On why I wear summer dresses all year round, wellies and headpieces

Photo by: Juan de los Mares Fotografía

I´ve been asked different kinds of questions regarding my style and it is simply difficult to answer when you feel the rest do not "get it". I come from a very homogeneous country where most  girls want to look like the Kardashians and now I live in a country in which make up and dressing up is not the rule. It is undeniable that both this aspects have an influence on the way I look but on the other hand, I find my ways to separate myself from whats around me. 

Here in Belgium, and in Venezuela, it can be difficult to be yourself. We have magazines, television shows, and even friends telling us what we should look like and what is more accepted. My problem is that if I pick up a magazine, the women shown there are not like me. I also must admit that I've always had a soft spot for fur trimmings and color -especially red that now has a political connotation in Venezuela-  but until a few years ago, told myself it was wrong not to enjoy clothes that I like.

As I said I like fur, wellies, silly patterns and headpieces. Those things might not be the latest fashion magazine trends but in my little world of summer dresses all year round, they look good. My interest for vintage clothes comes from refusing to wearing skinny jeans and ugg boots with the excuse of staying warm. It is undeniable how glamourous women looked in the bygone eras and that´s something I try to emulate.

It can be hard sometimes. Firstable because it is a lot of work and second, because you´ll have to learn to deal with people staring at you if you're a bit different from everyone else. But if you want to wear ruffles and colors in the winter, do it! Do it sometimes or do it everyday! I try to think that I´m building my own style, and so should you...clothes are not merely protection or a layer to cover our naked bodies, you can make a statement with them, hve fun with them or as I do, create a fantasy world in which I juggle with the midcentury lifestyle and the modern world. 

The reactions are not always negative, I always get approached by older women and I get smiles of approval. My friends understand that I´ve never been a very conventional Venezuelan and sometimes people on the streets look amused by my looks. So, my conclusion is whatever it is you like, do it. I think that at least when I grow older, Ill have nothing to regret when it comes to my sartorial choices, no matter how silly they may look for other people, because I´m having fun while I do it. 

Retro Makeup Tips I´ve learned from the Screen Divas

German actress Marlene Dietrich is considered to be one of the most glamourous actresses of all time. She had many beauty secrets but most of them are very dated e.g. her drawing her eyebrows with khol in the 30s fashion. One secret that can be easily adapted to our times is not using mascara on the lower lashes. She believed it cast a shadow and made her look tired and I agree. She used white eyeliner instead to make her eyes look bigger/ La alemana Marlene Dietrich es considerada como una de las actrices más glamorosas de todos los tiempos. Ella tenía muchos secretos de belleza pero algunos son muy de la época por ejemplo, el dibujar las cejas con kohl a la moda de los años 30. Uno que puede ser fácilmente adaptado a nuestros días es no usar rímel en las pestañas inferiores. Ella creía que creaba una sombra y le daba un aspecto cansado y yo estoy de acuerdo. En cambio, ella usaba delineador de ojos blanco para hacer que sus ojos parecieran más grandes.

The American actress, later real life Princess, Grace Kelly was considered one of the most beautiful women in the world. Her makeup secret was just shadowing her eyebrows and using two shades of blushes on her cheeks to give the illusion of more depth (a lighter tone over the bone, and a darker shade in the hollows). I personally recommend using a pencil or shadow in dark brown for most hair colors and dark grey for black hair, never black. The key is two tones darker for blondes and two tones lighter for dark hair/La actriz, después princesa Grace Kelly, era considerada una de las mujeres más bellas del mundo. Sus secretos de maquillaje eran sombrear las cejas y usar dos tonos de rubor en las mejillas para dar la ilusión de más profundidad (un tono más claro sobre el hueso, y un tono más oscuro en la parte de abajo). Yo personalmente recomiendo usar un lápiz o sombra oscura en marrón o gris oscuro para el pelo negro, nunca negro. La clave está en dos tonos más oscuros para las rubias y dos tonos más claros para el pelo oscuro.

Marilyn Monroe allegedly invented lip gloss as we know it today. She realized she looked better on screen when her lips looked wet so she combined lipstick, beeswax, and Vaseline. Her invention was later passed on from her make-up people to the cosmetic companies. You can easily do the same by using the lipstick of your choice and adding a layer of Vaseline on top/ Marilyn Monroe supuestamente inventó el brillo de labios como lo conocemos hoy en día. Se dio cuenta de que se veía mejor en la pantalla cuando sus labios parecían húmedos por lo que empezó a combinar lápiz labial, cera de abeja y vaselina. Su invención se pasó de la gente de maquillaje a las empresas de cosméticos. Tu puedes hacer lo mismo usando el lápiz labial de tu elección y añadiendo una capa de vaselina sobre éste.

                                                            

Carole Lombard (AKA Mrs.Gable) learned to be a master of make-up and came up with the idea of painting a straight white line down her nose to eliminate the hook look and then applied her make-up over it. This technique was copied by her make-up artists, so that the method was often used on other actresses´ noses. To recreate this technique, draw a line down your nose with your concealer. It´ll also give you extra "light" on your nose bridge as it is shown by Lombard on the picture/Carole Lombard (la Sra. de Gable) aprendió a ser una maestra del maquillaje y tuvo la idea de pintar una línea blanca en su nariz para eliminar la apariencia de gancho y luego buscar aplicar maquillaje encima. Este método fue copiado por sus maquilladores, así que el método fue utilizado en otras actrices. Para recrear esta técnica, dibuja una línea en la nariz con el corrector. Te dará más "luz" en el puente de la nariz, así como se ve en la foto de Lombard arriba.

                                                           

Brigitte Bardot popularized the smokey eyes or "Italian  eyes" as it was called. She started her carreer with a sweet girl look that evolved into the very sexy look of smokey eyes, eyeliner, big sunglasses and messy blonde hair. There are several tutorials on YouTube, this is one of my favorites by HollywoodNoirMakeup/ Brigitte Bardot popularizó los ojos ahumados u "ojos italianos", como se llamaba. Comenzó su carrera con un look de niña buena que evolucionó en el look sexy de ojos ahumados, mucho delineador, grandes lentes  de sol y el pelo rubio desordenado. Hay varios tutoriales en YouTube, este es uno de mis favoritos por HollywoodNoirMakeup

Museums of the Far East

A few sundays ago Miguel and I went to the Museums of the Far East in Brussels. The buildings are magnificent and the whole area around it is very quite and green, good for jogging. Plenty of visitors were there walking their dogs or exploring the gardens with their families/ Hace algunos domingos, Miguel y yo fuimos a los Museos del Extremo Oriente en Bruselas. Los edificios son magníficos y toda la zona que lo rodea es muy tranquila y verde, bueno para correr. Varios de los visitantes fueron a pasear a sus perros o explorar los jardines con sus familias.

DOWNTON ABBEY? NOT QUITE. INSIDE THE CHINESE PAVILION. 

How did these pavillions ended up in Brussels? / Cómo terminaron estas pabellones en Bruselas?

Well.... after his visit to the 1900 Universal Exhibition in Paris, Léopold II was amazed by oriental architecture. On the northern corner of the Royal Laeken Park, the king ordered that a Chinese Pavilion be built; he used it as his private restaurant/ Después de su visita a la Exposición Universal de 1900 en París, Léopold II quedó sorprendido por la arquitectura oriental. En la esquina norte del Parque Real de Laeken, el rey ordenó que se construyera un pabellón chino que utilizó como su restaurante privado.

He commissioned the Parisian architect Alexandre Marcel to design the Chinese Pavilion. The woodwork was made by specialists from Shanghai. Since 1946, the Pavilion became an annex of the Royal Museums of Art and History; and today, it houses a collection of Chinese and Japanese porcelain. The buildings were constructed in Belgium, but some parts came from Japan and China. The splendid red tower (Japanese Pavilion) has woodwork carved by experts from Yokohama, Japan/ Le encargó al arquitecto parisino Alexandre Marcel el diseño del Pabellón Chino. La carpintería fue realizada por especialistas de Shanghai. Desde 1946, el pabellón se convirtió en un anexo de los Museos Reales de Arte e Historia, y hoy en día, alberga una colección de porcelana china y japonesa. Los edificios fueron construidos en Bélgica, pero algunas partes procedían de Japón y China. La espléndida torre roja (Pabellón japonés) tiene madera tallada por expertos de Yokohama, Japón.

I couldn't see much inside the Japanese Pavilion but the woodwork and the floors are impressive.  The first foor is open for visitors and it houses a collection of Japanese ceramics. The other floors are closed. It is a shame because I´m pretty sure that the view must be good/ No pude ver mucho del interior del Pabellón de Japón, pero la madera y los pisos son impresionantes. El primer piso se encuentra abierto al público y alberga una colección de cerámica japonesa. Los otros pisos están cerrados. Es una lástima, porque estoy bastante segura de que la visión debe ser bueno.

The Chinese Pavilion has various small rooms richly decorated. It is certainly beautiful but what impressed me was the lack of authencity in the architecture and decor. European elements are everywhere and they were chosen based on the European´s concept of Asian living in that era. It is definetely less authentic than the Japanese Pavilion but the exhibition covers Japanese and Chinese art in pottery, drawings and war weapons, etc/ El pabellón chino tiene varias habitaciones pequeñas ricamente decoradas. Es de verdad hermoso pero lo que me impresionó fue la falta de autenticidad en la arquitectura y la decoración. Los elementos europeos están por todas partes y se eligieron basándose en el concepto europeo de vida de Asia en esa época. Es definitivamente menos auténtico que el pabellón japonés, pero la exposición abarca el arte japonés y chino en cerámica, dibujos y armas de guerra, etc. 

MIGUEL + ME

MIGUEL TURNING JAPANESE

MASK + EXAMPLE OF EUROPEAN ART + COAT OF ARMS OF LEUVEN (OLD DUTCH)

JAPANESE ART + JAPANESE POTTERY + INSIDE THE CHINESE PAVILION

If you want to visit, here´s the practical info:

Avenue Van Praet 44

1020 Brussels

tel.:             + 32 (0)2 268 16 08      

Opening hours

Tuesdays to Fridays: 9.30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Saturdays, Sundays and feast-days: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Access

Train : The museums can be reached by public transport from the ‘Brussels North’ station.

Tram : 3 and 7: alight at ‘Araucaria’.

Bus : 53, 230, 231, 232: alight at ‘De Wand’.

Admission prices

€ 4: Permanent Collections

€ 3 : groups (min. 10 ), 13-17 years olds (accompanied by an adult relative), students, CJP members, senior citizens (60 +), foreign teachers, staff of other museums and those with ‘Visit Brussels’, ‘Must of Brussels’ and Visit Brussels Line’ tickets.

€1.5 : school groups, student groups, young person groups, unemployed persons, those on subsistence wages, the handicapped, artists, art-college students.

Free : children under 13 (accompanied by an adult relative), visually handicapped persons with an attendant, teachers, members of the press and of the ‘Per Musea’ support group, Friends of the Educational Service, Friends of the RMAH, members of the ICOM, the VMV, the ASF and the BMR, ‘Touristische Attracties’ and ‘City of Brussels’ guides, and those with a DWTC countdown card.

Admission free for everyone on the first Wednesday of the month from 1 p.m. on.

Audioguide

Audioguide available in English, French, German and Dutch.