Havana Affair

This is the last summer outfit of 2012. I know it’s funny to post a summer outfit in November, but I’m a busy person – finding time to write these loooong posts is not that easy for me, OK? LOL

I wore this outfit back in September. I was going to watch The Expendables 2, so I wanted to wear something that could somehow relate to the theme of the movie while still being suitable for the hot Spanish summer.

At that point, I knew my choices were rather limited. I had already worn the most of my hippie skirts and blouses and, of course, I didn’t want to repeat myself, so I started thinking: how can I put up a light summer outfit without using the themes I’ve already used?

I wanted to create a hippie look starting from something I had never used in that context before, and my brand new (at that time it was brand new LOL) khaki shirt was right there, in front of me, so I decided I could try combining it with this patchwork hippie skirt from Natura. Of course, the shirt had to be adapted a bit so it would fit in with the skirt, so I rolled the sleeves up and tied the bottom in a knot, instantly turning my proto-outfit into a tropical look.

I loved the fact that the colours and patterns of both pieces weren’t an obvious match – it made the whole thing feel more D-I-Y, like an outfit that’s been put up in the middle of the jungle with very limited resources… which was exactly what I wanted to get :P

Once the basics were in place, the time came to give the look some new dimension: it was going to be tropical, yes, but it needed a twist to make it more interesting.

I kept thinking about my Commando outfit. I wanted to add a guerrilla touch to this one too, as a reference to the fact that I was going to see a true badass movie (LOL), just like I did when I went to see The Expendables 1 (I wore a Sarah Connor kind of look back then :P), so I grabbed my camo scarf – which I didn’t have back in the time of my Commando look, BTW –. The problem was I didn’t really know how to wear it…

I tried to just tie it around my forehead like a bandana – Rambo style LOL –, but it was way too long and it really looked awful, so I had to come up with something else. After trying to put it on in every possible way, I finally had a strike of inspiration: why not turning it into a turban? I though it was a great idea. The only problem was I had no clue how to do it.

I searched for help in the internet and, after a while, I found a nice tutorial that explained it all quite well (link here). However, the tutorial clearly stated you have to use a SQUARE scarf… and mine couldn’t be further from that LOL I really messed up my hair trying to fit it in, but, after like fifteen minutes I managed to get a decent turban done. I was impressed.

I though about adding some plastic flowers to my turban, in order to give it some extra tropical appeal – I had in mind that headpiece Rihanna wore in the S&M video –… however I dropped the idea rather quickly. I didn’t really have the means to do that, and it would have strayed too much from the original theme of the outfit anyway, so I thought I’d just leave that idea for some other time…

The turban also adds a fancy 1920s touch to the outfit. I didn’t expect that, but it certainly looks great on pictures :P

 

Stepping out in the street wearing a turban was certainly a curious experience. I had never done that before. Technically, it’s not so different from wearing a hat or a cap, but you can’t help that feeling of having your head bandaged (LOL). I was afraid it would start to come undone at any moment, but it actually didn’t, so, eventually, I decided I was just not going to think about it until I got back home. It worked.

And it certainly turned a few heads ;)

Oh, and the movie was totally awesome, BTW. The first one was good as an introduction, but if you’re an action film dinosaur like me, The Expendables 2 is the real thing. Imagine: Chuck Norris telling a Chuck Norris joke; Arnold Schwarzenegger ACTING again (<3); Jean Claude Van Damme playing the bad guy (!); Jason Statham – do I really have to say anything else? LOL –, and there’s Stallone, and Dolph Lundgren, and Bruce Willis, and some other guys I can’t even remember… there’s SO many of them! LOL The audience spontaneously burst into applause at the end, so you can imagine just HOW amazing and hilarious it was.

Shirt: MNG

Skirt: Natura

Sandals: You Too
Scarf: Armand Basi

Necklaces: unknown

Bracelets: Natura

Bag: MNG

Commando

Today I will be introducing my personal concept of casual wear. I hate boredom above all things, so I’m afraid this is the simplest my looks ever get these days. I can’t wear something if it doesn’t have a concept – not even at the supermarket!

I usually start my outfits from a single piece of clothing: I just put it on and see where it leads me. In this occasion I started off with the trainers.

These Converse-like shoes are always an invitation to teenage looks for me, so I usually end up wearing them with drainpipe jeans of any matching colour, just like the emo kids used to do a few years ago (I’m sure some of you still do it now – don’t lose it, Junge ;) ). Purple goes with purple, so purple jeans were the next logical step. I tried to add some white on the top (to match the white details on the trainers), but it didn’t work. I attempted a total purple look, but it bored me, so finally I decided to go for colour blocking. That’s a really unusual solution for me, but this time it seemed like the right thing to do.

I was quite surprised to see how good purple and khaki matched. I put on a khaki T-shirt with a vintage military-looking jacket and completed the look with a matching cap. However, that was just half of the work done.

The hardest part about creating this kind of teenage looks (any look that features tight jeans and Converse-like trainers is bound to be teenage by definition LOL) is not allowing them to end up looking too girly, and at this point that was my biggest concern. However, all my worries disappeared when I saw myself in the mirror.

When I looked at my reflection, the first thing that came to my mind was Commando (an awesome –and absurd– Arnold Schwarzenegger movie from the mid 80s) and the fictional country Val Verde.

(You might have guessed by this display of geeky knowledge that I’m somewhat of a fan of action movies LOL)

It was obvious that this look was asking for a military edge, and I had to figure out how to get it. Immediately, I thought of the outfit Bill Kaulitz wore for the press conference at the German Embassy in Tokio Hotel’s first visit to Japan: the camo jacket, the worn-out jeans, the fingerless gloves, the golden nails and *oh Lord* the bullet belt.

If THAT bullet belt isn’t iconic, I don’t know what is. I don’t have anything similar in my wardrobe (even though it’s in my shopping list from now on), but you know what my slogan says: “If you don’t have something you like, make your own version of it.” And that’s exactly what I did. I picked up my old XL leather belt (you might remember it from my previous post) and put it across my shoulder. Simple means, huge results :D

I added the leather collar and the chain to accentuate the guerrilla feel. Bennett (the guy with the thick moustache in the Commando trailer LOL) wears a chain on his neck too, and I found that really fancy. I specially liked the way this particular chain (I don’t need to remind you it’s really a dog collar LOL) looked in this outfit because the nameplate reminded me of soldiers’ dog tags. That idea led me to pick the cross pendant. That cross has always reminded me of the graves on Metallica’s Master Of Puppets cover.

There’s actually a name tag hanging from one of the crosses in the first row, so the Master connection was quite huge ;)

I used the bar code belt to add some structure to the bottom of the T-shirt. I have some kind of unhealthy obsession with that part of my outfits: I always HATE the way my T-shirts look down there and I get no sleep until I do something about it. When I looked at Bill’s pictures later, I noticed he also did the two belt thing in his own Commando look. However, that similarity wasn’t intentional LOL

The tank top was a last minute fix. I was facing an extremely cold morning and I desperately needed something that could warm me up a bit. A tank top is certainly not the warmest piece of clothing in the world, but it helped to protect my body from the icy air currents under my extremely loosely fit T-shirt, furthermore adding the perfect finish touch to my “The Ramones meet Schwarzenegger’s Commando” outfit :)

No need to wonder what would that sound like ;)

Tank top: Road Rage Motorcycles

T-shirt: MNG

Jeans: MNG

Trainers: North Star

Jacket: vintage (purchased at Humana)

Belt: vintage (Italy, 1991)

Bar code belt: unknown

Choker and chains: dog collars (purchased at Auchan)

Pendant: unknown (purchased at LSD)

Cap: CCC (stands for "Cheap Chinese Clothing" LOL)