23 Nov 2011

Motor Rebel

As you might already suspect by the title, what I bring you today is a real biker look.

I’ve been a fan of biker looks for a long time, and that’s something I never really get tired of. I have more denim, leather, fake leather and vinyl jackets at home than I can handle, but that’s OK with me. After all, I’m a rocker, right? ;)

Do you know that rule in style that says: “if you put on something that’s original and flashy, the rest of your outfit has to be simple so you don’t end up looking too over-the-top”? Well, what I say is: if you put on something flashy, the rest of your outfit has to be flashy too to make that one flashy thing look even flashier!

In this case, it all begun with the sleeveless T-shirt.

This incredible piece of clothing comes from Bershka, and that makes it even more special, because I don’t find things that match my quality standards there very often. However, I have to admit this particular T-shirt is a masterpiece. It has this extremely biker print (vintage motorcycles + American flag + tattoo-style wings = whoa!), and the words “MOTOR REBEL” are decorated with tiny crystals (!). I already have a small collection of biker-themed T-shirts, and this one looked just like it was meant to be a part of it. Besides, it has a zipper in the back part that gives it an extra cool edge. I can’t tell you if it has a real use or not, but you know I just love zippers! ^^

It was clear that this super spectacular T-shirt was asking for an extreme biker look that could match its iconic potential. The big challenge here was how to create such a look without being too obvious or repeating myself.

Since we’re already in November, the first thing I needed was something to wear underneath, so I picked up my old Scissorhands long-sleeved T-shirt (you might remember it from my Goth For One Day…! post).

The worn-out jeans and the biker boots were quite an obvious choice.

Those are probably my favourite boots ever. I’ve had them for about a year now and I just love everything about them: the cowboy-ish shape, the aggressive square heel, the minimalistic straps and the extra-heavy studs… Do I need anything more in life? LOL

However, my imagination ran out at that point.

At first, I tried a classical vinyl/leather approach, but it seemed a bit too obvious. I felt like I needed something special that could give the whole look that unexpected twist.

I had already picked up some accessories – which included my classical leather choker and my nameplate dog chain – and, of course, those Tokio Hotel fingerless gloves. I had thought of them almost immediately, because the open wings on their print matched the ones on the T-shirt in a way that seemed almost incredible. And, of course, they also matched the ones on my REBEL necklace.

That necklace is probably the most iconic piece of jewellery in my collection. I purchased it in Mango sometime around 2009, and the funny part is that I did it mainly because it reminded me of Bill in the first place (LOL). Putting the three things together (gloves, necklace and T-shirt) was almost like closing the circle :P

However, there was something about the gloves that clashed with the rest of the outfit. It took me a long time to figure out what it was. I even thought about leaving them out at first, but I couldn’t betray my triple wings concept. Instead, I decided to be brave and leave my S&M vinyl cap for another day.

This outfit was going to be all about wool and denim.

After searching through my cap drawer (I didn’t remember I had SO many caps and hats!), I picked up my old woollen hat from Kiabi, and it worked… or I though it had to work, but I still wasn’t sure. With my hair loose, I looked too Axl Rose-y for my taste, and when I hid it under the cap, it looked just too raw. The whole outfit was still missing something.

Thinking of biker accessories that could do the trick, I decided to pick up my good ole black bandana. I tried it on in different ways, but none of them seemed to be working just like it had to.

And right then, I thought about Tom Kaulitz.

tom 1 tom 2

I’m in a bit of a Tom mood lately, to be honest. I’ve been fantasizing with the idea of dreadlocks for some time (don’t worry – I won’t be doing that to my hair any time soon LOL), so I decided to try something new: I put my hair into a high ponytail – the way he used to do when he still had his dreads – and tied the bandana around my forehead. Then, I just put my woollen hat back on and let some of my hair peek from underneath.

I was extremely satisfied with the result :D

I’ve never been a fan of ponytails. In fact, I hadn’t worn one out on the street since the day I had my last gym class at school (and, believe me, that was a looong time ago), but I think I will be doing this again in the future :P

I should add that ponytails are quite a common everyday solution in the biker world (we’re talking about old-school Harley Davidson bikers here), since many of them fancy long hair (…and beards LOL). When I saw myself wearing that hairstyle, I couldn’t help thinking about the old (is it me, or I’m using the word “old” a lot today? LOL) Walter.

Walter was a character from the – awfully underrated – TV-series La Femme Nikita, wonderfully played by Don Francks. He always wore his long white hair in a ponytail and a bandana around his forehead – I still remember him from my childhood days! Technically, he’s not a biker, but you can’t deny he DOES look like one (LOL), and now that I think about it, I guess that man was probably my first contact with the biker aesthetics!

Of course, the finishing touch to my Motor Rebel outfit was this super cool denim jacket from Mango.

I got it at a second-hand store, and what I specially love about it is that it looks hard and elegant at the same time, like some improbable cross between a biker jacket and a dandy coat. And the asymmetrical details in the design add some extra punk coolness ;)

Ready to hit the road, babes? ;)

Let’s go!

MOTOR REBEL T-shirt: Bershka
Long-sleeved T-shirt: MNG
Jeans: MNG
Boots: In Extenso
Jacket: MNG (second-hand, purchased at Humana)
Woollen hat: Kiabi
Bandana: Caroche
Tokio Hotel gloves: official merchandise
REBEL necklace: MNG
Cross pendant: LSD
Choker and chains: dog collars (purchased at Auchan)

13 Nov 2011

My GQ

Here I bring you another one of my dandy looks.

This photoshoot is a bit of a classic already, so it might be familiar to those of you who have known me for a while ;)

I conceived it as a response to the legendary phooshoot Bill and Tom Kaulitz did for the German GQ in February 2010. I found it quite funny that Bill and Tom were doing these dandy looks (something quite unusual for them at that time). I had been into that style for years, so I liked the idea of adding myself to their (fantastic) cover, like some kind of third character and feel like I was invited to the party as well (LOL). I love playing with the concept of “the picture within the picture”, and magazine covers always offer huge possibilities for this kind of experiments.

I have to say that this outfit was created exclusively for this photoshoot, so I’ve never used it in real life :P

The starting concept for the look was, of course, electric blue. I don’t have an electric blue suit myself (it’s not the kind of thing you usually find among your basic wardrobe! LOL) but I knew I had this old turtleneck that matched the colours on the cover perfectly, so, instead of creating a copy, I decided to turn Bill’s outfit inside out. He’s wearing a blue suit with a white T-shirt and little black details. I’m wearing a black suit with a blue turtleneck and small details in white. It might not sound that obvious when explained like this, but it makes perfect sense in my mind (LOL).

The rest was quite easy. I’d had those trousers for years, but I had never found them a proper use. The blazer was new and I had never worn it either, so it was great getting to use them both. You don’t get chances to wear such elegant looks very often in your everyday life ;)

These shoes are a bit of a jewel in my collection. I purchased them at an outlet, and they were quite expensive still. I don’t usually buy things in this price range, but the quality and the design are so exquisite it was definitively worth it. I was really lucky, because they only had one pair and it was my size. Of course, I’ve never found a chance to wear them (you can only wear those to red carpets! LOL), because just putting them on to walk on the street would be such a waste!

As you might already suspect, I don’t have an electric blue top hat (even though I’d kill for it LOL) either, so I had to improvise. I put on one of my favourite gangster hats, and it worked. This wasn’t intended to be a recreation, after all, and my striped hat adds some 1940s feel I find really funny :P

Not bad for an improvised dandy reunion, right? ;)

[Show a little bit of fan love ;)]

[This is one of my favourite pics ever. It has some delicious Magritte-like creepiness (LOL), and it’s also quite an accurate depiction of my usual state of mind ^^’]

Turtleneck: MNG
Trousers: MNG
Shoes: Simone Mariotti
Blazer: MNG
Hat: Gorin

9 Nov 2011

Voodoo Dandy

I haven’t dressed like this for a while, and I have to say my inner dandy feels glad to be back!

This time I built the whole outfit around the Michael Jackson T-shirt (I have to admit it was much easier than building an outfit around a pair of trainers LOL). This is quite a curious piece, really. For some reason, it has the text “MICHAEL JACKSON’S THIS IS IT” printed on it, even though the (brilliant) comic-style artwork is obviously based on Thriller. I don’t know if this mismatch (?) responds to a deeper artistic purpose, but I find that detail really funny.

(Before we start talking about Thriller, you have to see this. I swear the word “Thriller” will never ever mean the same to you again… or at least that’s what happened to me.)

Of course, going for a Thriller kind of look would have been the obvious thing to do, but you know I don’t enjoy being predictable, so I dismissed that idea almost immediately – besides, there’ve been so many recreations of Michael Jackson’s iconic looks ever since he died, it’s almost become a cliché.

(In case some of you still haven’t seen the original Thriller, you can do it now!)

So, how do you get a Thriller-themed look that’s not based on just copying the obvious aspects? That’s pretty easy: go straight to the root.

When we talk about Thriller, we’re talking about zombies. And where do zombies come from? That’s it: Voodoo!

Thinking about Voodoo and zombies, I transported myself to quite a different stylistic place, much more similar to Zucchero’s Baila (best Voodoo-themed pop video ever LOL) than to the actual Thriller.

The incredible part is that this T-shirt was actually made in Haiti, so it’s a REAL Voodoo T-shirt (no joking!).

So, instead of focusing on Michael’s slightly futuristic city kid, I decided to turn myself into some kind of southern old-fashioned dandy. It’s not the first time I do this kind of looks, so getting in character wasn’t too hard – all I ever have to do is think about New Orleans and Load era Kirk Hammett, and everything else comes on its own.

The way I see it, the key to creating a convincing look in this fashion is remembering you have to be a dandy, but you also have to be a gangster: you have to be really well-dressed in an old-fashioned manner, but without forgetting to add deliberately shrill elements, in order to remind people you can’t really be trusted ;)

I started by building a red and black (red and black is ALWAYS a winner for me LOL) base to go with the T-shirt and the wonderful red and black vintage-looking (it’s not real vintage, though) Mango blazer. There’s something very late 80s/early 90s about this blazer, or at least that’s the way I feel it, because it always reminds me of the one Freddie Mercury wore in Scandal (another wonderful red and black video).

The pointy gangster shoes strongly remind me of the ones Bill Kaulitz was wearing last december, during Tokio Hotel’s Harajuku street photoshoot for the Japanese InRock magazine (too many huge words in the same sentence, I guess LOL). I’ve had mine since 2007 (right in the height of my Marilyn-Manson-driven dandy phase), so they can’t exactly be considered Bill-inspired, but when I put them on with the tight jeans, I couldn’t keep myself from thinking about those pics, and that subtle connection made me smile :)

Tokio in Tokyo 1Tokio in Tokyo 1

I had quite a hard time trying to find the right scarf, until I came across this unbelievable vintage Salvatore Ferragamo piece. I didn’t even know we had that at home (well, maybe I knew, but I didn’t remember about it in that moment LOL)! In fact, I didn’t even know it when I picked it up. I just tried it on, and it immediately added a perfect (and subtle) Italian gangster touch to my outfit ;)

However, I had the feeling I still needed to add some evil details (this is a Voodoo dandy, after all!), so I put on my brand new silver plastic spider (you might remember it from my previous post). I told you I would find a use for it, and there you go! I wasn’t sure about what the result would be at first, but I love how the collar complements the T-shirt – it looks like they were just meant to be together!

And about the fingerless gloves… Well, I always say that, if worn right, fingerless gloves are the thing that can make any outfit look mean. I’ve got black magic on my fingertips, babes. BE afraid ;)

Michael Jackson T-shirt: Gildan Heavy Cotton
Red long sleeved T-shirt: Mac Been
Jeans: MNG
Blazer: MNG
Shoes: Bata
Hat: CCC
Scarf: Salvatore Ferragamo vintage (1991)
Fingerless gloves: El Corte Inglés

3 Nov 2011

Shopping #2: Halloween

The great thing about Halloween is that, for a few days, you get the chance to find all sorts of crazy stuff in stores. The most of the people would never consider using any of these things to accessorize street wear… but that’s because they don’t live by the Harajuku philosophy! (LOL) If they did, they would have learnt a long time ago that anything that’s light enough to be carried can be turned into a piece of clothing ^^

All you have to do is use your imagination!

Yes, that’s real plastic flowers (and a couple of really rococo-looking tassels LOL). You can blame fur fur’s 2012 Spring/Summer collection for this. Of course, their flowers are real, but who can resist the charm of those headdresses? I still don’t know what will come out of this, but it’s worth a try! LOL

1. Fancy skull boa. I don’t have a use for this yet, but I’m sure something will eventually come up :P 2. Decorative gothic skull. This is the most impressive piece of gothic decoration I’ve ever seen. It’s not meant to be worn as an accessory (of course), but it can be quite easily turned into a tie, or into whatever comes to my head first. Oh, and the old lady’s jaw is articulated! Can you believe that? LOL 3. Flaming skull pen. Do I really need to say anything about this one? 4. Skeleton arm and Flying V pen. Ideal partner for the flaming skull pen. The singer and the guitarrist always go together ;) 5. Spider necklace with skulls and bones chain. Don’t let anybody tell you you can’t be gothic and gangsta at the same time! ;) 6. XL exorcist cross. The cross necklace fashion is chasing me again! This is not a wooden cross, technically, but it’s HUGE! Ready, set… Harajuku, there I go! LOL

Fantasy time!

Barcelona has been holding its annual Manga Fair (also known as “Salón del Manga”, for Spanish speakers) these days, and, even though I haven’t had the chance to visit it myself (it’s always too crowded, anyway *snob-mode-on*, and staying at home prevents me from spending indecent amounts of money on Dir En Grey CDs – LOL), I was nicely surprised to see – and hear – that the otaku craze seems to get bigger every year. We’re getting more and better cosplayers (I include people who recreate the styles of the Japanese urban tribes in this category), and that’s definitively something to celebrate!

Even though I’ve never been much of a cosplayer myself, I certainly have a bunch of fantasy outfits that can be considered anime-inspired in one way or another.

Note that I was 14, 15 and 16 respectively when these pics were taken, and, in case you’re wondering, yes: I did go to school like that!

Frei wie der Wind

12

This was probably one of my first creative outfits… EVER!

The Save The Queen! blouse has been a very special piece in my wardrobe for years (it’s one of the few expensive things I have). It is so special I hardly wear it these days because I never seem to find the right occasion, but it was brand new at that time and I was dying to use it, so I didn’t miss a chance. I was a die-hard Queen fan back in those days (not that I’m not a fan now… LOL), so the fact that this blouse had the word QUEEN printed on it really meant the world to me :P

The skirt is a unique custom vintage piece that’s been around home since the early 90s (now that sounds impressive! LOL). I used to wear it a lot in my early teens because I loved the extreme freedom of movement it allowed me, and, of course, because I thought it was really cool!

I didn’t have any specific concept or inspiration for outfit, but I was heavily influenced by the aesthetics of the Revolutionary Girl Utena anime around that time (I’m still influenced by them now! LOL), with those prince suits, the ultra-long hair and the infinite dresses flowing in the wind… Of course, there was also the huge issue of gender ambiguity, but I was too young to understand that back then :P

Oh, and don’t forget about the roses! I think this outfit would definitively pass the Revolutionary Girl Utena test.

13

Blouse: Save The Queen!
Japanese silk skirt: custom vintage (Russia, 1993)
Sandals: Zenna

Enter Sandman

21

This outfit has some scarecrow/Freddie Krueger feel to it – that’s probably why I’ve always called it “Sandman” (obvious reference to the Metallica song).

Once again, I’m wearing red and black (no need to ask what my favourite colour combination is LOL). I’m also wearing the Save The Queen! blouse from the previous outfit and the zipper skirt and medieval boots from my Goth For One Day! look.

Even though this outfit wasn’t inspired by any particular work, it’s certainly not hard to imagine something like this on a manga/anime character :P

20

Blouse: Save The Queen!
Skirt: MNG
Boots: Bata
Hat: freebie

The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke

This is one of my favourite fantasy looks ever. I call it “Fairy” because it really has some Renaissance edge – the kind of thing we usually associate with fairy costumes (LOL).

The fact that I came up with something so structurally challenging still surprises me. It happened quite unintentionally, really, and I owe everything to the wonderful multi-zipper Mango jacket (I think it belongs to the same collection as the pieces mentioned in my Goth For One Day! post). It has five completely independent and functional zippers that allow all sorts of crazy combinations. It’s not one of Rad Hourani’s multi-functional jackets, but it’s still cool, and the result looks quite awesome ^^

The red dress that peeks from underneath is quite a curious vintage piece. It was a gift from an old classmate (it’s a pretty strange story, now that I think about it). For what she told me, it was hand-made by her mother, but I can’t be sure. However, what’s really interesting about this dress (aside from its texture and pattern) is that the skirt is actually square, so it has a really unusual shape when worn.

The short skirt is also a valuable vintage piece from the early 90s. It looks like a tutu, which makes it extremely useful for this kind of theatrical fantasy outfits.

You should have seen me dressed up like that while sitting in a classroom! But don’t worry, my classmates were used ;)

04 Fairy Queen

Dress: vintage
Skirt: Ephemere vintage (Italy, 1991)
Jacket: MNG
Boots: Bata
Hat: MNG
Choker: dog collar (purchased at Auchan)

Shopping #1: LSD

Don’t be alarmed: I haven’t got into drugs after being exposed to the harmful influence of Rihanna’s We Found Love video (LOL). LSD is just the name of the shop where I get my craziest accessories and some of my coolest T-shirts. Unfortunately, they don’t have a web page, so I won’t be able to give them any free promo. I’m sorry! Anyway, here goes my latest pack of LSD purchases ^^

Wonderful black hoodie with silver “LA” print. Irresistibly gangsta; perfect for my Tom days B)

1. Black furry dice. Icon (even in their smallest version)! Some of you might find these slightly familiar… ;) 2. Golden Chinese themed CD case. Just cool! 3. Black leather cross pendant. I have a small collection of similar cross pendants (all from LSD, of course). This one is extremely biker (LOL). It’s not hard to imagine something like this decorating a chopper :P 4. Wooden cross necklace. Couldn’t believe it when I saw it! Is the Harajuku wooden cross necklace fashion getting to Spain already? 5. Cross pendant from Montserrat. O.K., this pendant is not new exactly (it’s been around home for like… 15 years? LOL) and it sure doesn’t come from LSD, but don’t tell me it’s not amazing to see how great it matches the current wooden cross necklace trend! I bet any Harajuku boy or girl would kill for this! ;) 100% Spanish exotism!