I arrived to Budapest on 27th of August 2010, shortly before midnight. The same night I ended up in our legendary party mecca – Corvintető where they had the best dubstep parties every Wednesday (5 years later they still organize them!). The next day I had to start my first day at new work place –  the shittiest call center you can ever imagine. What was I doing there? Well, that was the internship I got through the AIESEC program and all I had to do was picking up hundreds of calls of useless Poles who did not have a clue about how to use their mobile phones (it was Sony Ericsson help desk). I remember ending up in a creepy flat at Peterdy utca, owned by some mysterious Chinese guy – all I could witness at the house was Buddha statues and other crazy Chinese props. Shared room, never ending parties and no privacy – that is what I remember from 2010/mid 2011. The good point was that in those days, taxi service used to be super cheap costing only 600 HUF. I could easily travel from Peterdy utca to Dohány, where I was a pretty frequent guest shortly after I moved to this flat. Why I used taxi all the time? Because from my first apartment to the one on Dohány utca I needed to cross Blaha Lujza tér. When I first time saw it, I was convinced that I ended up in some third world country. The amount of homeless and gypsies simply surpassed me.

On the other hand, those 4 months I spent in Dohány utca was actually one of the best times – constant parties in our stinky Vittula Klub, which organized the best electronic and Halloween parties. The street itself was really freaky with a mix of rich, poor, gypsies, prostitutes, students and tourists. You could literally find all sorts of characters, there. Worth to mention a deathless 24/7 Akácfa Söröző, where you could get the cheapest draft beer in the town for 250 huf only (let’s skip the fact the beer was quite tasteless).

credit: Klub Vittula

From the second half of 2011 until mid  2012 , I spent my days living in a luxurious building in district IX, attached to a gypsy ghetto. That was the reality of this district with newly built apartments attached to old buildings occupied by gypsy families. To be very honest with you, I truly disliked this district. Every time when I had to pass through Mester utca, I felt sort of nauseating and stressed. As it was not such a good time period for me in Budapest, most probably that’s why I hardly remember anything from that time.  ‘2012 – 2013’, it was a waste of my time as to my misfortune, I dealt with really inappropriate people on the top of some crazy parties. Nothing really spectacular. I did not do anything creative that time except hopping from one underground party to another. I left my Vitulla behind and moved to Telep, Toldi and from time to time A38.

The end of 2013 brought me to the Hungarian fashion scene. I still remember when by chance I discovered Fashion Week Budapest. That was like a breath of fresh air. Toni&Guy Fashion Week Budapest which was organized by Big Bag PR agency, was one of the first and most prestigious fashion shows in this city. I will be always remembering my first ‘frow’ (I got it by chance as well). Of course, I can’t miss my first attendance on Marie Claire Fashion Days when me and my friend proudly lied about being the executives from Canadian Fashion magazine, at the entrance. The problem started when I realized that I was dressed in super ugly clothes and only my quite fancy coat saved my ass. I should skip the part that it was really hot inside but as a real woman I was able to stand there in a coat just to keep up with my appearance and pretend as if I have been specially invited for the event.

In 2014 I totally devoted myself to Hungarian fashion. I met  a lot of great designers and had a wonderful opportunity to attend various fashion events. That was the time when I also started to organize interviews with the important people from the fashion industry. For people who do not speak Hungarian (yes I am still one of them), it’s not so easy to get to this world and most of the expats or generally foreigners might get to the opinion that Hungary does not have any fashion scene. I can ensure – it does have. Some of the Hungarian designers have phenomenal look books and campaigns. I am totally in love with USE unused campaigns.

From the left: Je Suis Belle, Dori Tomcsanyi, Nanushka

During this period, I also discovered a lot of great pop up stores or designer showrooms with truly unique pieces.

The end of 2014 and mid of 2015 was just a crazy year. Great parties in our underground electronic mecca LÄRM were mixed with many fashion events in Budapest. In between I had a shooting for the greatest vintage shop Szputnyik, popped up in Marie Claire online magazine in ‘Best of street chic’ section and We Love Budapest mentioned my website among 5 best fashion blogs in Budapest. I don’t know what the next half a year will bring but The Spoiled Queen never stops.

Just because I want to make your life easier, I created a Budapest fashion map which I am going to insert below. This map also include my favorite bars, clubs and restaurants which I have been discovering through years I have spent here. Please appreciate this fact unless you want to end up in the most duchess and touristic places of this city, again.

Please don’t be so proud of yourself if you will be telling your friends about drinking a beer in one of the best ruin bars you could imagine – Szimpla or Instant. Those two ruins bars are passé for many years and it will be very hard for you to find any locals there. Great Market Hall is also not the best place to get a delicious lángos, because the best one is made next to Arany János metro station!

In your shoes, I would download this map and keep it always with myself!

GOOGLE MAP