A girl's guide to fashion #001

Product: Jeffrey Campbell summer platforms.

Price: 90-150

Uses: Wear them a summer afternoon for a drink (No drinks. Massive

quantities of alcohol and these kind of shoes is a bad idea.) with

friends in a local pub with a terrace or for a picnic.

Don't wear them a night out, to work or to any other

activity that involves you walking more than 5 blocks.

Do's for S/S 13: wear them with socks and a circle skirt of

any length, my favourites are the denim circle skirts of 

American Apparel, but if you don't feel like spending more than 

40 pounds in a skirt, because let's be honest, even though I am

a huge fan of AA and their motto of paying their factory workers

a decent wage, (ehem, 2008-2009 scandal, ehem.)

 sometimes 40 pounds for half a meter of cloth poorly sewn together

means just a whole week of Sainsbury basics, and I'm talking about the 

fast self checkout kind of shopping; so you can find a tutorial in this blog if

you feel like sewing. It's extremely easy.

 Do not: If you're over 25, and even if you still can pull it off (It is debatable in my

opinion the whole heels/shorts outfit. It just looks cheap, slutty and ridiculous sometimes...

I just think that's something only Lindsay Lohan can pull it off because you know 

those were the first two things she found around her living room that morning.)

never wear heels of this height with denim shorts,

You're a grown up now for god's shake!

Tye Dye addiction.

When I was a kid as many of the girls of my age and older, I wanted to be Denise Huxtable.
She was outspoken, intelligent, hip and the clothes she sported in every episode were awesome.

It's not usual than an actress is able to have so many impact in her character's clothing election. But in this case, Lisa Bonet was Denise Huxtable.

Years had passed and still she's that bohemian young girl.

It's amazing the power of fashion. When you look at Lisa Bonet right now, in her 40's already is not ridiculous seeing her sporting oversized clothes and dreads.
Is just herself, is that kind of person you know is being faithful to her style and her personality and that fashion is just a way to express it... and not just the summer trend.

... yet again is still cool you can buy so much African-bohemian inspired clothing in high street stores... this summer we all are gonna be Lisa Bonet in the festivals. Look in the magazines looks proposals. I am sure her daughter's in half of them.
You know, peace symbols are hip, I've read somewhere you should get a ying-yang tattoo cause crosses are out for good (god bless whoever that decided it though. It was starting to creep me out the whole Mint Juleps meet a religious fanatic thing.), you don't need to cut your tees cause you can find them that way in Primark, and if you're lucky and is delivery day, the Rolling Stones model... cause obvio! you love the Rollings.

You have their discography... and Hendrix's. (Note Bob Marley is not cool this season, or never. That's too much, you may pass as a stoner or something. And you wanna look like one but not actually being one.)

I am sure you're not gonna look back to your pictures and think "I look ridiculous." Because we all would had love to be in Woodstock in the Aquarium era or in 1999... whichever.

We all are cooler than Lisa Bonet.

... not really. Most of us are a bunch of sold out wankers... but hey! Primark makes our (my) lives easier. I actually can't wait for next season in the charity shops in London.

(Denim jacket: Asos

Dress: Vintage/DIY Tye dye

Sunglasses: Primark)

Dress: H&M Old.(But Next has it this season) DIY Tye dye

Jacket: Old. DIY Tye dye

Sneakers: Primark

Bag: Old.

Editor's note: This post is actually a lame excuse to update pictures of Lisa Bonet. Cause I may  have a long time running girl style crush on her. 

Apparently now I know what fugly means for real.

Today I was just going to enjoy my night chatting with my mom while listening to Father John Misty.
Maybe eat my weight in edamame and skinny dips and working a little with my sewing machine.
I made the mistake to connect to facebook and I came across this:

Solestruck, the very same page we all love and droll over shoes every day, updated this.... thing? in their facebook page, asking people if they were cool or not.

Definitevly, they're not cool.

Some people says that guns are not the ones that kill people, but yet again people dies for gun shoots every day.

I remember reading a studio like 5 years ago in which they said that every 13 minutes someone was shot. Firearms are the second leading cause of traumatic death related to a consumer product in the United States and are the second most frequent cause of death overall for Americans ages 15 to 24.

And I wonder if glamorize something that should be completly eradicated is ok.

I know we're getting to a point in fashion where the politically incorrect has become a trend.
It was surprising reading an article in the New York Times about Woolrich now selling chinos with a special pocket for a handgun.

And talking with a friend really involved in fashion coolhunting, she told me that apparently guns iconography, as it's been the reigious one for a couple of years now, would be a trend the following seasons...

Apparently the world is full of morons.

And apparently, Solestruck has stop to get a rid of ugly shoes one by one.

Now, they're selling them.

The choir boys

I know I've been kind of AWOL but yet again I moved out my country to one of the most amazing cities in the world.
I know you all had been in London before, maybe even spend some time enjoying the city so you understand how is to be in here, and if you add up the fact that I actually live here you can understand why you want to take every chance to actually be out and enjoy every single event the city has to offer.
And there are a lot.
Today I would like to share with you yet again more awesome bands that are touring right now. I was always into folk, but as you may know it has taken the music charts and yet again there are some amazing underground bands that are about to take them.

The first one and my favourite is Dry the River. Those guys are amazing, really. The first time I saw them live I fall in love with the harmonies of the five pice set. I was standing between a crowd of girls earger to see the band (or musicians, I hadn't decide just yet what was going on that day with the fans) and I understood straight away why they're the "New big thing"

The first thing you expect is them to be a brooding bunch of guys with hoodies, tattoos and breads. Whiskey aficionados without anything to say... you know, what in Spain we call Mojabragas. You're wrong. There's a lot of romanticism and biblical references in their songs, and why not, there's also a feeling of calm when you are in the front row of a concert and all of sudden you notice their singer performing barefoot. I don't really understand what I felt that day, but seconds later I was dancing around with my eyes closed and enjoying every single harmony that came of their throats. But seems they have a Hardcore/punk background so it's kind of amusing and a brand new experience listening to them singing No rest while jumping around a stage without being lurdiculous.

At the moment I thought it was just a thing of those guys but all of sudden a friend of mine introduced me to the wonderfull new movement of "boy bands" (and I use the term just because they're boys and in a band.) playing instruments. A world beyond Mumford % Sons as he said. (Even though I was doing quite fine there) Tall Ships. When I first saw Tall ships they were supporting some other band I don't even remember, but it was the one I actually wanted to see.

It was so amazing that right now, the memory of that concert, is just them.

And if you're into electro-folk (I think I just made up that term) don't miss out T=0 remixed by 65daysofstatics. You can find it in their Soundcloud profile. Dog is dead. Another band with an amazing sound and great lyrics. And as Dry the river delights you with a violinist, Dog is dead adds a saxophonist which is great. Everytime I listen to them I feel as if I was 16 again and in a ska concert.
I am really looking forward seeing them in The Festifeel this June.

I got biblical before with Dry the River. Dog is dead also have a Christmas song. But the king of the new gospel is amazing Jonas Petersen. The guy behind Hymns from Nineveh (I think my new music post is going to be about Brilliance Records' bands such as Philco Fiction or Tomorrow we move to Hawaii) Big Deal. This is my new favourite. My flatmate calls them the Odd couple. We saw them in the Vice's party this week. I was speechless. A thing about folk concerts in London seems to be that anyone dances. Again my flatmate and I couldn't help but dance while the rest of the crowd just stole weird looks over us.

The other day my mom told me (She follows everything I listen to via Soundcloud, Spotify or LastFM) that we were living a change history, and that this proliferation of bands are just showing off what is going on with fashion, politics and people in general. We BEG for a change. A peaceful change. And maybe the arts were the first ones changing. Fashion is in the late 60's, 70's. At that time our parents were protesting about war, now we're asking for a change in politics and live. Shops like American Apparel, Forever 21 or Nastygal are taking over my wardrobe and making a hole in my gigs allowance, but I think you never have enough funky tops, round glasses and pamelas.

My Facebook events' list is filled of meetings, demostrations and chat groups of people that are trying to make a change in the system. (And this time we're so many) The 70's hippie fashion appeared of a need of happyness in the society, and I think that with the recession it's exactly what people needs.
Music to fill your heart and clothes that make you happy. (Even though I wouldn't complain if we got a little bit less of economic speculation, real transparent leaders with real solutions.) We dress to be happy.
We dance to be happy.
We want to be happy... I'll be back with tutorials soon. I MEAN IT this time cause I am bidding over a couple of sewing machines in ebay and also I am preparing a lot of stuff for the summer I think you guys would enjoy.

Until then I think I'll dedicate my time to my second love, music.

Did you guys find a great new band latelly? Any good festivals?

So recently I've been really busy. I've recently moved to London and I'm still settling down but I have better plans for the blog and as soon my sewing machine's here with me or I cheat on her with another one I'll be updating with new tutorials and all the stuff I've been working in for my Winter's wardrobe (even though you feel kind of lazy when you have an amazing shop at every single step)

But my flat mate, who is adorable and one of my BF is kind of obsessed with Rihanna. Obsessed to the level he managed to make me hum under my breath her songs all of the time, I really need to buy headphones so I can listen to my music without being poisoned by pop, but either way I have to give this kind of music the credit of doing amazing video clips. Really enjoyable, so I've decided to make a list about amazing costume design in video clips.

5. The amazing thing about Hole is that there was not costume design behind. They're just punk kids, it was the 90's and grunge was big. The result is that Courtney Love's black-white collar dress is a must have for lot of girls.

4. Terry poison. They're like the funniest girl band I've ever heard, and always amusing our parties and it reminds me of Valencia, and my friends who always used to Dj it for me when they were working.

In my to do list is still a feathers hairband. As soon I have time I'm doing one for myself.

3. Hola a todo el mundo is a Spanish band from Madrid that had managed to merge together the folk of Devendra Banhart and electronic music.

They're F**ing amazing. And this is a great video. There's not much about costume design, just regular clothes but they give it a folk hint that make you fall in love with it. And obvio, the song... is amazing.

2. When we talk about fashion, We found love in a hopeless place actually makes you feel as if you were in the late 80's, with the rave movement starting and just wishing to chop off all of your sweaters, being partying all day long and having a boyfriend as handsome she has in the video... and obviously skipping the whole drugs part.

1. When I grow up I want to be Juliette Lewis. She did it first and she did it better. Fact.

Don't get me wrong, they're a lot of female rock/punk musicians I love like Katheleen Hanna, but we're talking about fashion. And in 2006 Juliette Lewis managed to bring back The Runaways vibe.

I know I left a lot of clips behind, but let's be honest here, this would had end up being a Cindy Lauper post cause I always wanted to wear a white wavy skirt and dance in sync with my friends while 80's music sounds in the background.

Skiss A/W: The Infinity dress

So while I was working in the Skiss upcoming collection this summer I was reading a lot of fashion magazines and blogs who told me that the next in thing was going to be the late 70's, well, this is one of the dresses we came up with, and as in the late 70's in Spain we're suffering the second big crisis in our country and what's better than having a polyvalent dress that you can wear in many different ways.

Today we introduce you the infinite dresses collection. This is the first one (and a personal fav)


1. The original model with a belt.




2. We didn't want our model to melt so we forgot about the leather jacket that could go perfect with this outfit and put her one of the sweaters of our collection.







3. We put a pin in the back, joining together the two sides. The dress now looks more fancy but you can make it more informal if you wear it with a floppy hat or a suede jacket.

Modelo: Irene
Vestido: Skiss
Sueter: Skiss
Cinturón: H&M

Being an outsider is kind of cool

The first time I heard of Band of outsiders was reading an old review of Pulp Fiction in one of my dad's music magazines.

I was like a nutcase looking for a copy of the Jean Luc Godard's film that had inspired the dancing scene between Uma Thurman and John Travolta.



Obviously the film was awesome.

The second time I heard of Band of Outsiders we were speaking about fashion. Someone was telling me to check out the brand's lattest collection...

Obviously the name said it all.

The models looked like a brand of outsiders, maybe a bunch of kids wearing clothes 90's inspired but at the same time with the freshness Grunge should have in 2011.








Without the need of the so much used and abused holes Scott Sternberg had achieved something I've been looking for too long, something grunge but at the same time quirky and obviously different in its elegance.










As I kept looking into their web and their 2011 fashion show I kept falling in love with everything over and over again. Not only the clothing is awesome but it has a remarkable quality.

Obviously his price tags go way over my budget but the way of put all of them together have become an inspiring folder in my laptop.

Coming soon... Backstage Valencia Fashion Week.

Band of the Week: The Joy Formidable

And if you're actually wondering why just hit the play.
Great lyrics, great performance, insane instrumental section of around 3 minutes that makes your skin sizzle and Ritzy Bryan's absolutelly gorgeous outfit.





And if we need to talk about their two albums, The Big Roar makes worth the long wait since a Balloon Called Moaning.

Their name is not just a coincidence, listening to them, any songwatching them perform is actually the joy formidable.

Falling in love over again

Besides of the lack of a shop in Spain where you could find Jeffrey Campbell, now we have Ulanka with insane prizes and free delivery expenses which actually was solving reason 1 and 2 of why I hadn't buy a pair of Jeffreys yet, now reason 3 is solved because Jeffrey Campbell has launched their Vegan-friendly collection that you can find in Convert.

It's not a worldwide collection yet but I hope it grows soon.

WE ARE SKISS

So many talent joined friday afternoon in Valencia:

First of all, Sutja Gutierrez who is... he is... he is the next best thing. I'm telling you, the guy's awesome, his music's awesome... till the point my mother danced and enjoyed this song as if she was 20 again.




And then, Sergio who sometimes I think is just in my mind and that's why he's able to come up with this wonderful posts in his blog. With gif images, videos, and mostly tons of art... he's just that kind of person who seems to have the perfect perspective of everything and that's why he manages to make everythign look so great under his view!

El Aaansia Dj Set, who besides of being great DJs, they have the funniest music blog. Take a look, is hilarious.
El Aansia DJ Set, que ademas de ser un gran grupo de DJs, tienen un blog de musica super divertido.

And friends, family who gave so much and asked for so little. Y amigos y familia que dieron mucho y pidieron poco.








It was the perfect eve. Thank you so much.

Fue la velada perfecta. Muchas gracias.

NOW TAKE A LOOK TO OUR FACEBOOK PAGE:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Skiss/206541489384940
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Skiss/206541489384940
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Skiss/206541489384940

We deliver worldwide and are always glad to make your dream outfit true.

See you on Friday!

... so this friday is the beginning of the rest of our lives, wish us luck!

XGONEY going SKISS

As usual I've been kind of missing, but this time it's because the project I've been working in. I'm glad to announce that I'm starting our very own label with two other friends.

We join our different talents in a label:

Julia Prat, who is an amazing talented illustrator and it's going to do the drawings for our T-Shirts that would join together design and also a different patterning and materials.

Secondly Milena Molina, who is a Fashion Design Student. She would work with me in the creation of the clothes.

And finally me. You know what I do already.

(Click the link to watch a video made by: Sergio Pérez during one of our late working sessions.)

The concept of the label it's joining my very abandoned but yet again shyly successful X gone Y label, now under the name SKISS... or not. We hadn't think about that yet. The thing is that we'll have more active tutorials in the blog with the help of Júlia and Milena. And there's a huge part of or collection that it's about recycled clothes.

So... today, we close X gone Y but...

.... it's COMING SOON...

Spanish Revolution,

So I've been very busy lately, with my internship, job and working in the project. But somehow, maybe because I was very interested in it, I found time to join the II Spanish Revolution we're working on here.

Tired of the political and economic situation of our country we kind of woke up and since 15 May thousand of hundreds of people are meeting in the principal squares of our country...

MADRID




BARCELONA






SEVILLA



VIGO




And of course in Valencia, we're meeting every single day in the Town hall Square, where we share ideas as in every other Assembly around the country...





And the amazing it's happening. People of all the ages, conditions or political affiliations are sharing a common believe: we're not happy, we're tired to be lied to and we let you "deal" with our situation and we're sick of you just worrying who would win the next elections... things could be better, and we're making them better... and slowly this feeling of indignation it's been spreading around the world.

AMSTERDAM





PARIS





And I keep getting more news of more and more cities: 700 people met in Brussels, Mexico DF, Helsinky, Rome...

Today I've heard someone refer to us as a virus... and hell take a look at the map... we're, and proud of it.


Because we give the politicians the power... and it's about time we act on their indifference and lies.

I've never felt so proud of being Spanish and a little part of it. Maybe it won't work, but we're trying. And always, a tryout, remains as a part of history. I can't believe I'm living history this way. I mean, I know every day something happens that our grand children would study... but the day of tomorrow, they would ask me where was I while this was happening and I could tell them: I was there, shaping your future with hundreds of thousand of people more.

The rest of our lives starts and it's being shaped right now...

First day of internship

So I had just started my internship in a Traditional Valencian Dressing Studio or wich is the same, a place where they do Fallera's typical dresses.

It's amazing.

I was kind of upset at first because I was supposed to do my internship with a Valencian fashion desingner, but I love the switch.

I'm learning how to do corsets (Which is the most important part of it) and I'm making my project joining two concepts: their traditional (and sometimes annoying) system; their fabrics, which are kind of similar to the foulard I'm wearing in the pictures and one of my favourite periodes in fashion design, the 80's.

Which would be something like joining this two pictures.





















I'll tell you about it in the future.

I know this summer is all about the 70's... but I like to stick as an outsider ;D.