Stromboli

A volcanic island situated between the Mediterranean and the Tyrrhenian sea that belongs to Italy, is one of my favourite places to escape to, from the excessive working lifestyle that we all have nowadays. You can set off from Sicily or Sardinia to enjoy the wilderness and quiet holidays that anyone well deserves! If you have not been there yet, I suggest you to book your e ticket right away...! To start warming up the vacational spirit, I also recommend you to watch the movie under the same name starring Ingrid Bergman, where she escapes the mundane surrounded by a dessert like setting full of anxiety aspects and uncertainty! A masterpiece inspired by and filmed on location, or you can also listen to Montgomery's album entitled like the island's name to get into the  summer mood. Come on, you know that Formentera is overrated, why not try something new?

Denim

Iselin Steiro´s glorious ensemble at Chloé Printemps-Eté 2010 catwalk in denim made me wanna dress up again in that material, and made me spend a fortune in that very same look. If you don´t have a piece of this classic yet casual fabric, I suggest you to run to the nearest Acne store or Cheap Monday official dealer, they have it and they do it like nobody else. Don´t be afarid of the double denim disaster effect, mixing up different washes or bleaches is the new cool. Workwear has never looked so chic!

Nico

Christa Päffgen was born in Cologne in 1938 and she has enlightened my days ever since! She first came to fame because of her modelling career, but that affair with fashion only lasted a few years, until smarty pantsies Andy Warhol convinced her to be his latest toy and work along his musical project "The velvet underground". Her off tone voice and sadness quickly catch the media attention and made her an indie star, her long gold locks and extremely long eyelashes made a statement on and off the stage, where she dealt with depression and unbearable love affairs, like the one she had with Alain Deloin and his bastard kid Arie. She appeared on films such as Chelsea Girls by Warhol, La Dolce Vita by Fellini or Strip Tease by Poitrenaud among others, but her true call was and always will be music. Nico, you may have a gay lover´s name, but your name is tatooed in my heart!

Vogue Paris

Warning: Adult content on the inside! The sexually explicit images may affect the readers sensibility. That should be the message on a sticker outside each cover of  the French glossy version of the cult classic Vogue. Thanks to la Roitfield, this monthly Bible(at least for me) has revamped and appeared victorious from the ashes thanks in part to the risky collaborators such as Hedi Slimane, Terry Richardson, Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot or Inez and Vinoodh and the saucy spreads featuring the "it" models of the season. Always with a gorgeous and carnal model on the cover(except for the Christmas issue, where a celebrity acts out as editor in chief) this publication is a wild ride on a sensorial sense! A fashionable vision with a hint of perversity and burgeois taste, always envisioned from a female perspective. Carine Roitfield, Emmanuelle Alt and Marie-Amelie Sauvé are the holy trinity of this church called Paris Vogue...Are you prepare to sin?

Le Baron

If you wanna dance like a maniac and be surrounded by the most beautiful creatures in the whole wide world, then Le baron is your place! Own by my dear friend André Saraiva(also entrepreneur of Hotel Amour and collaborator of Colette and Purple magazine) is one of the few places in Paris where is open till late and where you can also dance away to tunes from Daft Punk and Lido or hits by Sebastien Tellier and Phoenix among others. Killer music, knock out drinks and an interesting crowd in the city of lights... What else can you ask for? If you cannot pop onto the next flight to Paris, then buy its cd, "la compilation du baron", to warm up your best moves on the dancefloor... Au revoir my little party monsters!

Dorothy Draper

When you think of drapery and mouldings, there is only one person that comes to my head...Dorothy Draper. Irreverent and opulent lady who lunches that made her own interior design revolution by creating the first ever studio specialized on this matter in 1923. Born in Tuxedo Park in 1889, she was not your typical rich girl, she had major dreams and she was destined to follow them and succed while executing them. She created the "modern Barroque", a signature of hers, while writing books and magazine articles that unveils her confident sense of style. Her milestone and stroke of genius are the legacy of hotels she decorated, scattered all over the US geography, such as The Carlyle in New York or the Greenbrier hotel in West Virginia. Miss Draper you were like the Martha Stewart of Interiors, only infinitely better!

Model Snapshots

Oh models! They are usually youthful, gorgeous and outer worldly creatures whose perfect features and surreal measurements makes us dream on what it would be like to be one of them...If to this mere facts you add a perfect complexion and a sassy attitude in front of the camera, you round up a great picture, which only requires a blank background, like the snapshots shown above. Terry does it, Bruce loves it and Hedi sweares by it, so if this uber photographers do them, there must be quite a heavy reason why the model snapshoots are becoming more popular in blogs worldwide. Next time I have my picture taken, it will be in front of a white wall and with clean fresh face and starving attitude...Watch out girls!

A lady of a certain age

One of my favourite songs of all times is this one by The Divine Comedy. An exquisite tale of snobish behaviour and upper class lifestyle that is reflected on their album "Victory for the comic muse"(2006). "A lady of a certain age" is painfully beautiful and incredibly melancholic, if you sum up Neil Hannon´s peculiar voice to the whole thing, it is only normal that as a reaction it gets me goosebombs everytime I hear it. A must when you are feeling down or when you are feeling blue. It will cheer you up and bring back the essence of what really matters, without falling onto the clichés of a love song reaction. If you have not heard it yet...What are you waiting for?

Io sono l´amore

Just last night I watched this movie and I was blown away! Tilda Swinton was sublime, the movie photographic direction is a masturbatorial pleasure and a feist for your eyes. The story is a drama of the mesmorizing kind and on top of it all, Tilda´s wardobe(Emma in the movie), is entirely design by Raf Simmons for Jil Sander and Karl Laguerfeld for Fendi. If you haven´t seen it, you are missing out on the perfect vision of Italian bourgeoise and upper class lifestyle, wanting to be the perfect housewife and mother whose life has been shaken up by a pationate young Italian chef...It is all so good it has to be fattening!

Chloë Sevigny

What can I say...Who doesn´t love her or want to be like her? To be a fashion icon is a tough cookie, but to be a cool fashion icon is the hardest thing to cope, and to be so natural and effortless about it, it can only be innate! A Connecticut nerdy prep school girl who has blossomed into a role model for a whole new wave of young fashionistas with higher expectations, like say...Acting! If to that incredible looks you add a golden globe for her role in "Big Love" a star is born! Chloë you are my absolute star and a constant reference in my wardrobe...If I could only have your long legs, we will beat the Olsens!

Turbans

Elegant and irreverent, turbans are a must have in every confident and eccentric individual´s closet. I have always been fascinated by them, from Marlene Dietrich wool numbers to a more contemporary approach thanks to our friend Miuccia, transforming them into beautifully draped taffetta headgear. Most recently Gaultier wrapped up his models in very tall, kind of knotted turbans for his Autumn - Winter 2010 Haute Couture show. From now on there is only one way to go through life, and that is the turban way!

Aubrey Beardsley

Without a doubt, my favourite ink illustrator, Aubrey Vincent Beardsley represented all of the best and the worst of the Victorian society in his sartorialist illustrations. Created covers for books, Opera catalogues and contributed with all the major magazines and newspapers of the time, his style morphed with time into a more ellaborate and intricate line, becoming almost a preview of  the Rococo era. Like every legend he had a tragic ending, dying of Tuberculosis at the early age of twenty five. He now rests in his detailed settings and ornate paradises that usually where the focal point in his work. Aubrey, you may have died young, but your art lives forever!

Florence and the Machine

Red headed and full of passion, those are two of the first things that come to my head when I think of Florence Welch, the lead singer of this British group sensation. Her style is fresh, her voice unique and her performances are a perfect mix of Kate Bush and Nina Haggen on stage. Her "Cosmic Love" is my wake up song of choice during this whole week, giving me just the right amount of energy to survive at the long days ahead! If you wish to keep track of her and see her next venues, you could do so checking on her website:

http://florenceandthemachine.net/
Let her fill you with her powerful lungs!

Spring-Summer 2011 Wishlist

Above are a few of my favourite looks from the menswear runways from Milan and Paris. This would definetevely be on my wishlist for Spring Summer next year. A hippie and relaxed mood combined with new suiting proportions and ultra short silhouttes. Tell me which one is your favourite, and write your name on the waiting list... Let the battle begin!

Phoebe Philo

Not only she is beautiful, but she is the only designer that creates from her gutt instinct and dictates what women want, and want right away. Her succesful carrer started hand in hand with her Saint Martins pal Stella under Chloé, but it only took off when she was appointed as head designer for la maison Française, creating, season after season, the must have looks and the most copied on high street. She left at the top of her career, chosing motherhood over work. Now she is back on track thanks to another maison, chez Céline, and again  she has redirectioned the world of fashion into a cleaner and much more precise aesthetic. Her philosophy has also changed, creating investment pieces instead of trendy frocks. Phoebe, as Britney Spears once said, you did it again!