BACK TO THE FUTURE: the 90's

Lately all of the runways, Tv, magazines, tumblr pics and even the music industry is saturated wth 90's nostalgia. This would be somehow inspiring if it didn't hit home so hard, and instead of saying "how cool that looks" I just keep on going " yup, been there, done that and bought the tshirt (literally).

It is not so bad, just awkward I guess, because with my 33 years of age I can't possibly pretend to wear the same baby tees, I wore when I was 16 and expect to look like a forever21 or American Apparel model.  Instead I would end up getting mocked by Stacy and Clinton on the show "What Not to Wear" and told to dress "age appropiate".

So here I am a 90's survivor trying to enjoy this fashionable dejavu without feeling ancient. The strategy instead is reincorporating some of the things I used to love back in the day to give my outfits that little throwback, but still looking updated and fresh.

This Fall 2015 was filled with looks inspired by what was wore back in the day and I chose my favorite ones being the movie buff and music enthusiast I am, based on a character or musician they remind me of from that decade.
So lets go back to when Mtv had music, Dave Grohl was just a drummer and Captain planet was teaching us how to save the planet, my dear followers welcome to the 90s.


1.THE FAUX LEOPARD COAT

This  was perfect for the grungy punk rebel girls like myself and can still be worn as a statement rock n roll piece paired with the right outfit. I has to be Faux not real.
The accesory :" I'm with the band" or better yet "I'm in a band" attitude.
The Icon:  Shirley Manson from Garbage and Kate Moss
The Update: The use of ankle booties or Thigh high boots  instead of martens or platforms to update the look.
The risk: fishnet stockings

picture source style-config-cell.blogspot.com
style.com
https://www.pinterest.com/bellefabuleuse/supermodel-work/

 

stay tuned for the daily post .

5 awesome things about: Maria Cristina Acquaroni

A few days ago, I had the chance to have lunch at the beautiful "Cafe Despierto" with one of Guatemala's most stylish girls. Her name, Maria Cristina Acquaroni. I've been a fan of her styling  work for quite a while, but I admire her everyday style most of all, Always so edgy but classy at the same time. Her stunning looks, specially her height and characteristic red hair create the perfect vessel for thousands of cool outfits that go with her bubbly personalitiy.
So in this brief interview I got to know her a little better and found out about a lot things that not only make her a very interesting, positive and down to earth person but also a very serious entrepeneur with real  business oriented goals and projects.
I Also found out that she has the gift of patience, because on the way there I got lost in zone 14 for an hour. That is one of my many talents "getting lost before important meetings and events". Still She greeted me with a smile and didn't hate me for wasting her time.

During the whole experience I was really struck by a few things that made me admire her even more, so here are a few of them.

1. She is still a kid at heart. 
"I think I will never grow up" she said. I can relate so much to that.
 the playfullness of her conversation made me forget we were two adults during an interview and I specially loved the fact that with her incredibly chic outfit she was wearing one of those "loom bracelets" that all the girls are crazy about and made it work with the ensemble.

2. She is so down to earth
When you see this tall beautifull red head with mile high legs, you will be intimidated, but when you talk to her and feel her "chapina"(Guatemalan) vibe she will make you feel like you've known her forever and talk freely just about anything. Just that she actually agreed to have lunch with little ol' me during her short trip, proves it!

3. She is no dumb red head
There is this cliche that most pretty and fashion oriented girls are stupid and airheads, I won´t say its not true, casuse I've know my share of those, but she breaks the mold. She told me how out of nowhere she decided to work as a personal shopper and stylist proving that to be in the fashion industry, there is no need to be a fashion designer or a model. There are plenty of options, but have to be viewed with the seriousness needed for a engineering or management position.
She has demostrated her positive attitude, hard work and good taste in styling campaigns for C'santos Jewelry, Personal shopping for MNG and hosting/producing her own tv show.
Right now She is styuding fashion marketing at the "Miami International University of Art and Design" and plans to come back to Guatemala and rock our worlds.


4. She knows how to accesorize
Whenever you see one of her outfits, there is always a small detail that catches your eye. the prints,the necklaces, the bracelets, the hats and the sun glasses. She can put them all together like no body else can.

5. The humanity
I really liked the idea of wearing three watches at once and one can think its somekind of runway or international street style trend. So I had to ask and was amazed at the actual reason for doing this.
"They belonged to my father, so I wear them in my dad's memory".
so here you have it, something so personal, so unique...
now, that my friends is TRUE STYLE in my book.

"CULTURA"

I have the great gift of amazing and talented friends. One of these amazing people is Edgar Navarro, An artist and jewelry designer who not only has the talent to create amazing pieces, but also looks great doing it. 

Edgar Navarro, artist and jewelry designer

He chose a very controversial theme for his art exposition "What It’s Like To Be a Ladino in Guatemala" and blended it with his personal experiences to create a mixture of color and texture with a message.

It took me a while to get there, as you know I get off work at eight, no time to go home and change. So I put on some bright coral lipstick, a leather trimmed coat and in the wise words of Tim Gunn I had to “make it work”. The best accessory someone can wear in time of need, is “attitude” so I packed a bunch of it and like always I made my “fashionably late entrance”.

I will not get into a political debate over the definition of "ladino" and all of the different connotations of class and race this term brings along. I want to focus more on the personal experiences of the artist and the gorgeous model, who also happens to be a very good friend, Gerardo Cordova. The esthetics of the whole project can be admired as soon as you set foot in the gallery. The logistics of course had to be done by his amazing assistant and talented fashion designer Alexander Ayala, creating an atmosphere of class and sophistication that surrounded the whole gallery.

The color, the sensuality of the images and the two dimensional pieces along with exquisite Jewelry from ESCARLATA (his own brand of  semi precious stones and silver based jewels) pops right into the eyes of the audience who just can’t stop staring. The idea of not only acquiring an amazing photograph with the androgynous innocence of model Gerardo’s beauty and the amazing ESCARLATA jewels is simply breathtaking.

 

my sister, JFD photographer ,Astrid Anzueto with

Alexander Ayala Fashion Designer

When I attend such events, I like to experience art in my very own way. I just stare and interpret the emotions I get from it. This piece in particular caught my eye, not only because it sits in the middle of the room as a beautiful centerpiece, but because of the candles it had a mystical air that quickly drew me to it.  His work is profoundly personal and I felt it when he explained the meaning.

"It is called AQUI TAMBIEN DUELE (here it hurts too)

,..It’s like a kind of altar to all that has made me who I am today. The color of the candles is for the three types of "maiz" (corn) which was and still is the basic diet of the indigenous population. The red sandals at the foot of the chair are for the oppression suffered and the blood they have shed through the history of our country. The big wooden chair has two meanings, the Spanish side of my heritage and the other one... the other one... this chair was supposed to be part of the furniture when we moved in (I knew he was speaking of a recent breakup) 

"...coping with this loss, it inspired me to create this project, as you can see..."

And with the quiet elegance that he is known for, he spoke no more. The silence that fell after these words told me it was the end of the answer and that he had revealed something very personal. I said nothing and continued along contemplating his art and admiring him even more, not only for the talent but for the humanity in him.

Fashionably Depressed

Once upon a time there was this girl.

This girl is me or was me. I'm a grown up now, or at least I'm trying to be.

My life was never average.

I've always been different because I never wore the same clothes everyone else did and if I did, I tried to style them in a way that you couldn’t tell it was the same garment.

Popularity was never one of my biggest assets because I was "weird"

Thank God Glasses are in right now, and I can wear them proudly instead of torturing my eyes with contact lenses like I used to.

My taste in music has always been rock and roll oriented. That I have my father to thank for, all those nights with the Beatles, led zeppelin and the king "ElvisPresley" gave me a good base for my grungy punk high school days and my indie experimental college years.

One of my biggest dreams was to form a band and I had the chance to do it. I was once the lead singer of my garage happy punk band which later was nothing more than a memory thanks to my "saved" cool Christian emo phase.

My love for animals has taken me on emotional rollercoasters all of my life. I know reality and once you have stared into the dark side of the cruelty that humans put upon animals, you can never go back. That’s why I will never work or volunteer for any nonprofits again.

My family is completely dysfunctional. All families are like that you will say.

But mine belongs in a reality show or a very dark sitcom.

Still I manage to get along with them, not try to fit in, but just to go with the flow.

My friends...

A bunch of rock stars, models, bloggers, fashion designers, artists, freaks, geeks and the whole "Chex mix" of interesting people that make my life worth living

My love life... hmmm let’s just leave it in "peculiar and ironic", the eternal struggle. 

Currently in love and filled with hope.

My mental state.

This is where the fun begins.

Anxiety attacks and Depression.

I don’t even remember when it started, it just happened. I lost complete control of my life and fell in this downward spiral. The anxiety got the best of me. Up to thepoint where I had to give up my job and my college studies. My already confusing and complicated relationship went down the drain and I completely snapped.

I saw a couple of therapists per week, lost two part time jobs and my previous fashion blog to a "cold war" like custody battle with my ex. To make matters worse, my parents separated. Yeah I know I’m an adult I shouldn’t care but in LatinAmerican countries even if your parents are crazier than you, we stand by them until marriage, a scholarship or a job makes us move out of the house.

I stopped eating as a punishment for being such a horrible person. It was not about the being skinny part, but about the control of something in my life. Together with the partying, the drinking and all the other things that come with destructive behavior, I made myself terribly sick, to the point where I had to be hospitalized for my ulcer.

The most painful part of the whole "war of the roses" kind of thing, was that they blamed me for everything that had happened and guilt, my friend, is one hell of burden to carry. 

No job, no family, no boyfriend, no money, no blog. My life as I knew it was over in the blink of an eye and there was nothing I could do about it.

So I did what every girl in my position would do.

I started shopping like crazy, 

Not caring if the size was right or if already owned the same item in another color. I was hoarding fashion trends and it is not as glamorous as it sounds. My room was unlivable and my life was beginning to be a pain in the ass too. Plenty of thoughts about suicide and  how maybe that could be the answer to all that secret suffering, or at least I thought nobody knew I was going through so many things at the same time. 

This is the End I thought, either I commit myself to an institution, rehab facility and probably be medicated for life or I'm going to die.

So instead of cutting myself like I used to in high school I decided to embrace the best things in me.

My passion for music, my chick flick heroine attitude and of course my love for fashion.

One day I got up, put on my best outfit, the most flawless makeup and a killer pair of heels and decided to face the world.

I decided to curate my life

To take out everything that was holding me back to the past, including my closet.

My closet was the metaphor for my life. It was a big pile of new clothes with tags still on, old wrinkled and unwashed pieces, timeless basics and horrifying one time use trends.

So as the first step to curate my life, I curated my closet and like a Robert Frost poem

"...and that has made all the difference...”

It has been a long process and sometimes I just want to throw everything away.

But I know there are timeless pieces in that closet, in my life that are worth all the hassle, all the work.

So each day I struggle with myself, my guilt, my memories, my traumas, my surroundings.

Although, there was something I could always count on,something so personal, so Karol, that no one and nothing can take away from me....

 My Style.

So this is why I decided to write this blog, it’s personal and it’s very important to me.

 I want to show you, it doesn’t matter if you’re dealing with mental issues or family and love issues. You can move on and regain control of your life if you accept who you really are.

No matter what that is or if others see it as valuable

Because sometimes looking good, can make you feel good.

I see fashion and style as way to empower and believe in yourself.

So join me in this journey I call "my everyday life".