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

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 :)

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

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

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.

Blouse: Save The Queen!

Japanese silk skirt: custom vintage (Russia, 1993)

Sandals: Zenna

Enter Sandman

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

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 ;)

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!

Looks I’m Lovin’ #1: We Found Love

I wasn’t too impressed by the song itself, but the video for We Found Love has turned out to be one of the coolest music videos I’ve seen this year.

What I specially love about it are the looks both Rihanna and Dudley O’Shaughnessy are wearing throughout the four and a half minutes of footage. It’s hard to believe that such a bizarre mixture of trashy punk, Rastafari, denim and sportsy casual fashion can work at all… but it really does! And what has surprised me the most is the truly androgynous quality of the result.

The two of them look like they could just be wearing each other’s clothes (I think they actually do that in some of the scenes) and it would make no difference. Even when she’s wearing the most feminine elements –like lingerie, stockings or short skirts–, Rihanna doesn’t look like the girl in the story. She just looks like herself, and that’s what this is all about, right?

Plus, I specially like the fact that she picked up such an elegantly slim boy for the part (nothing like the ultra-muscular Viking gods we’ve seen in some of the latest Lady Gaga or Jennifer Lopez vids). Guys can wear fancy clothes too, and I love to see them doing so! ;)

And now that I’m done with the introduction, let’s take a closer look at my favourite outfits in this video!

(It was quite hard to take screencaps of the entire looks, so I’d recommend you to watch it again afterwards in order to appreciate them better)

Punk Lolita

This is probably my favourite look in the entire video. It’s not hard to imagine something like this in the streets of Harajuku (I have a couple of outfits in this style myself! LOL). The blouse is just gorgeous, and the short skirt is balanced out by the worn-out stockings and the brutal platform shoes. I also love the oversize blazer she’s wearing on top. The whole look has a strict uniform feel to it, but it’s extremely punk at the same time.

However, what I like most about this look is how great it’s matched with Dudley’s ultra-punk outfit. The tartan pants, the red boots, the denim jacket… All I can say is: WOW.

Jamaican Jam

It takes a true Caribbean to wear a Rastafari hat and make it look like the most natural thing in the world. Unfortunately, there aren’t many shots of this outfit, so I haven’t been able to observe it in detail. I love the mix of the Jamaican hat with the jeans and the tracksuit jacket. There is something SO irresistibly boyish about this look…!

Of course, Dudley’s Kingston Pyjama Party outfit is just exquisite. It’s a pity there aren’t almost any shots of it, because it’s one of the craziest looks in the entire video. For what I can see, he’s wearing some U.S. flag themed pyjama-like denim suit under an oversize black blazer and a more discrete black Rastafari hat on top. INSANE!

Once again, both outfits are so perfectly combined the overall effect is more than impressive. Chapeau! ;)

Trashy Punk

This is probably the trashiest outfit in this video. The combination of elements (stockings, thick platform shoes, short skirt, belly-revealing blouse) is quite similar to the first outfit, but the combination of denim and white gives it a completely different feel. However, my favourite part of this look is that killer bomber jacket. It’s so wonderfully brutal it really balances the whole thing out.

Dudley’s full-denim look rules too. His Misfits jacket couldn’t be more iconic. If I’m not wrong, he’s wearing the same hat he was wearing at the store, and those straps… Whoa! That’s what I call a Rude Boy! :D

Denim & Crochet

Some more cool denim outfits. I really like the texture of those worn-out jeans, and the crochet top has a fancy grunge edge. Plus, is she wearing boxers? Me like! (LOL)

I can’t see much of Dudley’s outfit here, but I love the hoodie he’s wearing under the denim jacket (I have to say I’m a huge fan of hoodies! LOL). As strange as it may sound, I think it softens his look a bit and prevents him from looking too masculine.

Both outfits are perfectly matched, as usual, and the result is extremely lovely ^^

Rockabilly Craze

Some cool 50s-inspired rockabilly denim fashion. This outfit is quite minimal, but Rihanna is Rihanna and she can do whatever she wants (LOL). My favourite part of this look is her fancy retro-but-not-retro hairstyle with the bandana tied on her head. Plus, that killer look really KILLS!

Unfortunately, we can’t see what Dudley is wearing this time, so we won’t know how great their outfits are surely matched.

Miscellanea!

Commando Rastafari! – Is it me, or I’m seeing military fashion everywhere lately? LOL

“Yeeeeeah – it’s a party in the U.S.A.” ;)

I call this look… The Wrestler (LOL). I think that’s the Misfits jacket again, by the way. Like I said, they both look great in each other’s clothes :)

This is not the first time Rihanna experiments with androgynous and hard-edged looks, but I think she's never gone this far before. It feels like she's exploring new ground here, and I just hope she keeps on doing it, because there aren't many people out there who dare to be truly BRAVE with fashion, and that's right what this world needs :D

For those about to love RiRi (and Dudley O’Shaughnessy)… we salute you!

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)