TO - 10/31 - let's put some mustard on the hotdog...

I don’t know if it’s just me or not, but I simply can’t stand a messy desk and there is nothing worse than being unable to find a pen, pencil or eraser when I need to jot something down.
I just can’t work unless I have everything in its place. Maybe it’s just one of my personal quirks, but it definitely helps!
And if that’s all it takes to make me more productive… well, I’m that much further ahead!

It's Halloween and I hope that everybody that celebrates it have a great time with much fun.

Also TGIF... so have a great weekend.

flat shoes - local store
mustard tights - Calzedonia
winter floral print skirt - H&M (detail)
navy blue sweater - Zara
thin yellow belt - local store
purple top -H&M
mustard scarf - H&M
black faux leather jacket - Stradivarius
lipstick - L'Oreal
perfume - Noa from Cacharel

TO – 10/30 - are you a ballerina…?

“Give yourself a talking to. When I’m anxious I say to myself, hang loose, let go and trust. Come on McCarthy, is this going to be important in a hundred years?”

~~Doris McCarthy

Is there anything more truely than that statement? We spend soooo much time worrying about things that are so trivial!
My sister is always pointing stuff out like this to me and I’m trying to listen!

I’m sooooooo happy for my blogging friend La Belette Rouge ! Her post “How to be a Writer and Sleep Like a French Woman” has been nominated for the 2008 Avant Garde Bloggie Awards. Congratulations ma belle!
Now let’s all go to the site and vote on her, because she deserves it.

I had soooooo much fun posing to these pictures. I felt like a ballerina and all I wanted was to dance like ballet.

I’m sorry for the not so good quality of the pictures. Now it’s the best I can get, because when I get home is already dark and the light it’s electric, of course, which doesn’t help.

.

flat shoes - local store
purple tights - Calzedonia
printed skirt - C&A Sixth Sense (detail)
pink belt - Stradivarius
gray cardigan - Vero Moda
pink shirt - Mango
purple top -H&M
pearl necklace - mainland store
lipstick - L'Oreal
perfume - Noa from Cacharel

my feet…

and my new flats...

TO - 10/29 - flat heels… a mountain or a problem…

As a social scientist I’m very glad that my last post motivated some kind of sociological debate.
I think it will be an interesting topic to talk more about later.

However, I just want you to think about that much of what we assume to be individual preference really reflects deeper social and cultural forces.
One is always inserted in the social production and reproduction of sense, meaning and consciousness, the mainstream culture.
Culture that does not express the way of life of a people, it actively shapes up that way of life.

Now, let’s talk about shoes…
I’ve been wearing some moccasins I have, but I don’t like them and everybody is with me…
Today I tried these boots that aren’t very high heels, but I’m afraid, since I’m not well yet. Hmmmm…. I guess I’ll have to invest in some flats, but all that I’ve seen are not worth the money they cost.
A problem of islanders’ insularity???

brown boots - local store
tawny pants (from a suit) - Ana Sousa
navy blue blazer (from a suit) - mainland store
blue shirt - Cortefiel
purple top -H&M
brown belt - C&A
purple and golden necklace - mainland store
lipstick - L'Oreal
perfume - Noa from Cacharel

urban subcultures...

We all have heard, in a way or another, the words punk, goth, skinhead, raggare and hippie, just to mention a few.
Most of the times, our minds create an association with a visual concept of dressing.
When one thinks goth, for instance, always thinks of some people wearing black clothes almost all of the time, and wearing make up regardless of sex. But to be a “goth” isn’t just that.
The goth scene now has its own fashion, sociological and political views, religions as well as its own music scene.
So it’s a culture that has been formed in mainstream culture (the way of life for an entire society, the sum total of the lifestyles of its individual members) and then takes it underground.
What is called in sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture or (the term coined by the French sociologist Michel Maffesoli) urban tribe.
The members of the subculture may be distinctive in terms of demographics (age, race, ethnicity, class, location, and/or gender) and often signal their membership through a distinctive and symbolic use of style (fashions, mannerisms, and slang) and taste (music, books, and movies). Subcultures often, but not always, start as urban youth subcultures.
A subculture may be considered alternative or underground depending on how opposed it is to the mainstream culture (ex. rave culture). An alternative culture that achieves critical mass and persists for a period of time may be called a counterculture (ex. beatniks or hippies).
But a group of people that dress in a distinctive style to show their membership in this group is also called a style tribe or fashion tribe.

Does one need to be part of a fashion tribe?

check out also this post of mine

TO – 10/26 - Prada inspired…

Hello everyone, hope you had a very pleasant weekend.
We had a great weather, full of sunshine and with warm temperatures. It doesn’t seem we are at the end of October.
The trouble is that it has not rained enough and we still have water cuts. God knows for how much time.

I’ve been thinking that my column “Today’s Outfit” has some very boring titles. So I decided to add something more… and you know “TO” means “Today’s Outfit” of course.

Today we had the daily time changing. We’re now in Winter time, soon it will be dark at six o’clock pm.

It’s the first time I wear this lace top which I bought on sale in my last “shopping season”. The whole set is somehow Prada inspired…
I decided not to tuck the button down shirt to give it a more casual look. Hubby didn’t approve.
The shoes… OMG, the shoes… they aren’t flats, but are the lower heels that I have… however I couldn't stay with them for much time.
What am I going to do tomorrow, to go to the office, I have no “decent” flats.

The sunset was beautiful. Unfortunately the pictures don’t show how magnificent it was. Maybe next time…

I’m sending the garment to the next link to the Aphex Chain™, who is Stompface in Australia. Stay tuned!

Hope you’ll start the working week with a great Monday. Smile :)

blue shoes - mainland store
black pants - local store
blue shirt - Cortefiel
black lace top - Cortefiel
pearl necklace wore as a bracelet - mainland store
red lipstick - L'Oreal
perfume - Noa from Cacharel

feeling better today...

I'm finally feeling better today. I still feel pain, but I’m feeling better.

I want to thank you ALL of my wonderful Dear Readers and Blogging Friends, who sent well wishes, cards and prayers, either in comments or e-mail and messages my way.

Thank you for your kind thoughts and good vibrations.

if I’ll get there…

… I want to be like them.

You know that I’ve been with some spare time, since I can’t do what I was supposed to be doing.
So, this gave me the opportunity to go far in internet and look for different sites of the ones I use to visit.

One blog that I came across was Advanced Style that is, according to the owner words “a forum to document the inspirational street fashion of our respected elders.”

I think you should check it out, if you haven’t already, those mature men and women look amazing and can probably pull off anything.

Pictures from Advanced Style

I’ve been cursed…

Yes my dear readers and blogging friends…

The Shoes Gods sick and tired because I was not paying much attention to flats, always telling “I’m a heels lady, I’m a heels lady…” sent me some magical spells and now I’m afflicted with sciatica (with a left leg sciatic nerve inflammation).
Now I’ve to be resting, with my left leg put in a horizontal position and I’m not going to the office at least until next Monday. I will take some anti-inflammation and muscle relaxant in the form of muscular injection.
And I can’t wear heels!!!!!

Too much pain…

I just want to thank the Technology Gods for the invention of laptop, because without mine I was even worst.

I'm also in...

Today's Outfit - 10/20

“She takes just like a woman, yes, she does
She makes love just like a woman, yes, she does
And she aches just like a woman
But she breaks like a little girl.”

~ Bob Dylan

To be a woman is to be like a rosebud that slowly, over time, unfolds into what it is becoming. Being a woman is becoming! We start a journey as girls and turn into young women, then change again in our thirties or so, but we don’t stop there. As the age of 50 approaches another more powerful metamorphosis takes place. And each one of these changes brings us closer to the woman we truly are, and stretches us into areas we never imagined we would struggle with. It also gives us victories and an interior satisfaction we never dreamt possible.

A woman is a human being that has depths unknown, even to herself. Her heart is a multi layered ocean of secrets; she holds within her feelings about love, faith, children, friends, and never even indicates the depth of those feelings to those around her because of her busy life. I view woman as Universe’s most complex and beautiful creation, meant to not compete with man, but complement him in ways that fulfill both and bring a sense of balance to a world not ready for her depth and feminine power.

black oxford shoes - from mainland through a local store
black skinny pants - Vero Moda
red belt -Tally Weijl
blouse - Zara
short gray cardi - Promod
bracelet - gift from Hubby (Tie Rack)
red lipstick - L'Oreal
perfume - Noa from Cacharel

Detail of the blouse with laces and black yarn applied.





Also my pink ribbon... just to remember...






I want to thank for all the nice and kind comments in my post about my creations for the Aphex Chain™

the Aphex Chain™

As the first link to the Aphex Chain™ I’m presenting my deed/incorporation/customization of the garment that has been chosen to go by to all who are part of the nation.

I still have to take the outside picture, in front of one of my city wonderful places, but it wasn’t possible regarding the weather.

I made three looks, a casual, a night out and a ceremonial one.

*ruffles*... and the pictures...

The concept, the hairstyle and the make-up are all by me.

By the way, did I tell you what the garment is? LOL :p

islands of haze

Outside the fog daces in the air and the wet ground begins to smell like Fall.
And the soul of the islander starts to feel nostalgic.
In our lives, in the film produced by each of us, is a song, lyrics that are not ours, but it is as if, as we know how to sing ... because we know to use it! In peace on the islands of haze lies an unknown roadmap designed in the tone of a deaf voice and in the agility with which the ropes move stretched by the forgotten promise... the "Feature Film" of our lives!

Islands of Haze
(lyrics translation)

I still feel my feet on the square
Where my grandparents danced the "Pezinho"*
The beautiful "Aurora"* and the "Sapateia"*
As in my veins run black basalt
And in memory volcanoes and earthquakes

That’s why I am from the islands of haze
Where the seagulls go kiss the earth

If in my eyes I bring the rock of the waves
The look is the sweetness of lagoons
As I bring the tenderness of hydrangeas
In the heart the burning of the volcanoes

That’s why I am from the islands of haze
Where the seagulls go kiss the earth

As in my veins run black basalt
In the heart the burning of the volcanoes
The immense sea fills my soul
And I have green, so much green to indicate me hope.

The music and lirycs of this song are from Manuel Medeiros Ferreira

This is a free translation by me

*Azorean Folklore Song

What Dreams May Come

Neither complicated nor original it becomes an affecting piece of drama, it focuses on the sacrifices one man will make for true love.
Love that does not end with death.
Those who embrace this belief and don't mind a somewhat artistic approach are likely to enjoy.

Today's Outfit - 10/17

On a Friday a very casual outfit.

Let’s hope the weather will be a bit better in the weekend. Yesterday it seemed the fog wanted to get through my door…

I wish you all a very nice weekend.

green shoes - mainland store
tawny pants (from a suit) - Ana Sousa
brown belt - Fantastico
green shirt - Vero Moda
brown cardigan - Mango
necklace - mainland store
lipstick - L'Oreal
perfume - Noa from Cacharel

nähdään taas

(an expression that I learned with the lovely Christina)

Today's Outfit - 10/16

When was the last time you organized your books?
The reason I’m asking is because I was just standing in front of my book case looking for a particular book and I simply couldn’t find it.
I know that it is there, I simply couldn’t locate it. I’m going to have to spend some time trying to come up with some sort of organization that will prevent this from happening.

Today I had a meeting of the group that is creating the Family and Friends Association I’ve told you about sometime ago. For now we are still dealing with bureaucratic issues, but we’ve already chose the name. It will be “Ecos de Amizade” which means “Echoes of Friendship”.
I really like it, I think it has all about…

I assure you that the top is purple, like many times seems blue, maybe it’s my definitions, maybe it’s the light, maybe it’s the camera… oh well it’s not so important.

red shoes - La Redoute
printed skirt - C&A Sixth Sense (detail)
purple top -H&M
red satin ribbon by me
short gray cardi - Promod
bracelet - gift from Hubby (Tie Rack)
necklace - gift from Hubby (Bijou Brigitte)
red lipstick - L'Oreal
perfume - Noa from Cacharel