A COLOURFUL WINTER OUTFIT FOR VISITING THE OLD CITY CENTRE IN MOSTAR
Hello dear readers and fellow bloggers! Welcome February! In this post, I'll show you around Mostar. If you haven't heard about it before or haven't stopped by this blog before, Mostar is a historical city in Bosnia and Herzegovina that is quite popular with the tourists. I mean what is not to love about Mostar- it's a stunning city and the weather is wonderful more often than not. In Winter, Mostar is quite sunny. While it's not always very warm in wintertime, it's never extremely cold. Mostar is a Mediterreanean city, and if you're visiting, dress accordingly. Naturally, I'll also share with you what I was wearing for being a tourist in my own city. This is a colour combo I wanted to try for a while. Speaking of colour, do you like seeing colour in Winter? I do. As much as I sometimes crave the elegance of an all black outfit, I do love to wear colours in Winter.
I feel like people often overthink wearing colours and colourful outfits in Winter. I think many people like to see colourful outfits in Winter, but aren't sure how to wear them. In reality, there are so many ways to wear colour in the winter months, depending on your preferences and what you generally like to wear. You can choose colourful accessories or if you're feeling more bold, why not try some colourful outwear? How to wear more colour in Winter? That is the question! Indeed, there are many ways to go about it, as there are many colours and tones to choose from. You can opt for bold colours or pastels. You can opt for neutrals or neon colours. You can mix and match. Pair your neutrals with pastels and vivid colours. You can do whatever you like because when it comes to personal fashion, you can make the rules. Sometimes we all seem to forget. Some might have to dress for work a certain way, but we can all wear what we want in our free time.
I HOPE WE CAN ALL LEAVE OUR JANUARY BLUES BEHIND US
I don't know about you, but I could use some colour in my life right now. The start of the new year has been anything but easy. That's life. We all go trough hard times, and while it may seem like they last forever, they do end eventually. Everything ends eventually. Everything comes to an end. Both good and bad times. Life is all about change. It may seem endless at times, but really it flies by so fast. January seemed to last forever, but it came to an end nevertheless. I hope February will be less stressful.
I'm going through a difficult period with my health. Living with an autoimmune illness is never easy, but when you're having those really bad days, it can feel like hell. Especially as the crisis always seems to hit you when you have tons of things to do. I seldom go more than a month without at least one ER visit, and sometimes I visit ER on a weekly basis. Sometimes I would spend a night in a hospital, and after that I would go work the next day like nothing happen. Sometimes you just have to puss through, as hard as it is. We all have to earn our keep. Everyone always says you should take it easy, but nobody offers to pay your bills or pay off your mortgage. Of course I try to take care of myself, but like just about anyone else, I have to work. I have to pay my bills. I cannot just give up. I have to live and work for as long as I can.
Moving onto brighter subjects. Isn't Mostar gorgeous? Isn't Neretva river something truly magical? Neretva isn't the only river that passes through Mostar, but it is the one the city is best known for. How many times have I wrote about Mostar and Neretva river on my blog? Many times, and yet it never feels enough.
Mostar is known as the city of bridges, and today you'll see two of them, starting with this one- a bridge that changed its name many times, and finishing with the famous Old Bridge. I'll also take you around the old town. Basically, these photographs were all taken during a long walk. I don't remember the exact date, or whether it was a month or a few weeks ago. I don't think it matters. The photographs are recent, and they show what Mostar looks like on a beautifully sunny winter days. I love sunny winter days. It doesn't matter if it's windy or a bit chilly, sun somehow makes everything better. I'll take a sunny and cold winter day over a warm and rainy one any time. I suppose it's because there's less light in winter, so crave all those sunny days the more. Fortunately, with the warm Mediterranean climate and all that, sunny days are not rare. For me as a blogger, this makes photography less challenging. Speaking of photography, I want to thank my husband for these lovely photographs. As you can image, he took all of these photographs. With the weather conditions being so ideal, I think we managed to capture Mostar pretty well. What do you think? Can you see the architecture well enough?
MUSALA BRIDGE- ALSO KNOWN AS TITO'S BRIDGE- ALSO KNOWN AS KING JOSEPH'S I BRIDGE
Musala bridge was previous known as Tito's bridge- and before that as King Franz Joseph I's bridge.
This bridge changed its names a couple of times. It was first named after King Franz Joseph because it was build during the rule of Austrian-Hungarian Empire, so logically it was named after its King Franz Joseph the first. However, it's name was changed in communist era, when it was named after Tito, the president/dictator of Yugoslavia. In present day times, this bridge is known as Musala bridge.
If you observe these photographs carefully, you'll be able to see another smaller bridge. One of these days I might write a post where I will write about all the bridges to be found in Mostar. Now, wouldn't that be fun? Isn't the view from this bridge lovely?
HERE ARE SOME LINKS IF YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MOSTAR!
If you're a regular reader of my blog, you'll know that I post about Mostar a lot.
Back in December, I wrote about Mostar in this post, when I also showed you the old bridge and one of my favourite cafes located right new to Neretva river. I also blogged about Mostar's historical buildings here (also in December last year) .
And if you want to know and see even more about Mostar, here are even more links with my Mostar themed posts!
OLDER posts about Mostar 1. You can see Mostar from the bird perspective in my previous posts (here, here and here). 2. One of my favourite streets in Mostar here and here. 3. Musala bridge (also known under its old name Tito's bridge here and here) 4. You can see photographs of Mostar's Catholic cathedral here.5. You can see images of Mostar and its famous Nertva river here, here and here. 6. You can see the surrounds of one of its most iconic catholic churches here.7. You can see both photographs of old bridge and my drawing of it here. 8. Another one of my favourites when it comes to streets here. 9. You can see photographs of Croatian cultural centre/theater here , here , here , here and here. 10. You can see photographs of the main city park here here, here, here and here. 11. You can see images of Spanish square here, here , here , here and here. 12. You can see photographs of Custom's bridge here and here. 13. You can see photographs of the new bridge here and here. 14. A few photographs from old city centre (2018) here. 15. What to wear for sightseeing Mostar in summer here. 16. This post is focused on 7 outfits I wore but you can see many of Mostar's attractions there as well. I suppose the same can be said for most of my outfit posts. 17. Mostar as an Easter destination (2019) here.18. Mostar dinning and cafe recommendations here. 19. Hiking options in Mostar here. 20. My drawing of Mostar old bridge here. 21. University campus in Mostar here. 22. How I have fallen in love with Mostar here.
NOW, LET'S TALK ABOUT LAYERING MY OUTFIT FOR A BIT !
This is an outfit I wanted to wear for a really long time. Namely, I wanted to style this pale blue Amadeus dress for winter. It's more of a summer dress. Lately, I've been almost obsessed with styling summer clothes in winter. With proper layering, it's really easier than it looks. If you want to know more about how I layered this particular look, read on.
HOW TO STAY WARM IN A SUMMER DRESS IN WINTER?
I was very warm in this outfit. The material of the dress is light and sheer, but I layered the dress so I was really cozy wearing this. Underneath the dress I wore some warm thick tights, and under the tights I wore cotton socks. It's my trick. I always always wear cotton socks under tights in winter. It makes wearing thighs a lot more comfortable, and it keeps my feet extra warm. If I'm wearing more open shoes, I'll wear those tiny socks, and if I'm wearing boots, I'll wear high socks under my tights. Do you also do this?
Another great way to make a summer dress warmer (apart from wearing tights and warm boots) is adding layers on top. I layered a pink sweater over this pale blue dress- and I actually plan to wear this combo again with different shoes and accessories. However, back to the subject and that is keeping warm. After adding this pink knit sweater, I needed a warm jacket to finish my look.
I was planning on wearing this burgundy tartan jacket with this pale blue dress for a while. I think the combination of a very light dress and burgundy jacket works well because it creates a lovely contrast. Plus, this is one of the warmest jackets I own. It's really wonderfully.
While a jacket or a coat is very important, let's not forget winter accessories. I added a red cap with a fun pattern to this look, and I also wore sunglasses. Some people don't like to wear sunglasses in the winter, but when it's windy , they can help protect the eyes. Not to mention they offer some UV protection. Not to mention they can also look stylish.
How do you like this outfit? Is it a sustainable outfit? What do you think? Did I shop my closet once again? I think that readers of my blog won't have a problem answering this question, as they will be able to tell whether I wore clothing items I wear a lot. I will answer this question a bit later on, have some patience as I want to direct your attention to Old Bridge right now.
MOSTAR IS THE CITY OF BRIDGES, THE MOST FAMOUS ONE BEING THE OLD BRIDGE
Here we are, in front of the famous Old Bridge. It's almost always crowded with tourists, even in Winter. I mean can you blame them? It's the place to be if you're visiting Mostar. Speaking of visiting Mostar, I wrote about needing flats to visit Old Bridge and old part of the town many times, but let me emphasize it one more time.
I'm a heel lover, but I don't wear heels when I'm visiting the Old Bridge. I mean technically these brown boots have a low heel, but you know what I mean. It's not the kind of heel that would prevent walking on these stones, is it?
I like how my dress seems to match the sky. Do you see it too? If you look, you can also see some people behind me. The position of the sun will tell you what time of the day it was. Being sunny and all, I wasn't surprised to see tourists in the old part of the town, especially at this time.
As I explained, I don't remember exactly the day we took this walk, but it wasn't a long time ago. I do remember we enjoyed it, and talked about great many things. People around us, seemed to enjoy their time too.
Was it a weekend or a week day? Silly me, I forgot that you can just check the date on the photograph. I just did - but the data showed two different days, one in December and the other in January. Well, I guess I still don't know.
Did you know that I actually drew this bridge a couple of times. I never attempted a painting, though. Well, maybe some day. Isn't the view behind me stunning? I don't mean just the Old Bridge, but the street and everything.
There I'm posing for outfit photographs, but if you look below you'll see someone else posing- a very friendly stray dog that followed us around for a bit. He's very overweight, so he's obviously well fed. Maybe he made a lot of friends with his friendliness. He's very cute! Still, I'm always worried when I see that a dog is overweight. It can cut their lives short. You might not expect stray dogs to be overweight, but if a lot of people feed them- it can happen.
While we were walking towards the bridge, we stopped for a moment to take one more photograph of it.
....and here is a collage focusing on the Old Bridge.
What follows now, are some photographs taken on the famous bridge itself. I hope we have managed to capture some of its charm! The Old Bridge in Mostar is possibly the most famous bridge in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Certainly, it is the most famous bridge in Mostar city. It is a rebuild Ottoman bridge, dating back to the 16th century. It is easily recognizable and often referred to as Mostar bridge (or more frequently simply as Old Bridge). Many tourists visit the Old Bridge area, and you can find many restaurants, cafes and souvenir shops at every corner.
As you can see, I'm enjoying the views. It's a stunning panorama for sure!
Did you know that Mostar means a 'bridge keeper' or a 'bridge guard'?
Most means 'a bridge' in Slavic languages of the region, and suffix -ar usually refers to an occupation. Hence literally translated 'mostar' would mean the historical person who collected the fee for crossing the bridge. It used to be an occupation. There were people who collected bridge fees, that is fees for collecting the bridge.
Luckily, you don't have to pay for visiting this bridge!
You see in the past, people crossing the bridge had to pay a fee.
However, nowadays you can visit all the bridges in Mostar for free.
You don't have to pay for visiting any of the bridges- or the old city centre for that matter.
THE STORY OF MY OUTFIT- THE SUSTAINABLE FASHION FILES
I already talked about my outfit a bit, but now it's time to tell you the story of my outfit.
Is it a sustainable outfit! Yes, for I have shopped my closet once again.
Let's start with this pale blue dress from Croatian brand Amadeus because that was the starting point of this outfit. In this post, I shared thirty was to style this blue dress! So, visit that post for more inspiration for styling this dress.
THE BROWN 'RIDING' BOOTS - old
This is a pair I wear very often, especially when it gets cold! High boots are great for keeping warm, and they can also look very stylish. This pair reminds me of riding boots, and they are quite comfortable. This is also a pair of boots I have illustrated before! In fact, I HAVE ILLUSTRATED THIS PAIR OF BROWN BOOTS THREE TIMES! That means they are one of the most illustrated pairs of shoes in my closet, doesn't it? Do you want to see how I did it? Here are the links-
| ILLUSTRATED- A LEATHER PAIR OF |
See how I wore them:
10/11/12/13) Here in this post you can see me wearing these high boots with four different outfits.1) here with a leather jacket and a midi skirt.
2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9) Here in this post, you can see me wearing them with eight different outfits.
14/15) Here in this travel post you can see me wearing them with two stylings.
ALSO
20) see how I styled them here WITH A GREEN TARTAN JACKET
THE BURGUNDY TARTAN JACKET- alpine pro
1) In February 2024, I wore this tartan jacket with a pink sweater, a green dress, a biker and the burgundy bag (that I'm also sporting today).
2) In 2020, I wore it with a button up dress, biker boots and a turtleneck.
3) I wore this same tartan puffer jacket in 2021, when I present it as one of seven outfit ideas for transitional weather. You can see the details of that outfit in brackets (TARTAN JACKET, SEMI PLEATED SKIRT, POINTY BOOTS, BLACK BAG, MUSTARD SWEATER). As you can see, I paired it with the same mustard sweater as well. Honestly, that was another fun outfit to wear and so easy to put together.
4) I wore this tartan jacket with a black top and a denim skirt for a visit to Blagaj fortress in 2021.
7) In 2019, I also included it in this winter outfit proposal, when I styled this jacket with a grey midi vintage pencil skirt with a slit, a pair of heeled boots and a white beret. Possibly one of my favourite outfits ever, it just looked so effortlessly chic.
8) In 2018, I wore this jacket with a pink dress, black leggings and Šimecki boots for a seaside walk (Žnjan) in Split
9) I also wore it with jeans, biker boots and a blue turtleneck for another seaside walk in Split.
10) In 2017, I paired this checkered jacket with a black pencil skirt, brown boots and a striped tote bag.
11) In 2016, wore this jacket with hand painted vintage jeans and a hand painter white turtleneck for a post where I talked about (guess what)- textile painting on clothes.
14) That same year, I also wore it with my iconic seaweed green dress, lilac sweater and doc martens boots.
15) Moreover, in 2015, I wore it with a mint vintage midi skirt paired with neosens heels and faux fur leg warmers (that came with this pair of heels and that I still have). This was one of my favourite looks with this skirt. The combination of this high waist midi of and this jacket that is almost cropped was so perfect.
16) In 2014, I paired this jacket with this same yellow tartan skirt and an adorable floral vintage bag I had since childhood.
Thank you for reading and visiting. Have a lovely day! Happy belated Chinese/Lunar New Year for those who celebrate it!
Lindo saco. te mando un beso.
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