Teen Dream

I'm a firm believer in having fun with your make-up. I'm particularly fond of not-so-perfect looks, fuelled by teens discovering mascara. Remember lining your eyes in cheap black khol and feeling like a rebel? That's so very punk. And I love it.

Marc Jacobs Fall 2016 - He knows a thing or two about being cool!

Let us talk about that first time you saw lipstick and didn't even know what a lip liner was. That's the absolute best. To this day I still like my lipstick like that: no primer, no liner, no bullshit. Wear it out and about, proudly imperfect, fading through the day. Live the joy of new funky colours, test drive a blue or a green. Makes you feel really powerful, unapologetic.

Ruth Bell by Mario Sorrenti for i-D

So maybe you are a perfectionist and not exactly convinced. But consider this: it's summer and it's crazy hot. You don't want a perfectly covered face, you want something there that makes you happy and does not sweat out or feel heavy. Skip the foundation, never mind the primer and ditch the contour kit. Play with eyeliner, draw on your face, overuse melting eye pencils. Be a teen that just discovered make-up. Imperfection is fun!

Louis Vuitton Spring Summer 2016 - He also knows about cool.

You don't sleep. You have things to do, people to meet. Dark circles under you eyes? Crazy cool, accept them. You have no time for boring perfection. You are free!

Make it up

Full disclosure, I am NOT amazing with make-up. Mostly I know the theory. I can make a semi straight, almost symmetrical cat eye. Yeah!

But have you seen kids these days? Go around Instagram for a second, They. are. AWESOME! Like, seriously, that's black magic right there.

Truth is I love it. My relationship with make-up started the same way as with many others: trough my mum. Now, you don't know her, so you'll have to take my word for it when I say she's awesome. I've referred to her look many times as Dark Queen of the Eighties. You know that brown eyeliner, dark lipstick and the mystery look of someone that has a dirty little secret that no one knows of? That's the one. She's a cool cat.

When I stole her make-up box to make some experiments of my own (at a pretty young age... around 4/6 years old?) two very obvious things happened: a) I ruined a lot of make-up and b) had a blast! Now I've told you mum is amazing, so she wasn't even mad. She grabbed the things with me and taught me what she knew. I felt so cool.

Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood 2015

All this to tell you that make-up is a subject close to my heart. Do not tell me that "it's just make-up". It's on your face, that's your first impression right there! And you tell me it's nothing? Please.


Make-up defined movements trough the generations. You can't have the punks without eyeliner. You can't have the 60's without false lashes. You can't have rockabilly without the lipstick. It's an expression of you, your group and your era,

But let me continue this story. Somewhere along life, things came up that I do not love about make-up. And all tough we started out as playful friends, trying out all the colours (yes, believe me, ALL the colours... it wasn't pretty but hell it was fun!) and enjoying every second of it, today I see it more as war paint. It became about giving me power: if I'm wearing my grey lipstick just to go grocery shopping, it probably means I used all my strength to get out of bed that morning.

Twiggy in her signature look

If my eyebrows are extra sharp I believe that I can ace that job interview (even if I really don't). And if I just need to be on top of the world, red lipstick is the way to go! It impacts my mood in a way that is even hard to explain. It's that big.

Make-up is not about beauty. It's so much more. Over the last years the conversation about gender has been a pretty hot topic, with make-up at it's centre. Just look how much more we're seeing of the world of Drag Queens, masters of make-up. I'm a firm believer in equality and couldn't care less about gender definition (you do you), but the interpretations on the ultra femme do make me smile. And I remember once again that first clash with make-up, I remember it being all about having fun, going crazy, experimenting! And I wonder about all the people who never tried on lipstick and how that must feel. And that maybe I'm wrong and no lipstick is a very cool life.

What I do know is that Make-up is a statement. It can be a weapon and a shield. And calling it frivolous annoys the hell out of me.

Ryan Burke

Amp up the Bling

I love me a good dose of Sparkle. So why don't I use it a lot?

Here's the thing: when you look at the amount of fashion related stuff that I do (you can believe that is a LOT, lot of stuff on a very daily basis) is very easy to get bored and start demanding a lot more from your clothes. And I'm not even talking visually, but quality wise. No more polyester once you've mastered silk!

Sparkly things that you know you want

Which brings me to cheap bling: I hate it. I hate it with all my might (unless, you know, you are owning the cheap look and in that case kudos to you for being awesome). Plastic beading is not great. Glued beading in never ok. Nothing good comes from polyester.

So while I'm fainting at some very expensive, utterly out of my budget, designer sparkle I tend to keep bling free.

Chanel, Dries Van Noten, Haider Ackermann, Marc Jacobs, Meadham Kirchhoff

Or do I? What I love the most about second hand shopping: you can get amazing garments for so much less. And when I found a pure silk top with glass beading, I know it had to be mine.

And this beauty is mine, all mine

Moral to this story? Love thy bling. Shop second hand. Never stop believing. That is all.

Bare with me

It seems like every year, as the sun decides to start showing, I'm having this conversation again: Summer is coming. Shorts are getting shorter. Tops are getting smaller. And there's nothing wrong about that.

Photo by Miles Aldridge

But let us start from the beginning. I simply adore the human body. I do not care if you are tall or short, skinny or chubby, dark or pale: YOU ARE GLORIOUS. Your body is an amazing machine, capable of dreamy impossibilities. Together, you two have survived this far... and I'm betting that's a lot to survive. We've all been to hell a couple of times and came back to tell the story. Thank that body of yours.

Photo by Laurence Philomene

So please, PLEASE! treat it nicely. Don't hate on it.

And if you feel like showing it that's great. And if you decide you don't want to show it, that's great too. THAT IS YOUR CHOICE. No one should feel entitled to making that decision for you.

Which brings me to the theme of short shorts. EVERY SINGLE YEAR PEOPLE. Every single year I ear mean, depreciative, harmful comments about shorts. Usually something among the lines of being too revealing for someone that (young, old, skinny, fat, tall, short.... you get the picture).

It's hot outside. Shorts are comfortable. My body is none of your damn business.

There you go. Happy Summer!

Photo by Helmut Newton

History Lesson - The T-shirt

There's nothing like a T-shirt: A piece you can throw over your head for just about any occasion, from a gala to the apocalypse. 

I'd call it an unsung love but, truth be told, I talk about my undying love for t-shirts at pretty much any occasion. T-shirts are awesome. That is all.

So let's talk about them. A T-shirt is a shirt in a T-shape. Sound simple right?

I've been in love with these from Moschino since day one. Christmas anyone?

It is believed that t-shirts are a natural evolution from the undergarments from the 19th century and, as a matter of fact, T-shirts were considered as undergarments for the longest time. Most definitely not fit for using as outwear. Of course people started noticing those simple pieces were very, very practical and started using them as work wear. Still not fit for use on a daily basis but great to get dirty (especially in hot environments: you know, like miners).

In 1904 this simple piece of clothing started being advertised as bachelor undershirts ("No safety pins - no buttons - no needle - no thread!")

We can no longer call a t-shirt basic! Calvin Klein Collection and Splendid

And then came the navy. The US Navy that is. By 1905 you could read in the Uniform Regulations that a cotton "undershirt" (The word T-shirt became part of American English by the 1920s) was to be used underneath the uniform, being exposed for exercise and work (so it would get dirty instead of the uniform itself).

We now have a lot of choice, with new materials and great construction. Alexander Wand and J.Crew

With the end of World War II, veterans started using their t-shirts along with the uniform trousers out and about! It became a casual staple and a symbol of american pride. That's how it begun being used by boys and young men in casual environments. It was a matter of time until it reached the Silver Screen, where stars like Marlon Brando and James Dean made it popular.

And then there was love. Printed t-shirts started on the 50's and never stopped. By the 60's we had tie dye. By the 80's the hem went higher and lower for t-shirt dresses and crop tops. By the 90's those bad boys were absolute staples, symbols of rebellion and youth expression.

From the white t-shirt to the shirt dress, life is great. Madewell and T by Alexander Wang

So there you go, next time someone calls your jeans-and-tshirt outfit lazy throw some history at them. Make a stand!

And love your t-shirts a little more everyday. I know I will.


On the Catwalk:

Chanel Resort 17, For Restless Sleepers SS16, Manish Arora SS15, Babyghost SS16

Moschino SS16, Junya Watanabe SS15, Babyghost SS16, Txell Miras SS15

On my list:

 Freebird Apparel, on etsy

Karizma, on etsy

Welcome Friends!

Hello, hello!

A new corner of the internet opens today. This little project started after a couple of years writing in portuguese. But as I become more and more a citizen of the world, living in different places and meeting new people, writing in english just makes sense.

Like many in their 20s, I've been living out of a suitcase. Graduated in Fashion Design around 2 years ago, work as popped up in different countries. And I go where opportunity is.

This comes with many adventures, a lot of amazing people and an unimaginable amount of growth. But do not forget it comes also with many challenges: DO NOT INSULT MY GENERATION. We have our flaws but we are fighters.

Since starting to (finally) make some money of my own, my buying rules get more strict: I DON'T BUY CHEAP SHIT. Did I cut fast fashion completely? No, of course not. Why? Because it's really, really hard. But I do collect a lot of vintage, second hand and independent brands, Also, I don't buy a lot and that makes a huge difference. If I don't need it and won't make me happy, it's not worth it.

So hop on and come along. It's going to be a hell of a ride!