expected to be in a certain way

After reading another blog's post about vests, I realized maybe it was time to take mine out and wear it a bit more before they are definitely past their time. In my personal opinion, that is happening already. It's funny, vests should be one of those timeless pieces in everyone's wardrobes, but there seems to have been such a vest overdose in the last couple of years that my guess is that they'll have to be put to sleep for a long time to come before they stop being annoying.

But anyhow, I don't think that time has come yet, and then again I could just be completely wrong.

I decided to wear a bit more of my good ol'vest today and that triggered some conversations and thoughts. I've always been more a whimsical, femenine, vintage-dresses kind of gal. I knit, so my outfits tend to be accentuated by long relaxed scarfs, knitted berets and lacy items. That is, most of the time, the kind of look I feel makes sense with my personality and my personal and particular view of the world. When the city becomes just a bit to overwhelming, and the modern world seems too much likes its on a rush, it feels good to dress like you belong to a little cottage in the woods. I've been dressing like that for the last couple of years, specially while I was involved with my ex-boyfriend, a relationship that lasted 2 years. He has a very set and narrow mind on how women should be, and his ideas on what femeninity means, initially seemed very appealing and attractive to me. In an environment where most guys want bare skin, tight clothes and 'sexy' looks, its seemed to me so refreshing to find someone that was attracted to my usual style. In a country where most people dress the same, and there is one set ideal of beauty, it was encouraging to be with someone that understood what I felt and allowed me to explore it.

Nevertheless, I realized in time that what I thought was liberating, was actually quite restrictive. He also had a very narrow mind on what beautiful was, and I realized I couldn't really experiment with who I was or how I expressed myself. I was expected to be in a certain way, and anything else was me just being crazy or messing with myself.

So I ran into him today. And when he looked at me, his first comment was 'hey! that's not you! why are you dressed like this' and shaked his head in disaproval.

The thing is, I wouldn't mind him not liking my outfit. What seriously annoyed me was the 'it's not you' comment. What is it about people that makes them have the need to create a set image of everyone around them? Why should we be 'someone'? We should be able to be anyone we want, and one of the greatest things about human nature for me, is the way in which we can hold contrasts and contradictions within us. Clothes should be about expresing our many natures, being able to change and change again. They definitely shouldn't be about proving a point to anyone. Life shouldn't be about proving a point. If you are working so hard at trying to show everyone else what you want them to see in you, you are still acting for them.

Its true, the outfit here is not reflective of my usual style. But it is how I felt today, therefore it represents a true part of who I am.

Young Folks and... Pleats?

Up until recently, one of the things I was thankful the most was the fact that high waisted pants with pleats were definitely (and for what I imagined for ever) out of style.



Photos like this are giving me a hard time keeping that point of view.


The great photography is, of course, from the Sartorialist.

Young Folks

The Lousiville born-NY based singer-songwriter Dawn Landes is my latest musical discovery. I was lucky enough to ran into her Peter, Bjorn & John's "Young Folks" cover recently and kind of fell in love with it. Strangely enough, I found some parts of the song rather annoying when I first heard it (old folks singing out of tune for half the song in a rather off-setting contrast with her soulful and sweet voice), until they suddenly clicked and worked. Specially when I watched the video and realized they're sung by... well, old folks. Rather cute if I may say so myself.

So I really wanted to write this post, because hopefully, someone else will listen and fall in love with her music as much as I did. And there are not many things in life that, for me, compare to the pleasure of exploring and finding new sounds. While she puts a bluegrass spin on "Young Folks", she does an amazing job in delivering a traditional American sound with a modern twist through the rest of her album. Her voice is soothing and mellow, and melancholic yet cheerful and hopefull. I'm not really sure how well known she is in America (maybe she's old news for you folks already), but here in Peru, I haven't met anyone who knows her yet.

Researching a bit to write this, I found some photos and realized not only is her music beautiful, but so is her and her style. With a quirky yet understated style, she makes me think of places I haven't seen yet I long for.

No 'what I wore today' post tonight. I've got too much work to do to even try and find batteries for the camera. I'll do it tomorrow.

By the way, congratulations to Aisha from ColouredBlue for her first blogger's birthday!

xx.

Market Morning

Its been such a beautiful morning. Although I recently wrote about kissing summer good bye, I've got to admit, the sun still seems quite reluctant to completely leave. Nights are a bit chillier than before, but the mornings still have a beatiful golden tone to them that just makes me happy.

So I decided to cut classes today and stay home. The thing is, its a 40 minutes ride to my university and while I like it there, its definitely not in the nicest of neighbourhoods. I'm glad I study there, and I realize how priviledged I am to be getting a great education in a country where most are struggling to survive and make it through the day. Not only that, but its a great university too. Not only academically, but I've met some of the most interesting people I know there, and I've made friendship I know I'll treasure for life. Although its called Catholic University, don't let the name fool you (although I've met some pretty cool Catholics so please don't take any offense in this comment), its actually known for being a very open-minded environment, with a diverse student body and a strong participation in the national's cultural and social development. But the thing is, I just couldn't make myself go there today. I wasn't really in the mood to sit in traffic for almost an hour, with all the pollution and the noise.

So I stayed home. Glad I did. I drove my bycicle down to the nearby market to buy some fruits and took my dog out for a walk.

Walking down the market, with the smell of fruits and flowers all around me, astound by the colours surrounding me was just what I needed. Sometimes people forget about the simplest pleasures in life, moments that don't really have anything magnificent about them, but that make life a more enjoyable experience. Everything's easier in the world today, its easier to eat, to move, to dress... If you're among the lucky ones in the world, things will be done for you by someone else. You can enter a supermarket, and there is everything, picked and packaged for you. Or open a magazine, to know exactly what to wear, take a care to the store, park as close to the door as you can and dress in the clothes somebody desgined just so they would sell well. It was nice, skipping class, taking the morning off and going to the market. It was nice, not to do much.

The thing is, I've started this new part-time job. It's at a restaurant, and one that I quite enjoyed eating in before my job started. It's like a cozy Italian trattoria, and quite popular. I have to dress in black, tie my hair back and take reservations, show people to their tables, manage the waiting list, etc. Its a good job, and the pay is decent (not saying decent as a euphemism for not bad at all - which would be a euphemism for pretty darn good- but just 'decent'). But... I don't know, I guess I"m just not used to doing something I'm not really feeling deep inside. Maybe I'm just a spoiled brat. But I can't help missing the nights I used to have just for myself. (its a night job, since I'm at uni during the day). The good thing is, now I'll be able to save money for a few things I really really want to do (I won't tell what they are, I don't want to jinx them...). Hopefully I won't spend it all in clothes!

After writing my last post, about flowers, I went through my closet again and realized I have PLENTY of things with flower prints. Specially skirts and dresses. Some of them are a bit too romantic and sweet for my taste, but some of them I still love. Don't really know why they had been thrown in the back of my closet.

I found this black dress like shirt with white flowers Ibought for about 1$ in a thrift market. I know I said something about punking flowers up, but this time I just felt like going for something easy and relaxed. Wasn't really trying too hard today.

Florals

Florals seem to be appearing everywhere. I see them worn in so many different styles its impossible not to feel attracted to the endless possibilities they have to offer.

I got my *best* thrift find ever recently. I floral high waisted skirt with pockets on the side. The silk is so soft it makes me want to sleep in it, and I love that the colours and the print remind me of some tacky Miamiesque 80's skirt. Its a bit too long, which makes it just look outdated, but I'm cutting it today to make it shorter. I'll be posting soon on how it turned out.

In the mean time, here are some different floral combinations I've been running into. First two from Facehunter and the third one from Sally Jane Vintage. I tried to show a floral top combination, a floral skirt one and a floral dress one.




The thing is, I did go through a strong floral phase sometime... quite a few years ago. I was channeling my inner hippie through floral blouses and skirts, but I felt like those years were over for a good reason. I mean, no more peasant blouses for me please!

Nevertheless, after finding this beautiful silk skirt I understood why flowers haven't gone out of style after all these decades. It's their adapting potential what makes them an always-returning fashion. Although floral prints make me instinctively think of boho outfits and natural romantic long wavy hair, some have managed to give them a rather fun spin.

Look at Luella's collection for some punk-floral inspiration.



So... I'm now so convinced about the imperative need of finding some cute flower skirts and blouses. That will be my weekend mission it seems. I think I might go for overly cute/slightly tacky flower prints to try and punk them up a bit. I'll let you know how it goes. I've got a busy busy day today and tomorrow, but I'll try and get pictures of my silk skirt to show you soon.

xx

Keeping it simple

Basics.

I've been finding quite a few articles in qute a few blogs on how important it is to understand the need of buying basics. I don't happen to be, as it seems, the only one who confronts their closet every morning wondering what to wear that striped skirt with or what the hell to do with that printed long blouse.

Although I love the mix'n'match that some people seem to effortlessly get in their daily outfits, time has told me I feel more comfortable and more like myself going for a boho laid-back look rather than all crazy. Don't get me wrong here, I love crazy and sometimes it is so much fun to make people turn their heads in disbelief or even in disaproval. It is also amazing to go for combinations that sound terrible on paper but that work oh so well in person. At the end of the day, clothes are what you wear as an outer expression of your inner world. It is my personal and humble opinon that everyone's style should never be determined by anybody but them.

That also makes me think about the blogs that have inspired me to start blogging. If there is one thing that I would celebrate about them, is originality. It is hard to be original. People around those who dare to act, speak, dress, think according to their own personal beat will always face criticism from those who feel threatened by them. I have always wondered how many great things haven't get done in this world because those who could do them were too scared to face the intimidating world that would be waiting them in disaproval.

I had been stalking (for the lack of a better word) quite a few blogs for a while now until I ran into Aisha's Coloured Bleu blog and decided to start blogging myself. The beauty of these blogs is that by posting in them, we reveal what we are about and become enriched by what others are. In that sense, I'm loving Fabi and her Diary of a Thirld World Fashionista. She writes and thinks about what its like to be herself in an environment that doesn't exactly encourage that. Her last post about the intolerance she faced at work when others discovered her blog and the way she decided not to stop that from doing what she loves to do. It's been really inspirational now that I've started blogging and I'd like to say thanks to her for that. If there's a strong sense of community between fashion bloggers around the world, I think its probably safe to say that that sense becomes even stronger between those of us who live among those whose idea of fashion is a top as tight as it could be and jeans and where its not about choosing what you want to buy for your wardrobe but finding something worthwhile.

Anyway... going back to the original idea of my post - Basics. I went shopping yesterday, with a very set mind on buying a few basics I really needed. I ended up spending a bit more money than what I had originally planed but then realized that since all these iterms were going to be worn probably quite often, they should better be made with good materials and I nice cut. I'm pretty happy with the results. I actually like them so much that I like how they look together, not a basic boring outfit in my opinions. I think I'm starting to grow up as a shopper, realizing the importance of quality over quantity and making more smart buys than before.

I ended up getting a pair of short flat black boots (Basement), a high waisted black trouser (Joaquim Miro) and a couple of basic single coloured tops by MNG. I'm terribly sorry about he boring unoriginal photos, I was actually kind of just testing with these ones but my camera's battery died before I could take some of the photos I really wanted (basics worn with non-basics). Oh well, I still wanted to post for the day, so here it is. I never imagined I would get so excited about buying such un-exciting clothes.

bye bye summer

Looking at different blogs I've got to admit I'm starting to feel a bit jelous about everyone puting their tights away, showing legs and shoulders, looking a bit more cheerful and finding new sources of inspiration for the summer to come.

Down south its a whole different story. We just kissed summer good-bye a week ago and light cardigans and scarfs are starting to make their first appearances of the year. Sad thing is, I've got some thrifted items I'm not ready to put away yet. Like this dress.

I don't really wear colour usually. Everyone around me knows I tend to go for fall colours the most, although I am trying to add some bits of red, turquoise and purple lately to my wardrobe. This dress, however, is a different story. It's got neon pink and blue and white and black stripes. I think its a bit too much for me, but its still a fun dress to say bye bye summer in.

I wish I had something summery to do today. Instead I think I might clean up my room a bit, it gets pretty crowded with all kinds of garbage during uni.