Special Post in Spanish: Feliz Año Nuevo!!! lleno de felicidades y oportunidades :)

Después de un tiempo, uno aprende la sutil diferencia entre sostener una mano y encadenar un alma.
Y uno aprende que el amor no significa acostarse.
Y que una compañía no significa seguridad , y uno empieza a aprender ....
Que los besos no son contratos y los regalos no son promesas, y uno empieza a aceptar sus derrotas con la cabeza alta y los ojos abiertos , y uno aprende a construir todos sus caminos en el hoy, porque el terreno del mañana es demasiado inseguro para planes ... y los futuros tienen su forma de caerse por la mitad.
Y después de un tiempo uno aprende que, si es demasiado, hasta el calor del Sol puede quemar.
Así que uno planta su propio jardín y decora su propia alma, en lugar de esperar a que alguien le traiga flores.
Y uno aprende que realmente puede aguantar, que uno es realmente fuerte, que uno realmente vale, y uno aprende y aprende... y así cada día.
Con el tiempo aprendes que estar con alguien, porque te ofrece un buen futuro, significa que tarde o temprano querrás volver a tu pasado.
Con el tiempo comprendes que sólo quien es capaz de amarte con tus defectos sin pretender cambiarte, puede brindarte toda la felicidad.
Con el tiempo te das cuenta de que si estás con una persona sólo por acompañar tu soledad, irremediablemente acabarás no deseando volver a verla.
Con el tiempo aprendes que los verdaderos amigos son contados y que quien no lucha por ellos, tarde o temprano, se verá rodeado sólo de falsas amistades.
Con el tiempo aprendes que las palabras dichas en momentos de ira siguen hiriendo durante toda la vida.
Con el tiempo aprendes que disculpar cualquiera lo hace, pero perdonar es atributo sólo de almas grandes.
Con el tiempo comprendes que si has herido a un amigo duramente, es muy probable que la amistad jamás sea igual.
Con el tiempo te das cuenta que aun siendo feliz con tus amigos, lloras por aquellos que dejaste ir.
Con el tiempo te das cuenta de que cada experiencia vivida con cada persona es irrepetible.
Con el tiempo te das cuenta de que el que humilla o desprecia a un ser humano, tarde o temprano sufrirá multiplicadas las mismas humillaciones o desprecios.
Con el tiempo aprendes a construir todos tus caminos en el hoy, porque el sendero del mañana no existe.
Con el tiempo comprendes que apresurar las cosas y forzarlas a que pasen, ocasiona que al final no sean como esperabas.
Con el tiempo te das cuenta de que en realidad lo mejor no era el futuro, sino el momento que estabas viviendo justo en ese instante.
Con el tiempo verás que aunque seas feliz con los que están a tu lado, añorarás a los que se marcharon.
Con el tiempo aprenderás a perdonar o pedir perdón, decir que amas, decir que extrañas, decir que necesitas, decir que quieres ser amigo...
Pero desafortunadamente, sólo con el tiempo... 


from a friend :)

Coco: Breaking out of the corset

Coco Chanel, a woman that fought her way into fashion, was determine not to let her past and origins limit her future and ambitions, and so with a broken heart, the legend begun.

                                         

The creator of more than a trend and a way of styling gave a new meaning of what clothes represented and symbolized back then.  For this post I am going to dedicate it to the life of the woman that made an epic change in women’s fashion clothes, Gabrielle Coco Chanel.  A woman that inspired me to be different than everybody else, imposing her free way of thinking in a male society through clothes.  A perfectionist, creative, break through woman with a strong character, became an icon and reference of women’s fashion throughout time. Her legacy, The House of Chanel, is now under the direction of Karl Lagerfeld with the intention to keep her spirit and ideals alive through time, molding and changing to satisfy and fit the woman of the present.

Her style transcended, time and wardrobes, becoming a classic both for mother and daughter. They are more than clothes but her brand is now considered a legacy. She built a brand, but a whole new perception of what the stereotype of woman represented back then. Classy and elegant Coco broke the female figure of women being portrayed as dolls. She created a new image of the woman of the twentieth century, portraying an independent woman, feminine and elegant but still comfortable and emancipated form the restrains of the fashion trends of the time, which kept women inside the fixed and breathtaking corsets that imposed a determine figure and style. She changed the epitome that the women of the time represented; she made a radical transformation introducing same pieces of clothes that only men wore at that time, into women’s wardrobe, such as cardigans, blazers, even short hair. 

A turning point for both women and fashion, for she was the one that started thinking that change could be achieved even if that meant creating a revolution of minds. Coco hated corsets, and therefore clothes meant a freedom of movement, concept by which she based her designs, giving women more freedom and liberty to feel elegant and comfortable. She eliminated the concept that to be beautiful women had to suffer.

And so she became an inspiration, to move forward, and change.

                                                      

The marketing behind the lipstick

What is it that makes us feel secure about ourselves?

Is it the attitude? The personality ? Or the clothes ? in my experience I believe it’s a mixture of all three. However, the perception that we have varies according to the circumstances we are in. For example, if we have a job interview or a date, o just a party with friends we want to look our best, and sometimes we need a back up help of a designer to keep us secure of our image. Here is where the psychological value of the business brands comes in. Why is it that celebrities and consumers rely so much on designers to let them advise what to wear to a party or a premier? Because they feel that designers anticipate to the hip trends of the moment, and so be the first to impose them. Sometimes these risks are recognized and seen as an In trend or a fashion crime.

In addition, the consumers dress to portray a style, an image, an attitude.  Why is it that a brand has (in many cases) more meaning than a X design? The answer has various possibilities. On the one hand, we have the personality created by the marketing team in which they assign a meaning that makes it worth much more worth than its cost, they want to portray an ideal for which people feel complete and differentiate themselves, maintaining a personal style. For example, Carolina Herrera would be the epitome of elegance. The purpose of having a brand, is to assign value so that people can easily differentiate it from other brands and have it position as a top of mind. It’s as simple as thinking of a “coke” and the first think that comes up to our mind is “Coca-Cola”. Coca-Cola became a number one transforming itself into a generic in the market, people don’t see brands; they see A brand, which makes a lot of difference in a competitive market. So, the value a brand tries to convey is as a reference in order to make people feel that they can actually acquire their personality, sophistication and image of the brand. They inspire. This is why in many cases advertising campaigns use public images of the media to become a referential and use their image to sell, and communicate the idea: if you use Armani underwear you can actually feel like you look a bit more similar to Beckham just because you are wearing the same under pants. It’s a way to sell, and a way to complete the ideal that every person has in their minds by using the same clothes. This is due to the fact that we feel more unique and confident knowing that Beckham has it too.

So to conclude, we use Kottlers marketing view for which we are never selling just a product, but the idea that the product transmits. So if we want to sell a lipstick we are not selling, just the material and sensorial product itself. Instead we sell beauty, and the ideal image that the lipstick transmits.     

Fashion Genes

Its funny how culture can vary our perception of suiting up. If we go inside a determined society, of a determined town or country we could see what style, habits and trends people have. But it goes far behind our favorite celeb style, or that weekly magazine that advises us what’s hip or not, it goes far behind, it goes till our mothers. Yes, they are the first fashion role models we have, and our faithful parameters of what’s good and wrong, even before our girlfriends. That’s why, when we go back on our childhood photos, we cannot believe what we were wearing. I mean come on mama! Seriously? Was that ever fashionable? And amazing as it seems, when we are young and before we develop our own style, if our mom told us, that’s gorgeous on you, it is very likely that we should wear it, no matter what outsiders said if mom liked it we should like it too. So we become dolls. Conclusion, our mothers and even our grandmothers were our first fashion role models, which means that many of our habits, we copy unconsciously from her, the woman that gave us life and the one that will guide us on our discovery for fashion.


So before society and fashion magazines educate us on our personal developed style, we are dolls that have no opinion and that will wear anything given. That’s until we are aware that there are other role models that might inspire us on our own sense of fashion and personal style. We become conscious of our own individuality since we live in society with parameters of style acceptance.

A funny anecdote that made me reflect about my clothes, happened on my first visit with my friends, to Las Vegas. We were lost as any tourist that was exited for being in one of the most talked about cities in the world. Wearing our best sexy clothes we decided to go partying, on our way out on that overwhelming city we ran into a ticket seller who recommended us to go to the Playboy Party at the Palms. Imagine out excitement when we decided that we were actually going when the ticket seller said “But you have to first get changed” we could not believe his words, we had been preparing and pampering ourselves for that whole afternoon, and to receive such a complement, our faces were ecstatic with a bully tone, “are you saying that we don’t look good for the occasion?” expecting for the ticket seller to change his mind. It was strange to realize that we were not dressed to the expected standard. We could say… well it WAS Las Vegas, and still it could have been just a matter of taste, of what the ticket seller would consider appropriate for the occasion.

Me and my big sis enjoying the waves...  Funny how when we are young we can wear anything with the excuse that we look "cute".

Comunication? Really?

 

Welcome! to a new blog dedicated to fashion, but not just clothes and shoes in the basic esthetic point of view but the meaning and phycology that is behind a society and the individuals that wear it. Since what they dont know is that behind thoes clothes there is COMUNICATION. A key word to understand people. Clothes are our personal AD. We dress up in most cases for somebody else, whether its our boss, boyfriends, friends, or the unknown guy on the street that gives us a complement, a double look and a direct and firm stare jajajaj Creepy... but true. We comunicate every time we dress and suit up.

Why a blog? Because i needed to speak up while undergoing my personal search for invididualism. Since clothes is one of my most creative and questionable passions i have to look for explanations and most importantly i get to question everything that i see, in a world were combination is not judged and originality is admired. Quoting a famous filosopher... "There are as many realities as perspectives" and therefore nothing must be rejected...well... right away.
Since what we, people living in a society, are not aware is that we live in a sleepy state, were automatization and habits take place to give us confort and security... from the coffee we take in the morning, to the same streets we walk, and even the same bus stop. So fashion works as a rupturistic wave of creativity that tries to innovate every time and break that sheep-like state of security. The contradictory thing about living in society and specially the Argentine society (what respects to fashion) is that women here, specially teenagers are determine to catalog themselves into groups, urban tribes, that dress alike! promoted by the idea that if i dont have thoes skinny jeans "i dont belong"... and aparently we have an urge to feel that we belong, to some kind of group even if it means being in a muuu point, one more of the cattle. Which means that we loose our personal vocie... so what is it that determines who we are? and defines what we put on? friends, habits, attitudes, shops?
So focusing on the last suggestion... do we buy because they (the shops and factories) produce? or do shops produce according to the society and the trends?