Native American - Style shoes...

These ones remind me of some Winnetou-style sandals out there in Native America. I'm not sure if they're suitable for an urban environment though... But I definitely love the feathers and decorations...

Seen at: Office

Chinese Lucky Symbols and Home Accessories

I have a fancy for Chinese home accessories - particularly if they're supposed to bring luck :-) In London's Soho I frequently find Chinese lucky items or just pretty amazing decorations:

I gave these to my mother in the hope it would bring her luck... The shop assistant made a point in extensively explaining how lucky these little items are: Buddha is always supposed to be a very auspicious symbol, the round thingy on the right one resemble coins which obviously are beneficial for finance, the knitted knots on top are supposed to be 'lucky knots' and anyways, red in itself should be a lucky as well...

I've got this one in my room. Again, we've got our 'lucky knot' (and here even two of them), and the pattern in the middle would be made out of amber elements (with amber being a lucky stone, apparantly) and, uhm, plastic I guess... The vital thing, however, would be the red drawing on that amber / plastic pattern: a dragon. And dragons are supposed to be extremely powerful symbols for luck, power and weatlh (this one I got from a book, not some shop assistant...).

These balls (well, they're supposed to resemble lanterns) are hung up during New Year to ensure a lucky and nice year. They are always red (lucky colour!) and are often embroidered with Chinese letters or other lucky symbols. In London's China Town, the whole place is plastered with these lanterns during New Year (and remember: Chinese people normally celebrate Chinese New Year somewhere in January / February. In 2012, the Chinese New Year would be on January 23rd) and I've got on of these in my room on a permanent basis - just to be sure I get as much luck as possible...

Old-style picture frames

I'm no fan of futuristic, modern and terribly understated home accessories. I want them pompous with grand ornaments, cheese colours and expensive-loooking (no matter how cheap they are). That's why I love these old-style picture frames:

Seen at: Next Home

Animal-style rings...

Right now, funny rings sporting animal patterns are to be seen everywhere. I'm not sure if I fancy to wear a tiger's head on my right ringfinger,but then again I'm too young not to fashionable...

Again one of my bad-camera moments. I hope you can still figure out the bird attached to the ring...

If you want things a bit wilder, why not try out some tiger's head?

Now that one would be one of my favourites. Since Harry Potter I'm a big fan of all sorts of owls.

Beasty... Let's have a screaming lion on your finger... Guess where I've seen that one? Yeah, New Look, of course. They're the only ones who get away selling this sort of stuff.

That one I actually somehow like... The snake loops around the finger and has a nice patterns of little black dots.

This would be my favourite, no doubt. A parrot on your finger... Unfortunately I arrived at an age beyond 12, so these kind of rings are out of question. A pity, really.

Chinese Calendar Drawings...

During on my walks through Soho, I decided to take a quick turn to China Town and once again I came across some stuff I just had to buy ;-) For the new year, the Chinese people seem to have a nice drawing dedicated to the new year. It is made out of a fabric and embroidered with elements related to the coming new year:

This one would be slightly older, I bought it in 2007 or 2008 -  at that time the year of the dragon. Notice the two dragons on the drawing... I've got no idea what it says on top of the thing, but I guess something among the lines of 'Year of the Dragon'.

This one I saw and bought for my parents. 2011would be the year of the rabbit, so I've got no clue as to why there are fish on the drawing, but hey, it's beautiful and my parents will love it :-)

Beautifully patterned shoes :-)

I adore the pattern on these ones. The shoes are covered with some soft fabric and have these nice patterns with flowers and birds. Nice - unfortunately the heels are a hint tooooo high for me to wear them...

Seen at: Office

Big yellow plastic monster shoes...

These monstrous apparels can only be used to scare away inmates in Guantanamo bay. Initally, I thought they were one of them new plastic boots seen everywhere at the moment. But then I rnoticed a peep hole in the front and realized they were peep toes..

Seen at: New Look