From the outside by NG: enero 2015

domingo, 18 de enero de 2015

look book series #3: the 70's trend.

Dear reader,
some people claim style is more important than fashion trends, some others, like Anna dello Russo think fashion trends beat style, i think one should always try to find a balance, style is all about personality, and fashion is about change, freshness; My theory is that the way that you dress reflects the person you are, or want to be, and i think that changing things in your personality is healthy, as long as you keep some other things so that your soul doesn't get lost in the process of change, and i think the same can be applied in the way we dress, we can follow fashion trends, as long as we keep some style characteristics that people will still recognize as yours.
None the less i do think that there are some trends that should not be followed, as fresh as they may seem, the Chanel sweaters with moth holes will always be for me one of those trends, and then there are trends that i encourage people to follow, the 70's trend being one of those, chic, polished, fun, mysterious, fashionable, but also healthy style-wise, the 70's trend is one that you will not want to ignore during 2015.

necklace and bracelet both by Chloé, belt by Hermes, high heels by Gucci, and purse by Barbara Bui.

Jane Birkin, YSL fringe cape, wide leg jeans by Genetic los Angeles, and button-down by Valentino.

pumps by Massimo Dutti, Constance bag and silk scarf both by Hermes, and wide brim hat by Sunday Afternoons.

Caroline de Maigret, gold tassel earrings by Gucci, flare pants by Altuzarra, blazer by Band of Outsiders and button-down by Comme des Garçons.

i leave you with two looks, one that was though of to go to work and one that is a little more informal...

sábado, 10 de enero de 2015

How to create an icon...

Dear reader,
when you think of the fashion industry, if you think hard enough, or at least read about real fashion, you can clearly see some spectrums that represent the word "fashion". these spectrums, or icons as i call them, say the Chanel nº5 bottle, or the Manolo stilettos, or the Valentino red dress, are pieces that have become ambassadors from the past and to the future that tell us what true elegance is about; but how were the icons of fashion created? some because of chances, some where products of heavily successful marketing campaigns like "a diamond is forever", others cannot be explained, but with certainty you can say that creating these icons is a thing that happens sometimes only once for a fashion house, or at least once a century....

well, not quite, for Hermes; An almost two-centenarian fashion house that started out as a workshop that made horse harnesses and saddles. Thierry Hermes ,the founder, catered for the european high class and aristocracy and developed a business that was based around qualitative products. by the year 1900 his son Charles-Émile had created HAC (haut á courroies) a bag for horse riders to carry their things in, by 1922 the first leather handbag was created and by the 1930's the house had reached america. but this Parisian house is not known anymore for their saddles, rather the three icons of fashion they created: the Constance bag, the Kelly bag, and the legendary Birkin.

When you have created not one, not two, but three different icons, in the same field, during the same century, under the same family then you know you are doing something right, that there is something special in your genes or that you are somehow... blessed? and certainly under any of the options stated above we would want to understand why this happened, and how to get this luck, perhaps one day you or me could end up creating our own icon, so lets get to it, lets examine the Birkin, The Kelly and the constance and come up with the formula to creating an icon.

first lets go for the Constance. although it is not the most famous of the three, the constance, a smaller kind of bag, has not lacked public for the 40 years or so that it has been on the market. Created by Catherine Chaillet in 1969, and named after her fifth child, the Constance is made of beautiful leathers, with a geometric form, round edges and toped with the iconic "H" (for Hermes) closure and a shoulder strap. it has been worn by socialites, movie stars, hundreds of fashion bloggers, and not to forget Jackie Onassis (or kennedy, as you will). it's making takes up to 14 hours, by a single worker, and i'd say it is worth it because as Christopher Bartley said "Constance, the girl, grew up to become a celebrated journalist and literary critic. Constance, the bag, has similarly aged well, losing not an ounce of its grace, chic, or contemporary function."

Jackie O. and the Constance.

the kelly was created during the 1930's by Robert Dumas, as the "Sac á dépêches", the Kelly bag had a revolutionary design, that caught the heart of a costume designer from Hitchcock's movie "to catch a thief" where grace kelly (later princess of Monaco) starred. The princess ,to be, fell in love with the french purse and after her marriage to Rainier the second she used it to hide her baby bump from the paparazzi. the luxurious leather bag (she used a black one) was from then on popularly called the kelly, and officially renamed in the 70's. the kelly is made in all kinds of sizes, colours, exotic leathers, and can be made with hardware materials as platinum, gold and so on. fun fact: a version of the kelly sports hands, feet and eyes (the kelly doll).

Princess Grace Kelly and her black kelly bag.

But it is the Birkin the one that should interest us, as it has the most fun story and is widely recognized as the most famous purse in history (and the most expensive). it all starts in a plane and a disorganized Jane Birkin, a british singer sits in her first class seat, it is the year 1981 and scrunchies are all in. suddenly the contents in the bag of the star get scattered all over the floor, and she reaches down to pick them up with the help of a mysterious kind man next to her. the rest of the story is mostly myths, but some people say the conversation between the man (Jean-Louis Dumas) and Jane went a little like this:
-you need a purse with pockets
-yeah, ill get one of those when Hermes makes them...
and guess what, he was the chief executive of Hermes and in 1984 the Birkin was created inspired in the HAC and Jane's awkward situation... it was an icon ever since, and a favorite not just for Jane Birkin that has had 4 from then, but for people like Victoria Beckham (who is said to have over a hundred), Mark Jacobs, Pharrell Williams, and the entire upper east side.

the Birkin.

So... what do these icons have in common? can we draw a guide to Iconize something? Not really, and thats the magic of fashion; sure there are similarities, they were all popularized by stars, and they all have interesting stories, but most importantly it was the "savoir faire" the quality that characterized Hermes from the beginning, and their craving to innovate that created these icons, and the truth is that the most i think of it the most i believe that these icons were so before even known by all these stars or socialites... so in the end, we'll never know how hermes does the magic, but i'm guessing passion, design, quality, qualified workers, lots of hours, exotic leathers, and luxurious hardware. (yes, i'm not including the stars)

Thierry Hermes, founder.

miércoles, 7 de enero de 2015

#Je suis Charlie Hebdo

Dear reader,
I am very sorry to write to you in this post about something that isn't fashion and will certainly make you feel unpleasant and sad, I was planning on writing about Hermes, but, as an aspiring journalist, and a person that carries France in his heart, I feel the moral duty to express my disgust to the event that happened in Paris, a terrorist attack that planned to produce fear and to shut our mouths up.

Charlie Hebdo, a local newspaper where revered cartoonists post their humorist and often satirical art and articles; which had been already attacked before cause of their controversial cartoons about Islam and the jihad; was ambushed on Wednesday the 7th by terrorists who carried AK47's; they killed 12 people (among which were the editor of the newspaper) and managed to fight the police and to scape in a car. the police has since released the name of 3 suspects, and François Hollande (the president of the french republic) has made a declaration, from which a phase stood out "freedom is always bigger than barbarism".

This barbaric people who waged automatic weapons upon unarmed men and women from the newspaper charlie Hebdo, where some of the most revered caricaturists in France work, should upon all understand that their plan has not been successful, that the death of the 12 people will not go down unnoticed, It won't cause people to fear freedom of speech, but rather will make us stronger, and will make us jealously and angrily protect our human rights.

Yet I would like you to remember that these people should not fool us, they are trying to make us believe they are fighting for good and religion, they are fighting against disrespectf, but I say it is a lie, they do not represent good, nor God, nor the islamic people, and should be remembered as terrorist, criminals, not as "muslim terrorist" or "muslim criminals" because there are thousands of righteous muslims out there that are as disgusted as you and me, and that are sad because of the disrespect towards human rights and the murders of today's event. I say that this day should not be a day for us to become xenophobic, but rather to stand together as humans against evil.

today and forever i'll be freedom of speech, i'll be human rights, je serai Charlie Hebdo.