Sporty Chic

                                               - de la eleganta Chanel la rebela Cara -

            Dacă pe vremuri defineam prostul gust prin combinația “ trening cu pantofi cu toc”, astăzi ne permitem orice. De la îndrăzneală lui Chanel de a decreta că femeia respiră și se mișcă, îmbrăcând-o în sacou și în pantaloni, asortăm azi, fără nicio problemă, șapca de baseball cu un colier de perle, fusta conică și adidași. Avem totuși o problemă? 

            Cu siguranță există câteva reguli. O combinație Sporty Chic este greu de obținut, mai ales dacă ne propunem ca rezultatul să fie unul estetic. Pentru început, nu oricărui tip de siluetă i se potrivește acest stil. Știu, suntem pe cale să aruncăm laptopul pe geam, încă o restricție, discriminarea nu sună bine niciodată. Dar în cazul subiectului este adevărat. Sporty Chic nu este o invenție a secolului curent, ci mai degrabă una interbelică.“ Emanciparea femeii” ne spune ceva? Unul dintre pași a fost participarea sexului frumos la competițiile sportive. Acest lucru presupune, de obicei, o siluetă atletică, bine lucrată și întreținută. A urmat nevoia de a îmbina utilul cu plăcutul, până când am ajuns la unul dintre cele mai populare sporturi (sângeroase) din zilele noastre: promenada.

            Un alt aspect ar fi combinația în sine. Din respect pentru “ mămica” lui Sporty Chic, ar fi bine să încercam să nu aruncăm pe noi tot șifonierul. Chanel a împrumutat( și a reușit să impună în moda feminină, pe atunci strictă, incomodă) pantalonii de echitație, bluza marinărească cu dungi și sacoul pentru a le încânta pe toate femeile, nu doar pe unele în sensul“ Uite-o și p’aia!”. Oricât de rebel ar părea, stilul păstrează o linie, iar dezvoltarea se face pe verticală( orizontala e coșmarul!). Costumul de echitație este una dintre principalele surse: conic, elegant, totodată lejer. Deși s-a lansat în zona timpului liber aristocrat, a cunoscut apogeul în zona under a R n B-ului, unde șapca și bijuteriile masive din aur încrustate cu pietre( prețioase dacă se poate) sunt must- have. Cine nu își amintește de treningurile din materiale prețioase( mătase, catifea...) pe care le purta Missy Elliott pe covorul roșu de la Grammy 2000? Cine nu cunoaște ținutele Rihannei? Dar colaborarea Gwen Stefani- Vivienne Westwood cum vi se pare?   

            Printre designerii care au “șlefuit” Sporty Chic se află Michael Kors, Tom Ford, Stella McCartney, Marc Jacobs sau Jeremy Scott. Însă numele care devine sinonim cu Sporty Chic este al modelului de origine britanică, Cara Delevingne. Un trup perfect, atitudine pozitivă dar elegantă, ținute lejere- o imagine fresh și sofisticată. 

            

              Nici Karl Lagerfeld nu a rămas indiferent la impactul pe care acest stil revenit în vogă l-a avut asupra tuturor, designeri și celebrități deopotrivă, drept pentru care, ultima colecție Chanel poartă puternice amprente sport. Fără să renunțe la sacoul și la stofa ce au făcut casa de modă celebră, Lagerfeld transformă adidașii într-un accesoriu indispensabil. Puteți vedea întreaga colecție aici.

Sursa foto: Vogue si Flickr

Happy Earth Day!

   Good Morning, Fashion Addicts!
   Today it is the Earth Day! How are you going to celebrate?
   I am going to wear green for sure and I think that I will wear a hippie inspired outfit. here and there

   Designers went green here and there, these are my favourite:
  

Alberta Ferretti ( Rtw-S/S2013)

 Chanel ( Rtw-S/S2013)

Gucci ( Rtw-S/S2013)

Jean Paul Gaultier ( Couture-Spring2013)

   Have a lovely and joyful day!
   Go green!
   Kisses, A.

Floral Prints

   Spring is already here, but Summer is on her way. Don't you feel it's time for the floral prints? Why not anticipate the warmest season by starting to wear floral printed clothing?

   I've looked up some " floral outfits" in the Couture Spring 2013 Collections and these enchanted me the most:

Armani Prive

Chanel

 

 

Christian Dior

Maison Martin Margiela

Valentino

   I found this amazing website( http://demodecouture.com/cotton/) on which I found a beautiful history of the printed fabrics. It is impressive: in India, the printed fabrics were developed in the 14th century and they were brought to Europe in the 17th century. The first prints were floral. In the Victorian Era, in England, nature( especially the plant kingdom) played a very important role in interior design and in Fashion design; because of the accelerated development of technology, people got so exhausted that they began to seek for every opportunity to relax and even to escape. William Morris's floral designs are the most famous:

   I hope you enjoyed reading and viewing these photos.
   Have a lovely evening,
   Kisses, A.

Another Famous Apartment. Gabrielle Coco Chanel's

   Yesterday, I wrote about 3 famous apartments of some of the 3 most famous feminine characters( Holly Golightly, Blair Waldorf and Carrie Bradshaw). I cannot pass this topic unless I write about another famous apartment " owned" by a woman who lived her reality as a Victorian character: Gabrielle " Coco" Chanel.



   Everybody knows something about her, even if not everyone read her biography( at least everybody interested in Fashion must have seen " Coco avant Chanel"(2009) with Audrey Tautou). She had a tumultuous, controversial life, full of compromise, a life that Coco used to "improvise" when she wanted to fescape the very complicated reality that she had to face so many times. In general, fashion designers are eccentric, complicated, " hard to get". Because she had reinvented herself and took it over again so many times, Gabrielle Chanel has something special that makes her difficult but ambitious personality, what it represents today, after more than 4 decades from her death : Coco's image remained the emblem of the strong woman, a powerful and " avant-gardist" woman, who is not afraid of prejudice, who is willing to fight for what hse wants, who permeates in a man's world by using their weapons: the suit and  and the trousers.


   About her death:
  " As 1971 began, Chanel was 87 years old, tired, and ailing, but nonetheless stuck to her usual routine of preparing the spring catalog. She had gone for a long drive that afternoon and feeling ill, went to bed early where she died on Sunday, January 10, 1971 at the Hotel Ritz where she had resided for more than 30 years. Her grave is located in the Bois-de-Vaux Cemetery, Lausame, Switzerland." - Wikipedia

   About her apartment:
   Coco loved luxury and this can be seen in her beautiful, opulent apartment, about which you can read here The Coveteur review: http://www.thecoveteur.com/coco_apartment

 

   "Chanel and Place Vendôme are very linked. She lived in the Ritz, now there is a Jewelry shop, it’s very Paris, there are many photos of her on the place Vendôme. The big site of the Ritz is also still the Ritz, a part of the place Vendôme." Karl Lagerfeld

Writers gonna Write

   Check this out:

" From this warm and lightened room, I can hear the rain that pours outside;
It sounds like a magic melody, that hypnotize me- what a familiar sound!
The book in my hands- the perfect story.
His portrait on the wall- the perfect image!
And I...I am just a woman, who waits for him every day and every night...
But there is only the RAIN and I... he comes not...
The wind frighten my hopes... but the light of the candles keep on saying that there is still hope!
There is never too late, never too far...
There is just YOU and I, as long as the rain pours out of the sky.... "

   It is indeed a rainy night in our city and someone got inspired by it. Old school or another beautiful dreamer?
   Do people still write poems? Do young people still dream of becoming writers? Are there things that never get old or for which is never too late?

   The answer has to be yes. Maybe teenagers or young writers don't use words like Wordsworth did, but they still have feelings, they love, they get hurt, they are dissapointed and melacholia is always chich. I found out( by accident or the question had just came out) that people nowadays still write. It is true that there are only a few courageous novelists or poets who post or publish their work, but a lot of us write. Even I do this from time to time, especially when I cannot sleep and my eyes are too tired to meet colors.

   I have noticed that lately there is a serious branch of agendas, notebooks which don't look a like the ones someone will definitely need, but like they are meant to become part of a stylish room, to be placed near a sparkling photo frame and to be filled in with a bohemian burgundy ink.

   As I said before, some things are meant to be " forever young" and this does not only apply to the little black dress or to the Chanel no. 5 fragrance; the fact that somebody thought that designing such amazing notebooks makes me believe that young writers are encouraged to write, to take further a beautiful tradition of literatue.

   I must confess that I am so glad that the author of the poem above is a friend of mine ( in fact, she is one of my dearest). Her name is Maria, she is 20 and she is going to shine. She has started recently to post her thoughts on a blog, but I am trying to determine her to have more trust in herself and to write write write because we all know that preactice makes perfect. You can find her here:
http://travellersouls.blogspot.ro/2013/03/as-old-as-rain.html?showComment=1363909551658

   What else is more pleasant on a rainy night, than enjoying the company of a good book and having a cup of tea( or milk and honey)? I hope you will enjoy reading her blog and I wish you a beautiful evening!
   See you soon,
   Love, A.