Fall/Winter 08

This are the somethings I need/would like to have this fall/winter season. It's getting colder every day and I'm hardly prepared for it. 

(Note: this are random things I want, not necessarily trends from the runways or anything)

1. A leather jacket. I spotted one the other day at the mall, and I'm so going back for it.
2. I come from a place that is horribly hot, so winter for us is so light. But now I'm living in a another, way colder city, so I need coats and peacotas. I want colorful ones. Making-a-statement ones.
3. Cardigans for everyday.
4. Tights. Patterened tights and colorful tights. 
5. Skirts, lots of skirts to wear with tights.
6. Black dresses and pink dresses.
7. A pair of black boots, a pair of b&w oxfords and a pair of color-shocking heels, like those hot pink ones.
8. Gloves! I love gloves. Scarves and lots os brooches to pin them on scarves. Also, very thin belts.
9. Lousy Shirts/blouses. Extra points if they have a tie/ribbon, a la Salvador Dalí.
10. An oversized clutch and a very classic handbag.
11. Lots of headwear, a red or fuscia knitted beret, and feathered headbands.

And that's it.

My quest for these items has already begun. What are you craving for this season?

Infinite x's & o's...

 M.B. Whimsical.

Summer Essentials 2008

Hello, hello sunshines!

Summer's less than a week away, how exciting is that?
I love summer, it's just too full of surprises. Summer's a time for dreamers.

(For product information click here)

Either if you are in NYC, having the time of your life interning at some fashion magazine ( like Casey), or just living your dream like Gala; sunbathing in Santorini, Ibiza, ou Bourdeux; traveling around Europe with nothing more than a backpack, a guitar and a camera; like me, moving away from home and starting a whole new different phase of your life, or working your buts off the whole summer, there a few things you should not forget.

So I give you... M.B. Whimsical's Summer 2008 Essentials.

• Summer's a time for celebration. Dress up and go out dancing. Black in the summer (as weird as it may sound) can't go wrong.
  Now, SHOES! This summer make a statement. Hot prints, brights, or just go classy, that never, ever goes out.
  
  
  
• Carry an over sized clutch during the day, a small, elegant one during the night.
  Don't forget a practical, but cute tote or messenger bag to carry around your trinkets.
  A hot pink is perfect.
  
  
• Inside your previously - selected bag carry everything you think is indispensable for your day. Take a trip to the park or the beach and greet the sun rays. Throw in your towel, your ipod, sunglasses, and some suncreen. Take your all-time favorite book and re-read it. Again. Take a cute notebook and a pretty coloured pen and write all your dreams and life plans. Or just a random notebook. Feel the breeze in your face, the sun in your skin, squeeze the sand between your toes and let your hand roam freely.
  
  
• Make a point on not forgetting your sunglasses and sunscreen.
  "Wrinkles and creases are for "it" bags and old love letters." - Gala Darling.
  
  
• Cute accesories.
  
  
• Rosy cheeks are very summer-like. Tarte's cheekstain is beyond perfect.
  
  
• Hats. Headbands. Headscarves. Turbans. Go head over heels.
  Wear some huge sunglasses and pretend your a star hiding from the paparazzis.
  A coy smile would be your best accesory.
  
  
• If your going away, pretty and feminine luggage is key. It makes you feel like a real jetsetter. A cute passport holder wouldn't hurt.
  And I have the perfect soundtrack for you: Jetsetter by Morningwood.
  And the perfect outfit.
  Have a safe flight!
  
  
• A bottle of water.
  
  
• A dreamy and happy disposition for everything summer has in store for you.
  
  
• And most important of all, a camera so you can document all your adventures.
  Smile!
  While you're at it, you can use a Moleskine or some cute notebook too, so you keep track of your summer lovin' days.
  

Have an outrageous summer my sweets. Make the most of it! Have fun. Smile. Blow kisses. Make bubbles. Swim. Make a cocktail night with your friends. Eat lots of sushi. Download lots of good music. Dance like crazy. Watch lots of movies. Make something artistic. Buy balloons, and give away flowers.
Whatever you do make a statement. You are doing it anyway, and because of that it's already wonderful. (Someone has been reading too many Notes from the Universe hehe!)

And please remeber: Carpe diem sunshines! Summer goes by pretty fast!

Infinite x's & o's...
M.B. Whimsical.

Hey, Mickey!

(product information)

I want to dress like Mickey Mouse so badly.

Infinite x's & o's...
M.B. Whimsical.

Strawberry Fields Forever...

I'm in love.


Infinite x's & o's...
M.B. Whimsical.

Over my head.

Thanks to Gossip Girl,
Headband = Blair Waldorf.

And with good reason...today while googling around my google reader, I found Jennifer Behr's site.
Jennifer Behr's headbands have been displayed by Blair in several occasions.
Watch and drool...


Luckily, if you own a nice vintage brooch, the first two look quite DIY.
Inspired? I think so.

Infinite x's & o's...
M.B. Whimsical.

Just a spoonful of sugar.

Role Model: noun
Someone worthy of imitation.
dictionary.com

Mary Poppins, practically perfect in every way. A perfect role model, isn't she?
She's everything the word "ladylike" describes.

She's proper, and well mannered. She's got a "cheery disposition", she's "kindy & witty", and is "never crossed".
I think there's quite a lot to learn from her.
So I took the features and values that make Mary Poppins so special and practically perfect in every way, things every girl should have and learn, things that remain that have always been and forever will be, but trying to apply them to out contemporary lives.
I took these characteristics out of Jane & Michael's advertisement.
You can read the whole transcript here.


A "cheery" disposition.
A smile can open a thousand doors. Being cheery and kind to people can truly make a difference. People feel the difference. How do you feel when someone makes a grimace to you? And when someone's cheery and smiles?

Be positive.
Even when it's about doing boring and fastidious chores, stuff we don't wanna do, being positive turns the whole situation upside down. Let's say you have to wash the dishes. You have to do it. Stop thinking about what would you do if you didn't have to, and stop wasting time and energy complaining. You could be halfway finished by the time you realize complaining is not going to get you anywhere.
Turn things around. Make it more fun. Put some music on, or challenge yourself on doing something, or how to do it.
Always remember: "Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, the medicine go down..."

Be kind and witty.
Yes, be kind a witty.
Take an interest on learning things. Develop your mind. It doesn't have to be maths and physics, but try to enhance your mind by reading or learning interesting things. Whatever you like, fashion, history, famous quotes, gardening, cupcakes, or just random stuff.
And be kind. As great as you might be (and I know you all are), as smart, as beautiful, and talented...always be kind to others. There's nothing worse than snotty people, who make other people less just to feel and appear more. I think that's one of the worst kinds of people. It shows a tremendous lack of self-esteem and security.
But I know none of you are like that. You are all very kind, and share what they know with others, and offer their help when they can.

Never be cross or cruel.
This is a hard one. Never be cross. It's quite challengning! You know, I get stressed and cross easily, and it's one of my purposes to change that. People doesn't forget about you being cross, and by saying cross I mean being ill-humored, snappy, tempered, which usually come from being stress, and you can create a reputation for being grumpy, which I think, is not very ladylike. Nor very nice. There's a difference on being headstrong, and determined and being stubborn to the point of getting angry and cross.
If you are cross, well then, take a deep breath. Be proactive. You can't change the situation, but you can change how you react. If you're all stressed out and grumpy and someone says something to you that just makes you explode, press pause! Don't be snappy or cruel.
Just ignore it. You'll see you feel so much better, and you'll feel good with yourself for controlling your impulse

Be sweet and pretty.
One of a girl's most charming features is being sweet. Girls who swear and act so boyish like are not very nice to see. Unfortunately, we see a lot of this these days. And I'm not gonna lie to you, I swear sometimes, I do. But there's swearing occasionally and there's being a complete potty mouth.
Girls are supposed to be sweet and charming, well-mannered. And this doesn't mean that women shouldn't stand for themselves and be independent, it's a matter of being both, of course!
I mean, what use would it have to be so prepared when you are ill-mannered, absolutely not diplomatic, and are rude and impolite? You wouldn't get very far would you?
Now, about being pretty, if there's something we remember of Mary Poppins is she's always impeccably dressed, with beautiful attires always so classic, proper and elegant.
Her hair always flawless, perfect rosy cheeks and lips. Under-dressed is not a word in Mary's vocabulary.

I even searched for some style ideas and products to dress a la Mary Poppins.

(Product Information)

Obvious color scheme: white, blue and black with the red scarf.
It's easy.
A white blouse or shirt, extra points if it has ruffles and cute buttons. A dark cerulean blue, or a bright navy blue skirt. Above I chose high-waisted skirts because those are the ones I consider would be more appropriate, but feel free to choose!
You can go with white tights, sheer or with patterns, or black too. But I think white would look better...mais oui!
To keep this outfit to being just an outfit and truly transforming it into Mary Poppin's style, the red scarf is essential, next to the black coat.
A pair of oxfords of course...b&w, or just black. And oh, please, don't forget to stand with your feet open, almost like a ballerina, just like she did.
Now, accessories. White gloves or wristlets. If you're going sans gloves, use a pretty ring. I chose a red rose ring because she has a red flower in her hat. Talking about the hat...this is the only part I consider a little complicated, so instead I whose a black headband with a bow. You could get away with it with just a ribbon or something. A red or black ribbon.
Also, in some part of the movie she's wearing a red bow tie, so I put it there too. I think I'd look tres cute.

Mary Poppin's make-up is quite au naturel. But the rosy cheeks are of highly importance! And rosy lips too. They're always cute and elegant.
Besides, just a little dab of color in your lips will help keep you from looking under-dressed.

Finally, two very important things.
Mary's Umbrella, and her "magical" satchel/bag. A girl has to always be prepared.
Pick a bag spacey enough to carry all your trinkets.
I'm famous for always carrying wide bags and lot's of stuff. I always have a pen when needed, my stain remover Tide marker, make-up, a little mirror, and my sketchbook and pencil. You never know when inspiration will strike.

Something extra I want to add about Mary Poppins is that she never, ever gives explanations.
While sometimes we have to, I think this is something very admirable.
Yesterday while reading Miss Couturable, I thought all of this. Miss Couturable has been getting a few comments about her blog and the way she writes about certain stuff.
If there's something I love about Miss Couturable is that she's not afraid to show who she truly is. She is who she is (you can find my comment there). And that's something we all love from Mary Poppins. She was who she was. My mom always tells me that not giving explanations in vain is something she learned from watching Mary Poppins when she was young.
I told Miss Couturable so, and so did other fellow readers.
Don't give explanations you don't have to give. Don't make excuses for yourself. We tend to this a lot, and most of the times we're repeating unnecessary explanations, explanations we didn't have to do in the first time. We are who we are, and we do what we do because we have our own reasons. What third parties have to say about it, we don't care.

Mary Poppins certainly is a figure that represents a lot of things and values from the past. But they are those values that are still right here. Unfortunately, they are getting lost now. The word ladylike is not what is used to be. We don't find most of these things in girls nowadays. And these are things every girl should have, learn, and develop, adapted of course to our contemporary lives.
Call me old-fashioned, but I think the world ladylike is something universal, that should remain forever.
And Mary Poppins is proof of that.

There's only one thing left to say:
Supercallifragilisticexpialidocious!

Infinite x's & o's...
M.B. Whimsical.

P.S. Haven't you always loved Bert?

Here Comes the Sun (Part II)

Helloooo sunshines!
How ya doing?

To be honest, I'm a little confused here. Is spring break over for you guys? Because it's almost over for me, but reading Miss Couturable I found out spring break's about to begin?
So I have decided it's time to focus and finish the second part of my Spring Break Essentials piece, regardless if spring break's over or not. If it's over for you, well then it's still useful, let's just call it "Beach Season's Essentials" or something.

Let's start with the basics.
Your number one essential for the beach? Swim wear.

Even if it's a swimsuit or a bikini, this is the most important thing for obvious reasons.
It's essential to choose a form and color that flatters your body type. There's a wide range of bikini's and swimsuits in style and price.
Go shopping for it with someone who you know will be sincere on how it looks. Pick one which with you feel comfortable and pretty, otherwise you'll be feeling all self-conscious and insecure all day long, therefore you'll be proyecting insecurity.
For Product Information click here.
Once you have your bikini or whatever, start planning your outfit around it. Let your imagination fly...

Sundresses, colorful shorts, denim minis, tops, floral prints, bright colors.
Headbands and head scarves really were the trend here, and I loved it because I have always loved them and used them.
Also, get a big tote where you can carry all your stuff: your towel, a sweater (if weather's like it was here last week), your make-up (tinter moisturizer, cheekstains & stuff we talked about last time), your cellphone, your ipod, sunglasses, a good book.
Whatever you need. I highly recommend taking a bottle of water to stay hydrated.

Product Information

I threw together this two outfits and I loved them. They're so different, but they're like my two style sides, preppy and couturable-ish, and kinda hippie and urban; colorful.
The first one is so Blair Waldorf, don't you think?

It doesn't matter the style you have, or the trend in fashion, be yourself. Choose the things that suit you and that you identify with.
Choose cheerful accesories. A colorful towel, an unusual necklace.
Have fun with it.
And have fun in the beach.

I gotta run now, sunshines!
Remember,
Dress shabbily and they remember the dress, dress impeccably and they remember the woman.
Or at least that's what Coco Chanel said.
What do you think?

Infinite x's & o's...
M.B. Whimsical.