Good things in the mail...

Benetton shirt, Zara jeggings, Ninewest shoes, Gucci purse

Collar detail... really attached to these necklaces...

I got something good in the mail :)

Zara.com

Those $9 lace pants...

Lucky Jeans TShirt,  Urban Outfitters Pants, Naturalizer shoes ( I know! Right?!)

Random pearl necklaces gifts from my mom...

Auditive and Visual Delight...

**pour yourself a glass of wine. push play.**

PerfectMix from BohoLove on 8tracks.

ALEXANDER MCQUEEN FALL/WINTER 2012

Unlike anything I have ever seen before. This cannot be compared to anything at all.

PerfectMix

1. When I Grow Up - Garbage

2. Valerie - Amy Winehouse

3. Shiver - Coldplay

4. Accused of Stealing - The Delgados

5. Fast As You Can - Fiona Apple

6.The Fear - Lilly Allen

7. Float On- Modest Mouse

8. Laura - Scissor Sisters

9. Dog Days Are Over - Florence And The Machine

** This list goes out my best buddies Irma, Mario, James, Espid, Fede... You guys are my visual and auditive delight, miss you guys every day... **

Spring/Summer printed pants guide...

... and a mix and match lesson:

It has been a while since I decided that I would only buy pants that are fun.  We wear prints on our tops usually, and on our skirts. So why are so many people afraid of wearing prints on pants?

My very conservative friend said she would never wear printed pants and asked me "how would I wear that anyway?"

So, how does one wear printed pants? You could be very safe and keep it simple with a solid shirt and shoes, however, my rule for anything is to mix and match: 

1. Mix and match fabric textures. i.e. light and rough, summer and winter - if your pants are tweed, wear a silk blouse.

I like to take cues from the master mixer-matcher, Jenna Lyons, here in Sequined pants, and a Tshirt.

2. Mix and match different tones of the same hue. i.e. you can wear dark blue pants, and a light blue shirt.

I stole this from here.

3. Mix and match different sizes and colors of the same pattern. i.e. If your pants have big polka dots, wear small polka dots on your shirt, or wear them in inverted color.

4. My favorite: mix and match patterns. This one is tricky, but when mastered, it is the coolest. 

<3 Jenna Lyons <3 serious wardrobe envy...

These pants will look so much better once they have been hemmed, but I loved them so much I just had to wear them asap. I still loved the look in this disheveled manner.

I usually, do not like to match. Matching is, and forgive me if I sound opinionated- but its boring, and almost everyone can pull off  "the office look" of black pants, clean cut shirt and some classy pumps. 

So today, be bold :) Wear something that does not match (but does...), and have fun doing it. :)

Here are a few of my favorite pants for the season:

JCREW

JCREW

MADEWELL

MADEWELL

MADEWELL
(These are the pants I am wearing in that last picture, with the tweed blazer.)

Spring/Summer shoe guide according to me...

Ninewest

You need some...

          Leopard pumps

Madewell

Zara

Chunky heel- color block shoes

Madewell

Madewell

Bright hues - heels and flats

Madewell

Beware of young girls...

I found this super cute & cool video lookbook for Wren's F/W 2012 collection on Tavi's blog, starring Tavi.  Not only do I heart Tavi, but the idea of a video lookbook is so cute, and this specific one is just so pretty :) Enjoy...

Casual Friday...

Zara sweater, Saks 5th Avernue Scarf,  shoes: Soludo for Jcrew, Coach purse

BananaRepublic Jean Shorts

Black and white everything, including the cake...

A lot people have told me that they cannot post comments on this blog and that it drives them nuts! I wrote google about this last month but nothing much came of it, so I tried changing some settings and I want to know if it worked, so please do try and comment.
If it still does not work, then please do so on the BohoLove Facebook page and please do keep sending emails :) I love reading what you all have to say.
  
On the bright side, I have developed a new PenPal relationship because of the fact that she could not post comments on here. 
I think that is pretty cool - the fact that I have made a really cool new friend from across the world because of this blog :)


So thank you all for reading, and please keep commenting :)

Zara dress,  BCBG belt,  Louis Vuitton purse, NineWest shoes. 

The Blogger Boyfriend's Favorite Oreo Cake

I found this recipe in a Kraft magazine ages ago, and have been making it ever since for the BBf. This one of those "I enjoy to make but will not touch" recipes. 

Ok, maybe just a sliver...

Make your favorite chocolate cake recipe and divide it in 2 nine inch circular pans (if you need a good chocolate cake recipe, let me know).

For the filling: You will need 1 brick of cream cheese (softened - just leave it out of the fridge while you make your cake), 1/2 a cup of sugar, 12 crushed Oreo cookies, 2 cups of cool whip.

Beat the cream cheese and sugar with electric mixer until it is softened.  Then with a spatula whip in the crushed cookies and whip cream.

For the topping: You will need 4 semi-sweet chocolate baker squares, and half a stick of butter. Put both these ingredients in a microwavable bowl and microwave for 3 minutes... mix them with a spoon. Wait 5 minutes for it to cool and pour it on top of your cake... voila... 

Mourir Auprès de Toi...

My Friend had actually posted this link on the Boho-Love facebook page, and I cannot believe it took me so long to get around to it. It is super adorable... Enjoy! 

Quick Facts:

Olympia Le-Tan is this cool chick who makes these hand-bags that look like book covers. If you look closely in the short film, the book covers are actually clutches. It is pretty cute!  

You can check out her merchandise and other cool things here.

Olympia Le-Tan

Natalie Portman with an Olympia Le-Tan clutch.

MOURIR AUPRÈS DE TOI

A short film directed by Spike Jonze and Simon Cahn, hand made with love
by Olympia Le-Tan.

Raf Simons for Dior...

My Pen-Pal asked me today what I thought of Raf Simons placement as the creative director for Dior. 

Quite frankly. I am not happy about this. I was rooting for Bill Gaytten.

I will try and not be biased here, but you must know John Galliano is amongst my top 3 favorite designers - and Bill Gaytten was his right hand man. It should also be mentioned, that Gaytten must be extremely loyal to Galliano as they worked together for so many years. He also currently holds the roll of creative director for John Galliano, and I do believe this is where he wants to be. I just wanted to make this clear because of all the pity party surrounding him due to the "loss" of the Dior position (so my proposition of keeping him at Dior is not really a probable one, because I do not think he wanted to stay there- but here goes my analysis anyway )...

Brief history on Gaytten:

Actually an architect, Gaytten has been playing "second fiddle" to John Galliano for a few years now, and he took over as creative director for Dior when the whole anti-Semitic debacle went down. Although he did have a rough patch in the beginning, and was highly criticized when he debuted his first collections, we must admit he has a strong learning curve.  Not only did he take the reigns as creative director for Dior and John Galliano simultaneously, his collections got really good, really fast. Although he claims this situation "was forced upon him", you have got to commend the double duty.

Dior FW2012 took the brand back to its starting point. It is a classic collection reminiscent of Dior's early years.

Although the reaction to this last collection has not been good, I have a pretty good explanation for it. The general criticism is that Gaytten did not do the past collections justice, making this one too simple. My reaction? Well of course he made it simple! He is also the creative director of John Galliano and needs to design for that brand as well. Dior is originally classy and elegant. The edge belongs to John Galliano. Gaytten gave to each their own.

DIOR SS 1947

 

DIOR 1949

 DIOR FW 1949

 DIOR SS 1951

 

Dior FW2012 by Bill Gaytten

 

Elegant, simple but definitely couture. Just like original Dior.

The only criticism I would have for the John Galliano FW2012 designs is that as I take a look at Gayttens collection below, I could have sworn Galliano designed it himself.
So this brings up the point, how original is Gaytten?
I would still have to say he is pretty good. After all, these are his creations, and both FW2012 collections for Dior and John Galliano are completely different.

I commend you Bill. 

John Galliano FW2012 by Bill Gaytten 

 

Doing his mentor proud.

Having said all that- Dior will never go back to the Galliano Golden Ages. The best it could have done was stick with Gaytten (although as I mentioned previously, this is not a realistic scenario as I am not sure he would have wanted to).

Galliano's genius cannot be competed with. The femininty, edge and bad-assness of Dior will now be forever gone. So everyone has to stop complaining and embrace Dior for what it is.

Dior FW 2010 by John Galliano

Dior FW2011 by John Galliano

This was the last collection post debacle. The seamstresses actually came out and bowed after this last show.

So now about Raf. What do we know about him? Not much really. We know he studied industrial design, and originally started designing men's clothes.  He began designing in 1995 and in 2005 he was appointed creative director for Jill Sander. 

My conflict here is, if Gaytten received so much criticism for "playing down" this past Dior FW2012 collection in comparison to it's Galliano edgy and cool days, what would they say about this?

Jill Sander FW2012 by Raf Simons

I don't know.  Simons designs are beautiful and classy. However,  I have said it before, an artist is commended for originality and ability to stand out. In my opinion, compared to Galliano's and Gaytten's collections,  comme on dit on Francais: ces't plat.  

Gaytten was able to make Dior look like well, Dior. I guess we will just have to wait and see what Raf brings to the table.

What do you think?

** All vintage pictures from http://www.metmuseum.org/

My hippie hair...

It is a complete oxymoron that I of all people am writing a post on how to style hair.  The thing is, I have no clue how to do such a thing, and do not have the will or the patience to blow dry my own hair and much less do anything else that is more complicated.

I believe this all goes back to growing up in Honduras, where "El Salon" is really truly affordable and a blow out is done quickly and efficiently - giving us girls the luxury to go at least twice a week. This phenomenon (because those of you who live abroad, know that getting "a blow out" is not affordable, and is not done quickly or efficiently) seriously hindered my will to learn how to do these things myself. This proved to be quite a problem when I permanently left Honduras. 

Since then, I have just come to terms with the fact that I am a no nonsense hair person ( I actually think messy hair looks better than perfectly groomed hair). 

This does not mean however, that I am willing to walk around with a horrid head of hair. So here it goes for those of you who like me, find the act of blow drying and/or straightening or curling your hair a complete drag:

Up to 4 months ago I had virgin-jet-black hair. It was truly quite boring and I wanted something cool and different but low maintenance. My friend recommended balayage (or "ombre" as some people like to call it). 

Balayage is a french technique for painting (they actually paint it on with a brush) on highlights. It has actually been around for ages, and just recently became the insanity in Hollywood (Rachel Bilson famously has this hair, and so does everyone else for that matter). It basically looks like your roots grew out and you have not cut your hair in ages after getting color in it. 

The highlights are usually painted somwhere mid hair really lightly (on a few strands) getting more intense as you reach the bottom (the bottom should be completely blonde/light brown). 

*** This is important! Not everyone can do this technique, it literally takes 4 hours to do. It is very complex (though the time you spend on that chair does reap the benefits). If your hair dresser does not pull out some sort of comb and proceeds to do what looks like regular highlights *RUN* 

This happened to me in Montreal (of all places), at a very renowned coiffure on Sherbrooke (which shall remain unnamed). It was really terrible to have tacky blonde streaks in my jet black hair. Luckily the streaks proved to be an asset when I got the actual Balayage done (since they were done on the second layer of my hair not right on top).  

I had to go to Honduras (as ridiculous as this may sound) to get this done.  If you do live in Honduras the ONLY person to go to is the incredibly talented Jesus (who should be in Hollywood if you ask me- but Thank God he isn't). Contact at the bottom. ***

I have recently discovered Argan Oil products. To be truthful, I don't even know what Argan Oil is (hmm will google it right now).. But this is the only shampoo that seems to not leave my hair up in knots since I got it bleached for the Balayage.

Balayage is perfect for me because it is no nonsense, it is cool, it looks different and I don't have to go to my hairdresser every two weeks because actually the more you let it grow out, the cooler it looks.

The thing is, since my hair is so black , I had to get it bleached before any other color could adhere to it, and this seriously damaged my hair and it made it look like a broom. So this forced me to discover various no nonsense hair products.

No Nonsense Every Day Hair

After shampooing and coniditong your hair, apply a mask. This is not BS, trust me, it makes a world of a difference. I would not spend an extra 5 minutes with my hair tangled up in a shower cap if I absolutely thought this did not work. The ones I have used are these:

These masks I find are basically like a super potent conditioner. They are more expensive, but I kid you not, they make your hair look stunning. Put it on after your conditioner for 3 minutes.

This brand is actually the mother of all brands. I have seen and experienced the difference. One bottle (like the one above) is $75 (they make REALLY good shampoo and other things as well, but if you are going to splurge on something for your damaged hair do it on a mask)... I am OK with the "cheap" Argan oil one you can get at CVS.

Once you are out, towel dry and apply Moroccan oil ONLY to your tips (otherwise your hair will look like a grease pit in which you could fry an egg or something). This will take away all the static, and just leave your hair wavy and natural without the frizz - its perfect really.

No Nonsense Special Occasion Hair

While your hair is still wet, just towel dried,  instead of applying the moroccan oil, you apply the treatment below ( I got mine from Jesus)...

The main difference between this and the masks, is that you leave this on.  This is post your hair wash, and you put this on instead of the oil. It has the same anti frizz effect, but its different. It doesn't take away your hairs natural volume. I don't know how to explain this properly, lets just say your hair is more "malleable" with this...

 .... aside from this you need 6 large clips to do this to your hair:

Do this with wet, towel dried hair after applying the anti-frizz treatment (instead of the oil).

Seriously, walk around like a crazy lady for a couple of hours, or just blow dry it for a few minutes and then let loose. This will give you a wavy/messy "I just spent hours doing this to my hair" look. 

** Clearly this post is only for people with my type of hair. If you have a curly/short/purple different type of hair of then mine and have cool tips for people please email me, and I will post about it! I am sure clueless people like me will truly appreciate it!

** All hair tricks courtsey of Hair Dresser Extra-ordinaire.. If you live in Tegus the number to call is 504-239-6958.**