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Month: February 2019

January favourites: Rogue & Rouge edit

Hello February, you gorgeous thing!

I was really excited to meet you at once. Please, don’t be shy and come in: January cannot tell when is time to say goodbye and go home…

Really, people: Is it just me or it lasted approximately 250000 years? Because I was starting to fear I was trapped in my own version of The Groundhog Day (only without Bill Murray and an added worrying quantity of quick trips to the corner store to buy yet another pumpkin seeds pack to ruminate while watching Netflix. Dark times, my friends, let’s never talk about them again).

Earlier last month, I was still in Spain visiting my family. I feel like that happened last century though. Yes, I have been doing my best to scare the January blues away but I must admit it was far tougher than I initially anticipated. I would try literally anything to keep me going: Yoga, reading, long nice walks, riding a Hippogriff… but nothing seemed to work. At some point, the pitch-black evenings had an effect on me which could only be slightly relieved by compulsively stalking dresses online. In all honesty and as materialistic as it might sound, the sales were a bit of a fix (yes, I know you are not supposed to admit this publicly but c’mon, we all have been there…), with some of my most recent favourites on the beauty, fashion and entertainment departments popping out all through the month.

Don’t get me wrong, January was not a shopping madness period. I managed to buy on a budget and save up quite a reasonable amount in relation to average price. Personally, I think that the better quality the product is, the more you are saving. In the end, you get better value for all those hardly-earned pounds.

But long story short, these are my January 2019 favourites.

 

januaryforever

NARS orgasm blush

Beauty

  • NARS Blush in Orgasm

I have been following NARS for a long time now but they have been only available in Spain very recently. So, one of the first things I did when on holiday was visiting the closest high-end mall and going straight to the NARS counter. Orgasm blush was in my bucket list for ages and after I tried the tester I knew it — Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. And I was completely right – I don’t think you will see me wearing another product for a while…

  • CHANEL Coco Mademoiselle

It is no secret I am a CHANEL perfume lover. Coco and Coco Noir are two of my favourites but Mademoiselle was my first love and will always keep a special place in my heart. My last bottle was finished a couple of months ago, so I proceeded to get me a new one and has been my best friend all January.

 

NYX lip lingerie in lace detail

  • NYX Lip Lingerie in Lace Detail

Lately, I have been searching for a flattering nude lipstick to wear in the mornings to avoid my natural paler-than-a-white-walker complexion (which is a completely accurate description of my skin tone during Winter, in case you wonder). I saw a blogger I like praising the Lingerie line and decided to give it a try. Now, I was so fascinated by their colours palette, it took me some effort not to buy the entire range. I am happy I chose Lace Detail though since it lives on my handbag now, always ready for duty. And speaking about handbags…

 

Pinko love bag in honey

Pinko Love bag mustard

Fashion

  • PINKO Love Bag in honey (similar model here)

Have you ever fallen in love at first sight? Because that’s exactly how I feel about this purse. Just look at that beautiful mustard/honey tone and little brooch details. Isn’t it the cutest thing ever? If this was a boy, I would totally have a crush. Now that I come to think about it, you can totally have a crush on a bag, right? RIGHT?

 

Crazy Rich Asians ebook

Entertainment

  • Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

Like many people, I only discovered the novel after watching the movie and immediately felt curious about it. Now, I am not joking when I tell you this book saved me from the aforementioned January blues in the evenings. It is a wonderfully fun, witty and acid critic towards social class, cultural relativism, and gender roles. Don’t even bother to finish reading this post. Go and find the book. You can thank me later.

  • You (Netflix)

Another fiction work which saved my mental health from the darkest days in the year (although speaking about mental health might be slightly ironic here). I am not going to spoil the fun here but YOU is just genius. A bit like Hannibal and The Perfume having a child together. Are you looking for plot twists? Psychological impressionism? A good cast? I think I’ve said enough.


 

And this has been my first favourites monthly round-up. Thank you so much for reading and please, let me know if you have any suggestions or comments on how to improve this new section.

What have you loved in January?

February 6, 2019February 6, 2019

Allegra Caro2 Comments
Eegant style problems

The High Maintenance dilemma: is smartness underrated?

Raise your hand if you are familiar with this scene: you have just arrived at the office after a good hour in the commute surrounded by too many people, made it all the way in stilettos from the suffocating underground to the company building carrying your take away coffee, laptop and birthday cake for Amanda from the accounting department, and then logged in on time to collapse on your desk.

This morning you had to skip Yoga because your child did not feel like dressing up and husband had the flu. Even so, you managed to make yourself presentable. You managed to dress up for you, to feel good. Then, Tom and Claire from the Creative Editing team say hello and absently comment on how nice your dress looks and, you know, how hard it must be to get ready every morning because well, it is SO hard maintenance — and aren´t you actually sick of spending some much time just to get ready in the morning when you have much more productive things to do, surely?

The thing is, you see, Tom and Claire do not mean IT is high maintenance. They mean YOU are. Déjà vu, anyone?

Shockingly, it seems to be socially acceptable to comment on other people appearance these days, especially women’s. With social media blooming, everyone spends a lot of time leaving opinions on posts to perfect strangers (“What a stunning outfit!” “Is that your husband?” “But have you gained some weight lately?”) and the scope of this phenomenon has naturally transformed our daily interactions. People seem to feel entitled to comment in real life too, just as they would on Instagram, and not always out of kindness. If you take a minute to scratch the surface, an interesting patina of tones appears underneath — the complete palette of social prejudice. Misconceptions die hard, even in the age of political correctness.

 

Women smart style problems

 

One of my personal pet peeves is related to criticism towards smartness.

Very frequently, people will frown at the sight of a nice dress, coat or bag, and discreetly let you know they don’t approve. The succession of reasons provided will pour like rain over you — it is too expensive, impractical, pretentious. But where is this perception coming from? And is elegance considered a disgraceful quality these days?

It might sound crazy when you read all those articles on the flamboyant latest catwalk designs from Paris Fashion Week, but in my experience, most people do not appreciate that kind of stylishness anymore, since they cannot consider it as an integrated part of ordinary life. While maintaining discussions on the topic, they will argue that several factors need to be taken into account. Frequently, the first ingredient they will bring into the conversation is classism. I don’t know about you, but I take class discrimination seriously and I don’t like it to be used on a frivolous manner.

 

Elegant business women problems

Let me illustrate with an example. A few years ago, still a penniless humanities student, I found myself having a coffee with a recent acquaintance I’d had just been introduced to. By then, I would combine my college classes with a part-time job teaching foreign languages to kindergarten and school children. My allowance was very modest, and I carefully saved up and prioritized my expenses. I started spending some time hunting for good quality bargains at vintage and online shops. As a result and given the circumstances, my wardrobe grew up slowly but successfully.  The girl I met that evening did not lose the chance to let me know she liked my dress although she would not understand why would I spend “so much money” on it. “It must be nice”, she said, “to get your expenses covered by your very understanding family, right?” Then she made a gesture with her hand, vaguely pointing out my clothes and manicure (a manicure that I would give myself at home every time). She shamelessly implied my family was rather wealthy. And I was far too shy to correct her rude judgmental statement. Then she proceeded to complain about the hard time she was having to find proper accommodation for her next holiday in Austria. I swear God I am not making this up.

My point is this person (as many other) linked dressing in a certain manner with a well-off economic and social status. And of course, she disapproved. Paradoxically, she was doing far better than me then. There is a big difference between dressing on designer pieces head to toe and carefully crafting your style. Still, many people don’t see it that way. If you are able to gather a luxury couture wardrobe, good for you too! I see no reason to shame anyone here.

 

Smart style problems

Next argument detractors hold against smartness is practicality.

We all know how crazy life is these days: we find ourselves rushing on a daily basis and sometimes we don’t even take a minute to enjoy. Now, I am as busy as the next person (just as much as you probably are) and always try to wear clothes which easily adjust to my daily activity. I work in the comfort of an office, but flats will win three out of four times when it comes to commuting.

However, since I have not much time to stop and smell the flowers, I like to do some small things to indulge myself. They do not need to be big impressive things, necessarily: cooking something nourishing,  buying a nice book to read in the evenings, dressing up a bit. They are the small everyday pleasures I use to comfort myself and to keep inner balance. Even so, there will be always people judging you. Do not listen to them. As our friend Taylor Swift once taught us — haters gonna hate.

 

Eegant style problems

But my favourite plot is the high maintenance one.

Because well, you know, if you are wearing nice clothes it obviously means that you are some kind of spoiled creature, right? In the course of years, I have been seen people repeatedly gossiping about women who make an effort with their appearance. “But look at her!”, they would say, “She thinks she is some kind of queen, doesn’t she? I bet she even needs a maidservant to get dressed in the morning”. Do you think I am exaggerating here? I wish I was. I literally heard someone who used to talk behind my back calling me “a duchess”. In case you’re wondering why my only sin was to dress up for a casual outing with some friends… No need to say I have heard similar comments about friends, siblings and work colleagues.

Probably, the most unfair factor here is the insane amount of misogyny lying behind the question. Women are judged twice harder than men. If a man is smart, he will be usually praised for it. On the contrary, if a woman develops a taste for fashion, she will be considered frivolous. They will say she is wearing too much makeup or dressing up to catch men attention… However, if this fictitious woman freely decides to wear a bare face or comfortable sports clothes, she will be considered sloppy and lazy. Pick your poison.

Double standards will never let us women win and that is the reason why we need to stop contributing to the problem by criticizing other ladies and start fighting in the sorority team. I know it is not always easy, as we have been all raised on prejudice and socialized on a system whose deeper structures work against individualism. Every time we choose to deconstruct these ideas and stop the gears, we are placing ourselves in the line of fire. It is a conscious decision and it takes guts to do it. Still, it is the right thing to do.

Next time Tom and Claire make a passive-aggressive comment to your office colleague in front of you, do not look the other way. Let them kindly know it is not OK to express unsolicited opinions about other people looks. Maybe they are not conscious about being inadvertently rude. If they are though, you will make them notice this kind of behaviour is not welcome around the place. At the end of the day, we are all people who deserve some respect, no matter what are looks, beliefs or origins are.


 

And this was another episode of The Prêt-à-porter Series. In the next chapter,  we will have a talk about some basic tips to dress up for a Brunch.

Stay tuned for more style advice!

 

February 4, 2019February 3, 2019

Allegra Caro9 Comments

Hi, I am Allegra!

A thirty-something Spanish expat with a love for Haute couture, culture and period dramas. Way too many little back dresses in my closet. You can read more about me here.

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Hot off the press

January favourites: Rogue & Rouge edit

A little round-up featuring my January 2019 favourites, including beauty, fashion and more … Continue reading →

February 6, 2019February 6, 2019

Allegra Caro

Instagram

So, I finished Crazy Rich Asians a couple of days ago and, as I predicted, it was one of the funniest books I have read recently. 💗 It is full of witty humor, plot twists and hilarious characters. I liked it so much, I immediately purchased China Rich Girlfriend which I am enjoying now in the evenings. 📚 @kevinkwanbooks has got a natural talent to portray human nature, not to speak about his skills to let us catch a glimpse about a hidden and delicate whole world. I wrote about this and other January favourites at www.rogueandrouge.org Go and have a read. . . . #bookstagram #instareads #instabook #bookworm #lifestyle #uklifestyleblogger #lifestyleblogger #lblogger #lbloggersuk #igreads #booklove #booklover #discoverunder10k #microblogger
Let me tell you something about me: I LOVE my food. 💖 Sebastian knows this and he does his best to spice up our weekend dates with the most awesome cafés, bistros and restaurants every time (now, that's a husband!) 💍💫 Yesterday, we discovered a new place specialized on veggie and vegan dishes. We ate DELICIOUS pumpkin curry and vegan burger. 🍔🥘 And I am already dreaming about our next visit. Off topic: can someone tell me why do I look like a soap opera villain in this picture? I swear I am actually nice. 🤣 How is your weekend going? . . . #uklifestyleblogger #foodstagram #instafood #lifestylebloggers #sundaybrunchday #sundayselfie #sundayvibes #sundayfunday #brunch #brunchday #brunchlife #brunching #brunchsohard #brunchgoals
#throwback to the weekend, when weather was warmer and I felt like a human being. This morning I woke up feeling rather poorly (hello dyspepsia, my old friend) and my day has consisted of staying in bed with camomille tea, stomach pills and a hot water bottle. 🤕 However, Sebastian could stay home and take care of me which totally saved the day. Although my wednesday motivation is gone, luckily all the weekly blog content was scheduled on Sunday as usual, so there is a new post online featuring my January favourites. Link on the bio! . . . #ukfashionblogger #ukblogger #fashiondiaries #fashiongram #instafashion #lifestylebloggers #lbloggersuk #styleover30 #over30blogger #discoverunder10k #blogger #bloggerlife #microblogger
I was talking to my sister @emuverso about our last holiday together, remembering all the nice walks and moments, and food outings we enjoyed in Tokyo. As a consequence, now I have the craziest crave for #takoyaki🐙 EVER. I am going to try and cook my own at home this week if I can find a proper tray locally. Pray for me and my poor kitchen... In between, I have updated my blog with a brand new article about style and social perception. If you want to support, link is on the bio. . . . #lifestylebloggers #lbloggersuk #mytinyatlas #passportready #passportreadygo #travelblog #travelgram #instalife #instatravel #blogger #ukblogger #trip #japan #tokyo #asakusa

Recent Articles

  • January favourites: Rogue & Rouge edit
  • The High Maintenance dilemma: is smartness underrated?
  • How to plan the perfect Hygge weekend: Allegra does Hygge
  • Fashion Lessons I learned in Japan

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