Monica photographed beautifully by Theo Manusaride in a silk one shoulder pleated wedding gown that I made for a wedding photography workshop. I always enjoy and appreciate creative freedom, that’s why when I get opportunities like this one, I take them in the blink of an eye. Hope you like the pictures as much as I do!

We started working on this fall collection right before Christmas last year. After a very long and very busy 2011, I felt the need to really concentrate on a new collection and really make something on a creative whim. I wanted it to be an exercise in the unusual color combination of pink and green, the sweetest hue of pink and the freshest hue of green. Our obsession with green and pink, and by our I am referring to me and my sister Flo, probably started with her prom dress and it just took of from there.

And what better model, for a green mood, other than a redhead? Fortunately we found Ildiko who came all the way from Targu Mures for the photos! She was amazing, I absolutely love her face and her hair and the visual results of this photo-shoot!

Andi Popescu took the photographs, Anca Mihalache made her look flawless, Catalin Vela was in charge of the hairstyling, Florina made the Josephine jewelry and Adriana Unguras helped us, being present on location. I dare say she was my assistant for the day! And then the next day she made me up because we filmed about the new fall collection for Raluca’s ‘In Voga’ TV show on Analog TV. I cannot wait to post the show online, as soon as I get it.

The mood board for this collection:

Below you can see the collection organized color-wise, so that you better understand my way of thinking and building this collection: starting from a neutral color and then slowly integrating pops of bold hues into the looks.

The dresses on the hangers before the photo-shoot:

A few of the initial sketches are below. We always start from a few ideas regarding the silhouette and then I always take it from there and add on looks, after we have an initial fitting.

Cristina Radonici was sweet enough to come for a fitting, because she is the perfect model for size S – 38.

Above are some of the fabrics that we used. I never can stick to only a few, I always go to the fabric store and see all sorts of amazing fabrics that I’d like to use. My biggest challenge will be to use only about 5 to 7 fabrics, and I find that impossible right now.

With more and more of the biggest names in fashion and other consumer goods selling their wares online, it’s about time an often puzzling question was answered – just what are the benefits of online shopping?

The first and most obvious benefit of pursuing the online shopping experience is its convenience. What could be better than sitting in the comfort of your own home and being able to browse and buy 24 hours a day – no more trips out in the rain or risking slipping on an icy high street. You can take advantage of the sales without fighting your way through crowds and receive goods almost immediately – opting for e-books over hard copies is just one example of this.

Another benefit is the variety of products available online. Rather than limiting yourself to the shops that exist on your local high street or shopping centre, you have the opportunity to browse online-only shops or companies that don’t have a huge high street presence. The Apple store, for example, has only 33 outlets in the UK, but you can order online 24/7 and have your items delivered within 3-4 days. It’s also the best option if you’re looking for an item that wasn’t available in your colour or size in store.

You may not know that shopping online can also be a big money saver – rather than going through stores, which have to increase prices to cover overheads, you can buy directly from the manufacturer. You can also take advantage of online-only deals – buying men’s jackets online, for example, can help you to secure some sizeable discounts. There are also companies that offer money-back codes if you shop through their websites – this can be a great way to save money to be used for other household essentials.

These are just some of the many benefits of swapping the high street for your armchair and shopping online. It’s quick, easy and safe and you can save a great deal of money if you look in the right places. Take a look online today and embrace a fantastic new shopping experience.

*this is a sponsored post

I was fortunate enough to be fully supported by the lovely people around me, who first thought it was crazy to make this project happen in a couple of days. But we managed to get everybody together and besides the fact that we froze during the couple of hours in which we ran around the city like rebel teenagers, everything went well.

I thought of the dress, Flo styled it, Florina made the Josephine necklace, Cristina Radonici was the bravest of us, wearing this outfit at -9 degrees Celsius, Adriana Unguras made her face look like a very angry but chic clown and Vlad Gilcescu & Ale Flamy where there to capture everything. Lots of ‘thank you’s’ for all the support.

I am so lucky to have creative and amazing people around me who say ‘yes’ most of the times to all my crazy ideas. And if these pictures spark any kind of commentary or motivate you to protest in your own way, for what you believe in, well then all the work and freezing was well worth it!

Florina published her new Josephine collection of jewelry today and I had to share it, as I made the dress for these photos (click to see the full post if you want to better see the dress) taken by Andi Popescu of the pretty Romina. Anca Mihalache was responsible for the perfect fall/winter make-up. How amazing are all the vintage golden and bronze frames behind her? The photos were actually taken in a local store in the Unirii Square in Timisoara, where they are actually produced. Thumbs up and support for local businesses who survive in this economy!

Alex Matusciac took these photos last year, but I forgot to post them. I made this navy velvet stretch dress for the photo shoot, very last minute, but I love the glam feeling and atmosphere of the photographs. Makes me crave for some sunshine.

”The Rainbow Dress’ photographed by Vlad Gilcescu, modeled by Davina Sinjorz.

The idea and inspiration for this colorful collection came from my painting background – I studied painting all through grade and high school and then I went to the Art University, so you can imagine just how much I enjoy working with color (even if I mostly dress myself in black – the world that I envision in my work is very bright and colorful). Everybody knows the basic colors and color combinations, so I wanted to make a collection of dresses using only primary, secondary and tertiary colors meaning: red, yellow, blue – orange, purple, green (as they are combinations of primary colors) and the tertiary colors are actually combinations of primary and secondary colors.

Fabrics that we (me and my sister, as she helped me a lot with the concept and sewing of the whole collection) used for the collection were mostly chiffon, silk chiffon, light cotton, Georgette, silk organza – meaning light and transparent fabrics for a very ‘summery’ effect.

We did not plan ‘the Rainbow dress’ from the beginning. It was late one night when me and Flo saw ourselves surrounded by all these bright, colorful fabrics, so we thought of a dress to feature them all.

The initial sketching of the collection.

These are the colorful dresses on hangers before we went to Valiug for the runway presentation.

I made this collage for you to better understand the idea of the collection. Taken separately, all of the dresses have elements in common, being either draped details, cotton colorful ribbons or colorful silk handmade flower attachments.

Look book photographs by Andi Popescu, model: Oana, make-up: Anca Mihalache, jewelry: Josephine.

You can see all the looks detailed on dianabobar.com in the category ‘Collections’ by clicking on the Spring/Summer 2012 link.

We had the opportunity to show the dresses in a summer presentation at Ponton Casa Baraj in Valiug. These pictures make me miss summer so much! Photographs by Vlad Gilcescu.

The end of the presentation – me posing with the lovely girls who walked for me.

Theo Manusaride asked her friend Andreea to pose for her in Paris. I loved to be able to take part of the project by making the wedding dress for the photo shoot and Florina made the Josephine headpiece. I custom made it for Andreea, she lives in Paris and she sent over her measurements, meaning we had no way to make the fitting, so I made the dress and sent it over hoping that it would fit her – and it did! I was pleasantly surprised when Theo posted the pictures online, as they were even more beautiful than I expected. Paris is indeed an amazing city, hopefully I will get to visit it more next year.

I also can not wait to be able to do more projects like this one in the year to come.

A couple of weeks ago me and Florina helped Alex with a photo shoot he planned, I styled it and we used some of the Josephine new jewelry. I made the black and beige lace underwear specially for the photo shoot and we used high heeled pumps from the Jazz store. Both coats are from a second hand store where we like to go from time to time and search for over the top clothing items that we otherwise won’t find anywhere else.

Also, I would love to have more styling jobs, so if you are a young photographer and need some help with the choosing of clothes for a shoot, let me know!

Me and Florina work in the same atelier, in Timisoara, so it’s very easy to have this on going collaboration. She knows exactly what I am thinking about and what I want with every new collection that we create. You can of course order any of the Josephine items and even have them custom made using crystals in a different color. Right now we are actually thinking of a new collection, so I can not wait to see what amazing pieces of jewelry she will make for DB in the near future. Also, there will be a new Josephine collection for brides for which I will be making two or three dresses.

Sometimes I am so excited about new ideas that I really can not wait for the time to pass and see the results.