DEAR SANTA CLAUS, TAKE NOTE!
ORIENTAL STYLE: BEWARE THE DRAGON’S BITE!
The wind is blowing from the East: China, Japan, Korea and so on seem to be the inspirational mood of Fall-Winter. So, the oriental style makes a splash and harks back to the traditional dresses. Silk, dragons and kimonos: you run the risk of exaggerating.
All the exotic things attract and seduce. If we talk about fashion, the appeal is even stronger, though. The cold season has come, but this year, in addition to the ordinary quilted jackets and coats, the oriental style dominates the catwalks and our wardrobe too. Coming soon!
HARRY AND MEGHAN: ALL TALK…AND ROAST CHICKEN!
Did romanticism die? It’s up to you to judge! Every day many love stories begin and finish, but the most talked about relationship of this period is without a doubt the one of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The grandson of Queen Elisabeth will get married soon: what about his proposal? In front of a roast chicken!
I’m sure that, at least once in her life, every little girl dreamt the Prince Charming. A man dressed in a pair of stockings, blue shorts and with a feathered hat: it’s a questionable choice but everybody can get wrong! Once we grew up our tastes became more sophisticated and we started daydreaming about two real Royal Highnesses. Princes of England fomented the ‘royal ambitions’ of many teenagers, but when William married Kate, he partially destroyed their hopes. Now, his brother did the rest. Harry and Meghan, this is the main gossip of the latest days: wedding soon at Buckingham Palace!
BLACK FRIDAY: SALES, SHOPPING…AND GOODBYE DIGNITY!
Are you going through a bad time? The only black day that everybody wait for, is just one: Black Friday. It’s the most known commercial ‘holiday’, is the beginning of Xmas purchases and pushes to empty our wallet. Great deals, guys! Let’s go shopping!
The appeal of the United States strikes back. So, in addition to Halloween, McDonald and the bridesmaids, in Italy we imported even Black Friday. Probably, many people know that it’s a day (the fourth Friday of November) in which especially the big stores organize incredible promotions and super sales. In other words, it’s the occasion in which everybody needs to buy whatever they find on special offer, of course. Because, it isn’t so difficult to exaggerate. At the beginning you buy just a hard disk and an hour later you have become an associate at Microsoft.
LAST-MINUTE INVITATION: NO THANKS!
How many times did you get a last-minute invitation? It doesn’t matter if it is for a birthday party, a press day or a fashion show, the rule is only one: you must say no. If you are wondering why, the answer is easy: be proud.
Whoever calls you at 7:30pm to attend a party scheduled at 8:00pm, generally doesn’t do it for love. We can say that you are the replacement (maybe) number 1 for a place that unexpectedly became available. The same rule is valid when a last-minute invitation is sent to take part in a press day or in any event that of course has been scheduled months ago.
Do you know how airlines manage the overbooking? It’s the same philosophy: there’s a main list and then there’s the one with the reserves. Nobody likes sitting on the substitutes’ bench, therefore, when your participation is asked with a ridiculous notice, remember to say no. If you are looking for a good reason to refuse, find it in your pride. That place wasn’t yours, someone is kindly proposing you to act as a stopgap.
As everyone knows, last-minute invitation is concealed like a forgetfulness, it could be both an e-mail and a text enriched with cute emoticons, or a phone call introduced by a fake “Daaaaaaaaaaaarling!”.
One of the most classic excuses is that your invitation probably got lost “because you know, there are many mail inefficiencies…” or that the e-mail service had some problems in the latest days “and so, you cannot imagine what a mess!”.
The point is that when you will understand (and it isn’t difficult!) that you weren’t the choice but the alternative, you need to decline. Cordially.
Think about how you would feel if the guy that you like decides to have dinner with you only because another girl gave him a flat refusal. The sensation is being a second-best, a not bad option that in any case could work.
It’s obvious that a last-minute invitation for a fashion show doesn’t have any emotional involvement, but unless you really consider it important or can take some economic and professional advantage from it, saying no will be classy and won’t make you look like a desperate that was anxiously waiting for that call. If it would be too difficult, at least take time and hesitate: pretend to check your planning, to have to reschedule another appointment…in other words, keep in limbo those who behaved in this way with you until the very last moment.
It’s a matter of principle, nobody loves a heated-up soup, even less if it’s the one that someone else rejected. Bear in mind that, it doesn’t matter the circumstance, those who want you will seek you, and will do it in advance. In this case, Miranda Priestly is a great example to follow: «I don’t understand why it’s so difficult to confirm an appointment. […] R.S.V.P. Yes to Michael Kors’ party, I want the driver to drop me off at 9:30 and pick me up at 9:45 sharp. Call Natalie at Glorious Foods and tell her no for the fortieth time. No! I don’t want dacquoise. I want tortes filled with warm rhubarb compote […] ». Devil wears Prada, docet.
VELVET TREND ?
Velvet is fashionable again…seriously? So, if you don’t have a velvet item yet, in the future it’ll be in your closet. We are talking about a fabric that isn’t easy to keep clean, the lint brush roller will become your best friend. In any case it’ll be the must for the Fall/Winter 2017-18. Because, let’s be honest, it’s really hard to keep it immaculate and not everybody can do it. One of the things that I really hate – beyond the already mentioned velvet – is seeing hair/dust/lint/dandruff on the clothes. I always keep a roller in my car, in the bathroom and (sometimes) in the bag. Well, stop talking about my obsession for these small dressing good manners and get down to brass tax.
This fabric was appreciated by the aristocracy because the fiber used for the production was silk. In the past it was loved by the Popes and nobles, nowadays it’s everywhere, even on Zara’s shelves. Some items and accessories appeared already on the F/W catwalks 2016, from Tom Ford, to Valentino and Miu Miu. Seasons don’t exist (almost) anymore, trends aren’t real trends anymore and it’s impossible to distinguish a men’s collection from a women’s one. Didn’t you notice it? So, we can just pick up and personalize as much as we can what is proposed on the runways…
Velvet: top & flop
Over the years (in a distant age) there was someone who considered velvet an obsession, so were there fashion addicts even in 1300? It seems that in 1399 Richard II of England established that the only fabric allowed to touch his skin would be velvet until his dying day. And in fact, he was buried dressed in velvet.
And then, how can we forget about Gwyneth Paltrow at the MTV MUSIC AWARDS in 1996? She looked fantastic in her crimson velvet tuxedo designed by Tom Ford for Gucci. Simply divine, and she was blissful too.
Another appearance, but for sure less amazing, was the one showed off by basketball player Dennis Rodman. Absolutely less perfect and worth being immediately forgotten. He walked the red carpet while wearing a tied shirt that uncovered his abs and a pair of green velvet pants. Search him on Google and forget about him, please.
Velvet, not only clothing…
This fabric, because of its silky and bright tones, is used not only for clothing and accessories but also for furniture. For example, we can mention Marchesi and its famous green armchairs that contrast but at the same time create a harmonious equilibrium with marble tables. Opulence and elegance, if well balanced, will allow you to get good instagrammable results!
FASHION WEEK: WHEN FASHION EMBRACES MADNESS
New York, London, Milan, Paris. Around the world in 80 days, actually – since we are talking about fashion week – in 80 pairs of shoes. Not enough! Kilometers of runways that would be the envy of the best Himalayan Sherpas, many dresses, looks, trends and mainly curious characters.
Every year fashion world has lots of surprise in store for us: old trends become fashionable again, designers propose new fabrics and innovative items. But the parterre of ‘satellites’ that revolve around the fashion week never changes. Yes, because in addition to glossy models and celebrities, there’s a human underworld that face the fashion week with the same intensity of a crusade.
Take a look around and have fun! Crazed men and women crowd into the streets, events and fashion shows: fashion is a religion. Maybe. Sometimes it’s no more than the will to be there. So, here an overview about the characters you’ll meet during fashion week…what’s your category?
FASHION SHOW FEVER
Fashion week calendar, obsession with shows and sadness because they can’t be everywhere at once. No catwalk escapes from the fashion show’s maniacs! Often, they stand in the last rows but are happy to have got an invitation. They document every moment through social networks posting videos, photos and selfies like there’s no tomorrow. Each post is followed by the hashtag #MFW, ça va sans dire. They just need the opportunity to list the endless series of fashion shows in which they took part, it’s like a stickers’ collection: I got it, I got it, I miss it. Serial.
AN EVENT, A DRESS CODE
If you think that during the fashion week it’s possible to model only on the catwalk, you’re getting wrong. For all party addicts the real show is at the events. Their interest in fashion as art, creativity and more doesn’t exist, fashion is only appearance. So, each (exclusive and not!) party is an excuse to show off every night a different dress code. A drink, a bunch of smiles and the unavoidable Instagram stories work as an antidepressant too. The objective of people who belong to this category is just one: the camera! Their impossible dream is being in the shot of a paparazzo, even when they (unconsciously!) are the insignificant background of a more shining star. Meteors.
LOOKING FOR VIP
If on one hand there’s who would sale even the dignity to get an invitation for a fashion show (and I guarantee that they do it!), on the other hand there’s who, during the fashion week, has one aim in life: take a selfie with VIPs. Do you have in mind those people that smile and hug any celebrity just to post the pic on social networks with the tagline And then, I met Gigi Hadid in Monte Napoleone? Well, I’m talking about them. They are not interested in fashion and will never get an invitation for a party. They have the mind of a stalker (and probably got even a restraining order), map the hotel where the stars stay, lurk in the crowd, are ready to wait for many hours to achieve their trophy. Ladies and gentlemen, hunting season begins. Losers.
AUTUMN AND MELANCHOLY: END-SUMMER STORIES, MEMORIES AND DAILY ROUTINE
Summer, it’s a nice memory that slowly fades among the warm autumn colors. Days shorten, temperatures drop and melancholy could easily affect us.
Sea, beach, travels, summer loves, sunsets with friends…everything seems to be faraway and to come back to ordinary life appears difficult, almost impossible. Depression? Technically speaking it’s called Holiday Blues. And even if in autumn this pathology generally arises in a light and temporary way, sometimes it can degenerate.
Long-lasting holiday? To put bikini and sandals away could make you cry! You collected expectations, desires, need to relax and now you have no more than dissatisfaction and delusion.
Leaves turn yellow and your hormones go crazy: almost one week in which the autumn reveals itself in the form of loss of concentration, anxiety, sleepiness and nervousness. So, it’s the #NeverAjoy Fall/Winter Edition. Can we avoid this blue syndrome? Almost everybody is affected when it’s time to start again the routine and the stress of daily life arises.
And what happens when it gets dark early in the afternoon? The situation is about to deteriorate! In fact, it has been scientifically proved that lack of solar light negatively influences the mood. It’s enough to look at you to read a clear message in your eyes: Keep away from me, today – and maybe even tomorrow! – I could kill you. Or probably I’m gonna cry!
Our psyche flips out, how to survive? Here 3 basic rules:
- Take some days of transition between holidays and routine, so avoid coming back home just before the last day of vacation!
- Don’t give up good summer habits: go to the gym, eat healthy, reset the sleep-wake rhythm and reduce the number of cocktails. Goodbye Spritz!
- Have short and frequent breaks during the day, and don’t study or work in the weekend.
What’s the secret of happiness? Any magic formula, it’s enough to stay focused on positive thoughts and follow your own aims. In the end, if we were always on holiday, we wouldn’t really appreciate it.
So, when during the autumn we’ll look at the pics taken in the previous months, we probably will be nostalgic but at the same time will feel the need to leave again, to think about a new trip. Summer is inside us. Summer is a state of mind.
FASHION: GLOSSY LEXICON TALKS ABOUT THE CATWALK
Dear fashion, “Speak simply”! Not so much food, not so much words. This one should be the rule of fashion system. But the glamorous universe made of glossy magazines and sparkling alphabets is always ready to create neologisms with an international touch.
If we should list every single entry of fashion dictionary, the list could be endless. Not only words universally recognized but even many other ones created to define a new trend or to make appealing something that wasn’t so. The power of fashion lexicon is the ability to give light and voice to something dull. It’s a spotlight that decides who and what to make protagonist.
Is it enough to call something fashion to make it really cool? Probably not, but for many ninnies obsessed by the sexy charm of the label, words are enough to characterize an item or a lifestyle.
Fashion dictionary victims? Often. Every year designers and experts coin words to define the news from the catwalks or to make politically correct and socially acceptable some standards of beauty that are generally relegated out of the shining kingdom of haute couture.
Let’s think for example about the word curvy and the well-built models, let’s think about the marketing and how it approached to this new aesthetic mood. Only few years ago, these girls were called just fatso. Fashion, thanks to its verbal range, gave them liberation.
Moreover, there are also interesting lexical fusions as jeggings and jorts. The first ones are denim leggings shaped as jeans, the second one are short pants…very short and completely homemade.
You know, fashion can give also immortality. Everybody dreams the Kelly, the most famous bag by Hermès dedicated to the legendary Grace Kelly.
Made in fashion, it matters! Linguists are absorbed in studying the meaning and the mediatic impact of these words, even if the enthusiasm is not comparable to the one of crazy women at Zara at the beginning of summer sales. Could we call it technical language? Yes, at least in part. In other cases, it is only very posh and exclusive but can generate long chats about nothing. If in front of a pair of flatform that your friends have seen on Vogue worn by Cara, you feel like a Martian, don’t lose heart. Remember that fashion legitimizes, therefore if you decide to go around wearing pajamas and a coat-gown, nobody will call you shabby but shabby chic.
T-SHIRTS TELL STORIES: HOW AND WHY A TEE CAN SAY A LOT ABOUT US
Outfit and personality go hand in hand. In spite of what a well-known proverb says, sometimes you can judge a book by its cover and our clothes say a lot about us. T-shirts are the items that in a way mainly describe our character and make visible our thoughts.
Open your closet and count how many t-shirts are there. At least twenty, some of them are in the bottom drawer and belongs to the past. Do you remember when you were used to pile up the tees with the name of the cities you visited? I have at least five t-shirts from Paris.
Garments for the gym, to stay at home, basic, with colored patterns, with famous characters from cartoons, large or fitted. A very long list that can tell who we are. Except the easy wear items we bought just because they’re practical, the ones we carefully choose can deliver a specific message.
Many times we are attracted by a statement or a picture because they work as a mirror. It’s a mirror that interprets our forma mentis or maybe something that we’d like to shout out.
A t-shirt with Snow White means a back to the childhood, if you put on a tee that says I’m friendly, I can’t be also slim it’s a way to be ironic about your body. And when you go to the Hard Rock Café and buy another tee for your collection, it’s a way to keep with you a memory.
T-shirts speak, there’s no much to say about it. They tell a story. Also the most eccentric ones, the tees from the ‘90s that your mother has partially turned into dust cloth. Yes, also those ones have a past. I scrupulously keep them in my closet. Even the t-shirts I wore when I was a child, the first ones by Disney that someone distractedly ruined ironing.
Nowadays, vintage is fashionable again and in the stores it isn’t difficult to find t-shirts with names and logos belonging to celebrity bands like Iron Maiden and Metallica. The funniest side is that you see them in the hands (and then also dressed!) of callow guys that maybe are used to listen to One Direction. But in the end, this is a way to express themselves. Aspirational maybe.
One tee, one story. For this reason, I can’t throw them away. Today I have been in a department store and a nice lady asked me to translate the statement printed on a t-shirt «I mean, it’s a present and I don’t know if these ones are bad words…». It was in English of course. Live now. Good choice!
