black and white outfits. Besides it's easy to wear because you don't have to wear lots of layers to look refined. Logo-shirts are also back in the game because they make you look sophisticated. And last but not least, sport socks. Not only in sandals but with every shoe. In short, all the wrong things to wear are more than okay.

Oh, and it's not like I'm gonna be a hardcore norm core girl. It's just some style I'll wear whenever I feel like it. So it's not like I'm gonna make it my signature style or something. 

Thank you, and take care

Photography by Craig McDean

Styled by Edward Enninful

Source: W Magazine

Long time no write | The Pink Affair

Oh gosh, this sure feels pretty weird. After more than a year without writing a single word on this blog I've finally come back. It feels awkward yet good at the same time. Oh, how I've missed writing text in this huge white surface (only few may understand what I'm talking about). The only writing I did was in notebooks (how I adore notebooks). Well, reasons why I didn't blog at all the past year is because I tried to focus on my studies (like mommy told me). And I guess I focused too much on them because at a certain moment I just didn't feel inspired when it comes to fashion. It almost fell like I didn't know who I was or what I wanted to wear to tell people that this is me. After all, I've realized that I still may not know who I am and that's why I can still wear whatever I want. Cheers for being the eclectic me!

This month I found out something about myself lots of people wouldn't except from me or would even hate: I LOVE PINK! Yeah, I know. Strange, isn't it? I used to be a pink hater myself, but pink makes everything look so good (sorry to all the pink-haters who had to read that).  So yeah, I bought two pink jackets at Zara (where else?). And besides, it's not like they're Barbie-pink; one of them is salmon pink and the other one is soft pink. So nope, I won't be walking around like a brunette version of Barbie. I'll post some outfit pictures later on (I'm not quite sure when), because it's like 28 degrees over here (hot, hot, hot!). Wearing a coat is pretty much superfluous. For now I'll just keep it to this collage which is a tribute to my affair with the bubbly color of pink (there ain't no denying: everybody looks good in pink).

Before I leave I want to let you guys know that I'm pretty active on my Facebook-page. So if you want to you can just go ahead and like it if you want to see more of Not So French Fries. I post pictures everyday of things that inspire me and also a song for every day. You can find the page just by clicking here.

Thank you, and take care

And yes, I had to add the rollerskates. They're way too cool to not add them.