Miroslava Duma style file

You might remember my endeavor of revealing everything worth knowing about the most important members of the Russian fashion pack that includes: Ulyana Sergeenko, Miroslava Duma and Elena Perminova. I already wrote a few articles articles about the pack master whom we all know to be Ulyana Sergeenko and now the time has come for her commander in chief, Miroslava Duma, to take the spotlight.

The common thing that these women have, except being style-obsessed, is the fact that they all are incredibly wealthy young ladies. According to an assessment made by Style.com regarding the Russian Fashion Pack:“no one on the show circuit, with the exception of Anna Dello Russo, changes outfits more often or with more look-at-me enthusiasm than this group of designers, bloggers and scenemakers. With their audacious entrances and conspicuous consumption, they are the most visible new customers for couture in a generation, far outspending clients from emerging economies like India, Brazil and China. Karl Lagerfeld has said that, in a given season, some Russian clients have bought as many as 35 Chanel couture outfits, which typically have prices in the five and six figures.”

What the Russian fashion pack, Russian Mafia or the Czarinas prove is how much the Russian fashion has evolved in the last few years and the fact that Russia has a great potential to become the next big thing in the fashion world.

Before the 90s there were no fashion boutiques in the Soviet Union, but everything changed in 1991 when URSS collapsed. And Miroslava, alongside the other Czarinas is a part of this change. According to Miroslava, the now growing enthusiasm of her compatriots for fashion is the result of Russia’s own design industry remaining small, while the wealth in the country has increased a lot: “There was 70 years of nothing at all in our country, and then when people got huge money from oil, there was huge interest in fashion… Even if people had money before, they were afraid to expose it.”

And while you might not know her name, you most definitely recognize her from being all over the internet during Fashion Week. Her full name is Miroslava Mikheeva Duma and she is married to businessman Alexei Mikheyev (from what I could find she’s been married with him since she was only 20 years old, but I couldn't find photos of the dude) and has a boy, named George who is three years now (being born in October 2010).  Her education is not directly related to the world of fashion journalism in which she dwells today. She actually studied international business and business administration, graduating in 2008 from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (also know as the MGIMO). 

Cute pictures of Miroslava pregnant and her holding her baby soon after giving birth to him!

Just like Ulyana Sergeenko, Miroslava`s way into the fashion spotlight started after photos of her outfits appeared on popular fashion blogs like “The Sartorialist".

But the similarities stop here. While Ulyana grew up in a poor village in Kazakhstan and became a wealthy woman after marrying her husband, insurance oligarch Danil Khachaturov (the owner of Russia’s largest insurance company “Rosgosstrakh”), Miroslava has always been living a privileged life.

She was born in 1985 in Surgut, in the oil-rich Tyumen region. I discovered there are a lot of discrepancies online about her place of birth, with some people claiming that she was born in Moscow two years earlier and that she studied journalism, but Miroslava herself admitted these rumors are false and the “Wikipedia factor” of public editing is the reason why the rumors exist in the first place. She moved to Moscow with her parents in 1991, and there, her father, Vasily, became the head of Slavneft and then a senator, until 2011, in the Federation Council. 

She started as an editor at Russian Harper's Bazaar, but rapidly decided she was more interested in web journalism, becoming a freelance writer and co founder of Buro24/7 (she started the site with her friend Fira Chiliyeva), a website dedicated to fashion, art, architecture, cinema, music and style. Miroslava says Buro 24/7 is “kind of a bureau of information 24 hours, seven days a week. It provides our readers with quality information 24/7, up to 25 updates a day, on cinema, music, art, culture, fashion, lifestyle, social life – everything.”

The success of the website was so big that an Eastern European version is available now by license, and there are talks about English, Asian, French and Arabic versions (there’s a Buro Middle East already in English) and even Buro cafés and bars. That just proves that Miroslava seems to back up her style and beauty with some brains too.

The initial reason for quitting the Harper's Bazaar gig was the fact that her position there prohibited her from appearing in other magazines and that’s why she decided to resign. She also felt constrained in her efforts to promote the charity fund she had founded, Peace Planet, considering it was difficult to ask other magazines to promote her charity events while she was associated with Harper's Bazaar. She frequently collaborates with OK Magazinee (Russia), Tatler and Glamour (Russia). Mira's best friend is Natasha Goldenberg who’s regarded as yet another Russian fashionista. Apparently Mira has a reputation around Moscow for having an amazing collection of Hermes handbags and Louis Vuitton scarves and it really doesn't come as a surprise.

 

Mira Duna wearing a custom made Ulyana Sergeenko dress (I love how they seem to support each other by promoting their friends' work anytime they can).

She is as big as a doll and she confessed to altering all her clothes or wearing kid’s clothes. She was employed by Symphony, a Dubai Mall as the face of their SS 2012 campaign alongside her friend, street style blogger Tommy Ton as the campaign photographer. Other collaborations include being the ambassador to Chanel's jewelry collection inspired by Coco's designs from 1932. 

 

She also worked with Louis Vuitton for the release of an ad campaign titled ‘Small is Beautiful’ to celebrate their new line of mini bags. She started in this commercial alongside blogger Elin Kling and Hanneli Mustaparta a model-turned-photographer. The video is a homage to all things cute - think macaroons, bicycles and Miroslava herself, who appears as a pixie on the open palm of Elin, proving that good things do come in small packages. 

As much as I tried, and I really did I could not find a sure answer to the question: what is Miroslava`s Duma height? I wasn’t able to find anywhere her exact height because her height has never been confirmed, but most sources say it is between 5'1" to 5'3 (1.55-1.60m)

 Miroslava Duma in Oscar de la Renta for the Outnet campaign

She is a constant presence on street style blogs; she has a killer wardrobe and a truly creative and unique sense of style. I love the fact that she is not afraid to experiment with her clothes and even the most outrageous combinations of hers have been a success. As she confessed to Vogue Australia she has “an ability to mix very expensive and very cheap things in a way that they will look cool together. You just have to look in the mirror, experiment, see what works, what doesn’t, mix and match, and it’s like playing a puzzle really. I love mixing prints especially. My fashion style is experimental, because I’m still young and I’m experimenting. The 21st century is a mix of fashion trends – each decade before that was more distinctive, but now it’s a mix”.

Miroslava Duma with Elena Perminova and Vika Gasinskaya for Vogue Russia photographed by Alexey Kolpakov

 Pictures via her Instagram account!

She always pushes the boundaries but never goes overboard, combining pieces that look unexpectedly good together. She truly has an eclectic style being able to mix glamorous pieces with quirky ones for a chic result.

She seems like the kind of person that is paying attention to every single detail, from the color of her nails to her always changing hair style. She doesn’t do only one particular style being able to look cool, edgy and elegant at the same time but she does have a soft spot for necklaces and cozy Russian type sweaters and coats. She loves to combine color, prints, and textures, always styled with an unexpected accessory that gives her a playful look and makes you wonder and want more.

Early in 2014, Mira has been involved in a huge controversy after Dasha Zhukova (Roman Abramovich's girlfriend) was pictured sitting on the mannequin of a half-naked black woman for a photoshoot with Buro 24/7. Labeled as racist and ignorant, the photo was taken off shortly after it was posted, and Miroslava apologized for the whole incident and explained: "We are against racism or gender inequality or anything that infringes upon anyone's rights. We love, respect and look up to people regardless of their race, gender or social status".

The incident brought a lot of negative comments about Mira and old accusations of her being just a rich brat that is incapable of anything else but spending her father’s money on fabulous clothes, resurfaced. While this was obviously a big error in judgment, I don’t actually agree - she’s proven she can do more than just dress up.

The infamous photo I was telling you about!

For those of you who crave immediate fashion updates on this tiny Russian muse, you can always follow Mirosalva’s Duma official instagram account!

 Photos, : 1, 2, collages made by Sara

Let me know your thoughts about Miroslava Duma and her style!

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Vintage dress and burgundy bag

No matter how many dresses I’m going to get in the future, this one will always be one of my favorites. It’s such a classic without being boring – oh, no, cause it’s hot pink and has pleats and I can twirl in it like a crazy person and my ass will not even show. Not that I would ever do that – I’m a very dignified lady and such gestures are not in my nature.:))))

The bag I just got – it’s actually from a Romanian store with lots of beautiful purses, totes and clutches. So much so that I had a very hard time choosing, but I love it to bits – that’s why I wore it with items that I adore; I believe a great bag deserves good company.

  

Nu stiu daca va mai amintiti rochia fucsia, dar este una dintrele comorile mele vintage si asa va ramane, indiferent cat de multe alte rochii o sa colectionez in viitor. Si nu ma amagesc ca vor fi putine!

De fiecare data cand o port este o ocazie speciala – in general cand am ceva nou care-mi place mult. Si in acest caz vorbesc despre geanta – tocmai am primit-o si-i dintr-un magazin romanesc cu genti din piele naturala si sintetica. Mi-a fost super greu sa aleg si chiar si acum am unele indoieli, sunt super multe modele superbe. 

Am decis sa o iau pe aceasta din cauza culorii si formei speciale (si nu regret pentru ca deja nu mai este in stoc), dar mai sunt cateva genti care ma tenteaza extrem de tare: aceasta pentru ca-i clasica si nu s-ar demoda niciodata si aceasta pt ca-i roz si adorabila, vine primavara si eu am mintea si inima unei adolescente de 17 ani. Not to mention the body and face of a teenager too!:))))) Sigur o sa o vedeti des de acum incolo – in general port in nestire tot ce-mi place in mod special din garderoba mea si ignor restul pana imi trece pasiunea.

 Pictures by Costin!

    I’m wearing:

ankle boots / botine - random brand

  bag/ geanta - newt.ro

pleated dress/ rochie - vintage

leather sleeves cardigan  / cardigan maneci piele - here

  belt, fur collar, brooch / curea, guler blana, brosa -vintage

ring / inel - not sure (H&M?)

 

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Snow White cosplay

This is one of my go to outfits when I feel uninspired or I’m in a hurry and can’t lose too much time choosing my clothes. A belted leather skirt with a cute shirt and I’m done. It works for any season with the right accessories, and since is winter, long gloves and boots are the way to go.

 

The photos were taken by Costin before the snow storm we had here in Romania, when it was quite warm, still, I had a thick jacket on. I’m not going to catch a cold for the sake of fashion!

The hearts print shirt I have on reminds me of my childhood and the card games me and my friends used to play. Seems so long ago - sometimes I miss the days when people were smart and phones were dumb. :))))).  Not that I'm pretending I can live without my phone and my mobile games anymore, at this point I'm too deep down the rabbit hole. I actually forgot my phone home a few days ago and I felt empty inside for the few hours we were apart - it was like a part of me was surgically removed!  So many moments I could have instagramed for posterity, lost forever!:)))

When it comes to online shopping - I seem to always order the wrong size – I admit, the shirt it’s maybe a bit too tight, but I blame it on my trip to Bucovina and all the tasty food I “sampled”. :))) Still into hair bows – let’s just call this my Snow White cosplay month.

 My hair is a mess - totally out of control!

   I’m wearing:

boots / cizme - random brand

leather skirt / fusta piele - choies (here)

  bag/ geanta - New Look

  shirt/ camasa - choies (here)

  earrings / cercei - Koton

  long gloves, jacket / manusi lungi, jacheta - random brand

hair bow /funda par - made it myself

 

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Iggy Azalea – a white girl's love story with hip hop

This past year has been an incredible, almost surreal year for Iggy Azalea. As she puts it - “It's the year I got legit”. If you didn’t know her already, you should remember her name because you're going to hear it a lot this year! 

Let's hope she's not just the flavor of the month in the rap world, but rather someone that's here to stay. She certainly has the image part locked down - I find her look fresh and original, especially compared with what's traditionally expected from a hip hop girl.

Her ascent into the music business was incredible, but it wasn't an overnight success - she’s been trying for a while now. The white girl from Australia has become one of the most recognized hip hop voices in the USA. That’s really something considering her upbringing and geographical “shortcomings”. It’s hard enough for an American born artist to succeed there, so imagine how difficult it must have been for her. But Iggy Azalea took a chance on making it happen in America and now her struggle is finally paying off.  

Sure, she’s a high school dropout with a bit of an accent, she’s a white girl rapping, but looking like a supermodel and having a booty that makes people wonder if it’s real or not and a whole lot of perseverance, have transformed her into an unlikely success.

She was born on June 7, 1990 in Sydney, Australia and then, when she was very young, moved to Mullumbimby, New South Wales into a house that her father (a comic artist and painter), built by hand. She really hated that town: "It's a two-street shithole, where I worked on the farm and looked after cows. Nobody wears high heels there."

Her real name is Amethyst Amelia Kelly. Her stage name, Iggy, was inspired by the name of her family dog. She started rapping when she was 14 and she tried to make it in a group that she formed with two other girls from her neighborhood before going solo. She later learned that she was better off alone as the other girls weren’t taking things seriously enough. 

She dropped out of school because she hated it (she said she was miserable, had no friends and was bullied in high school manly because of her homemade outfits), and started cleaning houses with her mom in order to raise enough money to move to America. 

When she was 16 she finally moved to Miami. She told her parents she was going on a short holiday trip with a friend, but had planned to escape Australia for good all along. "I was drawn to America because I felt like an outsider in my own country, I was in love with hip hop, and America is the birthplace of that, so I figured the closer I was to the music, the happier I'd be. I was right."

After a few years spent in Atlanta, she moved to Los Angeles and in 2011 she started uploading videos on YouTube. People started paying attention after her music video for her controversial songs "Pussy" went viral. She then released a mixtape entitled Ignorant Art, her first big project, that she created "with the intent to make people question and redefine old ideals".

In 2013 Iggy Azalea was signed to Mercury Records and she was also snatched by Wilhelmina Models, who started representing her as a model (later that year she became the "New Face of Levi Jeans"). After label conflicts she changed her record label and went on to sign a deal with Island Def Jam. 

Iggy Azalea was the first female, non-American rapper to be featured in XXL magazine's annual "Top 10 Freshman" in 2012. She was the fans voted pick. This nomination lead to a Twitter feud with Azealia Banks, because Banks didn't like Iggy being featured in the magazine and didn't hesitate to speak up. Iggy fired back and the conflict began. Or so I thought, because the rivalry is apparently older than this outburst on Twitter and it started at the CMJ Festival in 2011.

It was then that Banks first threw a dirty shot at Iggy over Twitter (which she does a lot): "It actually started at CMJ Music Festival back in September when she went on Twitter and said, 'I’m next level, I had a song about being a Barbie before Nicki Minaj had a song about being a Barbie. Here’s the link to my song. And fuck Iggy Azalea, I had a song called "Pussy" before she ever did. Here’s a link to my song. It’s better.”  Iggy doesn’t seem to care much about it nowadays and I give her props for that.

Iggy Azalea launched her second mixtape, TrapGold, in October. It was considered one of her best releases yet, with a more mature and confident sound: “I was so mad and frustrated and angry, that’s why it’s so aggressive. I felt mad at people who’d fucked me over, I was mad about people shitting on me for being on the XXL cover; I’d broken up in my relationship. After I did TrapGold I felt like I’d let it all out. My album will definitely be like that, because I liked the way that made me feel…” 

Her provocative songs and videos made her a controversial artist and most of her material makes a lot of eyebrows raise. Since her songs are hyper-sexualized and lyrically provocative, the controversy comes as no surprise. She knows she's gorgeous and as many other female artists uses it to her advantage and she's being pretty literal and sometimes extreme about it. Nothing wrong with that! If you have it, flaunted it! I personally love her choice of skimpy outfits in all her videos, especially Change your Life and Murda Bizness (both of them featuring T.I.).

Iggy Azalea’ debut studio album, The New Classic, is set to be released in March 2014. The initial idea was for the album to be release in October 2013, but she revealed that the delay was caused by other commitments: "The official date? Fucked if I know! It's done, it's so depressing to say this but it's the beginning of March, it's so far away but I just have to accept that." 

  

It’s quite impressive that, coming from a small town of only 3000 people, Iggy managed to rise as one of the most promising artists in the hip hop arena, gaining not only fan's respect, but also the approval of rap’s biggest names. And to think she was only 16 when she came to America and knew only one person there, a friend she met online while searching for rap music (a boy named Derek), a teenager from Bahamas, that let her stay with him at her arrival, and whom she is still friends with. 

You must be really brave and a little bit crazy to have the guts to take such a life changing decision: “You’re a kid, so you don’t have any idea how big things are. I was scared, but I was more scared of what would happen if I stayed where I was. It wasn’t just about going somewhere to be a rapper. It was about going somewhere to feel like I could fit in. I was more scared of being unhappy and stuck.”

 

As for her personal life, Iggy is currently dating LA Lakers basketball player, Nick Young. Their relationship started after a few flirty messages on Twitter. In September 2013 Nick named Iggy his Woman Crush Wednesday. Then Iggy went on to tweet her support for Nick who was signed to his new team in July following a 12-month stint. The rest is history. 

  This is Nick Young! Not bad, right?

Before that, Iggy was in a relationship with rapper A$AP Rocky. Her finger tattoos - Live. Love. A$AP- was dedicated to her then boyfriend, Live. Love. A$AP being the name of his breakout mixtape.

After breaking up in 2012 she crossed the "A$AP" part of the tattoo. There have been rumors about Iggy Azalea and Kanye West at one point, but I’m pretty sure those were pure fabrication. Hell, the press has linked her to her mentor - T.I. - as well so I guess everybody’s up for grabs.

This one is A$AP Rocky, in case you we're wondering! The girl has a type! :)

Iggy Azalea has several others tattoos on her body (she got all of them after moving to L.A). She has “Trust Your Struggle” on her right forearm. She got the tattoo about 20 minutes after passing a wall with those words written on it: “Every single one of my tattoos I got the day I thought of it,” she confessed. I love her intention behind this tattoo:” It just means that you’ve got to kind of have faith in all the roadblocks that you come up against while you’re trying to reach your goal because there’s so many, and sometimes it just feels like its never-ending, and that’s how I felt when I got that tattoo. I just felt like I wanted to pack it in and give up but you’ve just got to keep persevering and trust that all the little things are just going to make you better. And that’s what it’s for, just to remind me when I’m having a bad day, “Don’t give up!” 

She also has “Color me free” tattooed on her foot, “The New Classic” which is the title of her debut album on her right-hand fingers and she replaced her previous flower tattoo on her right arm with a drawing of the face of Venus, from the famous “Birth of Venus” painting. 

I’m not completely sold on her music yet, but man, she sure knows a thing or two about making a great video. You better watch out, Lana Del Rey, there’s some real competition in town!

Iggy Azalea "Work" video 

I’m also a fan of the way she dresses, her fashion sense is a bit crazy, without going overboard and so eclectic, it’s quite fascinating! And I can totally see all the people she cites as inspiration when it comes to her fashion sense: ”As far as people whose style interests me I'd say Grace Kelly, Gwen, Spice Girls, Victoria Beckham, and that nanny called Fran".

Her quirkiness and over-the-top personality reflect in the way she dresses, she borrows bits and pieces from all her icons and combines them in a fresh and unique way. I also love the fact that she is tall (5ft10 - approximately 1,78 m), but she’s not afraid to wear killer shoes with her outfits. She always looks polished but in an exciting way. She's actually the same height and age as Taylor Swift (whom I find supremely boring fashion wise).

Iggy Azalea loves to show her curvaceous figure in crop tops, hot pants, short shorts, knee-length boots, micro-skirts, bra tops, floral and colorful prints, impressive jewelry, perfect makeup with red, pink or violet lips - her look it's on of those FreshTrends I actually enjoy. 

She’s basically feeding the question: Is Iggy Azalea's butt fake or real? (she denies any surgical intervention to emphasis her behind) with all those shorts and tight pants she’s sporting. 

And what do you know? Iggy might actually be the person that we have to blame for the twerking nightmare that plagues the world right now: “I’ve been doing that onstage for two-and-a-half years. She probably fucking watched my videos online and decided to try it.” (Iggy about Miley Cyrus’ ass-grinding shenanigans via Paper Mag:)

And, of course there’s also that long, flawless hair that she often wears in her now signature platinum blonde ponytail. I'm not going to lie -  I'm obsessed with her hair, even if I'm sure it's not all hers (lots of hair extensions have been sacrificed to make that happen).

She always looks like a glamorized Amazon and everything about her is picture perfect. I guess that’s why Vogue named her one of the ten Rising Style Stars of 2014. I’m always excited to see what Iggy Azalea will wear in her next video, on the red carpet and even "real life". I love the fact that she always has something up her sleeve; she can do it all, going from sexy dominatrix to sweet, ladylike outfits in a heartbeat. 

So let’s see: she’s been named one of MTV’s Artists to watch, got a major record deal, toured with Beyoncé and she’s preparing to debut her first album - The New Classic - this year. It's safe to say we can  expect great thing from this girl in the near future.  

 Photos and gifs: 1, 2.

Let me know if any of you was familiar with Iggy Azalea before? If so, what do you think?

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