My love-hate relationship...with my jeans

I am sure the title of this post resonates with some of you. You own that pair of jeans that you once got, a long time ago, and now you sometimes love them, sometimes hate them.

So it happens to me that I have this pair of jeans that I got from Zara when I was in Paris working for Christopher Kane. I love them because of what they represent: I bought them from my own money and was my reward after a long day at the showroom. They remind me of the fun I had in Paris and of all the good things about that summer - my first summer as a working girl. They are also very good quality, quite thick so I can wear them in autumn, winter and spring, and they fit like heaven. All in all they are perfect for London.

However, sometimes I dislike them. They are this dark blue colour and worn style that I usually love, but there is something about them that makes it difficult for me to pair them with other items. The only things that I kind of like wearing with them is white t-shirts and converse. Other items just don't feel or look good. This could all be happening in my head, but it makes me think I have a love hate relationship with these jeans. On one hand, I love the quality, how they fit and what they represent, one the other hand, I don't know how to wear them.

Without further ado, these are the culprits I was talking about. Hope you enjoy these photos that Tib took!

 

We are all that we are

Hello everybody,

As you would have seen from my previous blog post, I have been thinking long about what I would like to do in general and in particular with this blog. I felt that it did not really represent me as much as I would have liked and I really do want to make it my own. This is probably one of the reasons why I did not post for a longer time than I would've wanted.

I knew I wanted to write about fashion, about marketing, about me, but I was not sure how to make it my own. And the truth is, with so many blogger, vloggers, youtubers etc, one has to wonder if there is any space left for me in the landscape. So, as with many other things, I thought about it in a different way. I thought that it's better if I keep my blog as real as possible, posting about what I am truly interested in whether it is a marketing campaign (really loved Uncle Ben's - Where's the kitchen? ad, probably will talk about in a later post), a clothing brand (I recently discovered the best jeans brand in the world - Cheap Monday) or a specific outfit, my latest projects, books that I read (at the moment, the Hobbit), whatever. In the end, we are all that we are and that's the best. Don't you agree?

With that, I look forward to a year of interesting content that will allow you to get to know me better. This is a little glimpse of what my desk looks like when it's tidy (not all the time, to be honest, but I try).

PS: I would like to thank Karissa Pukas for inspiring me this week, as she is the one who introduced me to the song that gives the title to this blog post.

New Chapter

Hello everybody,

I know that again, it has been a long time, and even though I was not necessarily busy with something in particular, I felt the need to pause and think about the things that I want to do.

I know it sounds intriguing, but I guess it is quite normal to have mixed feeling when you are finishing a chapter in your life. As you might know, I graduated from my undegrad and will be doing a Masters starting next week (anxious). Even though I am in the same city and living in the same place, I am in a totally different state of mind. Summer always made me reflect on what I am and what I would like to be. So, on the verge of this significant change in my life, I had to pause and think about what I want, what I like and what my priorities are.

I think that in this overly digital world, we sometimes forget to pause for a second and think about what we want, instead of what society, circle of friends, family pushes us to be. With social media, we see every day progress, success, happiness, moments, but we don't see what happens backstage, all the lost nights, the anxiety, the fear, the determination. I am not saying anything new, I know, but sometimes I need to remind myself that the only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary. It is a clisee, but it's oh so true.

So here here to a new chapter and hard work, without which we will never achieve whatever it is that we want!

The best souvenir from Miami

We've all seen the images with the beaches and palms from Miami, the movies with dancers on Ocean Drive (Step Up of course) and the videos with the cool skaters in South Beach. These are the images we associate Miami with. So when I went there on a few days' holiday not long ago, I had to try at least one of the above.

So I took pictures of the beaches and the palms. 

 

 

And I got one of these skateboards, because it was just very Miami. It was not only amazing to skate in South Beach along the pro skaters (they were very supporting of my learning by the way), but it was also the perfect souvenir that I can carry with me all the time to remind me of the beach, the sun and the ocean.

So for this post, I want to share with you the newest of my passions from Miami and one way you can make it work even when you are not in the Sunshine State anymore. Let's skate!

 

  

Thank you to my wonderful boyfriend for having the patience to not only teach me how to skate, but also to take the photos! More of his work is available here.

They Don't Do Dresses Like These Anymore

Hello darlings,

Recently, I was on a trip to New York and went to see a fashion exhibition at the Met that everyone was talking about. There was good reason to talk about it, as the exhibition celebrated 20th century couturier, Charles James and his sculptural take on designing clothing. The exhibition inaugurated the opening of the Anna Wintour Costume Center within the Costume Institute in New York.

Charles James is renowned for using scientific and mathematical approaches in tailoring ball gowns and his creations truly look like works of art. The hems, the combination of fabrics, the cuts, the shapes, the flow...awww, breathtaking. The complexity of his designs was just incredible and what was more astounding was the fact that in spite of their complexity, the ball gowns looked easy and wearable. I think that is what truly makes a great designer, his/her ability to play with shapes and fabrics to create exquisite pieces of clothing and still make it look easy. And these ball gowns were flawless.

You are probably wondering how I know that these designs are elaborate (since I don't study design and all)? Well, besides the fact that one can observe that, the details that were not easily seen were explained through a software that took the dress apart into its components. This way, we could actually see how the dress was made and put together. And let me tell you, some were just incredibly creative. A video that shows this is available here.

If this sounds intriguing, more information about the exhibition can be found here.

I will now let the dresses speak for themselves. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

See you soon!

Sonia

Copyright @Metropolitan Museum of Art

Copyright @Metropolitan Museum of Art

Copyright @Metropolitan Museum of Art

Copyright @Metropolitan Museum of Art

Copyright @Metropolitan Museum of Art

Who Decides What WE Wear Next Season?

Hello darlings,

I am sorry to have been gone for such a long time, but I have been extremely busy with school and work while also writing my dissertation and finishing my degree (hooray!!!). I have to say it was one of the busiest and most tiring periods of my entire life, but it is finished now and I have time for the things that I truly enjoy: marketing and fashion.

So to open up the new season, I want to make this post exactly about that: fashion marketing. Working in Soho and being 5 minutes away from Oxford Street is very entertaining, but also intriguing, as I have had more time than before to observe fashion brands and their marketing campaigns. For months, I have seen window displays changing, collections replaced and slowly have seen the fashionistas mirroring the fashion on display. Then it dawned on me that indeed, fashion is subjective on what we like to wear, but we are definitely influenced by people we rarely think of at all: fashion buyers. It is not the brand that brings the collections to the store, but the visionary people who can envision and predict what we will like to wear.

Then I was amazed because these people have so much power! Yes, they are brilliant in influencing fashion trends that impact an entire generation and generations to come (if you are a fashion buyer reading, no pressure!), but their marketing skills are truly extraordinary. Just think how well they know the market and their target so that they can come up with an original message that will trigger our need for that pair of shoes from the new collection. However, the job of a fashion buyer is not easy as they need to know the past, the present and predict the future of fashion, so they need to keep their eyes open at all times. In spite of that though, how amazing would it be to be in this business and work with creative people all day long, to not only find and select the best fashion out there, but also to create the right piece of marketing that will get customers hooked. It gets me excited only thinking about it.

So, to express my enthusiasm, I gathered some of the most interesting window shops and ads that I could find on my way to work (and a sneak peek to the summer collections because I just couldn't resist).

See you soon!

Sonia

A Reverse in Perceptions

Few days ago a friend of mine, Ina Kremer, recommended me a BBC article entitled The fall and rise of mannequins that look like real women. It intrigued me because it was mentioned that mannequins have very slim bodies, which are not representative for the real woman today, nor were in the past. Tanya Reynolds, creative director at a mannequin manufacturer says that if you had a fuller body in the Victorian era you would have been perceived as someone who could afford to eat well. Today, it is actually the other way around, as in countries like the US, women (and men) who have fuller bodies are perceived as not being able to afford to eat well (with fast food being the cheapest and most unhealthy).

In an interview I took with history expert and professor at Hult International Business School, Alan Hertz, I found some staggering facts about women in the Victorian era compared to women today, which are absolutely in reverse: the habits of the rich in the Victorian era have become the habits of the poorer today and the other way around! Let me explain how.

First comes fashion! We know Coco Chanel believed that less is more and she made simplicity the ultimate elegance. Well, before her, women were extravagant, dressed in the most expensive fabrics, jewellery, hats, scarves, shoes and just a lot of everything. This was a way to show their status and their wealth. Poorer women were the working class, who dressed simply with plain fabrics, no accessories and regular shoes.

Let's talk about beauty! Rich women in the Victorian era wanted to be very white, pure, delicate and even helpless sometimes in order to convey femininity. Working women were tanned, as work implied walking or staying in the sun (and as mentioned above, they did not have elaborate outfits to keep the sun from burning their skin).

Let's finish with fitness! In the Victorian era, the fittest women were the working women, who had to walk, run, work the fields and deliver foods to the richer class for money. They were incredibly strong and fit. The richer women in the Victorian era did not have to work, some were not even allowed, and thus were not supposed to look fit; it wasn't a sign of wealth.

NOW, well we all know that simplicity is elegance, both in fashion and make-up. Women who care for themselves are no longer staying indoors with the fear of getting tanned or fit, but they are actively working out and tanning, both now signs of health. Everything is in reverse, as the unfit and untanned are believed to not have the wealth to care for their bodies as the other women do.

I thought that was fascinating because of the change in roles between women then and now, and how society has adopted these views, even though some time ago it was absolutely unconceivable. It makes me hopeful for the future because I believe there are still things that need to change in regards to women's bodies and perception and now I think there will be a time for it.

Until next time, I will leave you with some photos that depicts what I have been saying above!

Love,
Sonia

Jen Selter - fitness guru

Jillian Michaels - workout guru

Left side images credits to Arthur J. Munby, who was passionate about photographing the working women in the Victorian era.