FASHION TRENDS: An ultra feminine comeback

"Pink was always underrated, but fashion is smarter than people... we can't help it, what looks good will be back on trend": talking to my fashion expert grandmother, who's worked for Prada, DKNY and Calvin Klein for more than twenty years, is a continuous surprise. Last week I was in Moscow, wandering in complete awe though the corridors of a Russian high-fashion shopping centre, when Prada's glamorous shop window caught my attention. An extremely bright and sweetly elegant bunch of clothes left me absolutely speechless for its femininity, which is not the main thing you expect to see in Prada's collections.
Everything was pink, from leather small bags with simple handles, as the last trends suggest, and arm-long silky gloves to exquisite mini dresses inspired by the 70s risky and edgy look.
Mischievous bon ton and a not-too-elegant or cutesy look is selling itself really well on runways and high-fashion shops'  windows. Two months ago I had read on vogue about a comeback of pink, but it took a while to actually start seeing it on models, magazines and street fashion. This morning I found myself happily diving myself into the September issue of ELLE magazine, one of my favourites for the joyous variety of articles and the quantity of arty images: the whole issue is literally filled up with pink... pink bags, pink accessories, pink coats, pink furs, pink whatever. To me, a comeback of such a controversial hue is quite exciting, edgy and risky: we've been swaying through a period of fashion where women are likely to dress in a more androgynous way, with tight jeans and sporty shoes, or else to show off more vulgar looks with the revolutionary hot pants and crop tops. It's thrilling to imagine (or even hope) that things could go back to a more "sixtyish" look.
As positive as I can be about a dainty, twee revolution, I must say that pink is not an easy colour to wear: it can look overly girly and too feminine for our judgemental society, especially if we imagine women actually going out wearing brighter shades of an already bright colour. A mostly pink outfit can be considered controversial: a feeble shade may look overly soft and tender, whilst a bright one recalls too much of the ideal of the silly teenager too caring for make-up and gossip. Right. Remember how many movies like that we girls watched? Mean girls, for example? Depend upon it, the general hate towards a slightly more feminine colours comes from our culture: remember the mythical Sharpey Evans from High School Musical? Remember how she walked down the school's aisle with that confident and rather odious smile, wearing pink shirts or pink trousers and pink hair bands and ties? I do. And suddenly pink becomes a symbol of too much ridiculous femininity.
Nowadays, women have a lot of power. They study, they work, they run around with kids and a starbucks coffe and their laptop... always working, always thinking, always multitasking without even realising how much the ideal of woman has changed. This is not either wrong or right, it's simply a fact: we really have changed. And that's why I think sometimes it's nice to see a little bit of girlish dainty outfits out there: as much as women look lovely with sweat pants and trainers, they do look quite appealing with a pair of heels and a dress.
So, conclusion is: embrace the trend, be reckless and wear pink. A gentle touch of such a feminine colours can soften a more aggressive look. As usual, balance is the key in fashion.

Dior, 2015

Prada, 2015

Prada, 2015

Prada, 2015

Have a good day everyone,
Camilla

Fashion in gorgeous Moscow

Elegant, charming, spacious and beautiful. If I was asked to describe Moscow with a couple words, these are the only ones I would use. Hands down, the Russian capital was one of the most fascinating cities I've ever visited. Apart from alluring landmarks and that habitual sightseeing that good tourists are always supposed to do, I mostly got excited for life and fashion in the streets. What I loved about Moscow were all of those things that you don't get to learn in schools, those things that academic books won't tell you of.

Cafes, restaurants and both traditional and international shops scattered in airy beautiful streets all around the city make it even more pleasant and walking around elegant and historic metro stations is priceless. The culture, I've always thought, is the most fascinating and interesting thing you can ever hope to learn of a population.

As an aspirant journalist, I've always found it enticing and fascinating to just sit down for a while and look at the constant flow of people in the street. I's wonderful to see everyone in a different mood, walking with a different pace or wearing something that catches your eye. 

By looking at people, what I understood about Russian fashion is that Russian women don't joke around: they dress up, constantly. Even if it's just for a coffe, you'll see those beautiful tall women elegantly walk down the streets with stilettos and a dress, with a pair of tight leather jeans and a silk blouse... no matter what's the occasione, Russian fashion is shimmering, elegant and brave. High fashion and catwalk.like garments are courageously worn on the streets so casually that you feel like they're wearing a tracksuit. Frankly, I had never seen such elegance clothing-wide in any other city.

Plus, you can't walk even forty meters before you see a Trussardi or Bulgari shop. I once decided to go in a shopping centre... I think I had never seen such expensive brands all together in one floor: Pucci, Prada, Versace, Gucci and so on. The funny thing, a lot of people were there to buy and the lowest price I found was probably around two thousand euros for a summery little dress. That was the  equivalent of a Chinese market shirt for me, I guess. 

In a city that would continuously impress me as I was walking down some of the major streets of Moscow, a window in particular caught my attention. I saw a fairytale-kind dress, with a sweeping long skirt and and a fitted bodice... I fell in love, since I've always been a big fan of feminine and elegant dresses, and even a little edgy and lavish sometimes is not bad to look at. The fashion house is called Igor Gulyaev, I had never heard of him before but his fashion house opened recently, in 2009 and inside the shop I was told that it was the fur that made the brand so successful in his first collection. The elegance of his last one especially is breathtaking, every dress is created with attentive care to search the perfect materials and his clothes really bring us back to a time where women were celebrated for their soft features and curves, to that time between the forties and fifties, to the New Look, when fashion for women was all about dresses. Have a look at the link, I think I fell in love like I have rarely before with this designer's peculiar style. www.igorgulayev.com

Loved Moscow, loved its fashion, loved Igor most of all :D

Have a good day everyone,

Camilla

An innovative catwalk

"You don't learn style from watching people on a runway. Fashion happens every morning when you wake up" wise and beautiful Alessandra Ambrosio states during an interview. I couldn't agree more: fashion is everything, from culture to art to lifestyle... and yes, it happens every minute of our lives. Actually, it IS in everything and every second of our lives.
But still, who doesn't love a good catwalk?
Flashing light, colourful clothes, annoying paparazzi and glamorous guests make the fahion world known for its classy runways, making every fashion lover's heart beat fast with thrill and excitement. But in the fashion industry it's hard to stand out: it's all about people and, depend upon it, people want and need innovative.
The world is growing fast, we live in a fast-forward world and must learn to appreciate it instead of passively criticize it: fashion is evolving with us, there's never only one trend, never one model of the year, never one designer everyone admires. As fashion should be, it's currently more than anytime before a reflection of society. Diversity and innovation is the key, you must be creative and catch the attention of the rich lady on the limo and of the man running down the street and late for work. And, trust me, impressing a constantly impressed world is quite a challenge.
A few days ago, as I kept idling wiping my finger down my Iphone screen checking facebook, I finally found something worthy of my real attention.
Russian designer Jana Nedzvetskaya spiced up her fashion show by catching the audience's attention with an unusual way to a catwalk.
Beautiful models literally dropped into the water with flowy, sweeping dresses looking ridiculously alluring underwater. What I loved the most was the way the models just dropped into the water and didn't  simply dive in. It was unexpected, it caught my interest and made me want to search something  more about that collection.
The fabrics looked absolutely ravishing underwater, bright colours gained a powerful lightness and the bodies of the models looked sinous and feminine while elegantly moving underwater.
Lesson for any designer: be new, do something no one's ever done before. Impress everyone. See your clothes in an intelligent way.

Love,
Camilla

Furry northern people

The first thing I noticed as soon as I got off my ferry to Helsinki, Finland, was a casually dressed teen with ripped Abercrombie jeans, a random t-shirt with a rocky print and an extravagant, oddly shaped fur hat projecting outward and embellished by two flaps hanging there on the sides. Very odd, I suddenly found myself thinking. Overly odd, I stated as a good italian used to elegant high heeled ladies and well-groomed, pink-shirted men. But I mean, we all know, besides stereotypes, that northern people have a quite unique and honestly controversial perception of hot and cold.
Around march, on the beggining of the lovely and much desidered spring, in Italy we basically wear what I see Brits wear in November, and as soon as the tiny little streets of my minuscule city get crowded and filled up by curious tourists, northern people are always quite easy to spot. They are without the shadow of a doubt the ones with weird open sandals, pale complexion and no sleeves while we Italians bravely start feeling springy by showing off a pair of white jeans instead of black wintery trousers.
Since the first moment I arrived in Helsinki, where I currently am on holiday, all I saw was FUR. Fur everywhere. I kept seeing it in every tiny corner like a nagging nightmere... I actually think I started having delusions and hallucinations after a while. Beige and grey beautiful furs in the classy high fashion shops, furs in the everyday wear shopping centres, furs in the traditional open-air market down on the port. Everywhere, honest.

As a fur's lover, I tingled with excitement.
Fur is the only good thing about cold weather and my favourite excuse to look classy and on trend; indeed the trend keeps coming back and you will never think it's old school neither too modern... Still, in a way I feel like it's both old school and modern. And why is fur so great? To me, personal opinion, it's because it can be used in different ways and overall with different intentions: fur can give a little more attitude to a boring white blouse, yet it has an immense power to embellish and refine an even more boring jeans and a t-shirt. As I always say, fur can change your outfit, as much as the right shoes and accessories can do.
Afterall, the main goal for a woman as regards her style is to always be able to balance things in order to look never too elegant, never too casual. Even though, this Fins definetely do not do. To them, wearing a t-shirt when it´s ten grades outside is ok, but only with an overly warm hat or scarf. Again, creepy. And odd.
Despite this little incomprehension issue between a typical italian girl and phisically insensitive Fins, what I'm loving the most about Helsinki is the street style. As it should be in every good capital city, even small ones, I could pleasantly see a lot of diversity. While it could sound a little cheesy, trust me: diversity in terms of clothing is usually given for granted and as a native of a tiny minusculous city I can definetely say that people LOVE comformism, they love not being judged and they love looking like each other if no one has that little sparkle of creativity to stand out. Actually finnish people seem to be quite brave and positively careless of what everyone else thinks, which I love.
Besides, it's not like they wear sloppy outfits just because they don't care. With a bit of reasearch, in fact I now know that finnish fashion has made a striking entrance in the fashion industry recently. Indeed it is always more prominent and important in the Helsinki Design week thanks to new seminaries and courses led in the spring. Finnish designers work also abroad for some of the most important houses in fashion industry, like Diesel, Calvin Klein or Nina Ricci. Moreover, thanks to bloggers and the press the world is getting to know some talented finnish designers and in the last few years some grand design exhibitions where held in New York and Tokyo. Compared to other northern designers, like the Swedes, Finnish ones have more character and usually make interesting and creative products more likely to have a chance in international markets. As far as style and fashion are concerned, creativity is the key. New and fresh is what greedy buyers look for, and apparently finnish designers are doing good.
To sum it all up, Finland is not all about shy and awkward fish lovers, but it rather has a cool fashion world and a nice amount of good fur that, let's make this clear, we all envy (Italy first). Go and you'll see... it's worth the journey and the cold to see graceful parks, a beautiful scenery and such lovely open-air markets selling real finnish food and clothing.

Traditional, creative, beautiful. Loving Filand and its oddly-worn fur.








Love you all,

 Camilla

Punk Luxe in high fashion

Ripped clothes, safety pins, spikes and a provocative manner: fashion was never a means of rebellion as much as in the seventies for the working class youths.

A battle versus the upper society, kindling with the desire of destroying the ideals of the bourgeois, was the chief motive for Punk Luxe to burst. Since the young and rebellious working class thought theirselves alienated, alien they decided to look like, using fashion as a powerful way to impose their personality and dissatisfaction.

Ironically born to fight against conformism, globalisation and brands, the Punk Luxe is now glorified and rather glamorized on red carpets and high fashion catwalks. Its wide commercial success last emerged in 2010; after five years punk elements are still widely used to create couture looks with a little extra attitude.

The punk luxe as a high fashion style never allows daring elements to completely take over, but with a little balance and discipline those edgy items can be mixed and paired with more classy garments.

Versace’s safety pinned dress worn by actress Elisabeth Hurley is famous for its elegant yet edgy and risky appearance. People seem to like it, it gives attitude and energy to a classy look and softens it up. This black dress became so popular that it is often referred to as "THAT dress".  It's 2014, Elisabeth is accompanying Hugh Grant to the premiere of Four Weddings and a Funeral, in a dress made of lycra and silk, held together by oversized gold safety pins. The dress is perhaps Versace's best-known creation, clearly recalling the Punk Luxe golden age with a touch of elegance.

Most noticeably are then Balmain’s skin tight ripped jeans and studded leather bags, Jean Paul Gaultier’s tartan and PVC, or the skull scarves and bondage undertones of Alexander Mcqueen.

Creative, provocative and rebellious are now the adjectives used to critique the punk luxe style on catwalks, appreciating that bit of edginess and aggressiveness added to high fashion looks.

Love,

Camilla

THIS SUMMER'S BIGGEST TREND

You will see it constantly and everywhere, crowding the streets with his energetic luminosity and its reckless courage: it's a controversial hue, loved and then hated, feared and thought to be either too bright or too feeble. But still, summer 2015 definitely got it as a chief trend and, depend upon it, love it or not you will learn to appreciate it by looking at the stunning examples of high couture designers. 

Yes, it's the classic, underrated yellow. Since the human species origins, yellow was always a primary colour, the brightness or the sun, the daintiness of spring flowers and the thrilling peril of the top fire flames. Yellow was then somehow copied by human, and started to be used as a clothing color in different shades; always loved in art, in fashion this color went through some tough days. It's his audacity, mostly, that makes people feel uncomfortable about their choices of wearing such a glowing, intense hue.

Yellow, the color of sunshine, that stands for freshness, happiness, energy, optimism, enlightenment and joy, is shaking up this summer, making everyplace of clothing look fresh and delicately but still firmly joyous. What better chance to have a blast and fun-full summer on a pair of cream sandals and a yellow swimsuit?

Seems like Dolce and Gabbana had this idea in a beautiful swimsuit, a  boost of proteins provided by the color... simple... but effective. 

For a classy night out, a fresh dress from Chloe, looking stunning in its simplicity, full and flimsy

Or you can spice it up a little and get slightly more complicated and refined dress like this one from the Balmain, spring-summer collection 2015

To draw conclusions, in the fashion fold there's a lot to risk and still a lot to go for... the rule is be fashion, make it, be reckless and people will love it. So don't be afraid, go buy a bright yellow garment and you'll definitely look amazing and for sure you'll be keeping up with this summer's latest trends.

Have a good day, everyone

Love you

Camilla

Diet advice from one century ago!

Let's go straight to the point and face up to reality: we live on a helpless world, where the most important value is probably beauty (Averagely talking, of course, let's not have stereotypes). Sounds scary to say this, and we would one hundred per cent like to pretend the average woman/man doesn't care, but we incessantly rely on beauty and fashion icons. 

I'm not saying this is either wrong or right, I strongly believe that criticizing society is a mistake since  it would be impossible to change it in any way. In fact, the only thing I'm trying to do today is restore your faith in humanity, but letting you know that yes, even before the 21st century people were quite obsessed with dieting and styling. For millennia genetic programming has told us to eat when we can, to eat what we want for it's what our body needs and the fear of crests and wars suggested to always do so. For the past century or so, instead, concerns about obesity and such disorders resulted in there creation of a true diet holy literature.

That's why I looked for some diet advice dating back to the first decade of the nineties, that could possibly turn out to be quite useful for the 2000's generation... hope you enjoy! 

The first thing you must acknowledge, before you even think of getting on a diet, is if you really need to loose weight, r you are just a curvy woman or a muscular man.

This is how Mrs Kellerman suggest to find out what your real condition is, in her book "Physical Beauty, how to keep it", published in 1918:

 "Here are a few tests to determine how much of you is real woman and how much is just plain fat. In the first place stand before your mirror nude and look yourself over…Now bend over in various attitudes. Are there unsightly wrinkles and rolls of loose flesh? Lie down on a bed or couch on your back…With your free hand grasp the loose skin and flesh that lies above these muscles… if you are too fat there will be big rolls of loose flesh above the tightened muscles"

"The woman who is too fat will frequently, though not always, have loose busts. She is likely to have excessive hips. Her knees and ankles, instead of being trim and shapely are likely to be soft and puffy"












Back to 1901 also the anonymous writer of "Beauty's aids, how to be beautiful" with a rather pungent wit explains another method to define your body shape:

"A very thin woman is not beautiful, but she can be graceful even to a remarkable degree; but what shall we say of an old woman, overflowing with fat, no longer possessing a human form, much less the form of a woman, always gasping, sweating, and breaking out into redness at the slightest movement, looking, in short, vulgar, ridiculous, and half-bestial"

It may be interesting to know that even before the 19th century there were diets, as we can see from "The woman beautiful" from Hellen Follett Jameson, who published her book in 1899. Here's what she had so say:

"[The fat woman] gets into clothes that are skin-tight, and she draws in her corset string until it snaps and gives at every breath and sneeze, and even then she does not look graceful and pretty, for the fat — like secrets — will out, and it rolls over and around like the little bumps and humps in a pudding bag"

Ehm... quite rude, right? Indeed, these writers from the nineties could be rather strict when it comes to judging a woman's body, probably stricter than we are today, even though we keep saying we live in a society where beauty is everything. Just have a look at these random phrases:

"Sleep must be limited to seven hours, and daily naps are strictly tabooed. [The Woman Beautiful]"

"Banish all thoughts of going back to bed. Instead begin your rolling. There is no mystery about rolling. It is simply what the name indicates. Down upon the floor you go and roll over and over swiftly, not slowly as a porpoise rolls. The porpoise, you will observe, is not a slender animal. Roll over as a puppy, tingling with the joy of life, rolls in the dust when at play. Roll quickly. Make at least 80 revolutions before stopping. [My Secrets of Beauty, Cavalieri]"

"Mere napping about for those who already have too much rest and luxury is suicidal to both mind and body. Oversleeping at any time makes one stupid and logy, yes — fat. [Physical Beauty, How to Keep it]"

There are many other evils beyond corpulence that result from excess in eating, and a badly arranged dietary. Among them may be mentioned a deranged digestion, a loaded tongue, an oppressed stomach, vitiated secretions, a gorged liver, plethora and its consequences, a sluggish brain, with horrible dreams during sleep, and depression when awake. [Foods for the Fat: A Treatise on Corpulency and a Dietary for Its Cure, Nathaniel Edward Yorke Davie]

Now, we shouldn't take to seriously all of these purposes, for studies weren't as advanced as they fortunately are today; in the 1890s and before there were some weird beliefs, even silly for our mindset but still very pervasive and persuasive at the time. 

One of those (the queerest we must notice) was that water had a fattening effect on the human body. Water was indeed thought to be interfering with gastric juices, which could actually help weight loss, if allowed to attack food. The theory was first explained by Thomas King Chambres in 1852, in his essay Corpulence: Or, Excess of Fat During Pregnancy. 

His work was professional supported by some of the era's most respectable doctors, who wrote medical advice for women. And surprisingly, he wasn't the only want to think water could be fattening:

Do not drink much water. A little lemon juice added to it will make it less fattening. [The Woman Beautiful]

First and most important, drink very little, as little as possible, and only red or white wine, preferably Burgundy, or tea or coffee slightly alcoholized. [Beauty's Aids; Or, How to Be Beautiful]

In America the number of fat people is growing larger every year and the suffering endured by this usually good-natured class of people is tremendous. As a matter of fact, a great deal of this discomfort might be avoided if people would not drink such an inordinate quantity of ice water and could be made to understand that thirst does not lie in the stomach and that it is not satisfied by pouring down water by the glassful. [Beauty, Its Attainment and Preservation]

Crazy, isn't it? If we ever thought that we were the ones obsessed with diets, we know found out it was always like that, and even (let's be honest) worse, since since wasn't really enough developed yet.

Have a good day everyone, let's think less about beauty and more about brain,
Camilla