Je suis de retour

I've disappeared, I know. It's just that I've been going through a sort of reconfiguration process, discarding some excess baggage - a spring-cleaning right in the middle of autumn.

Went to Paris on the weekend to celebrate the longest partnership of my life - almost a decade - and it was a great opportunity to switch off and look at things from a different perspective. Well, sort of.

But nothing like going offline for a while to feel truly connected with the world.

Fringes, Fringes, Fringes

Here's a better view of today's outfit - just an excuse really to show the new fringe trim. This whole fringe thing is a bit of a belated love-affair, sprung from THAT ss09 Jil Sander fringe themed show.

*Dress vintage, cameo cardie just seen Prada, denim jacket thrifted and customised, tights boots

It seems that fringes aren't going anywhere, judging by these looks from ss10 Dolce&Gabbana show. I'm SO glad they've returned to their super feminine, Latin-inspired ways.

Which brings me to this amazing H&M fringed cardigan. When I spotted it while assisting a stylist on a shopping trip a few weeks ago, I HAD to have it. The fringes are made of little satin ribbons tied in little hole of the cardigan. It's a simple, but GENIUS idea, and only £29.99. I love how it reminds me of a monkey-fur coat, although the boyfriend says it looks like a huge cheerleader pom-pom, haha.

*Cardigan H&M, tee All Saints (boyfriend's), tights Basso & Brooke, shoes Topshop.

The Longer Length + SHOWstudio

i swear i want to be more of a committed blogger, i do. it's not for lack of what to write about (well, sometimes it is... i don't want to simply give in to posts like "i want THIS, i'm gonna BUY THAT" - it bores me to death), it's just that sometimes *London* gets in the way of my blogging habit. I swear to god, as soon as they launch wi-fi on the public transport and keyboards for iPhones (haha), the life of every London blogger is going to improve massively.

anyway. I've been thinking about longer skirts and dresses that end below the knee for a while - it's a length I really want to wear, but have always feared because 1) i'm a bit on the dwarf side at 5"1', 2) it's a bit too, uhm, "womanly" for my taste. But for the past few weeks I've been feeling immediate boredom at the sight of a mini-skirt, so I decided to give it a go - specially since I've realized I have a couple of pieces in my own wardrobe that have never got an outing.

First, this Mango tartan full-flare skirt that I acquired in a trip to Mallorca years ago. I don't know why (well, I do: it's the tartan) but to me this skirt suddenly has a bit of an *Anglomania* vibe, which is obviously awesome.

Then yesterday I tried the *longer lenght" again with this Paul Smith dress at the SHOWstudio exhbition at Sommerset House, Fashion Revolution, something I've missed during LFW, but was glad it's on till december. Got there around 5:30pm and luckily, there was hardly any visitors, which made for an extra enjoyable trip. Nick Knight's baby is all about fashion as an interactive and artistic experience, and I was hooked from the moment I stepped into the "mirror room."


The rest of the exhibition follows the rule of interactivity and displays some of the best moments of the project, including those infamous *bride* video with Lee Mcqueen and the make-up one with Gareth Pugh (below), an in-house studio where real shoots happen, a giant statue of three *merged* female figures where you can draw virtually on it, and the results of Design_download project, where people around the world could make their own version of famous catwalk pieces by designers like Galliano, Watanabe, and Margiela (i LOVE this cut-out strips version of the Margiela pattern).

I say, even if you're NOT a fashion fan, this is unmissable - and a lot of fun!

Covering Up... NOT.

(Ok. The following rant has nothing to do with any of you, or any readers who don't speak portuguese, but I'm gonna do it anyway, just because this blog is mine, and I can do whatever I decide to do with it).

The past days I've been thinking how could I synchronize the posts I write for The Clash and the ones I write here. On top of having to do multiple translations that are time-consuming (and quite boring... ), the fact is that the rraurl blog does not ... BEHAVE like a blog. It's more like a column. Blogs are fast, and irreverent, and slightly messy and a bit on the uncompromising side. Now, a column has to be thought about. It's an extended commentary on researched and analysed issues and ideas. As much as I have all the freedom to write whatever the hell I want, rraurl is a MUSIC website full of MUSIC fans and people from the MUSIC industry, most of them MEN - which means my in-depth accounts on the importance of garments must bore them to death.

SO. This is possibly the last post I write for them that I will post here as well - unless it's something really exclusive.

Anyway, I've decided to dip into my lingerie drawer this week (imagine the happiness of those music industry geezers...) and see if I could dig something out to wear ...well, outside. I live in a neighbourhood that's relatively safe, but it's full of sleazy Polish builders whistling and saying things to any woman that pass them on the streets, so I tend not to wear anything that could be seen as... sexy. So, even though I've tried to create combinations that are not overtly sexy, I'd certainly only wear any of the following outfits if I could drive to whatever place I'd be going. No walking to the bus stop or catching London's public transport in this. How sad, I know. But the whole "I wear whatever the hell I want" takes some BALLS - especially if you're a 5 ft tall girl living in north London.

The Harness

Half of the blog world has done the harness outfit post, but I HAVEN'T yet, so I'm gonna do it, k? It's gonna be a waste of precious time if I don't. And I like them so much. Thank you for understanding. Cheers.

(blue dress Major Tom Vintage customised by my dear friend Ana, thrifted boots)

(the boyfriend's tye-dye vest, my mother's lace bolero)

The Heatwave - part 1

There's nothing like playing around in a (vintage) playsuit - whenever is warm enough to wear one. This is an afternoon the BF and I spent in the South Bank, checking the trees covered in Yayoi Kusama's polka-dots. This is a veeeery rare sort of day in each I'm brave enough to walk around the city with no tights or jackets/cardigans of any sort. I needed to register the moment :)

(ps: yes, this blog likes smoking - doesn't mean you should! =D)

It's Sunny in London...

...and we can finally get out of the house pretty wearing ONE layer. No coats, cardigans, long-sleeved anything. GREAT for everyone who actually NEEDS to get out of the house and go to work. But what if you work from home, like me now? Yeah. Pyjamas, pretty much.

But since I've put a ban on my shopping habits this month (my brithday month, oh the irony), I've decided to get more wear of what I already have, even if I'm working from home now. No pyjamas. Looking at my rails, I realised I have LOADS of pieces I've carrying around with me for who knows how many years, and I NEVER wear. Like this French Connection kimono-style top. Or the vintage striped dress. I must have them for at least 6 years, wearing maybe...twice a year? Insane. So, to prove I'll be exploring my wardrobe in more depth, I decided to post picture of an outfit a day at my flickr account - which will indeed force me to make an effort. We'll see how long it lasts.

The Rankin Outfit

There are times when nothing really happens around here, and then, out of the blue, BAM, they all come crashing down on you like a bloody snowball. Yesterday was one of those good avalanche days. And all because I took a leaf out of that Yes Man book (saw the film on the flight home), and, well, said yes when people asked.

So, ladies and gentleman, I'm taking part in the Rankin Live exhibition - the one where the man himself photographs 1,000 people as part of a project to document the faces of Britain.

I was a chance I casually jumped to two days ago when I was lazily browsing facebook. One of his assistants asked via his status for volunteers, and I said "whaddahell. I'll go". The email I got back said *dress to impress*, and as with everything else, I only thought about the outfit minutes before getting out the door (not saying this is a good thing. I don't like planning outfits ahead, and because of it, most of the time I make the most horrendous mistakes, if that exists at all). I chose, as usual, vintage leggings, my favourite Kurt Geiger boots and vintage hat, and an old Levi's top that I had no idea I had - but since London's chilly spring hasn't killed the last of a tan I brought from Thailand, I thought I might as well show it before it's gone.

I shouldn't have worried, because as you'll see in the next picture, the man himself wasn't too impressed with my choice of outfit, and chose to sit my in a chair and do a closeup.

So, the experience itself. The photoshoot took place in his studio/office, which is part of the whole Dazed & Confused / Another HQ. I was one of 30 other people who was being shot on the day, and showed up in batches of 5 every hour. I had done a bit of make-up and well, brushed my hair, but it was obviously not enough as I was sent straight to hair'n'make-up to fix the bad job I had done. They chose to hide my hair under the hat, which I thought was a wise decision, increased the eye-lashes, and off I went.

I had no idea what to expect from Rankin, as I had never seen him apart from a profile image of him hiding behind a camera, so I was pleasantly surprised when I noticed my boots made me tower over him (I'm 5'1. I never tower over anybody, even if I wear platforms). He had a cheeky, very lad-like sense of humour, making fun of my accent in between bad dirty jokes that made his team laugh nervously. I wasn't intimidated, but slightly taken aback - it might be just me, but I find a little strange people who use bullying tactics to put people at ease.

The guy is obviously good, though. He takes between 5 and 15 minutes with people, until he finds his models' best angles, and then lets everyone choose their favourite shot - although he does push you to choose his own favourite. In my case, he liked a closeup with my hair big and flying all over the place, claiming he made me look like the "Penelope Cruz of Brazil". Terrible.

So I chose this one:

This and 999 other images are going to be part of the Truman Brewery show in the summer in much bigger proportions than the small print I got - and the ironic thing, I'll probably be the ONLY Brazilian in it.

But that was just the first part of the day. Something else happened later on, but I'll continue on the post above.

Make do and mend

So. Recession, right? Back to the roots, make do and mend, etc etc. I'm rather ghastly at sewing and DYI-ing, but lately I've been feeling extremely guilty for spending a single penny on STUFF, when I already have too many STUFF in the studio that could work brilliantly with a bit of improvement. So last night, after someone bunked off on me last minute (not cool, man, not cool), I decided to cure my hangover sitting by the sewing machine.

Started with this extra-large 80's acid-wash baggy jeans, which arrived many months ago from one of the suppliers. I have a little obsession with acid-wash denim (more on that later), and those trousers were begging to be worn - but they were SO ill-fitting and unflattering, that no one did, and the poor thing have been sitting abandoned in limbo since.


I really wanted some baggy cut-off denim shorts (a la California-beach-stick-thin-babes), so, after a whole hip-readjustment-job, that's what it became:

Dress worn as a top Urban Outfitters, Belt Rokit, Leggings Major Tom Vintage, Ballet pumps Vivienne Westwood for Melissa, glasses NHS

Ah, feels good. All I need now is the Californian sun.

Layer it, baby

Okay, so two posts down I said I was going to compensate for having spent money on new leggings when I have TONS of legwear to choose from at home already - so I did. Here's first attempt:

Primarni patterned tights layered over AA silver leggings.

I haven't worn those silver leggings in ages, thinking it was a little bit passé (I mean, it seemed EVERYONE in London had them two years ago), so it seemed like a cool idea to hide the obvious sheen a little. And the fishnet tights are (at least in my head) slightly Rodarte like (gosh, just saying the label's name makes me want to cringe a little. Are you sick of everyone talking about as much as I am? E-v-e-r-y fashion blog talks about it. And here I am as well. Sometimes we can't escape it, inn't).

Freebie T-shirt (Secret Garden Party), boots Primani, hat Beyond Retro