Physical presence is no longer a requirement for fashion week; it has been this way for some time now. Almost instantly after an event like fashion week or award shows, threads of speedy opinions simultaneously debates and determines the trends that you are most likely to come across parading on the street in the next six months. The waiting process from the first time we get expose to these garments to the actual moment we get to wear it, become tedious.  This is not only due to the manufacturing time but also Mother Nature makes you wait to a sensible time to wear a coat, which is not the middle of august. 

During this waiting time we get almost bombarded with trends, which makes it feel like there is no longer a choice, but a fact you almost certainly may sport a certain look in the near future. I’ve never been an obedient person, so I opt after I have fed my initial curiosity, to look somewhere else, anywhere.

It seems fit to look at the women of mad men, who like myself lived in a world powered and manipulated by advertising. The interesting thing about looking at the work of wardrobe designer Janie Bryant, is that she truly builds up the memento of the characters by the outfit they wear.

I love the mystery a supermodel exudes, yet there is something about when a style is carried by a character in television that gives the pieces a fantasy element, which is carried out when you wear it in ‘real life'. 

Today I’m inspired by both Mrs. Draper. Who both are mad to be involved with Don, yet they are extremely sophisticated, each on their own manner. What I love about being inspired, is that it becomes like a hunt to find pieces which could be vintage or modern and adapt them into everyday life.

                 

Betty Draper

                 

Megan Draper

Shoreditch is a place no stranger to all kind of connotation instead of giving my input I leave you with pictures I took last time I visited and the definition taken from the Urban Dictionary.

1. Shoreditch

 Noun, UK English  

A place just east of the City of London where every night, cats creep into the bedrooms of sleeping 20somethings and maul their hair, tearing out large clumps at random, then these feline night visitors hiss and spit all over their victims, leaving the hair lank and gooey. Shoreditch cannot solely be defined by this nocturnal mystery. It is also full of twats. -"I live in Shoreditch"

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=shoreditch

In the late 80’s a young photographer, Michael Galinsky started a journey photographing Malls across America; which later the compilation of this journey became a book which carried the same name “Malls Across America".  

Fast forward 25 years, I find myself revisiting the idea of shopping in contained spaces: malls. Although there has been many claims regarding the decline of malls in United States, in Latin America is a whole different story.

As a teenager I can’t deny the amount of time I spend strolling the malls, yet very rarely I frequented this places for shopping, it simply remained an approved neutral place to hang out with other hormonal teens.

After living abroad in London for over five years, is where I finally grasped the concept of 'Style' in oppose to be ‘in trend or fashionable’. Coming back to my native Panama, I realize that style relies heavily on its surroundings and consumer culture.

To elaborate that last thought I want you to imagine you walking in an open street, which can take you to many different ways vs. just walking within a pre-constructed area in which you have a limited perimeter. One of these options has a downside, which is limitation of space.

           

London Street style is extremely eclectic, freeing and exiting. Out of all the fashion cities it has developed a reputation the younger and adventurer sibling. England may have connotation of being extremely ruled by a class system, yet when it comes to style and shopping I find to be far more democratic which, it all comes down to space, and the opportunity to find gems that consist of boutique, vintage stores, pop- up shop and street vendors. Having options of mix and matching items from different price level, time period and trends all sum up into personal style.

 As I mentioned above we in Panama have adopted an American way of shopping which was at its peak in the 1980s. Sadly we didn’t get the memo that it was on the way of its decline when we were constructing these mega malls, which included both luxury and mass marketed shops. The issue I have with the space is that it limits personal style. We may have the same shops that are found in other countries yet the buyers always seem to go for a safe route when it comes to picking the designs that are bought to our country.

It’s not the buyer’s fault, but it is also the consumer fault of how they take an item and create a very strict rule manual of dressing etiquette, usually by assimilating a certain brand with a specific activity.

The outfits showed above perhaps are not an exact representation, yet they give a feeling that there is a right way of getting dress. Which results are pretty, yes, but also not innovative or original. Perhaps this formula should be questioned and challenged for the sake of Fun and Style!  xx