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.**

Underneath the Cherry Blossoms...

...we had a Picnic.

Later that day...

Benetton Tweed Jacket, Madewell Silk pants, Ninewest Shoes, Vintage Dior purse.

 ...I put my best fashion foot forward to attend the Boston Symphony.

 It was truly delightful.  There is something so magical about various instruments playing at once and harmonizing together. Not to mention when there is a choir and opera singers incorporated. It really almost nearly brought me to tears. 

You can get info on upcoming shows here.

Danke schön & Domo Arigato to my friends Damian and Biki for the wonderful weekend :)

Somewhere in Boston...

...Biki was wearing this:

I went shopping @ a Madewell store. I walked in modeling all their clothes...

I also went to the Davis Square Theater to watch a play called "roger and tom".   Even though I have never not loved a single play I have ever attended, I must say, this was definitely the most original script I have ever watched. If you live in the Boston area, I highly recommend (tomorrow is the last show). You can get more information here.

Speaking of theater...


I found this vintage picture of me at a play in high-school.

I specially love this picture because this is me and my best friend Carmen. We had a ton of fun doing this, I remember. 

Every time I was part of a production I always played a funny role...  Until this day, The Blogger Boyfriend is "so handsome" and I am "so funny"...

Hot men wear sandals...

... featuring Salva :)

SWOON. ENOUGH SAID.

HEART. HEART. HEART.

"Kaites", leather and bows...

... featuring Salva!

Salva is back! After much nagging on my behalf he came back with a vengeance and delivered this little number! :) 

May I just say, both the Blogger Boyfriend and I want those pants! 

Hot, hot hair,  hot white button down
(and take note, that this looks sexy buttoned down),  
Khakis with neone detail: Marc Jacob knock offs from H&M, "kaites".

Today  I watched Confucius (the movie) and stepped out for some Tepanyaki (I was clearly feeling the Asian within).  I stepped out in the following:

I like this outfit because it was the most effortless thing I have ever put together -  all my go to pieces in one no fuss ensemble (including the shoes). It is also the perfect mix of edgy and girly. I also really like that I look a little disheveled, like I literally just rolled out of bed... Why yes. I like that. 

This Weekends Entertainment

Confucius the Movie was really educational! I knew Confucius was a great philosopher and teacher, but I had no idea he had served in Government for so long... 

This movie also brought back a book I read long ago called "The Tao of Pooh" (Confucius' teachings are highly associated with with Taoism and Buddhism). 

This book describes Taoism based on Pooh's character and explains how to be the perfect Taoist by following Pooh's example of nobility and goodness. It is a really cute and spiritual book. There is also "The Te (pronounced "chi") of Piglet" which is also based on Taoist teachings. I really meant to read this book as well. I just might roll around to it when I am done with Hunger Games...