GLOBAL ICON

Here is a clue on someone that I think will be a global icon in the future:

"I want to do something they will remember"

Red Shoes

DANCING IN(TO) THE 50’s

We were dancing in a dim room. Piano. Frank Sinatra is playing in the vinyl record player. We go round and round. Saxophone. We are smiling. Voice. I fix my hair band and my flared red skirt. Piano again. The set changes. "I’ve got you under my skin". And in a glance of a song we danced all the way into the 50’s.

Dancing has a way of making us travel (or is it the red shoes? I’m actually wearing them…). But we must keep on moving; otherwise we will miss all the beauty. We must take in the greatness of the show that is surrounding us. We went all the way from a 50’s theme party to a party that is actually taking place in the 50’s. We can see the people around us but they don’t seem to notice us. It’s like we are in a transparent invisible box that moves as long as we keep on dancing (can these trips get more amazing?). Now that I understood the mechanism, I should tell you what I’m seeing. Women are wearing sack dresses or LBDs and they all possess satin gloves and pearls. Ballerina and femininity are the key-words. Men seem to embrace the “Bold Look” introduced by Esquire Magazine in 1948: wide shoulders, broad lapels, and an emphasis on bold, coordinated accessories, or the "New Edwardian Look” (flared jackets, natural shoulders, and an overall narrower cut, worn with a curly-brimmed bowler hat and a long slender overcoat with velvet collar and cuffs). The party is all about glamour and we don’t get the chance to experience much of it. We are already spinning towards a different situation.

We went back in time. It’s 1947 and we can finally sit to witness a definable moment in the history of fashion: the launch of the “New Look” by Christian Dior. In the post-war period, the fashion houses reopened and a tailored, feminine look was prized. Dior defined a signature shape characterized by a below-mid-calf length, full-skirt, pointed bust, small waist, rounded shoulder line and curved jacket peplum. Jackets with peplums were usually worn with a long, narrow pencil skirt. This radical new silhouette would become extremely popular in the 50’s, influencing designers throughout many years, including Cristóbal Balenciaga. Something is pushing us from our chairs and in a blink of an eye we are dancing again. This time we are in a beautiful park.

I believe we are in the 50’s again. Floral halter-top dresses and shirtdresses are plentiful. Some have jewels, low-cut necklines or Peter Pan collars. These dresses are gorgeous but what I found more interesting is that some women are actually wearing trousers. Women who had worn trousers during the war refused to abandon them. In the 1950s, pants became very narrow, and were worn ankle-length. Cigarette pants were popularized by Audrey Hepburn. Men are wearing knit shirts, sweaters and Bermudas and the older ones are wearing corduroy jackets with leather buttons. The breeze is changing and I can know hear the sound of the waves calling.

We are dancing on the beach. And what a wonderful beach! It is filled with families and groups of teenagers. Women are wearing two-piece swimsuits. By this time bikinis started to be popular in Europe but not in America, only for sport training. Brigitte Bardot popularized the bikini that would become a major hit in the 60’s. Some women are wearing shorts that were very short in this decade, and loosed printed or knit tops. And suddenly, after we took a deep breath near the sea, the set changes completely and serenity and calm are no longer welcome.

I believe we are in a “beatnik party”. Kids are dancing to the sound of jazz and rock n’ roll and we have to join the dance so that we don’t have to leave.  "Beat" girls have their hair long and straight, but some teenagers adopted the ponytail, short or long. Most of all they want to be different from their mothers who wore curly poodle cuts and the beehive. Some young men are wearing tight trousers or jeans, white tee shirts and leather jackets in a James Dean style. Teenagers and young adults have become a strong force in fashion. “Is that Jack Kerouac?!” Grrrr…  I shouldn’t have stop dancing; now I can’t know if that was him for sure. We are moving again…

                               

New York had become an American design center during the war and cinema, music and television would allow the “American way of life” to prevail. We are now on the setting of “I Love Lucy”, one of the most popular shows of the 50’s that brought attention to maternity wear. Even Givenchy created a maternity wear clothing line. Due to the baby boom, there was a high demand for clothing for children. Many boys started to wear jeans to Elementary school and girls wore dresses that resembled their mother’s. It is a quick visit. We are getting to the end of our tip but we still have time to watch Marilyn Monroe singing “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend”, to watch a little bit of an Elvis Presley concert (and to notice how much he has influenced fashion with his pompadour hairstyle) and to a perfect ending, to dance in Rome while watching Audrey Hepburn (I absolutely love that scarf, blouse and skirt) and Gregory Peck riding a motorcycle in “Roman Holidays”.

This time there is no need to wake up.  I’m actually flying to Rome tomorrow so we can stay here. I'm finding it hard to leave the 50's but sonner or later it will happen. But I can always dream and dance. Thank you for joining me. 

Red Shoes

SAY YES (OR NO) TO GLOBAL FASHION

                In the other night, the red shoes and I were looking at street style photos of different cities of the world. Despite the differences between a New Yorker and an Indian girl, the discrepancies are not so remarkable any more. We all know we live in a globalized world but have you ever wondered if that’s an advantage concerning fashion? Is style getting richer or poorer?

                Some say that street style didn’t suffer with globalization, in fact, «it was born that way» (Will Welch, senior editor at GQ), meaning that street style actually exists online. It first started by photographing unique casual styles, especially during fashion weeks but lately it has became «self-aware rather than accidental culture». Despite some exceptions, some people are actually getting dressed for the cameras. The impact of street style on fashion industry is enormous. It is more relevant to people in general than runway shoes. And that impact may have caused the loss of diversity since we can have free style tips from someone living in China but it may also have enriched the way we dress. Ultimately, a person in China may dress like me but I can also dress like her. So, the outcome may be a “salad bowl” of fashion.

                If we actually consider the three positions regarding Globalization, I would say that we are experiencing the “salad bowl”. There are numerous cultures that influence each other without melting. They mix like the ingredients of a salad, a global salad. We have learned to live with diversity and in my opinion it looks like a great benefit to style. We have almost lived in a cultural mosaic before the discoveries of the 15^th and 16^th century, when cultures from different continents barely influenced each other. When we discover the seas, we discover different styles, clothes and accessories. We have even experiencing a little of the “melting pot” in Europe. In the 18^th century and the 19^th century, the nobles in Europe tried to dress like the French court. They would really make an effort to dress like Louis XV and (unfortunately) to buy a wig that was exactly like his. In the 20^th century, especially after World War II, the focus shifted to the “America way of life” with movies, TV shows and music advertising a certain way of dressing, but European designers like Coco Chanel, Christian Dior and Yves Saint Laurent were the ones who revolutionized the way women dress and created global icons of the wardrobe that almost every woman wishes worldwide. Nowadays, we are not so obsessed with Paris, New York, Milan and London. They are still the most influential cities to the fashion industry but cities like Bombay, Berlin, São Paulo, Cape Town, Cairo and Antwerp are getting more influentional day by day with the rise of new designers and especially in street style.

                But fashion is not all about style. It is an industry of billions and that is only possible due to globalization. Economically speaking, globalization allowed the growth of many brands and especially the development of the fast fashion phenomenon seems to have no limits. Designers have to keep in mind that they are not creating for the typical “western” man/ woman. They have to have a wider target in mind. Although a girl in Cape Town may wear the same shirt I’m wearing she won’t use it the same way. Like Valerie Steel, the director and chief curator of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, said, «Despite the homogenization created by fast fashion, young people around the world remain concerned with individual self-expression» and also the same piece of clothing adapts to our social, political, cultural and religious context.  

                                                             (Chanel Pre-Fall 2012)

                To conclude, globalization has its down and positive aspects in fashion. I would personally love to arrive to Japan and to see typical and historical pieces worn by its people but I will probably found a style that is a global dialogue between tradition and influences of British and New York street style. As we have access to information, we cannot expect others not to have it. The fashion industry has changed along with communication, arts, politics and almost every single aspect of our daily lives. We cannot stop things from growing. Development is essential. To me, as long as fashion keeps its courage, its ability to transform and reinvent and its magic and fantasy, I’m happy. As long as we keep on balancing the desire to fit in and the desire to stand out, individuality won’t end. I don’t believe in a completely standardized world because that will mean the death of creativity and fortunately there are millions of creative people in the world. I do believe in a (balanced) globalization. If were not part of a globalized society, I wouldn’t be wearing these shoes and I wouldn’t certainly be writing this blog. 

(Street style photos from different cities of the world)

              If you want to check out really great street style photos go to oalfaiatelisboeta.blogspot.pt . You can also check  http://ilikemystyle.net/ to see photos posted by people from several countries.

                                               

                                                        (by O Alfaiate Lisboeta)

              Red Shoes

            

MARGUERITE BARANKITSE - A FASHIONABLE HUMANITARIAN

             "With each of our dreams we advance humanity"

Fashion is all about inspiration. We can find inspiration anywhere. The people we love, a magazine, a movie, a stunning landscape… they can all be sources of inspiration. Although there is something that can be more inspiring than anything else: people who live to inspire others, people that fought or fight everyday for peace and freedom. In this raining afternoon the Red Shoes will take me on a journey throughout the life of a person that makes sure every single day that Human Rights are not just words on a paper, Marguerite Barankitse, and I invite you to come along.

The story starts in Burundi, an African country bordered by Rwanda, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It became independent in 1962 and has been devastated by ethnic violence ever since. In 1993, the situation turned into a violent civil war that lasted for almost 12 years.  On October 24^th in 1993, Marguerite faced a life-changing moment that would determine her role in defending human rights in Burundi and that we are about to testify. She witnessed the slaughter of 72 Hutus that were hidden in the bishop’s residence where she worked. Among them, there was a Tutsi friend of her that refused to let her husband die alone. She left her two children and Maggy, as she likes to be treated, immediately realized that as those two children, there were thousands of orphans, victims of the atrocities of war. She decided to take care of many children as she could, both Tutsis and Hutus. 32 children, then 300, then 1000, 10000 and 30000 children. She never had kids of her own but it’s easy to understand why she is considered “the national mother” of Burundi.

In 1994, Maggy founded a house that would later be called “Maison Shalom” (“shalom” is the Hebrew word for peace). In her words “Shalom was born to say no to war, to say yes to the love, yes to the life!” There everyone is raised as equal, as human beings, based on love and reconciliation and away from the burdens of war. Children learn to forgive and to be free from prejudice. “For me a Burundese is a Burundese”, said Lydia, one of her daughters. Marguerite refuses to build orphanages. She built more than 3000 houses throughout the country, giving away all the land of her grandfather. Children live in small groups as families so that they can have a perspective of a bright future. She is creating a new generation of Burundese that would stand up to the injustices of war and work hard,  hoping that when she turns 90 the country would be completely at peace – “I know in my heart that evil will never have the last word”.

Burundi is one of the poorest countries in the world (around 67% of the population lives with less than a dollar a day and life expectancy is 50 years-old) and one of the main reasons to its poverty is the lack of education, motivated by years of social injustice. This fact led Maggy to found schools, a library and the “City of Angels”, a place where young adults can learn a skill and cooperate to create small businesses. Despite the importance of education, Maggy also considers that it is important for children to have fun, so she built a cinema, a swimming pool and other amusement places where kids with different ethnicities can socialize. If you pay attention to the scenario we are soaring right now, you will see that these children are, in fact, happy.

          Following the belief that the path to improve the future of the young generation is through developing the environment in which they are raised, Maggy created an ambulance service and the Rema hospital to ensure proper medical care, something that is lacking in the country. One of her biggest concerns is to fight AIDS – more than 260.000 children are HIV positive – ““It is so unjust,” she said. “I am angry because of AIDS. There is enough money in this world for treatment but children are still suffering. I can see the way for reconciliation, but with AIDS I cannot see the way at all.”

           Although she has done so much for her people to live with dignity, hope and in peace, Maggy considers her work a “small contribution”, a natural action since “our human vocation is to love”. Day by day she is getting compensation for all the love she gave to her country by receiving love from her people, international recognition and a partnership with UNICEF. She won the Chirac’s Foundation Prize for Conflict’s Prevention in 2008 and “Franklin D. Roosevelt Freedom from Want Award”, among others.

When the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was created in 1948 a huge step was made to preserve human’s dignity and justice. However, the rights do not have the force of law in many countries and atrocities like the civil war in Burundi have been done since. Human Rights like the right to be fed and to have a proper education are violated everyday and free-thinking individuals like Maggy Barankitse choose to live their lives seeking for equal justice and opportunities and to fight war and poverty, showing us that our lives can truly make a change based on the choices we make – “A new generation is coming. I’m not a dreamer, no, no. It’s real. We are one family, one human family!” (Marguerite Barankitse).

        Thank you for joining me on this trip. It may not have been fun but it gave me perspective. I will never forget the bad and the good – the smile on Maggy and the children’s faces. Sometimes all that seems to matter are the little dramas of our daily lives and we do not realize how shallow and self-centered we can be, me included. The fashion industry may be like that but as a profitable business with a voice it can and it is used to promote campaigns that support human rights.  Our choices and actions are important and it is up to each one of us to make a difference and to ensure that words don’t remain just words (but make sure you do that with stylish clothes on, oh! and red shoes, of course).

Red Shoes

"IT WAS ACCEPTABLE IN THE 80'S"

I just had the most extraordinary day. In the morning I woke up, ate breakfast, put on some clothes and red shoes and turned on the TV. That was the moment when the strangest thing happened: suddenly I wasn’t in my living room anymore but I could see it since I was inside of the TV. I tried to blink (because it has worked in the past) but nothing happened.  I looked around and figured I wasn’t alone. This how I remember it:

                I can recognize now the music that is playing very low -“Thriller”. And the people that I could barely see approach me. They are zombies and among them there he is – Michael Jackson. I’m in the middle of the shot of the music video in 1982. I’m witnessing the shot of the most successful pop video of all time! I couldn’t be more thrilled. Michael is singing and dancing and doesn’t seem to notice me. I wonder if he knows the impact of this video in the history of music (and also in the history of fashion). His red and black leather pants and jacket will be copied by teenagers all over the world. He is creating an iconic look right in front of me! His fedora hat, aviator glasses and glove (frequently fingerless) will also be a major influence in 80’s fashion. And right when I’m starting to absorb what is going on, the scene changes.

                I’m sitting next to the panel that will judge Alex’s performance of “What a Feeling” in the movie “Flashdance”. Jennifer Beals’ look is simple but I don’t think she is aware of how much this movie will influence fashion. Leg warmers became a teen casual trend and the same happened to ripped sweatshirts with their collars cut off that exposed one bare shoulder after the release of the movie in 1983. With the arrival of the “aerobics craze” of the early 1980's the classic leotard moved from the dance floor to the gym, accompanied by matching tights, legwarmers, and elastic belts. Dance-themed television shows such as “Fame” and the popularity of Aerobics created a “dancewear fashion craze” that was taken to street-wear and had its major inspirations in “Flashdance”, Olivia Newton-John's "Physical" video in 1981 and Jane Fonda's line of aerobic videos. Tracksuits would become popular in the mid-80’s with the birth of the Rap and Hip-Hop movement.The performance is over and I’m being carried over  to a whole different set.

               I’m in a busy neighborhood of a big city and I’m starting to realize what this is all about. I believe this is a trip throughout some remarkable events of the 80’s that have influenced fashion. It is funny how things changed since the 70’s when the silhouette tended to be characterized by close fitting clothes on top with wider, looser clothes on the bottom. In the 80’s the trend completely reversed as both men and women began to wear looser shirts and tight, close-fitting trousers. I can see that as groups of friends walk by me enthusiastically. The contrast between different styles is evident, from the exuberance and luxury of the French to the purity of the Eastern cultures, and from the romantic and baroque language to the expression of clothing as a form of art. This is the decade of designers and “brand culture” when Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein became household names due to the emerge of the “Preppy Look”. The New Romantic music and fashion movement had a major influence in both men and women’s fashion, especially in the UK and in Ireland, in the early years of this decade. Bands such as ABC, Duran Duran and Culture Club (especially Boy George) had an important role in the diffusion of this look that included pirate shirts, popped collars, baggy trousers and streaky and bold make-up. I still have time to recognize the type of trousers that are being worn by a couple: she is wearing “happy pants” (not to tight not too loose shorts that finished in length just above the knee) and he is wearing “Parachute pants” (trousers that were extremely baggy that became famous due to MC Hammer). She is wearing Keds that were huge at this time and he is wearing Converse. 

                The street where I’m standing is vanishing and the same is happening to people. I’m in Venice now in a gondola with Madonna! She is singing “Like a Virgin” and again the music video is being shot. She is wearing a short black skirt worn over blue leggings, a layer string of beads, crucifix jewelry and bracelets. Her "street urchin" look will be followed by women worldwide consisting of short skirts worn over leggings, rubber bracelets, fishnet gloves, hair bows, long layered strings of beads, necklaces, bleached untidy hair with dark roots, head bands, and lace ribbons. Her look also included brassieres worn as outerwear, huge crucifix jewelry, tight lycra or leather miniskirts, lace and fingerless gloves, tulle skirts, and boy toy belts. Madonna, along with Cindy Lauper and Freddie Mercury, defied conventions (before the mid-1980s it had been taboo to show a slip or a bra strap in public) and played with religious symbols. Imitating her style was both an assertion of sexual freedom and also a conscious rejection of prevailing androgynous fashion.

                After this wonderful trip to Italy I came back to the US and as it would be expected I’m in the middle of a shot. People around me are shooting “Dinasty”, one of the most popular soap operas of the 80’s. I know little about it except its influence in power dressing. Shoulder pads were worn by women in the Western World to show that they were equal to men. They were even adopted by Margaret Thatcher, the British prime-minister, and by Princess Diana of Wales. Power dressing often included glitzy jewelry, pointed toes and spiked heels. 

          Right in the end of my “trip” someone must have pressured the “Forward” button because in one minute I watched the influence of “Miami Vice” on clothing, the jelly shoes trend and the emerge of the 80’s subcultures such as Heavy Metal, Rap and Hip Hop and Rockabilly in London. And then someone turned the TV off and there I was sitting on the couch again like nothing ever happened. I love that the Red Shoes have provided me this trip, especially in a time when designers seem to have searched for inspiration in 80’s icons like Grace Jones, Boy George, John Taylor (Duran Duran) and Sade for their Spring/Summer 2013 collections, but it’s a shame I didn’t get to see the birth of the 80’s subcultures in detail. I’m sorry shoes but I just love leather and Guns N’ Roses and Bon Jovi’s, among others, influence on style. But again I think they have reserved that for another time. Well, just to conclude, I’m not crazy, I know I didn’t take a walk on the TV but they did. The Red Shoes certainly did and somehow they drove my mind along with them. 

 Red Shoes