playground

doll bag

2012-01-25T12:40:00.000Z

Chanel

dress code

2012-01-24T11:14:00.004Z

What a frenzied moment that was
Didn't they maintain an exhausting pace?
'Twas a thrilling, absolutely chilling
Running of the ascot opening race

Song Ascot Gavotte, My Fair Lady

For centuries (yep, centuries!) Ascot has been the centerpiece to see and be seen of the British Social Calendar. You show off your status and your money…but above all, you show off your fashion.

Now, organizers, worried by the rising importance and extragance of the public attire, have just released a guideline of sartorial standards for Ascot.

The new dress code states:

For women,

1. "Hats should be worn; a headpiece which has a base of four inches (10cm) or more in diameter is acceptable as an alternative to a hat."

2. They will also be expected to wear skirts or dresses of "modest length" that fall just above the knee or longer. Miniskirts were "considered unsuitable".

For men, a waistcoat and tie are now compulsory in this area of the course and cravats will not be allowed. Black shoes must also be worn with morning dress.

"It is stretching a point to say standards have collapsed but there is no doubt that our customers would like to get back to a situation where it is universally acknowledged that this is a formal occasion and not an occasion where you might dress as you would at a nightclub." - Nick Smith, spokeman of Ascot.

Durante siglos (sip, ¡siglos!), Ascot ha sido considerado como el centro del ver y ser visto del calendario social británico. Enseñas tu estatus y tu dinero… pero sobre todo, enseñas tu moda.

Ahora, los organizadores, preocupados por el creciente desmadre de los atuendos de los asistentes, que se habían convertido en la principal atracción, muy por encima de los caballos, ha publicado una guía los estándares de elegancia esperados en Ascot.

El nuevo dress code es el siguiente:

Para las mujeres,

1. “Se debe llevar sombrero, una pieza con una base que no supere los 10 cm de diámetro es aceptable como alternativa al sombrero.”

2. Se debe vestir falda o vestido a la altura de la rodilla o más larga. Las minifaldas no son consideradas apropiadas.

Para los hombres, los chalecos y las corbatas son consideradas obligatorias en el área de carreras, los pañuelos de cuello no están permitidos. Los zapatos negros también se deben utilizar con los trajes de día.

Lego proposal

2012-01-23T16:49:00.001Z

From Design Week

winners

2012-01-20T10:28:00.004Z

When a movie together? // ¿Para cuándo una película juntas?

image: chic

2012-01-16T12:38:00.003Z

Louis Vuitton Cruise 2012 campaign

red details

2012-01-13T09:47:00.001Z

In the last few months I have developed some sort of an obsession overred.

Goyard monogram bag shot by Tommy Tom at Pitti Huomo

(draft)

2012-01-12T17:31:00.001Z

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I apologize for this post: I'm updating all my "blog-related" profiles...

Back in scene // Vuelta a la escena

2012-01-12T14:55:00.001Z

Yesterday my sister took home the December 2011 issue of A magazine curated by Rodarte (Laura and Kate Mulleavy).

Kristen Dunst went from child star to actress-in-therapy (something not very unsual in Hollywood), although I've never thought - from my childhood iconic perspective of her - “one of those”… During 2011, Lars von Trier (a filmmaker I don’t fancy much) redirected on the right way towards interpretation thanks to her role of a depressive bride in Melancholia, one of the best movies I have watched in the last 6 months (along with Beginners).

Ayer, mi hermana llegó a casa con el número de diciembre 2011 de la revista A magazine curated by Rodarte - editado, como no podía ser de otra manera, por las hermanas Mulleavy de Rodarte.

Kristen Dunst pasó de niña estrella a actriz estrellada (algo habitual en Hollywood una vez cumplidos los 18). Yo nunca pensé, teniendo en cuenta que la tenía como icono en mi infancia, que pudiera convertirse en una de "esas"... Durante 2011, Lars Von Trier la ha devuelto a los caminos de la interpretación gracias al papel de novia depresiva en Melancolia, una de las mejores películas que he disfrutado en los últimos meses (además de, por supuesto, Beginners).

the Marni dream

2012-01-10T17:16:00.000Z

Once I dreamt on Marni retro patterns on my savvy H&M dress... I was living in that sort of fashion cloud, when I fell over headfirst...

I get excited when newspapers (first, blogs) tell me which is going to be the next designer collaboration, but I get even more excited when the name is Marni, and get even more more excited when the collaboration involves Sofia Coppola somehow (the advertising video).

However, all this rambling while uemployed was big food for thought during Xmast...

IF Marni fabrics are really good,

BUT H&M fabrics are not good,

AND Marni designs are very basic,

ERGO, H&M fabrics + Marni design = ...

Would I buy a piece? Let's wait until March 8th.

L. (In highly-insisting reporter mood): Mr. H&M, Prada? When? We want Miuccia!!!!

Cheap and chic, really?

2012-01-10T11:57:00.001Z

Mark Donne, writer at the UK edition of theHuffington Post, published yesterday a well-documented (although a bitsuperficial) insight into Topshop’s malpractices.

Topshop didn’t sign the Ethical Initiativedeloped by UK retailers. It has been repeatedly accused of overseas sweatshoplabour, having its employees in very bad conditions to produce the lines; andstill refuses to pay its staff the London Living Wage, minimum wage establishedby the Major of London to assure good living conditions.

Topshops is not the only one in its ongoingexploitation of its employees and suppliers, but it’s the most visible, themost linked to young people and the one that can bring more attention on thesubject.

Cheap and chic fashion for some shouldn’t meandegradation and poverty for others.

Mark Donne, columnista en laedición británica de The Huffington Post, escribió ayer un artículo (biendocumentado, aunque algo superficial) sobre las malas prácticas de Topshop.

Topshop es uno de los pocosretailers británicos que no firmaron la Ethical Initiative desarrollada porellos mismos, ha sido acusado repetidas veces de emplear mano de obra baratacon condiciones de trabajo pésimas para producir sus líneas y, además, aún seniega a pagar a sus empleados el London Living Wage, el salario mínimoaconsejado por el alcalde londinense para asegurar unas buenas condiciones devida en la capital del Reino Unido.

Topshop no es el único retailerque explota a sus empleados y proveedores, pero si es el más visible, el máscercano a la gente joven y el puede atraer más atención respecto al tema.

La moda barata y estilosa paraalgunos no puede significar pobreza y degradación para otros.

2012

2012-01-09T16:44:00.002Z

For me, new year has started without big news but full of expectations (not amends).

I'm terribly glad to have left 2011- Things became tough in the last three months and although during the first semester I was living the time of my life (travelling), for most of 2011 I was moody and irascible and felt really lost and angry towards the world.

I'm utterly confident things are meant to change: what it doesn't kill you, makes you stronger!

2012

2011-12-30T06:10:00.000Z

2011 has been for me and for some friends of my age the hardest year of our lives. 2011 has been the year of unemployment and demostrations, of feeling fear and close the doors of your dreams knowing that maybe you won't open them again; it has been a year to grow up and discover, to travel and to think about the uncertained future.

For those who have felt lost during 2011, 2012 is going to be our year!

2011 ha sido para mi y para la mayoría de los amigos de mi edad el año más duro de nuestras vidas. 2011 ha sido el año del desempleo y las manifestaciones, de sentir miedo y de cerrar las puertas de unos sueños que ya nunca sabes si volverás a abrir, ha sido un año para crecer y descubrir, para viajar y para pensar en el futuro incierto.

¡Para todos aquellos que se han sentido perdidos durante 2011, 2012 será nuestro año!

Bells

2011-12-27T14:38:00.003Z

Bimba&Lola earings, Xmast present

Yves

2011-12-17T19:29:00.000Z

Last week, I was visiting my sister in Madrid for a few days and went to Fundación Mapfre to watch Yves Saint Laurent work.

I still remember the day he died: june 2008. I was living in Paris and from the window of my office we watched hundreds of Parisians silently lined the Fabourg Saint-Honoré surrounded by designer boutiques. I was surprised that such a reserved person was having such a public funeral.

The collection at Mapfre is worth it and free to enter...It's opened until Jan. 8th.

La semana pasada estuve visitando unos días a mi hermana en Madrid y aproveché para acercarme hasta la fundación Mapfre a ver la obra de Yves Saint Laurent.

Aún recuerdo el día en que murió: junio 2008. Yo vivía en París y desde la ventana de mi oficina vimos como cientos de parisinos se alineaban en silencio en Fabourg Saint-Honoré rodeado de boutiques de moda. Recuerdo que me sorprendió que un hombre tan reservado tuviera un funeral público.

La visita a la colección merece la pena y es gratuita...Está abierta hasta el 8 de Enero.

-

2011-12-14T21:04:00.002Z

Temperley Prefall 2012

worn out jeans

2011-11-25T08:27:00.001Z

Early this year APC introduce a new service: those customes who prefer their jeans to look new will be able to return their worn jeans and buy a new pair at cost. The old pair will then be stitched up and repaired in any way necessary, marked with the initials of the previous owner, and then sold on to customers who prefer their jeans to have a 'worn in' chic look.

The iniciative, called 'Butler Worn Out', comes from a nineteenth century custom of the English aristocracy where butlers would break in their masters' trousers in an effort to help them avoid appearing nouveau riche...

Hace unos meses APC introdujo en el mercado un nuevo servicio: aquellos clientes que prefieren que sus vaqueros parezcan siempre nuevos podrán devolver sus vaqueros usados y comprar unos nuevos a precio de coste. El par antiguo se reparará y limpiará si hace falta, se marcará con las iniciales del anterior dueño y se venderá a aquellos clientes que prefieren pantalones con un look "usado".

La iniciativa, llamada "Butler Worn Out", viene del siglo XIX cuando los mayordomos de la aristocracia británica comenzaron a usar los pantalones de sus jefes para no parecer nuevos ricos...

image: look at me

2011-11-24T15:40:00.001Z

Love the BettyDraper-esquestyle of Jil Sanders S/S 2012 collection

Me encanta el rollito Betty Draperde la última colección de Jil Sanders

skulls revisited

2011-11-17T11:43:00.001Z

Alexander McQueen skull pochette, new reinterpretation of the classic skull pochette by McQueen with a touch of refinement and sofistication. At Selfridge's

image: blue air

2011-11-15T17:10:00.001Z

Cate Parr illustration

fashion parody

2011-11-12T11:42:00.001Z

Steven Meisel was commisioned by W Magazine to develop a series of parody fashion ads for the November issue. It plays with the obsession with celebrities, beauty, perfect bodies and fashion standards.

11.11.11

2011-11-11T11:11:00.000Z

Six years ago, the blog as born. At that time, blogging seemed like a fleeting happiness and I took the challenge to have fun on my own in front of my laptop writting on thoughts. Today, blogging has given me a very genuine way to express myself and develop my communication skills whereas I have the feeling of being part of a community that cares for me.

Thanks to all.

(Every now and then I come to write a sentimental message in order to tell you how much this project means to me and much I thank you all... I know it's a bit corny, but it's true.)

Hace seis años nació este blog. En aquel momento, bloguear era una especie de felicidad pasajera y yo acepté el reto de disfrutar escribiendo sola delante de mi ordenador. Hoy, bloguear se ha convertido en una forma perfecta de expresar lo que siento y desarrollarme al mismo tiempo que siento que formo parte de una comunidad que me alimenta y me cuida.

Gracias a todos.

(Cada cierto tiempo, sin pretenderlo, acabo escribiendo un mensaje sentimentaloide de este estilo para haceros saber cuánto significa este proyecto para mi y para agradecer que sigáis ahí... sé que es cursi, pero es verdad.)

shine

2011-11-06T19:44:00.002Z

Shiny top by Suno

lessons in life

2011-11-04T18:36:00.000Z

Sometimes cartoons (like Hey Arnold) can be more elightening than real life and, of course, much more than adults.

The quote I've found by chance at a tumblr and posted in the last entry reflects my current state of mind. At this point of my life I'm facing some sort of an emotional crisis that's genuinely attached to my disappointment with people's behaviour towards certain situations.

I know I can still trust people; I have good friends to trust. Albeit, during the last month, at 25 years old , I've learned a big lesson for life: be careful with whom you trust, what they once promised might not be true, look for yourself and nothing else.

(Oh god, can someone be so naive?).-

A veces los dibujos animados (como Hey Arnold) pueden ser más esclarecedores que la vida real, y que por supuesto los adultos.

La cita que encontré por casualidad en un tumblr y que adjunté en mi último post refleja my actual estado de humor. En estos momentos estoy superando una especie de crisis emocional originalmente ligada a mi decepción con el comportamiento de la gente en determinadas situaciones.

Sé que todavía puedo confiar en la gente, tengo buenos amigos en quién confiar. No obstante, durante el último mes, a mis 25 años, he aprendido una gran lección en la vida: sé prudente con aquellos en los que confías, lo que una vez te prometieron puede que no se haga realidad, cuida de ti mismo y nada más.

(¿Puede alguien ser más naif?).-

survival

2011-11-03T18:16:00.001Z

from here

image: dark madonna

2011-10-19T13:08:00.000+01:00

Garage Magazine September 2011

style icon: marujas 2.0

2011-10-15T11:32:00.000+01:00

Rochas / Picture from Self Magazine

red on red

2011-10-13T12:09:00.000+01:00

I've always paid a lot of attention to magazine covers. At the very end, a good cover is what brings you to buy a publication; it's not only about headlines but also about the aesthetic - especially when talking about a style or fashion publication.

Chinese GQ october cover is brilliant. The total red look is bestowed with elegance and power while it keeps a minimalist spirit.

Seeing it I couldn't help thinking on Lokomia and late 80s.

---------------------------------------------------

Siempre he dedicado atención a las portadas de las revistas. Al fin y al cabo, es una portada lo que te lleva a comprar una publicación; no son sólo los titulares, es también la estética que destila esa portada - sobre todo si se trata de una publicación de moda o de estilo.

La portada del número de octubre de la edición china de GQ es brillante. El look todo en rojo le otorga fuerza e impacto mientras mantiene elegancia y un aire minimalista.

Al verla no he podido dejar de pensar en la influencia de Lokomia y los 80.

oh!

2011-10-13T09:40:00.002+01:00

Balenciaga Fall 2011

the bear // el oso

2011-10-11T13:00:00.000+01:00

I would never buy a fur coat; among other reasons, due to my eco-friendly pseudoprinciples - I talk about pseudoprinciples because I'm still not able to resist to get a pair of leather shoes or a suede jacket... However I've been seduced by this extravaganza; suitable for a flamboyant Lady Gaga rather than for a minimalist.

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Yo nunca compraría un abrigo de piel; entre las razones, por mis pseudoprincipios eco-friendly - hablo de pseudoprincipios porque todavía no soy capaz de resistirme a unos zapatos de piel o a una cazadora de ante... Sin embargo, me he dejado seducir por esta extravaganza; más propia de una Lady Gaga que de una minimalista.

Damir Doma mongolian fur cape, from LNCC //

Capa de piel de Mongolia de Damir Doma, de LNCC

down to earth

2011-10-10T15:26:00.003+01:00

Heels seems to get shorter and more moderate, getting us down to earth // Los tacones se están acortando y se hacen más moderados; nos acercan más al suelo.

Manolo Blahnik shoes

je cherche un répit

2011-09-28T23:13:00.000+01:00

Bag from Le Composants

blue blue // azul azul

2011-09-24T20:57:00.000+01:00

I'm very fond of this tone of blue used by Antonio Marras for the S/S 2012 show in Milan // Me encanta el tone de azul empleado por Antonio Marras en la colección primavera-verano 2012 presentada en Milan.

Picture by style.com

diluted enthusiasm // entusiasmo diluido

2011-09-23T18:51:00.003+01:00

Find attached the link to an interesting article about the magic of fashion.

I understand, for instance, the inconsistence of the New York catwalk to have more than 50 shows and that all of them take part on the Style.com selection: it’s overwhelming and only turns fashion into a numbing business, especially when most of the shows don’t include exciting elements (such as choreography, lighting, music, etc).The enthusiasm and agitation aroused by fashion is still there; yet a little bit diluded by the excess of shows and designers and, most likely, by the excess of information we receive everyday. Nowadays, it’s possible to be watch Marc Jacobs show as it’s happening without having to wait for a big publication to give us its personal opinion.
.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The article is significally focused on the negative side of changes faced by the fashion world during the last decade (big designers doing collections for mass retailers, bloggers in front rows, online publications, mix of trends, big conglomerates, introduction of developing countries, current global economic scenario, etc.). That is, the article falls into a certain degree of etilism in its point of view; albeit, to speak the truth, fashion has become more mainstream and has lost part of its halo of magnificence and exclusivity.

Os dejó el enlace a un artículo muy interesante sobre la magia de la moda.

El artículo se centra especialmente en la parte negativa de los cambios que ha afrontado el mundo de la moda en la última década (diseñadores haciendo colecciones para mass retailers, bloggers en front rows, publicaciones online, mezcla de tendencias, grandes conglomerados, introducción de países en desarrollo, escenario económico global, etc). Esto es, el artículo ofrece una visión excesivamente elitista; si bien es cierto que la moda se ha hecho más mainstream y que ha perdido parte de ese halo de magnificencia y exclusividad que tenía.

Entiendo que no es posible que una pasarela como Nueva York ofrezca más de 50 desfiles, y que estos entren a formar parte de la selección que hace style.com. Es abrumador e inconsistente; convierte a la moda en tan solo un negocio algo soporífero, especialmente cuando muchas de las presentaciones no incluyen ningún elemento excitante (coreografía, iluminación, música, etc).

El entusiasmo y alboroto que la moda genera sigue estando ahí pero ha quedado diluido por el exceso de shows y diseñadores, la falta de creatividad y el exceso de información que recibimos todos los días. Hoy por hoy el posible ver en tiempo real que está pasando en el desfile de Marc Jacobs sin tener que esperar ansiosamente a que un medio de comunicación a gran escala ofrezca su propia versión de los hechos.

Pictures of Chanel and Alexander McQueen shows

image: inspired

2011-09-19T23:00:00.000+01:00

Madonna photographed by Herb Ritts

high-tech fashion

2011-09-17T22:39:00.000+01:00

Jungeun Lee works on synthetic fabrics in other to find innovative methods to design and manufacture clothes // Jungeun Lee trabaja con fibras sintéticas con el fin de encontrar métodos innovadores en la confección textil.

strike the pose

2011-09-16T22:49:00.001+01:00

I love fashion photography; all the fantasy involved (by the hand of the photographer, the make--up artist, the lighting, the expressiveness of the model, the oufit and, of course, the photoshop) and this feeling that carries you to different universes where everything is posible, including the most extravagant contorsionist poses and pin-up in cocaine expressions.

The Spanish artist Yolanda Domínguez has just presented her work Poses; where women from the street in randomly normal situations pose like in fashion photography.

When you bring the fashion magic to the stree everything looks so absurb, but... Isn't it better to live dreaming? Would a hing-end piece of clothing be as actractive as it is without an environment that recreates an imaginary world where everything is possible.

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Adoro la fotografía de moda, toda la fantasía que envuelve (magia del fotógrafo, los maquilladores, la iluminación, la expresividad del modelo, las prendas de ropa y por supuesto, del photoshop) y esa sensación que te teletrasporta a otros universos donde todo es posible; incluidas las más extravagantes poses de contorsionista y expresiones de pin-up encocainada.

La artista española Yolanda Domínguez ha presentado su trabajo Poses donde expone a mujeres de la calle en situaciones normales representando las poses y expresiones de fotografías de moda.

Cuando acercas la magia de la moda a la calle toda parece tan absurdo, pero... ¿no es mejor vivir soñando? sería tan atractiva una prenda de vestir sin una ambientación que recreara un mundo imaginario donde todo es posible?

Recommended Sountrack for the post: Vogue by Madonna

Pictures by Yolanda Domínguez

when things change // cuando las cosas cambian

2011-09-14T01:29:00.000+01:00

Suddenly, a thousand things happen; you see them happening and you don't know how to react. You are still trying to adapt. You feel changes are close and you feel the dizziness attached to incertainty.

That has been my life during the last week: from employed to umemployed, from girlfriend to exgirlfriend, from tenant to evicted.

In the meantime, I amuse myself with New York Fashion Week. I'm not very fond of anything displayed until now.

I'm furious.

I need a break.

But I have a strange feeling of happiness.

Why?

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De repente mil cosas pasan; y las ves pasar y no sabes cómo reaccionar. Todavía estás intentando adaptarte. Presientes que los cambios se acercan y sientes el vértigo de la incertidumbre.

Así ha sido mi vida en la última semana: de empleada a desempleada, de novia a exnovia, de inquilina a desahuciada.

Mientras tanto, me entretengo con la semana de la moda de Nueva York. Nada me ha llamado la atención.

Estoy furiosa.

Necesito un descanso.

Pero tengo una extraña sensación de felicidad.

¿Por qué?

Ginger

2011-09-10T16:12:00.000+01:00

Pictured by Tommy Ton during NYC fashion week

minimal row

2011-09-04T22:30:00.000+01:00

Dear readers,

I have just started a new blog: Minimal Row, where each day I'll post one fashion item I'm in love with and that's in line with my personal aesthetic based on the concept of "less is always more".

I thought it was a better idea to develop Minimal Row as an aside project of Playground instead of just a section or label since it's conceived as a daily publication. Images talked by themselves, words ain't need.

For any doubt concerning Minimal Row you can write me to this email: minimalrow@gmail.com.

Enjoy it!

Best regards,

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Queridos lectores,

He empezado un nuevo blog: Minimal Row, donde cada día publicaré una prenda o accesorio de moda en línea con mi estilo personal y siguiendo el leitmotiv "menos es siempre más".

Minimal Row ha sido concebido como un proyecto aparte de Playground ya que se trata de una publicación diaria; donde las imágenes hablan por si mismas, sin necesidad de palabras.

Para cualquier pregunta relacionada con Minimal Row, podéis escribirme a: minimalrow@gmail.com.

Espero que lo disfruteis.

Un saludo,

Thomas Voorn: the interview

2011-09-03T22:38:00.000+01:00

About 3 years ago I wrote a little post about Thomas Voorn and his personal aesthetic. Before my post I exchanged a couple of emails with him to get a closer view of his work. I never published the little chat we had but, althought it might be a bit updated, I think it's still very interesting.

ME: the concept of Thomas Voorn is defined as "a new concept of beauty", what does that mean? Is this beauty understood as a tradicional beauty or are you trying to find a new definition, outside from the classical parameters?

TV: Since quite a few years I am pushing the boundaries of contemporary fashion aesthetics in my work. Trying to expand the idea what contemporary fashion can be. Exploring what could be entitled as a "new sense of beauty".

In the ongoing 'coming home series' I focus on my search for a contemporary clash and match in colour and print on a "small scale". I use the traditional "mug shot" (portrait photograph) to let the colour/print combination take over the picture rather than the garment. Placing traditional feminin floral prints and mixing them with colours/prints to create a new fashionable sense of masculinity.

ME: Could you tell me a little bit more about the collaboration of Jeanette Osterried in Osvomode?

TV: In the collections of the high fashion label OsvoMode (2002/2003-2006), which I founded with Jeanette Osterried, we worked from the concept that our designs did not have to represent beauty at first glance. Designing garments tat you might had to get used to in time. Exploring where beauty ends, and ugliness begins and in that way extending the way one can perceive beauty in fashion industry. In contrast to, for example, music, where we are much more used to listening to an album a few times before actually appreciating it; we applied this thought on fashion collections.

ME: it seems to me that the main idea of this project relies on prints and patchwork more than finding new shapes and volumes, and the feelings and emotions than can be created through patchworks and prints. In which concept do you based the identity of the clothes?

TV: While I was studying fashion ten years ago, I worked already with fabric combinations that were "unsual"; looking for a friction between colours and prints to make one think if this represents beauty or not. Exploring how you can apply colour and print in a outfit and how you can play with them proportion-wise to balance on the edge.

ME: Is there a connection between your way of understanding fashion and contemporary art? Which are your main influences?

TV: In my work I'm always looking to make a fashion statement, but use and autonomous way of working and thinking bout fashion, clothes and dessing-behaviour to create imagery. My main influence are people on the streets that are not aware of what they are wearing and communicating with their clothes. Fascinating.

.- April 2008.

Special thanks to Thomas Voorn

we criticize

2011-09-02T21:02:00.002+01:00

Lady Gaga for V magazine:

"In the year 2011, everyone is posting reviews. So how does someone like Ms. Horyn separate herself from the online pack? The reality of today’s media is that there are no echelons, and if they’re not careful, the most astute and educated journalists can be reduced to gossipers, while a 14-year-old who doesn’t even have a high school locker yet can master social media engines and, incidentally, generate a specific, well-thought-out, debatable opinion about fashion and music that is then considered by 200 million people on Twitter."

Full article here

Lanvin, I Know You Want Me

2011-09-01T19:33:00.002+01:00

I would have never linked Lanvin and reggaeton in the same idea but aparently Meisel did and the result is a big buzz campaign on youtube these days. Actually the association is very funny and fits perfectly to get one of the best ad campaigns of the fall. Models dancing with the steps of a Wii program and final appareance of Mr. Elbaz: genius!

Love how Karen Elson waves her red hair following the sound of music.

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Nunca se me hubiera ocurrido asociar a Lanvin y al reggaeton en una misma frase pero parece que Meisel si lo hizo y ha resultado en este divertido video que circula estos dias por YouTube y varias webs de moda. Lo cierto es que la idea es buena y encaja perfectamente con el efecto que el fotógrafo esperaba conseguir para una de las mejores campañas de esta temporada. Modelos bailando al ritmo de los pasos de la Wii y el final apoteósico con Mr. Elbaz en persona: brillante!

Me encanta como Karen Elson mueve su cabellera al ritmo de la música.

travel

2011-08-29T22:47:00.000+01:00

Travelling is something almost inborn for me. My father's job has always meant moving to different cities and countries every 2 or 3 years. Thereby, I've attained some sort of easy addaptation to every kind of environment, though we have just lived in developed countries, except for a year and half in India that can't remember, since I was just a baby. I was when I started college in London when I kind of settle down for an undefined period of time and make this city my home town.

When you travel, you learn. You learn a lot:

1. what is polite for you is unpolite for others, and viceversa (cultural differences).

2. many people lives under less than a pound per day (global inequality).

3. you easily accept difference.

4. you discover that nothing happens if you don't take a shower in three or four days.

5. you learnt not to be scrupolous in certain situations (eating with your hands).

6. fashion is not that important (wearing everything you have on your case because it's freezing outside).

7. you learn to trust in others (hitchhiking).

8. you gain coinfidence and independence.

9. you value more what you have left behind (home, friends and family).

10. you do friends that can last forever despite the uncertainty of a future reunion.

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Viajar es algo innato en mi. Debido al trabajo de mi padre, mi familia ha vivido en varias ciudades y países. Por tanto, creo que he desarrollado una especia de adaptación natural y rápida al medio; aún habiendo solamente vivido en países desarrollados, excepto un año y medio en la India siendo yo todavía un bebé. Fue cuando empecé a estudiar en la universidad en Londres cuando me establecí y convertí esta ciudad en mi hogar.

Cuando viajas, aprendes. Aprendes mucho:

1. lo que para ti es educado para otros es maleducado, y viceversa.

2. mucha gente vive con menos de un euro al día.

3. aceptas más facilmente las diferencias.

4. descubres que no pasa nada si no te duchas en 3 o 4 días.

5. aprendes a dejar tus escrupulos de lado en determinadas situaciones (comer con las manos).

6. la moda realmente no es tan importante (ponerte toda la ropa que tienes en la maleta porque estás a menos 20 grados sin calefacción ni agua caliente).

7. aprendes a confiar en los demás (autostop).

8. ganas en confianza e independencia.

9. valoras más lo que has dejado atrás.

10. haces amigos que duraran para siempre a pesar de lo incierto de un posible reencuentro.

Pictures taken by me while travelling in Bolivia // Fotografías tomadas por mi mientras viajaba por Bolivia

the other cover

2011-08-15T18:06:00.007+01:00

I don't consider myself a fan of Kate Moss - actually I've critisized her in this blog a few times -, however I live in the country that has seen her born and that contributes to spread her myth with the easy verbal diarrhoa from tabloids. Thereby, I have no option but to pay her attention and I recognize I was curious to see her wedding pictures taken by Mario Testino.

And here it is her cover for the US Vogue, a good example of a well-done cover:

a. the socialité selected is a model, that is, she knows how to pose with grace. Models should be on catwalks and covers, singers on stage and actresses on films.

b. the pose is good, although I would have prefered that Kate would stop pulling her head poses.

c. the dress is Alexander McQueen.

d. the photoshopping is excesive - nobody would put the real Kate on a cover - but appropiate for a mainstrem american fashion magazine.

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No me considero fan de Kate Moss - de hecho, la he criticado en más de una ocasión en este blog - pero vivo en el país que la vio nacer y que más contribuye a crear el mito Moss con la verorrea barata de los tabloides. Por tanto, no me queda más remedio que prestale atención y reconozco que yo también tenía interés en ver las fotos de Mario Testino de su boda.

Y he aquí su portada para el número de septiembre del Vogue americano, un buen ejemplo de una buena portada:

a. la persona elegida es una modelo; es decir, sabe posar y lucir con gracia. Soy una de esas que opinan que las modelos están mejor en las pasarelas, las cantantes en el escenario y las actrices en las películas.

b. la pose es buena; a pesar de que Kate abusa de esos toques de cabeza

c. el vestido elegido es un Alexander McQueen.

d. el fotoshopeo es excesivo - nadie pondría a la verdadera Kate sin más - pero apropiado por tratarse de una revista de moda mainstream.

picture from TFS

the cover

2011-08-14T20:15:00.003+01:00

The september issue of Vogue Paris is already out. Well, not really until the 22nd of August, but first images have already been displayed.

Since Emmanuelle Alt embraced the role of Carinne Roitfield at the publication I've been anxiously waiting for this moment. Everybody knows the september issue is the most important of the year due to its sellings, and therefore the one with the highest expectations.

I'm disappointed.

The cover and the socialité selected to be the cover aren't the best choice: Charlotte Casiraghi would be ok for one of the soft/boring issues of in-between seasons.

Maybe under the hands of a different photographer - pictures are by Mario Testino - the result would have been a little bit more avant-garde and innovative.

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La edición de septiembre de Vogue Paris ya está a la venta. En realidad, hay que esperar hasta el 22 de agosto, pero las primeras imágenes ya han visto la luz.

Desde que Emmanuelle Alt ocupó el puesto de Carine Roitfield en la publicación he estado esperando este comento con ansias. Todos sabemos que el número de septiembre es el más importante del año, por su volumen de ventas y que, por tanto, es el que genera mayores expectativas.

Personalmente, a mi no me gusta.

La portado y la personas elegida para el principal reportaje no han sido la mejor opción: Charlotte Casiraghi debería ocupar uno de los números de los meses blandos o aburridos de entre temporadas.

Quizás, con otro fotógrafo (las fotos son de Mario Testino) el resultado hubiese sido mejor: más innovador y avant-garde.

Picture from StoreMags

the french woman // la mujer francesa

2011-08-11T19:13:00.000+01:00

The mythe of the french woman (better said, parisian woman) has been developed in many books and publications that believe they're ofering you the key tips to become "one of them". The last one: Inès de la Fressange's Parisian Chic: A Style Guide.

If you walk around the streets of Paris (only in some of its arrondisements) you'll get numerous close pictures of the style described. Nowadays, I still wonder if the mythe is true or just a big business.

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El mito de la mujer francesa (mejor dicho, parisina) ha sido y es mantenido por numerosos libros y publicaciones que creen ofrecer las claves para convertirse en "una de ellas". Uno de los últimos el de Mdame Inès de la Fressange, Parisian Chic: A Style Guide.

Si te paseas por las calles de Paris (de algunos de sus barrios, no todos) conseguirás varias imagenes muy cercanas a la que se describen. Hoy en día, me sigo preguntando si el mito es real, o es sólo una gran empresa.

style icons: the triplets of Belleville

2011-08-10T02:34:00.001+01:00

I move

2011-08-09T00:50:00.001+01:00

by Rick Mereki

Russian glamour // glamour en ruso

2011-08-04T19:49:00.000+01:00

What's glamour according to Russians?

Russian glamour is fur coats, red lipstick and a cold and distant attitude to life; or white and expensive tracksuits with bling-bling and baseball cups with giant bright letter that say : RUSSIA.

That is,

1. appareance is what matters and nothing more: it's not about being rich, it's about looking like a rich.

2. anyone can be rich in Russia: everything works (the tracksuit and the tigh black dress) as long as it's from a well-known brand.

3. russian glamour is linked to ostentation; not to elegance.

Thereby, we can say Miroslava Mikheeva isn't the epitome of the russian glamour whereas Ksenia Schobak is... or Are they both?

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¿Qué es el glamour según los rusos?

Glamour ruso es abrigos de piel, pinta labios rojo y una actitud gélida y distante ante el mundo; o chándales blancos, caros y con brillos junto a gorras de béisbol de colores deslumbrantes y letras grandes que dicen: RUSSIA.

Es decir,

1. Lo que importa es la apariencia, y nada más que eso: no es ser rico, es parecer rico.

2. Cualquiera puede tener glamour en Rusia: todo vale (el chándal y el vestido ajustado) siempre y cuando sea de marca y la marca esté visible.

3. el glamour ruso es sinónimo de ostentación, no de elegancia

En consecuencia, podemos decir que Miroslava Mikheeva no es la personificación del glamour ruso; Ksenia Schobak si lo es... o ¿lo son las dos?

image: another woman

2011-08-03T21:51:00.000+01:00

By Irving Penn

outside a show

2011-08-01T03:40:00.000+01:00

Yesterday British Vogue ended up in my hands by chance. I don't buy Vogue anymore, not since a long long time. The August Issue (with Kate Moss by Mario Testino in the cover) includes an editorial picturing bloggers styles outside fashion shows - just as Italian Vogue did a while ago with celebrities bag-chic style.

I'm excited to see and read and judge the September Issue of the French Vogue this year; first September Issue by Emmanuelle Alt.

image: a woman

2011-07-30T20:11:00.000+01:00

by Vivien Maier

luxurious pâtisserie // confitería de lujo

2011-07-29T15:12:00.004+01:00

Sex and the city turned many things into luxury; among others, Magnolia Bakery cupcakes. Now, its owner, Steve Abrams, plans to extend the business through franchises all around the world.

Abrams told The Wall Street Journal that the brand is perceived as luxury in emerging markets such as Asia, Middle East and South America .

Would you pay for these cupcakes?

Because I think I wouldn't. And I belong to The Sybarites Club.

As it happened to me with macarons a while ago, I have a real aversion to the colours of these cupcakes.

The first time someone offered me a macaron, I stared at it and wonderes why it had such strange colour (it was green) and such a cheap appareance - just like any other manufactured pastry to be sold at Mark&Spencer or, worst, Tesco. They are very famous and expensive, indeed.

The original macaron comes from Italy and was introduced in France by Catalina de Médici. Today, it's considered to be a distinguished and eye-catching pastry and is strongly associated to luxury. In Paris you can find them in many pâtisseries, being Pierre Hermé and Ladurée the most famous.

I'm one of the few that think macarons are overestimated.-

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Sexo en Nueva York convirtió en lujo muchas cosas, entre otras, las magdalenas de Magnolia Bakery. Ahora, su propietario, Steve Abrams, planea extender el negocio a través de franquicias por todo el mundo.

¿Pagariáis por estas magdalenas?

Creo que yo no lo haría. Y perteneco al Club de los Sibaritas.

Al igual que en su día el macaron, los colores que adornan estas magdalenas me causan cierta aversión.

La primera vez que alguien me ofreció un macaron, lo miré y me pregunté cómo es posible que algo con ese color tan extraño (era verde) y con un aspecto tan barato - de pastelería industrial empaquetada para vender en Mark&Spencer, o peor, en el Tesco - tuviera tanta fama y fuera tan caro.

El macaron original es italiano y fue introducido en Francia por Catalina de Médici. Hoy se le considera un postre distinguido y llamativo y se asocia al lujo. En París se puede encontrar en numerosas pâtisseries, siendo las más conocidas las de Pierre Hermé y Ladurée.

Soy una de las pocas que cree que los macarrons están sobrevalorados.-

The Sybarites Club // El Club de los Sibaritas

2011-07-28T01:00:00.000+01:00

About a year ago, we realized we have a weekly routine: on modays I meet E to go to a tea shop (always a new one); almost every wednesday we go to a hidden chinese restaurant and watch our indie movies; on fridays we make a reservation to have dinner and then we choose a cocktail bar; and once or twice a month one of us cooks for the rest with the only rule of "cooking something different each time", the others buy the wine...

Talking about this with more friends, they told me they also have a routine: on tuesdays, movies with popcorn and coke; on wednesday, KFC; and on fridays, chines or indian food and pub... and joking, the concept of The Sybarites Club was born.

The Sybarites Club is us.

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Hace algo más de un año nos dimos cuenta de que tenemos una rutina semanal: Los lunes quedo a solas con E para ir a una tetería (cada día una nueva); casi todos los miércoles por la noche, comemos comida china y vamos al cine; los viernes solemos ir a cenar y luego a una coctelería, y una o dos veces al mes uno de nosotros cocina para el resto con la única regla de "cocinar siempre algo diferente y no repetir menú", el resto lleva el vino...

Comentándolo con más amigos, ellos también tienen rutina: martes, cine con combo de palomitas y coca-cola; miércoles, KFC; y viernes, comida china o india y pub... y de broma, comparando rutinas, surgió el concepto de El Club de los Sibaritas.

El Club de los Sibaritas somos nosotros.

PR

2011-07-27T01:04:00.003+01:00

A summer flu changed my weekend plans and, without much to do (or willingness to do), I downloaded a few chapters from The Good Wife. I strongly recommend it.

TGW, among other topics, tackles de necesity of having a good PR consultant and a good PR campaign to avoid the defeat of a public figure for a mistake done in his private life that turns into a public scandal (Bill Clinton, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Marc Sanford).

Good PR allows second chances and avoids bad comparaisons.

Good PR consultants have turned insipid Kate Middleton into a style icon and everyday many articles about her grace and virtues are written.

Catherine is a Disney princess: almostperfect, and yet natural and close. On top, she's cute and thin and looks good in every outfit - from a british designer, of course. She's also discreet, has a clean background and her personality is malleable.

Catherine is even more boring than Diana, but she's also much more accurate to tone down (and forget) the british monarchy scandals of the last decades. She has the exact amount of protagonism to not dazzle her husband (the true prince charming of the story).

A good PR work has turned Kate into Catherine.

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Una gripe veraniega me obligó a quedarme en casa el pasado fin de semana y sin mucho más que hacer (o que me apeteciera hacer), me bajé varios capítulos de The Good Wife. Altamente recomendable.

TGW, entre otros temas, aborda la necesidad de un buen asesor de imagen y de una buena campaña de relaciones públicas para evitar el descalabro de un personaje por un error de índole privado que acaba en escándalo público (Bill Clinton, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Marc Sanford).

Unas buenas relaciones públicas permiten las segundas oportunidades y evitan las malas comparaciones.

Una buena asesoría es la que ha conseguido que Kate Middleton se haya convertido en icono de estilo y que todos los días tengamos artículos que hablan de su gracia y virtudes.

Catherine es una princesa Disney más: cuasiperfecta, a la par que natural y cercana. Además es mona, está delgada y los modelitos - de diseñador británico, of course - le sientan bien. También es discreta, tiene un pasado limpio y una personalidad moldeable.

Catherine es una Diana más sosa, aunque más apropiada para atenuar (y olvidar) los escándalos de las últimas década de la monarquía inglesa. Tiene el protagonisto justo; ese que deslumbra pero que no quita espacio a su marido (el verdadero príncipe azul).

Una buena labor de asesoría de imagen es lo que ha convertido a Kate en Catherine.

dots // lunares

2011-07-22T15:57:00.000+01:00

from TFS

image: grey beauty

2011-07-20T17:45:00.001+01:00

Zhenyuan, China. Picture by Fre Wang to National Geographic

New York weddings

2011-07-17T05:27:00.002+01:00

Continuing with the wedding-ish theme and despite my hatred for wedding celebrations, I must confess I've a big addiction to the wedding/ceremonies section of the New York Times. It's my guilty pleasure: enter and pry into other people's lifes. It's not a reality-tv interference; this is prepared for press: it's nice and romantic, full of ingenuous comments and unsual situations - à la Woddy Allen. It's a literary life, and that's why I love this section.

Guess who wore the dress of the picture to her wedding!

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Siguiendo con el tema bodorril... he de confesar que a pesar de que odio las bodas, soy adicta a la sección bodas y ceremonias del New York Times. Es como entrar y curiosear en la vida de los demás; pero no al modo reality tv, ya que esta intromisión es especialmente preparada para la prensa: es bonita y romántica; llena de comentarios ingeniosos y situaciones insólitos - al estilo Woody Allen. Es una vida literaria.. y por eso me gusta la sección de bodas del NYT.

Adivinad quién vistió ese vestido el día de su boda!

my best friend's wedding // la boda de mi mejor amigo

2011-07-15T02:21:00.004+01:00

I have already told you that I have three weddings in august. One of them is from one of my best friends.

M is peruvian, almost ten years older than me and since I know him I remember him saying he's never going to marry, although in his environment - his peruvian family - everybody was expecting him to do so. Finally, he found someone with whom he wants to share his life and happiness and has taken the step: he's marrying the 13th of august.

During the previous months before the wedding, he has been searching for the "alternative wedding ceremony" - the one that also meets his fiancée's idea - and almost daily I've been receiving videos and photographies of weddings in which he "wouldn't mind participating".

Right now, they have almost everything prepared, but today he sent me a link to Once Wed. I'm thrilled to know who the big day is going to be.

I don't feel the pressure of getting married, nonetheless, whilst travelling around Latinamerica, a few people asked me if I was married...

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Ya he comentado anteriormente que tengo tres bodas en agosto. Una es la de uno de mis mejores amigos. M es peruano, casi diez años mayor que yo y desde que nos conocemos lo recuerdo diciendo que él no se iba a casar nunca pero que su entorno - la familia peruana - lo pedía. Finalmente, encontró a alguien con quien le gustaría pasar el resto de su vida y ha dado el salto: se casa el 13 de agosto.

En estos meses previos a la boda, ha intentado buscar la boda "alternativa" que él quería - y que casara con la idea de boda de su futura esposa - y casi a diario he recibido emails con videos y fotografías de bodas en las que "no le importaría participar".

Ya tienen casi todo preparado, pero aún hoy he recibido un último link de Once Wed. Estoy expectante por saber cómo será el gran día.

Yo no siento la presión de tener que casarme, pero mientras estaba en viajando por Latinoamérica varias personas a lo largo de mi viaje me preguntaron si estaba casada (y no parezco más mayor de lo que soy). Allí, al contrario que aquí, la gente se casa pronto...

of weddings and excesses // de bodas y excesos

2011-07-14T09:53:00.003+01:00

A close friend of mine offen says that "a wedding is the first step to a divorce"... I don't neccesarily agree on that but the truth is that I can't picture myself in such situation.

This is the year of weddings - both public (Kate&Jamie, Charlenne&Albert, Katherine&William) and private (I have three in a row in august). Here, under the anonimity of the blog, I must confess I hate them: the gowns, the family, the flowers, the vows, the party afterwards... everything, I hate everything.

In my last entry, Ella.sinmasnimenos@gmail.com posted a link about russian weddings that I found extremenly interesting and worthy to comment about. It's in Spanish, though. It comes to offer a view of the tackiness of a wrong-understood hospitality. Excesses are part of wedding celebrations and russians (and other populations) are inclined towards them.

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Un amigo cercano suele decir que "una boda es el primer paso para un divorcio"... Yo no estoy de acuerdo pero lo cierto es que no me imagino a mi misma dando ese paso.

Este es el año de las bodas - públicas (Kate&Jamie, Charlenne&Alberto, Catalina&Guillermo) y privadas (tengo tres seguidas en agosto). Aquí, bajo el anonimato del blog, debo confesar que las odio: los vestido, la familia, las flores, los votos, la fiesta de después... todo, lo odio todo.

En mi última entrada, Ella.sinmasnimenos@gmail.com adjuntó un link sobre bodas rusas que me parece realmente interesante y que merece la pena comentar. Entre otras cosas refleja bien la hospitalidad mal entendida. Los excesos son parte de las celebraciones de boda y los rusos - y no sólo los rusos - son proclives a ellos.

Picture by Ilya Replin, "Wedding of Tsar Nikolai Aleisandrovich"

on luxury

2011-07-13T17:16:00.000+01:00

Recently, a russian friend of mine came to me with a book about "Russian glamour" and again it made me think about the taste of new rich countries (BRICs and a few more) for ostentation through luxury goods. This ostentation has become the life raft to many luxury firms; about 40% of the LVMH Group sales come from China.

Nonetheless, these markets haven't evolved yet. Soon, they'll adquire the actitude of the "old rich" who doesn't feel the neccesity of showing the world he's rich; as other have done in the past (Japan is still a big consumer of luxury although in a less pompous way).

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Recientemente, he llegado a mis manos - a través de una amiga de origen ruso - un libro sobre el "glamour ruso" y nuevamente me ha dado que pensar sobre el gusto por la ostentación de los nuevos países ricos (los BRICs y algún otro más). Esta ostentación se ha convertido en la balsa de supervivencia de muchas firmas de lujo; aproximadamente el 40% de las ventas del grupo LVMH se hace en China.

Estos países son mercados poco evolucionados en lo que al sector del lujo se refiere. Pronto adquirirán la actitud del "viejo rico" que no siente la necesidad de demostrar al mundo que es rico, al igual que otros han hecho antes (Japón todavía es un gran consumidor de productos de lujo pero ahora lo hace de una forma menos ostentosa)

the back

2011-07-12T14:31:00.002+01:00

Givenchy HC

the bad reputation // la mala reputación

2011-07-10T08:18:00.001+01:00

In line with my latest posts (in this new phase I've been writting about a same topic in a few entries), I've gone around the idea that fashion blogs have a little bit of a bad reputation, especially among those that really work on the business.

I think that part of this bad fame comes from the dirty mouths of the legitimate press that see their careers been threatened. Nonetheless, it has already been shown that new technologies and bloggers are here to stay and big publications must look for other ways of escape, something that generates new and appealing contents that can't be offered instantly online.

On the other hand, part of the bad fame also comes from the insane amount of bloggers in their late teens and early twenties showing their clothes and giving opinions about fashion with limited knowledge and many fans of their same age. It has been reckoned that about 10% of blogs that are running today are fashion-related blogs, which means that this sector is the most important of the blogosphere.

Before finishing, I want to remember that all of us (bloggers. stylists, designers and journalists) nourish from the work of all of us.

I send you back to the interview done by Style.com to Hedi Slimane in which he talks about the evolution traditional publications are meant to face in the future.

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Siguiendo el hilo de mis últimos posts (últimamente un tema me da para varias entradas), le he dado vueltas a la idea de que los blogs de moda tienen un poco de mala fama, especialmente entre aquellos que realmente se dedican al negocio.

Creo que parte de esta mala fama se debe a las malas lenguas de la prensa legítima que ven sus carreras amenazadas. Sin embargo ha quedado ya más que demostrado que las nuevas tecnologías y los bloggers están para quedarse y que más vale que las grandes publicaciones busquen otras vías de escape, que generen nuevos y atrayentes contenidos que no puedan ser ofrecidos por la red y de una manera tan instantánea.

Por otro lado, parte de esta mala fama también se debe a la insana cantidad de bloggers entre los 15 y 25 años enseñando sus trapitos y opinando sobre moda con escaso conocimiento y muchos fans de su misma franja de edad. Se calcula que alrededor del 10% de los blogs que existen hoy en día son sobre moda, lo que significa que este sector es el más importante en la blogosfera.

Antes de terminar, quiero recordar que todos (bloggers, estilistas, diseñadores y periodistas de moda) nos nutrimos del trabajo de todos.

Os vuelvo a remitir a la entrevista de Style.com a Hedi Slimane en el que hablaba sobre la evolución a la que están avocadas las publicaciones tradicionales.

blogs that I read // los blogs que leo

2011-07-08T07:25:00.000+01:00

I'm not nearly as much of a blog reader as I was a few years ago - when I started blogging -but even back when I followed dozens of blogs I always tended to gravitate to the writing-heavy ones, instead of visiting the ones that only offered a group of images from different sources like a "Vogue editor's picks". Don't get me wrong, I love blogs that discover me new designers, wonderful dresses, good ideas and incredible editorials; but I prefer a good analysis, a beautiful story or a well-written text complemented with an aesthetically appealing image that reflects its spirit.

I read blogs of different contents. Nowadays, I feel less inclined to spend my time withint fashion and style blogs than before and prefer blogs about cooking/gastronomy and design - architecture, furniture, etc. - as well as some blogs about art and other about publicity. Above all, I enjoy reading blogs from good friends.

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Ahora no soy tan lectora de blogs como lo era hace unos años - cuando empecé mi propio blog - pero incluso cuando seguía docenas de blogs casi a diario siempre he preferido aquellos que incluían contenido escrito (bien escrito), a los que solo incluían una serie de imágenes recopiladas de diferentes fuentes a modo de "Vogue editor's picks". No me malentendais, adoro los blogs que me descubren nuevos diseñadores, vestidos maravillos, buenas ideas y editoriales increíbles; pero prefiero una buena crítica, una historia bonita o una buen texto complementado con una gran imagen que refleje su espíritu.

Leo, y sobre todo leía, blogs de diferentes contenidos. Hoy en día, me siento menos inclinada a pasar mi tiempo entre blogs de moda y estilo que antes y prefiero los de cocina y diseño en general -arquitectura, moda, muebles, etc.- así como algún que otro de arte y publicidad. Sobre todo, disfruto leyendo los blogs de buenos amigos.

A Young Girl Reading by Jean-Honoré Fragonard

a little red riding hood made of haute couture // una caperucita roja hecha de alta costura

2011-07-08T00:52:00.000+01:00

Natalia Vodianova dressed by Valentino

Picture of Tommy Tom

of fashion blogs and bloggers that infest the cloud // de los blogs y bloggers de moda que plagan la nube

2011-07-06T19:39:00.006+01:00

Two years ago everyone was shocked to see a blogger seating at the front row of a fashion show, just like any other fashion journalist. Burberry not only offered then a seat but also a laptop to do on-time blogging of their first impresitions of the collection.

Internet, the most powerful and plural tool invented until today, allows the freedom of contents and the opening of your own publication without spending a single penny. Nonetheless, the world of fashion is a harsh and evil world, and so, makes it much more complicated.

Susie Bubble

There are still many people, me included - although I have my own blog - that revile our collegue bloggers who dress with a cute outfit (presumably bought in Zara, H&M or any other mass retailer with prices that suit everybody's pockets), take a picture and upload it on the blog so we can give our opinions and she/he'll receive many and unrealistic "I love your outfit" comments. We can also find others that write big opinions about show without have the neccesary knowledge of the background or history of the designer and the fashion house. Any of those really interest me... - but the talk of my blog interests will come a next post.

"They don't have critical skills to know what it's good and what it's not" - Jim Nelson, editor of GQ.

However, not only bloggers are more in contact with daily reality than fashion experts but they also have the wildcard of the proximity to users, the youth and the inexperience that leads into the freshness and enthusiasm that designers need to get catwalk closer to the street. They are new and real faces, far from the stereotypes of magazines; perfect to comunicate a style within the reach of everyone.

"Blogger boost debate and discussion and share information. This makes that fashion has stopped being a monologue to become a conversation" . - Suzy Menkes, fashion editor at International Herald Tribune.

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Hace un par de años nos echamos las manos a la cabeza al ver que un blogger se sentaba en la primera fila de un desfile como cualquier otro periodista de moda. Burberry, y otros después, llegó a ofrecerles no sólo asiento, sino también laptop para que blogearan al instante sus impresiones sobre la colección.

Internet, la herramienta más pluralista que se ha inventado hasta el momento, permite la libertad de contenidos y que cualquiera abra su propia publicación sin gastar un duro. Sin embargo, el mundo de la moda es un mundo todavía más perverso que los demás mundos que existen; y por ende, más complicado.

Tavi Gevinson

“No tienen facultades críticas para saber qué es bueno y qué no lo es” - Jim Nelson, el editor de GQ.

Los bloggers no sólo están más en contacto con la realidad cotidiana que los expertos de la moda sino que tienen el comodín de la proximidad con sus usuarios, la juventud y la inexperiencia que acaba traduciéndose en la frescura y el entusiasmo que los diseñadores necesitan para aproximar la pasarela a la calle. Son caras nuevas y reales, alejadas de los estereotipos de las revistas para comunicar un estilo más al alcance de todos.

“Los bloggers fomentan el debate y la discusión y comparten la información. Eso hace que la moda haya dejado de ser un monólogo para volverse una conversación”. - Suzy Menkes, editora de moda del International Herald Tribune.

Thoughts based on this article // Reflexiones basadas en este artículo

for my books

2011-07-06T16:08:00.000+01:00

Bauhaus Bookcase by Josef Albers

Ameico

a call to order // una llamada de atención

2011-07-05T01:31:00.000+01:00

Cathy Horyn Dior Haute Couture show critic should be taken as a call to order to LVMH executives.

"I like Mr. Gaytten. He’s a sweetheart, but he is not a designer" - Cathy Horyn.

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La crítica de Cathy Horyn del desfile de Alta Costura de Dior debería ser una llamada de atención para los ejecutivos de LVHM.

"Me gusta Mr. Gaytten. Es un amor, pero no es un diseñador" - Cathy Horyn.

Picture from TFS

les incroyables

2011-07-02T01:00:00.000+01:00

I've never paid especial attention to Galliano and his work. I respect him very much as a designer (above all, his haute couture) but all of you know that my style is kinf of minimal, sartorial/preppy and a little bit dark.

However, just after his little defeat, I read a few interviews and articles about his life. I got captivated by the story of his graduation collection at CSM: he surprised everyone, and even Diana Ross bought one of his coats.

It took me a while to find out some pictures of the clothes. Thanks to a TFS member, here are some examples:

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Nunca he sentido especial interés por Galliano y su trabajo. Lo respeto mucho como creador (especialmente su alta costura) pero todos sabeis que mi estilo es más bien minimalista, tirando a preppy y un poco oscuro.

Sin embargo, tras su pequeño descalabro, me leí varias entrevistas y artículos sobre su vida. Me fascinó que con su colección de graduación en CSM consiguiera sorprender a tantos y que hasta la mismísima Diana Ross comprara uno de sus abrigos.

He tardado un poco en encontrar fotos de esas prendas pero gracias a un miembro de TFS, he aquí algunos ejemplos:

style icons: Alaska y Mario

2011-06-30T15:42:00.000+01:00

I barely watch tv, I prefer movies: at the cinema or on my pc. However, my sister, who lives in Spain and is now visiting me, has introduced me to the world of Alaska&Mario.

In Spain and Latinamerica, Alask&Mario are very well-known. A reality from the spanish MTV has made them more accesible and mundane, a bit Osbourne-ish. They're unique and fun.

Their life is a plot, as the one of the likes of Paris Hilton or the Kardashians. They're musicians, live in a pink über-tidy apartment in the center of Madrid, never get tanned, read tabloids daily, have celebrity guests very often, dinner at McDonald's once a week, want to be skinny, prepare their wedding, play with a pseudo-adopted child they met at a Alice Cooper concert... their whole life is a circus.

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Casi no veo la televisión, yo soy más de películas: en el cine o en el ordenador. Sin embargo, mi hermana, que vive en España y está ahora de visita, me ha introducido en el mundo de Alaska y Mario.

En España y Latinoamérica, Alaska y Mario son bien conocidos (más ella que él). Un reality de la MTV española los ha hecho más accesibles y mundanos, al estilo de los Osbourne. Son únicos y divertidos.

Su vida es puro argumento, más parecidos a la Hilton o a las Kardashian que ningún otro personaje en España. Son músicos, viven en una casa pintada rosa y milimétricamente ordenada, nunca se broncean, leen revistas del corazón, tienen invitados famosos a menudo, una vez a la semana cenan en el McDonalds, quieren estar delgados, preparan su boda, juegan con un semi-hijo adoptado que conocieron en un concierto de Alice Cooper... su vida entera es un circo.

style icon: Catherine Baba

2011-06-29T01:06:00.001+01:00

Picture from TFS

to change // cambiar

2011-06-28T17:04:00.000+01:00

The world of fashion is changing - that's what many say.

Like a post-crisis alergy, the figure of the pseudocelebrity visionary is fading; letting space to fashion designers with discrete names but with talent and work ethic. In the meantime, some of the classics survive or get retired on time to not be devoured by the industry.

~~McQueen left us a few months ago, Sarah Burton was his substitute.~~

~~Galliano, victim of his addictions and personal problems, was removed from his position as creative director in both Dior and John Galliano.~~

~~Decarnin, overwhelmed by the weight of fame - or whatever -, left Balmain and retired to relax.~~

~~Marc Jacobs, with all his lights and shadows, is still riding on the crest of the wave and seems to be doing so for long.~~

~~Phoebe Philo's comeback...~~

~~Valentino left his maison in his plenitude, with a happier and more glorious ending than others: well done!~~

Lagerfeld keeps on track by showing gigantic collections, by signing big contracts with celebrities and by the own magnetic force of Chanel, emblematic brand to everyone who calls oneself a fashionista.

~~Armani continues to make used of his low profile while he lets his niece to do the PR job.~~

~~Donatella's daughter has already anounced that she is ready to take her mother's position.~~

~~Dolce&Gabanna have financial issues and are planning to merger their two lines.~~

~~Maison Martin Margiela lost its head a long time ago and it seems it's not going to recover or sustitute it.~~

~~Prabal Gurung and Ackermann placed themselves as the new big designers.~~

...and many other changes: the impact on IT in fashion, the stressful number of seasons, DIY, ethical fashion, production centers, distibution, marketing, new rich people...

Changes, are they so alarming, like many say? We must remember that fashion is based on changing. Fashion is synonym of ephemerality. These changes are derived from the feedback of a very complex sector. Let's not forget that; before being art, fashion is mainly business.

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El mundo de la moda está cambiando - eso dicen muchos.

Como si de una alergia post-crisis-mundial se tratara, la figura del creador visionario semicelebrity y epicentro de todo cuanto ocurre en la casa se está desdibujando para dejar espacio a creadores de nombres discretos pero con mucho talento y mucha ética del trabajo. Mientras tanto, algunos clásicos sobreviven o se retiran a tiempo para no ser devorados por la industria.

~~Alexander McQueen nos dejó hace unos meses, Sarah Burton lo sustituyó~~

~~Galliano, víctima de sus adicciones y problemas personales, ha sido destituido de su posición como director creativo en Dior y en la casa que lleva su propio nombre.~~

~~Decarnin, abrumado por el peso de la fama - o qué se yo -, ha abandonado Balmain y se ha retirado a descansar.~~

~~Marc Jacobs, con todas sus luces y sombras (recaidas, adiciones y centros de rehabilitación) sigue en la cresta de la ola.~~

~~Phoebe Philo's comeback...~~

~~Valentino dejó su maison en pleno apogeo, con un final más feliz y glorioso que otros: hizo bien.~~

~~Lagerfeld se mantiene en el podio a base de colecciones mastodónticas, contratos con celebrities y la propia fuerza magnética de Chanel, marca emblema de cualquier fashionista que se precie.~~

~~Armani continua haciendo uso de su perfil discreto mientras deja que su sobrina haga de relacciones públicas.~~

~~La hija de Donatella Versace ya ha anunciado que sustituirá a su madre próximamente.~~

~~Dolce&Gabanna tienen problemas financieros y se plantean fusionar sus dos líneas.~~

~~Maison Martin Margiela perdió su cabeza hace ya tiempo y no hay noticias de que la recupere.~~

~~Prabal Gurung y Ackermann se erigen como grandes diseñadores~~

Todo esto sin contar con otros cambios derivados de las nuevas tecnologías, del número axfisiante de temporadas, del DIY, de la moda ética, de los centros de producción, de la distribución, del marketing, de los nuevos ricos...

Los cambios, ¿son de verdad tan alarmantes como muchos dicen? Cabe recordar que la base que sustenta la moda es el cambio propiamente dicho. Moda es sinónimo de efímero y pasajero. Estos cambios son el fruto de la retroalimentación de un sector tan complejo como este. No olvidemos de que además de arte, esto es un negocio.

Picture of a Galliano's show

the substitute // el sustituto

2011-06-27T18:04:00.002+01:00

"Habemus a substitute". -

Last saturday morning a press release from the fashion house John Galliano confirmed what everyone understood the night before at its men spring/summer 2012 fashion show: Bill Gaytten is the sustitute of John Galliano in his own firm (until now Dior hasn't named a new creative director; Gaytten is also part of the Dior team).

Born in Cheltenham (UK) in 1960, Gaytten studied arquitecture in London and started working in fashion with Victo Edelstein and then moved to John Galliano. His appointment means a continuation, just as Sarah Burton in Alexander McQueen.

On the other hand, at the same time that the proceedings against John Galliano for his racist behaviour has already started in Paris, Cathy Horyn pointed out in her blog that some executives from LVHM (owner of Dior and John Galliano) are thinking on rehired Mr. Galliano as the creative director of Dior.

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"Habemus sustituto" .-

El pasado sábado por la mañana un comunicado de la casa John Galliano confirmó lo dado a entender en el desfile de hombre primavera/verano 2012 de la noche anterior: Bill Gaytten es el sustituto de John Galliano en la firma que lleva su propio nombre (Dior sigue sin director creativo a pesar de que Gaytten es también miembro del equipo de diseño de Dior).

Nacido en Cheltenham (Inglaterra) en 1960, Gaytten estudió arquitectura en Londres y empezó a trabajar en la moda con Victor Edelstein. Hace 23 años entró a trabajara para John Galliano. Su nombramiento marca una línea continuista al estilo de la de Sarah Burton en Alexander McQueen.

Esta misma semana también se ha celebrado el juicio contra John Galliano en París por las acusaciones de insultos antisemitas y racistas que provocaron su despido de Dior y de su propia casa (también propiedad de LVMH). Cathy Horyn, en su blog, apuntó que algunos directivos del grupo se estarían planteando su reinserción como cabeza de la firma.

Picture: Bill Gaytten at the end of John Galliano men show. Source: abcnews

my photography // mi fotografía

2011-06-26T13:53:00.000+01:00

I've just added a new section on the blog where I've started posting some of my own pictures. I could have started a new tumblr or flikr instead but it feels too stressful to have so many things opened.

There's just a few now; gradully, I'll add more.

You can check it here.

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Acabo de abrir una nueva sección en el blog donde he empezado a postear algunas de mis fotografías. Podría haber abierto un tumblr o un flikr pero prefiero tener todas mis cosas en un mismo espacio.

Poco a poco iré añadiendo más fotos.

Podéis ver las fotos aquí.

you pay for what you get // pagas por lo que obtienes

2011-06-25T06:52:00.002+01:00

H&M t-shirt

The consumption model that has been developed in the last two decades is "the low-cost fashion". Mass retailers like Zara or H&M have made possible that we dress "à la mode" at a low price: they have brought net-à-porter (first attemp to make general public dress couture) closer to the streets. However, this - and a certain detachment to the stablishment - has also made that we've lost sartorialism. Now, the liking for having more and cheap despite the quality is dominant over design and quality at a higher price.

When you are young, you are experimenting with your images and you try to develop your inner self, I understand how easy is to turn to low-cost clothes that you buy fast, use one or two times and if you don't like them anymore you can throw up or recycle for other purposes. It doesn't make sense to buy a 100% cachemira pullover if you're going to use it only "until it's trendy".

As time goes by, most of the people tend to find a style that suits them, where they feel comfortable and that flows to atemporality (there's some that get lost in the way); it's then when the consumer should prime quality and fitting over price - or at least to try to find a balance between both - something that lasts longer than one or two seasons.

Most of the people don't do it. Is it because investing in quality means that you need time (to look for the right thing and to save money) and today we are urged by our need to have things right now (before the moment is over)? Is it that we are never satisfy with what we get and we prefer to pay less for something, wait for the appareance of the hypothetical better equivalent to buy while we dismiss the other one without remorse.

I think I value the pieces that hang on my closet to through them away so easily

To finish, let's remember that not all expensive clothes are good and not all cheap clothes are bad.

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The Row t-shirt

El modelo desarrollado en las dos últimas décadas es el de moda a precio de saldo. Mass retailers como H&M y Zara han conseguido que vistamos "a la moda" a precio reducido: han acercado el net-à-porter (primer intento de acercar el couture a un público más amplio) a la calle. Sin embargo, esto -además de un cierto relax en las costumbres/hábitos y un desprendimiento de lo que estaba establecido - también ha conseguido que se pierda el refinamiento y el saber vestir. Ahora predomina la afición por tener más aunque la calidad no sea la más deseada en lugar de tener poco pero con el diseño y calidad deseados.

Cuando eres joven, estas experimentando con tu imagen e intentas descubrir quien eres y lo que quieres ser, entiendo que lo más fácil es recurrir a prendas lowcost que te compres rápido, uses una o dos veces y si no te gustan las deseches o reutilices de otro modo. No tiene sentido comprarse un chaqueta 100% cachemira si la voy a usar poco y sólo "mientras está de moda".

Con los años la mayoría de la gente tiende a encontrar un estilo en el que se siente cómodo y que fluye hacia la atemporalidad (a quienes simplemente pierden todo sentido de la estética, si es que alguna vez lo tuvieron); es entonces cuando el consumidor debería primar calidad y talle frente al precio, optar por comprar menos pero de mejor calidad, algo que dure más de una o dos temporadas. La mayoría de la gente no lo hace. ¿Puede ser debido a que invertir en calidad requiere tiempo - para elegir el adecuado y para ahorrar el dinero - y hoy nos urge la necesidad de tener las cosas ahora (antes de que pase el momento)? ¿Puede ser que nunca llegamos a estar satisfechos con lo que compramos y preferimos pagar menos por algo, esperar a que un hipotético equivalente mejor se aparezca en nuestro camino y, de ser así, comprarlo y desechar el otro sin remordimientos?

Creo que valoro demasiado la calidad de las piezas que vayan a colgar de mi armario.

Para terminar, cabe recordar que no toda la ropa cara es buena ni toda la ropa barata es mala.

my loafers

2011-06-22T01:22:00.004+01:00

My loafers pictured by me

a model

2011-06-18T08:28:00.002+01:00

Getting back to the topic of gender in fashion, it's worthy to write a post about the Andrej Pejic phenomenon. Pejic, forgetting about his first agent tips, has learnt to benefit from his shape's androginity and like "another one" has parade up and down the catwalk of the likes of Vivienne Westwood and Marc Jacobs and even Jean Paul Gaultier dressed him up as a bride in one of his last shows.

Pejic is the representacion of the neutral gender: no matter is you are men or women, dress as you like, today, everthing is possible.

Pejic also reflects what it means to be a model nowadays: a model is beyond the concept of beauty and harmony, a model is an instrument (very often with a experimental touch) that is used to show a piece of clothes.

In languages where gender matters (like Spanish, French, Portuguese or German) the word model, from a linguistic point of view, indicates the absence of gender.

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Siguiendo con el tema del género en la moda, es pertinente dedicar un post al fenómeno de Andrej Pejic. Pejic, abandonando los consejos de su primer agente, ha sabido sacar partido del androginismo de sus formas y como "una" más ha desfilado para diseñadores como Vivien Westwood o Marc Jacobs y hasta Jean Paul Gaultier se atrevió a vestirlo de novia en uno de sus últimos desfiles.

Pejic es la representación del género neutral: no importa si eres hombre o mujer; vístete como te de la gana; hoy, todo vale.

Pejic es también el reflejo de los que significa ser modelo hoy en día: un modelo va más allá del concepto de belleza y armonía, un modelo es un instrumento (muchas veces con carácter experimental) que sirve para enseñar al mundo una prenda.

La palabra modelo, desde el punto de vista lingüístico, indica ausencia de género.

Picture from TFS

no gender, just clothes // sin género, sólo ropa

2011-06-17T00:07:00.003+01:00

The intromission of a male model in female shows is not something new (Chanel ); neither is men dressed like women in the catwalk (Gaultier). Men with handbags, boyfriend jeans, female tuxedos, Marc Jacobs excesive use of the kilt, Kanye West wearing Chloé, etc.

One of today standards (I hate the word trend - it's too vulgar and superficial), to which I particularly stick, is ambiguity in forms and the mixture of genders. The gentle-woman is a concept that has been easily developed since the first women dared to borrow their colleagues pants. At the same time, there's a taste for minimalism (in every of its forms: goth, neutral, etc.); which, among other things, implies the undefinition of the gender: basic and adaptable elements, absence of superficialities and straight shapes.

This question is a bit sensacionalist, but: Is all of this leading us to the desnaturalization of the gender in fashion?

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La intromisión de un modelo masculino en una pasarela femenina no es algo nuevo (Chanel), tampoco lo es que hombres salgan vestido de mujer de forma puntual (Jean Paul Gaultier). Chicos con bolso, boyfriend jeans, smoking de mujer, Marc Jacobs haciendo un uso excesivo del kilt, etc.

Uno de los patrones de hoy en día (odio la palabra tendencia - demasiado vulgar y superficial), al que yo particularmente me adhiero, es la ambiguedad de formas y la mezcla de géneros. La gentle-woman es un concepto ampliamente desarrollado desde los tiempos en que las primeras mujeres se atrevieron a pedir prestado el pantalón a sus colegas. Al mismo tiempo, existe también un gusto por el minimalismo (en cualquiera de sus formas: goth, neutral, etc.), que entre otras cosas implica la indefinición del género: elementos básicos y adaptables, ausencia de superficialidades y formas rectas.

Esta pregunta es algo tremendista, pero: ¿todo esto y más nos está llevando a la desnaturalización del género en la moda?

Picture from style.com: Calvin Klein Spring 2011 collection

four summers in a row // cuatro veranos seguidos

2011-06-15T00:35:00.001+01:00

I don’t know whether to feel lucky or not for having been able to enjoy four summers in a row the last few months. Let me explain myself: from june to september 2010 I was in London and travelling around Portugal, at the end of october I moved to Buenos Aires, where spring was flowering, then, I travelled around Latinamerica until april, enjoying their summer, may was spent in the Brazilian coast, where it’s always summer, and now, now I’m back in Europe (where it’s allegedly summer ... – London’s rain).

The truth is that it feels weird. Used to have season’s change, my body misses cold and wearing winter clothes: layer over layer.

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No sé si considerarme afortunada o no por haber podido disfrutar de cuatro veranos seguidos en los últimos meses. Me explico: de junio a septiembre de 2010 estuve en Londres y viajando por Portugal; a finales de octubre viaje para Buenos Aires, donde ya era primavera; estuve viajando por Latinoamérica hasta abril, disfrutando de su verano; pasé casi todo mayo en las costas brasileñas, donde siempre es verano; y ahora, estoy de vuelta en Europa (donde supuestamente vuelve a ser verano… - Londres lluvioso).

Lo cierto es que, acostumbrada al cambio de estaciones durante 25 años de mi vida, me siento rara. Echo de menos pasar frío y vestirme de invierno: capa sobre capa.

Picture by Yiorgos Kordakis

The dress // El vestido

2011-06-14T01:06:00.001+01:00

Givenchy dress, Stiletto Magazine

Perfectionists // Perfeccionistas

2011-06-10T23:17:00.006+01:00

I wasn't there (meaning I was travelling and with no Internet access) when The Row presented its fall collection back in february during NYFW. Days later (or maybe weeks), I was concious of the clear determination of The Olsen and their team to create collections that are perfect from the begining till the end. I take my hat off to the perfectionism: their collections are clean, well.executed, in line with the leivmotiv of the label, sober, minimal, atemporal and elegant... - I could continue adding haughty adjectives.

My faith for the Olsen and their work was never blind, but it was in crescendo. At the very beginning I didn't take them serious (who did, anyway?).

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Yo no estuve presente (en el sentido de que estaba viajando y completamente desconectada de Internet) cuando The Row presentó su colección otoño/invierno 2011/12 el pasado mes de febrero en Nueva York. Días más tarde (quizá semanas) fue consciente del claro empeño puesto por las Olsen y su equipo en crear colecciones perfectas, redondas de principio a fin. Me quito el sombrero ante su perfeccionismo: son colecciones limpias, sencillamente bien ejecutadas, en línea con el leivmotiv de la firma, sobrias, minimalistas, atemporales y elegantes... (podría seguir añadiendo adjetivos soberbios).

Mi fe por las Olsen y su trabajo como diseñadora nunca fue ciega, pero si in crescendo: a más que veía, más que me gustaba. Al principio no me llegué a tomar del todo en serio a The Row y su camiseta perfecta, que derivó en leggings y horrendos abrigos de piel; pero las chicas se pusieron las pilas y nos han sorprendido a todos, llegando incluso a conseguir una nominación para los CFDA.

Picture from style.com // fotos de style.com

La Lohan

2011-06-10T00:33:00.008+01:00

Since her Ungaro fiasco, I have some sort of sympathy for Lindsay Lohan.

Her ups and downs, her L.A. nightlife, her lost of Hollywood's warmth, her frienenemies, her family issues, her legal issues, her addictions, her misfortune, her youth, her sense of style, her bisexuality, her flings... I know everything about her despite that I don't consider myself one of her fans and despite I don't read tabloids and all that trashy press. If that happens, it must be that she has become a pop culture icon...

She is the current Kate Moss, the heroine with the tragic past and brigth future - because her own misfortune has made her even more likeable for an insatiable public avid for gore.

Now, by the hand of Richard Phillips, her "iconity" has finally become true art; exceeding Lady Gaga's will to become an art item herself.

“She’s a combination of the fantastic and the real, which is what makes her so magnetic. She can also bring forward an existential presence that speaks to the isolated self”, Phillips said to New York Times

Regarding Phillips work, I don't know him very much; but I prefer Sasha Grey's video over Lindsay Lohan's.

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Desde el fiasco como colaboradora de Stella Arch en Ungaro, siento cierta compasión por la vida de Lindsay Lohan.

Sin altos y bajos, su vida nocturna en Los Ángeles, su pérdida de apoyo en Hollywood, sus amigos-enemigos, sus problemas familiares, sus problemas legales, sus adicciones, su mala suerte, su juventud, su estilo, su bisexualidad, su ligues... Lo sé todo de ella a pesar de no considerarme su fan (ni muy remotamente) y a pesar de no leer la prensa rosa... Por tanto, si esto es así, sólo puede significar que la Lohan se ha convertido en un icono de la cultura pop de hoy en día.

Lo es. La Lohan es el icono de la cultura pop post-moderna, la sucesora de Kate Moss, esa heroína de pasado trágico y futuro siempre brillante, porque ella y su mal karma la han convertido en un ser incluso más apetecible para el insaciable público ávido de carnaza.

Ahora, de la mano (y ojo) de Richard Phillips se ha convertido en arte, superando a Lady Gaga y sus intentos de convertirse en un objeto de arte.

Respecto al trabajo de Richard Phillips, no lo conozco mucho; pero prefiero el video de Sasha Grey antes que el de Lindsay Lohan.

LINDSAY LOHAN from V Magazine on Vimeo.

solid colour girl: red passion // colores sólidos: pasión por el rojo

2011-06-09T01:42:00.010+01:00

I think I might have assured about one-hundred times in this blog that I don't like red. However during the last 4-5 months I have developed quite an obsession for this colour and I just wish my complete wardrobe was red (instead of black and grey, the most predominant colours).

Where does this obsession come from and how does it meet with my minimal style? Well, I simply don't know. In fact, I believe that a total red outfit is quite minimal (although maybe not too zen, as red arouses emotions and passions).

Probably my red love comes from a miniskirt one of my best friends has and from the envy that crosses my mind when I see her wearing it...

Talking of total /the name of a colour/ outfits, it seems from what I have seen in the last Resort collections that this has become a trend: Marc Jacobs (see picture), Chanel, Calvin Klein, etc.

I big fan of solid colour outfits; I haven't paid enough attention to this characteristic of my style until two different persons (who don't know each other) have pointed it out for me. Now, I realize it's true: if you open my wardrobe you can read that I prefer solid colours over prints, that most of the time I never wear more that 3 or 4 colour in a outfit and that a love love love total black with a little touch of colour in a scarf, in pair of shoes or in a belt (or in all of them at the same time).

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Creo que habré escrito unas 100 veces en este blog que no me gusta el color rojo. Sin embargo, en los últimos 4-5 meses he desarrollado una extraña obsesión por este color y ahora mismo desearía que todo mi armario fuera rojo (en lugar de negro y gris, los colores más predominantes).

¿De dónde viene esta obsesión y como casa con mi estilo minimalista?

Simplemente no lo sé. Lo cierto es que estoy segura de que un total red look es bastante minimalista (aunque no del todo zen, puesto que el rojo alimenta pasiones e incita a grandes emociones). Probablemente mi obsesión por el rojo sea debida la minifalda de una amiga y a la envidia que me provoca cuando la lleva puesta...

Hablando de colores sólidos, por lo que he podido ver hasta ahora en las colecciones Resort, es tendencia: Marc Jacobs (ver foto), Calvin Klein, Chanel, etc.

Yo soy una gran fan de los colores sólidos; nunca había prestado atención a esta característica de mi estilo (era algo cuasi natural) hasta que dos personas (que no se conocen) me lo señalaron en sendas conversaciones. Tras reflexionar sobre ello, me he dado cuenta de que es verdad: si abres mi armario verás que prefiero colores sólidos antes que los estampados, que la mayor parte del tiempo nunca llevo más de 3 o 4 colores y que me encanta el total black look con un pequeño detalle de color en el pañuelo, los zapatos o el cinturón (o en todo a la vez).

Picture from style.com

Exhibitions // Exposiciones

2011-06-05T11:09:00.001+01:00

While we were travelling around Southamerica our base camp was in Buenos Aires. We decided to have a place to come back from time to time to rest, to have something safe and real with a circle of friends to welcome us from each trip.

Buenos Aires is the most european city in Southamerica and argentinians are proud if it. I think I know the city pretty well, but still I know it less than London, Madrid or Paris; living for real in a city -with a job and certain responsabilities- brings you a very different perspective and in Buenos Aires I was only an outsider who never try to mimetize within its citizens.

During our last days in the city, we went to two exhibitions: Robert Doisneau photography at Centro Cultural Recoleta and Louise Bourgeois sculpture at Fundación PROA. We weren't trying to recover a piece of our world in Europe; but instead of choosing other authoctonus entretaiment and cultural options we chose two exhibits that we had already enjoyed separatly in a previous moment of our lives. I can't tell you why.

Doisneau's Proust questionnaire was something very interesting to read. From the answers you soon discover that he didn’t gave to it d its interpretations any value. However, you deduce his aesthetic criteria. After a couple of photographies, a friend who joined us for the occasion commented that Doisneau was a very contemporanean artist. And that’s right. Images with cut framings, long shadows and shocking close-ups underlie from his particular way of focusing on the life of the Parisian banlieu.

I’ve already enjoyed Bourgeois at Pompidou in Paris three years ago. The photographies of her daily life arouse my interest as well as to discover the intense fear that invaded her from time to time and against which she fought through her work.

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Mientras viajamos por Suramérica, nuestro campamento base estaba en Buenos Aires. Decidimos tener un lugar al que volver para descansar, donde tener algo seguro y real con un grupo de amigos para recibirnos después de cada viaje.

Buenos Aires es la ciudad más europea de América del Sur y los argentinos lo saben y se sienten orgullosos de ello. Creo que conozco esta ciudad bastante bien, a pesar de todo no la conozco tan a fondo como Londres, Madrid o Paris (las otras donde he vivido). Vivir de verdad en una ciudad –con un trabajo y/o ciertas responsabilidades cotidianas – te proporciona una perspectiva diferente. En Buenos Aires yo era simplemente una extranjera que nunca intentó mimetizarse entre sus ciudadanos.

Durante nuestros últimos días en la ciudad, fuimos a dos exposiciones: la fotografía de Robert Doisneau en el Centro Cultural Recoleta y la escultura de Louise Bourgeois en la Fundación PROA. No es que estuviéramos intentando recuperar una parte de nuestro mundo europeo, pero en lugar de elegir opciones culturales y de entretenimiento autóctonas, elegimos dos exposiciones que ya habíamos disfrutado antes por separado en un momento anterior de nuestras vidas. No sé explicar porqué.

Es muy interesante de leer el cuestionario de Proust de Doisneau. Por las respuestas pronto adivinas que lo hizo sin ganas y no otorgándole valor a las posibles interpretaciones. Sin embargo, se puede deducir mucho de ellas para descubrir los criterios estéticos de este fotógrafo. Tras un par de fotografías, una amiga que nos acompañó comentó que Doisneau era un fotógrafo muy contemporáneo. Y así es; de su perculiar manera de enfocar la vida del banlieu parisino subyacen imágenes de encuadres cortados, sombras profundas y primeros planos impactantes.

De Bourgeois, de quien ya había disfrutado en el Pompidou de Paris hace tres años más o menos, destacaría el interés que en mi suscitaron fotografías de su vida en familia: de sus padres, sus hijos y su marido y sus amigos así como el descubrir el miedo que la invadía de vez en cuando y contra el que luchaba a través de su obra.

Pics: Picasso and Françoise Gilot by Robert Doisneau // Sculpture of Louise Bourgeois pictured by me

Welcome back, my darling! //¡Bienvenida a casa, querida! *

2011-06-04T16:11:00.017+01:00

I'm back to London. I'm not feeling to talk in English again. I'm tired but happy with what I have done.

I'm not sure yet how prepared I am to start writting again in the blog, to start talking again about fashion. I haven't been completely unupdated but it feels to me I have lost track of many things going on around the world.

Travelling aimlessly is a great experience that I highly recommend to anyone who feels a shift in his/her life is needed. That's what I felt when I started: I didn't know what I wanted (a constant thing in my life) and for the very first time I was willing to find it and to find it as soon as possible and I didn't matter how hard and painful could be. It was such a relief!

Now, I'm as lost as I was before starting my trip to Southamerica but there are some concretions in my mind: I have made the classic division between things I don't like and the rest... and that's a start and I feel incredibly happy to have been able to get there just by my own. I've learnt to know myself; my aspirations in life and the type of life I want to live. I've learnt I'm far from being a rebel, but even so I'm an inconformist: I want the best, always.

I'm also happy with the people that surrounds me: the new friends I made and the ones from before, that have been there supporting me during this process and looking after me with their emails, there facebook messages or simply handing down a map to visit a city.

You’re probably wondering (or not) why I chose Latinamerica; where the link is. There’s no link, Latinamerica was fate. My partner in crime proposed me this area and I just accepted. I’ve never been especially attracted by this part of the world; despite being a tireless traveller, in my top ten list of places to visit shortly, there wasn’t Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Perú, Bolivia… My character doesn’t suit with the culture I’ve been surrounded by during these months: I’m sharp, “no” is my inmediate response when I don’t want to do something, I don’t know how to dance, in my Ipod there’s no music with latin rymth, I don’t like extra tight clothes or going out showing my belly… I just saw the opportunity and took it!

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Estoy de vuelta en Londres. No me apetece volver a hablar en inglés de nuevo. Estoy cansada pero al mismo tiempo estoy contenta con lo que he hecho en los últimos 8 meses de mi vida.

No estoy muy segura de lo preparada que estoy para volver a escribir en el blog; para volver a hablar de moda de nuevo. Es cierto que no he estado completamente aislada de lo que pasaba en el mundo pero tengo la sensación de que le he perdido la pista a muchas cosas.

Viajar sin rumbo es una experiencia que recomiendo a todo aquel que sienta que necesita un cambio en su vida. Así me sentía yo cuando empecé mi viaje: no sabía que quería (si bien, este sentimiento ha sido casi una constante en mi vida) pero por primera vez estaba dispuesta a dejarlo todo y encontrar mi camino… y lo quería encontrar lo antes posible y sin importar lo duro o doloroso que fuera. Fue algo así como un alivio.

Hoy, sigo estando igual de perdida que antes de viajar a Latinoamérica pero, ahora, mi cabeza tiene una serie de cosas claras: entre otras, he conseguido llegar a dividir el mundo entre cosas que no me gustan y el resto… y eso es un principio y me gusta haber podido ser capaz de llegar hasta aquí sola. He aprendido a conocerme a mi misma, a conocer mis aspiraciones y a saber el tipo de vida que quiero tener. He aprendido que, aunque mi carácter dista mucho de la rebeldía, soy una inconformista: quiero lo mejor, siempre.

También estoy contenta y orgullosa de la gente que me rodea: los nuevos amigos que he hecho y los que tenía antes, esos que han estado ahí apoyándome durante todo este proceso, cuidándome a través de sus emails, sus mensajes en facebook o simplemente prestándome un mapa para visitar una ciudad.

Seguramente (o puede que no) os estaréis preguntando porqué escogí Latinoamérica; cuál es el link. No lo hay, Latinoamérica fue una elección del destino. Mi compañero de viaje me lo propuso y yo simplemente acepté. Nunca he estado especialmente atraída por esta parte del mundo; aunque viajera incansable, en mi top ten de sitios para visitar próximamente no estaban ni Argentina, ni Chile, ni Uruguay, ni Perú, ni Bolivia… Mi carácter no encaja con la cultura que me ha rodeado estos meses: yo soy seca, mi semblante es duro, el “no” es mi respuesta inmediata cuando algo no me apetece hacerlo, no sé bailar, en mi ipod no hay música con ritmo latino y no me gusta la ropa ajustada ni salir de casa enseñando el ombligo… Sin embargo, vi la oportunidad y la aproveché.

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*"Welcome back, my darling!" is the first message I received when I landed at Heathrow; it's from a very good friend of mine from my years at university and who has shared with me the discomfort of being a foreigner in a small college in England. He has Russian origins; I'm spanish. He made me feel like home again.// "¡Bienvenida a casa, querida!" fue el primer mensaje que recibí nada más aterrizar en Heathrow; es de un buen amigo mío de mis años de universidad, alguien que compartió conmigo las molestias de ser extranjero en una universidad pequeña de Inglaterra. Él es de origen ruso; yo, española. Me hizo sentir que estaba en casa de nuevo.

white shadows

2011-01-26T18:52:00.009Z

Thierry Mugler show photographed by Tommy Ton from Jak&Jil

natural blue

2010-12-22T23:13:00.004Z

I have just come back from the Southest part of America: Tierra de Fuego and Patagonia. I'm still shocked by the landscape and the emotions I felt with the intensity of the nature in such wild places. My biggest memory is the different shades of blue that light creates when it crosses ice. Not even with a good camera like mine (Canon Eos Rebel 500d) you can catch all that beauty.

Next stop: Uruguay.

it's spring and it's (oh) so printed

2010-11-14T13:12:00.005Z

In this side of the globe floral prints have invaded streets and parks. Everywhere you go in Buenos Aires, even in an office (it seems there's no dress code to work), you get to see a pair of pink or purple floral printed leggings... not my thing, though!

Prints are here to stay for the next season, Prada, Céline or Stella McCartney have made prints their focus on their minimalist collections.

the fashion circle

2010-11-06T21:18:00.005Z

After almost a month living in the other half of the world, I think I'm starting to understand Latinamerican fashion as a whole. My big references until now are just Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile... I'm not sure if it's acurate to include other places in this small and completely random analysis, as I don't think people cares about what they wear as much as people does in Europe, they just simply need something to cover their bodies, it's more about functionality than style or prettiness.

Of course, each geographical area, despite fashion globalization, has its own peculiarities and trends. You may think they flow from fashion centers such as New York or London to the rest of the world, and they do, but the truth is that they evolve so fast and so differently that a simple pair of leggings doesn't look alike in Buenos Aires, Tokio or Paris. At the very end this sort of movement helps to feedback original fashion centers, turning the whole process into a circle.

All this thinking leads you to wonder: where has the trend started? here or there? has everything been invented (here or there)?

We repeat patterns from time to time, we look back to look forward to new styles and them we try to find out in that far-off place that little item that would turn out a nonchalant outfit into something special that gets everybody¡s attention in New York, London or Paris... and look as cool as you can...

Today our occidental wardrobes are global, our clothes have travelled and lived more than we have, we have become clothes collectors. Is that the cool factor we are looking for? All I know is that when it comes to fashion -and other subjects in life- I like being influenced by all my travelling.

Hermès bags with ethnical details, property of Jasmine Abdellatif, Phillipe Stark's wife. Picture by The selby

out for tango

2010-10-27T19:41:00.006+01:00

hey there!

I don't know if many people are still following this blog, that a while ago had a few readers (saying many would be a bit unmodest and fully unrealistic), but the thing is that the followers counter is growing each week, summing 1 or 2 people every now and then... It's flattering considering the lack of news and the absence of quality updates...

For the moment, all that I can tell you it's that I'm travelling through Latinamerica... I'm currently in Buenos Aires and in a few days I'll crossed to Chile. I don't know when the next post is going to be, I don't know when i'll have access to internet again, I don't know if I find it, i'll remember to update... My apologies! I know I owe you (specially for the ones that are still checking for updates and asking where I am through emails) many explanations considering that after a long period of drought I was about to come back 3-4 weeks ago (How things can change in only a month!!!)... one day I'll try to explain the long story that led me into a world tour travel. It was something that just came and I said yes, completely unconcious of the future, the implications and the responsabilities.

Never say no to an oportunity.

Big hug!

Tango shoes at San Telmo, Buenos Aires.

ps: if by any chance, anything called Fuerza Bruta goes to your city, go and see it! it's really worthy!

that's bananas!

2010-09-27T13:04:00.003+01:00

Rachel Zoe's famous expression "bananas" is perfect for the occasion... "stripes" and "bananas" are the summary of Miuccia Prada latest lucubration.

Many say this collection has been critically acclaimed only because of the name behind it, because if BadaBoom BadaBang was singing it it would have been a big NO. However, under the hiden idea behind every Miucca collection (ugliness) there's a true visionary that challenges fashion season after season. I aplaud the collection, enjoy shoes and handbags and dream with all those playful colours and the minimalist shapes, but I have some reserves with the monkey-bananas print and the multiplication of stripes and a 30 something year old women looking chic in such outfits...

Two seasons ago, I loathed the cat print, then I died for it and then I bought (I spent a big amount of money) on a shirt (that I wear not everyday, but almost)... that's Prada!

fold up

2010-09-06T12:13:00.002+01:00

Cardona Bonache shoes

new expectations

2010-09-05T19:48:00.003+01:00

Fashion's Night Out has established as an annual indispensable event (Oh yeah, none of us can truly live without it!). It has only been celebrated once but it seems it has been there forever, but this is fashion and that's how things work (Could you imagine the world without Alexander Wang?!?!?!?... Insane, right? I do, though!)... Anyway, Fashion's Night Out is the big prelude to the important thing, which is autumnal fashion weeks all over the globe; my favourites by far, specially Paris... more for the atmosphere surrounding the shows and parties rather than for the collections themselves... We all agree that as summer collections aren't as interesting as fall collections, stylist's and fashion crowd's cold winter layered outfits aren't as spectacular and enchanting as their mid-term outfits ... Am I right?

My expectations for this season are quite high. After almost getting my back to fashion coverage during many busy months, an strange and yet a known confortable feeling of excitement towards what's coming on in the next few weeks has run all over my body and september issues have even increased my expectations on few designers (Marc Jacobs, Phoebe Philo, Stella McCartney, Ricardo Tisci, etc) and on new incorporations to the fashion showbusiness (Complex Geometries that's presenting for the very first time in NY).

I spent last's year's FNO at home, this year at New York, and you?

"it's not Lavin going public, it's H&M going luxury"

2010-09-03T14:58:00.004+01:00

Elbaz, the anti-mass-market collections is launching a collection in colaboration with H&M. Is it the change in fashion in today's world or is it a volatile mind speaking? Anyway, I like the idea and you will probably find me queuing next 23 rd November in front of H&M...

Willy Ronis

2010-07-04T20:18:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I was at La Monnaie looking at Willy Ronis pictures.

the heat through the window

2010-07-03T11:10:00.005+01:00

I'm back on writting on the blog... I don't know why I'm coming back here. For a while it seemed that everything has ended forever, but after recovering my free time and after reading many critics against blogging (more exactly, fashion blogging), I thought I would like to keep on hassling...

Just to get you down to the business... right now, I'm in Paris; suffering its heat and its surprising rain (today). I didn't come to go to Haute Couture Shows, that start on monday... I'm just simply not invited. I'm visiting friends, remembering places and moments in this city.

Yesterday the heat was so intense for a city where air conditioning hasn't been spreaded all over yet, that many shops and ateliers had their doors opened to let the air run. One of them was Dries Van Noten office in Le Marais. I was kind of embarrased to pry a little bit through the door and the mostly opaque windows in order to see if I could find a small trace of this outfit...

Dries Van Noten menswear 2011

there would be jeans

2010-05-15T17:50:00.003+01:00

Noko Jeans

I'm quite amazed by this story. I would have never thought on the idea of finding a partner for a fashion company in North Korea...

mess

2010-05-09T16:45:00.005+01:00

I know you are wondering where the hell I am, if the earth have soaked me up and if rigth now I'm living n the antipodes... but nothing that exciting has happened. I just don't feel like writing because at that moment my life is sort of like...

Just not to finish with a bad taste in my mouth, I would like to recommend you the iranian movie No One Knows About Persian Cats soundtrack.

I'll be back, I promise...

picture by the selby

so it

2010-03-14T19:26:00.000Z

Phoebe Philo for Celine

evolution

2010-02-28T11:43:00.003Z

Style.com has just launched a new series of interviews to big talent on the fashion industry talking about the future of fashion and the influence of new technologies on today's way of doing business (specially marketing-wise speaking). despite my current disorientation on what's going onduring fashion weeks due to the lack of time my life is having right now, I have found a moment to read what Hedi Slimane has to say about the need of a change in fashion magazines and the interrumption of blogs and other communication tools. My head has been beating about the bush for a while and I certainly believe on the differentiation of fashion magazines to become collector's items, to become something closer to a coffee table book whilst they keep their internet sites available to everyone, just as another individual's blog or community.

"The commercial issues of advertising credits might move toward the internet, while the most inspiring fashionstories could become exclusive to the printed collectible version", Hedi Slimane.