HAIR

This is my second post in over a year, I've been quite absent from posting and hopefully I will get back to it on a more frequent basis from now on.  What brought me back was a rather silly idea, today, September 23, is the official first day of spring over here in the Southern Hemisphere.  As those of you who follow or have read my blog at one point know, every thought that crosses my mind is usually linked to some sort of music, so the inevitable happened: spring = Donna Summer's Spring Affair.

I have to admit this is a very recent musical discovery, considering I've been listening to Donna Summer since the 80's, but somehow this song escaped me, and I believe I heard it about a year ago for the first time.  Shame on me, I know, and like many of my discoveries, it came by way of the one the only Queen Of Pop.  I downloaded a mash-up of Secret and this song from Madonnarama and it was then that I fell in love with it.
It's funny how the brain works.  One thing immediately connects with the other.  Now that I was watching this video and especially this version  the following happened:  Spring -> Donna Summer.  Donna Summer's hair -> Maricarla Boscono at Viktor & Rolf's UH-MAZING Spring 2003 show.  Oh-so-spring-y.  Almost 10 years ago.  Wow.  I must have posted about this before, but here it goes anyway.  Mariacarla at 0:25.  Enjoy.

MADONNA MOMENT

Florence Welch channels the Like A Virgin striptease performance from the MDNA Tour in her latest video.

BENJAMIN UNBUTTONED

My Peruvian ID expired (as well as my Uruguayan ID and passport), and so I feel like a character in a movie set in an Eastern European country during the Cold War, who, unable to speak the local language, is about to be detained by the police and then arrested.

Though I tried to fix my Uruguayan situation while I was vacationing in Punta del Este earlier this year, I wasn't able to for two reasons: 1. I took too long to start the whole renewal procedure (I was having too much fun) and 2. Uruguayan bureaucracy has not evolved, nor does it show any signs that it will any time soon (and their employees are apparently hell-sent).  Pretty much like the Miss Argentina character in Beetlejuice, remember her?



IN BEETLEJUICE HELL, THOSE WHO COMMIT SUICIDE ARE CONDEMNED TO WORK IN PUBLIC SERVICE FOR ETERNITY.  TIM BURTON IS A GENIUS.



Anyway, I must plan a quick trip to Montevideo some time soon in order to get all of this solved.  You see, Uruguayan law has it that in order for me to renew my passport I FIRST have to renew my ID.  Why not renew my ID at the Consulate in Lima?  Because you simply can't.  This is something that MUST be done in the actual country.  I know, it's ridiculous.  I cried, I wailed, I had a tantrum.
"Why bother so much for an Uruguayan passport?" you might ask, like some of my Argentine friends sneered back in Punta.  Well, you see, there are a couple of reasons.  One is that I actually want a physical element that makes the link to my mother's country of birth official.  Two: there are benefits from having it, such as not needing a visa for the U.K., Italy, France,Spain and many other European countries.  And believe me, having lost my diplomatic passport privileges when I turned 25 (someone hand me a tissue please), it COMES. IN. HANDY.  I've never had to ask for a visa so I'm really unfamiliar with the whole process and I've heard it's usually an unpleasant experience. 

IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING, I STILL KEEP MY DIPLOMATIC PASSPORT BECAUSE IT HOLDS MY US VISA.

So, back to Peru.  I went to get my Peruvian ID renewed.  There was a huge line.  I left.  I decided I'd come back another  day, hopefully before the elections in April, ha!  I already had my picture taken though, and on my way back home, as I stared at it and placed it next to the one on my expired ID I thought to myself : GOD have I  AGED!  Not that I am not happy with the way I look now (I think I'm more comfortable with myself today than I was then), but I the signs of this certain "maturity", so as to call it, were undeniable.
In a very 1989-1999-The-Next-Best-Thing-mirror-scene kind of way, I found a blog's (thank you Matt Rettenmund) side-by-side comparison of a picture of Madonna at the Vanity Fair party on Sunday and another one of her at a book signing in 2000, where she actually looks younger TODAY.  I discussed the Madonna situation with a dear friend of mine from Buenos Aires and he said it was a case of "Benjamin Button", and that he too "suffered" from that syndrome.  He kept me laughing for a while when he sent me some ridiculously, terribly photoshopped pictures of himself to prove his point.  I then had to do my own side-by-side comparison and realized I do NOT have that condition.  Unfortunately.

DARK CIRCLES! 2011 vs. 2005

I had another nostalgic moment today that took me back to a bit earlier than 2005, precisely to 2003.  I had a wonderful cardio workout today to a song from that year.  It was on repeat for a while, and as I listened to it, it brought back many memories: parties at my favorite restaurant, a silver Beetle, a rooftop party, the friends I used to hang out with back then, those who STILL hang out with me now, a hat party, etc. etc.  I originally thought my picture had been taken in 2003 as well, so I thought "what a fortunate coincideeeeence...", but no, I was confused.  So, just for confusion's sake, let me post the song.  The End Starts Today (Tommi Sunshine Remix), by Bis .

MADONNA MOMENT

A RUNWAY LOOK FROM THE DOLCE&GABBANA SHOW YESTERDAY

PIRATE CHIC

This is a post from quite a while ago that remained in draft-status instead of getting published for some unknown reason. Today is Daryl Hannah's 50th birthday, so I guess it's the perfect excuse to publish it, here it goes:

I'm in the last day of a four-day photoshoot, God knows I'm exhausted by now (missed the ABSOLUT GLIMMER party last night...) and I'm about to be officially sick, which will probably jeopardize my gym attendance yet another week (I went there last night after a 6-day absence and 6-day binge).
Two days ago, no, wait, was it yesterday? You see, this is what being locked up in a studio does to you (together with listening to Mariah Carey or other inhabitants of my iTunes whose presence I'm also ashamed to confess). Well anyway, whenever it was, I accidentally sprayed some cologne into my eyes that morning and I obviously had to tweet about it. Since my Twitter account is linked to my Facebook, two friends of mine decided to comment on my temporary cyclops-state. Though I had thought I'd go for Madonna's eyepatch look in the V Magazine editorial, one of my friends suggested a more Elle Driver kind of look and posted the famous trailer-fight scene from Kill Bill 2.

That reminded me of how much I was fascinated by Daryl Hannah back in the 80s. I bet almost everyone loved her in SPLASH, but the first time I saw her and where she really caught my attention was in the 1986 movie LEGAL EAGLES, where she starred alongside Robert Redford, Debra Winger, Brian Dennehy and the fabulous Terence Stamp. Her character was really intriguing, sort of like a previous version of Catherine Trammel: attractive blonde, possible murderer, gets involved with her lawyer. I also remember I was a bit disturbed by a pair of opera gloves she wore with a cocktail dress in one of the scenes, I never really liked that match, though I was hypnotized by her looks (loooong legs included).

BLONDE BEAUTY

OPERA GLOVE DRESS (THOUGH YOU CAN'T REALLY SEE THEM)

TERENCE STAMP LOOKING TERRIBLY DAPPER

LAWYER/DEFENDANT ROMANCE

After all these ideas went through my brain, the next inevitable thought was plastic surgery. I don't really like what's she's had done (though I really can't tell what precise touch-ups she has been through) but she's one of those celebrities whom you have sympathy for so you cover one eye, or squint, just so that you are not affected by the obvious changes.
I have to say, once again, that I'm not against plastic surgery AT ALL. I think it's totally worth it, especially if some doctor can keep you looking like Gloria Vanderbilt at EIGHTY SIX (!!!) :

GLORIA VANDERBILT TODAY.

Now back to Daryl, here's one of my favorite scenes from Legal Eagles:

TWENTY

Yes, it's been twenty years since Vogue came out as a single, though it was also included in the soundtrack for the movie Dick Tracy : I'm Breathless, and later that same year in the Immaculate Collection.

I became absolutely obsessed with this song and especially the video as soon as it came out. I was ten, but it just spoke to me, I've no idea what it was that captivated me, but in hindsight, the collection of Lempicka images and references to Horst and Mainbocher all put together and coming to life through a fabulous and intricate choreography were something that could just not go by unnoticed, even for my (yet) untrained eye.

Inspiration has become quite a frequent word lately, especially regarding current pop-stars' videos: How much is "inspired by" and how much of their work is just a blatant copy. I think Vogue is the perfect example of how to take references from different artists (the aforementioned ones), no matter how explicit they might be, to then mix them with something as current and not-so-mainstream as "voguing" was back in the day. I think it takes a lot of vision to be able to mix things that are so distant and that apparently have nothing in common (hedonism is the obvious common denominator) into something so new and unique, and what's even more difficult, into something of Madonna's own: it is virtually impossible to separate Madonna from voguing nowadays.
In 2004, I went to my first-ever Madonna concert. Vogue was the opening song, and she performed in a corset, not designed by Mainbocher, but by Monsieur Christian Lacroix himself.

However, I feel my favorite Vogue performances will always be the one at the 1990 MTV Music Awards and ESPECIALLY the one from The Girlie Show.

Here's the performance from the latter, and despite the cliché, here it goes : STRIKE A POSE!

WHAT IF FEELS LIKE FOR A FAN

"Because she's a non-conformist"
BLESS the girl who I'm quoting, whomever she may be. It's a phrase my best friend and I always go back to and that makes us giggle at first to then eventually break up into MAD laughter when we realize how silly we can be when it comes to our love for the one and only Queen of Pop.
The phrase comes from a teenager outside a Madonna performance in the 80's, most probably at a Virgin Tour concert, when asked by a news reporter WHY she loves Madonna. I've been asked that question myself and I haven't been able to answer it without going into an endless list of reasons which actually don't manage to express what it feels like for a fan.
It will be Madonna's birthday in about two minutes , and I could begin posting thousands of quotes, videos, pictures, etc. in order to celebrate, but this time I will limit my posting to two pieces.
Number one: a picture of myself and my newly acquired Interview magazine (brought to me by a dear friend) where she looks absolutely fantastic.

Number two: a video of Madonna at MTV'S New Music Seminar in 1984.
I love this video. There's no dancing, no singing, none of her usual physical abilities are exposed, but what we manage to see is one of Madonna's greatest talents: her vision. PLEASE watch, at least until the 1:26 mark, and OBSERVE how this newcomer gives the established artists of the time a huge lesson. I recently watched it for the nth time and I could not help but cheer, jump and clap. It makes me smile.
It makes me proud to be a fan.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADONNA!

AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER

It's half past midnight and although I have to be up early tomorrow and should be asleep by now, I can't avoid the fact that today is the fourth anniversary of the day Madonna grabbed my hand. Yes, four years ago I became one lucky fan. I travelled to Boston especially for this concert, I bought a ticket on ticketmaster and though I knew I had a pretty good seat, I had no idea I was to be located just by the end of the catwalk where the disco ball where Madonna would come out of would descend at the beginning of the show.
The minute the mirrored ball opened, right after she sang : Connect to the sky/Future lovers ride/There in mission style/Would you like to try, she turned to her left and stared at me, and I almost fainted. I had had a t-shirt made especially for the occasion, in black and white stripes and with the words "I CONFESS" emblazoned in fuchsia and purple sequins. I could hardly contain myself throughout the entire show, I had never been this close to her (I had been to the Reinvention Tour a couple of years before, but the stage design wasn't this fan friendly).
I was happy. Just too happy. I though my trip had been worth every bit, but little did I know that the best was yet to come. While singing La Isla Bonita, right when she went down the catwalk followed by her entourage of dancers, she knelt RIGHT in front of me towards the end of the song, and then it happened. A few seconds that have now become one of my most cherished memories ever. SHE grabbed my hand. MADONNA. The same person I'd been following since I was 5. The same person who danced on a Venetian gondola. The same person who walked up a staircase in a striped t-shirt and jeans while holding a leather jacket over her shoulder . The same girl whose voguing I tried to imitate at 10. The same woman who inspired my curiosity for Tamara de Lempicka (the subject of my first collection ever). Most importantly, the one whose voice had been the background music to much of my life. It was as if HER life had flashed before my eyes.
Though I held on, she let go, and I have to admit it was sort of a let-down. It was as if I expected her to recognize me or something. I know it sounds delusional, but I guess most fans feel we've had some sort of relationship with her for the past thirty years.
Though I thought everything I could possibly expect from this amazing experience had already happened, I was to be extremely and pleasantly surprised when I got back to Lima. Though I had taken my camera to the concert, I only took pictures of her and was too excited to even think about taking pictures of myself, so the last thing I expected was to find pictures where I show up jumping and dancing next to the stage, posted on flick.com by two guys to whom I'll be eternally grateful.
Here's my photographic homage on our 4th anniversary and the tiny clip I managed to film right before IT happened. Happy Anniversary darling.

THE HAND

THE TICKET

THE OUTFIT

THE SOUVENIR

THE MOMENT

MADONNA MOMENT

YOU'RE SO FINE, AND YOU'RE MINE

Last look at Chanel Couture Fall 2010- July 6, 2010

MY HEART BELONGS TO DADDY

So, I've been listening to a lot of Marilyn Monroe songs lately, I don't know why, but I've been in the mood for them, especially in the mornings. I think I first became aware of who she was after watching Madonna's Material Girl video back in the day and my parents explained where my beloved M had drawn the idea of wearing that pink dress and choreography. Given the recent controversy in the blogosphere regarding what is an "homage" and what is simply ripping-off another artist after Lady GaGa's Alejandro video, all I can say is Material Girl was definitely an homage, and a great one too.

To me the biggest difference between ripping-off and taking inspiration is that the first one uses/copies similar imagery just for the sake of a visual effect while taking actual inspiration requires further work and effort so that there is an actual purpose/message from this "borrowing of ideas". Material Girl wasn't based on just any Marilyn Monroe performance, it was based on her rendition of Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend in her 1953 movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The reference to that song was a perfect match and essential to the final message in the video : Boys may come and boys may go but that's alright you see, experience has made me rich and now they're after me.

Back to Monroe now, it is Father's Day today, and like every year, I can't help but start singing My Heart Belongs To Daddy. Though this Cole Porter piece has been sung by many artists, the only version I've ever heard is Marilyn's.  I remember how much my mom despised her singing skills when my dad used to play this when I was a kid, but there is such charm to her performance of this song that you just can't help but love it, especially because of the double-entendre and more so after you see the bit where she sings it in the movie Let's Make Love.
I love her outfit. I love the simplicity of it.  60's chic. A sweater and black tights. Isn't a sweater the typical Fathers' Day gift?

Here's the video, enjoy.

DÈJA VU

I've been thinking about how the 80's haven't ceased to make their comeback just yet. It started in the late 90's with the Adidas trademark stripes on everything and then kept slowly creeping up on us until there was no more denying it and then suddenly we were all wearing leggings once again. OK, maybe not all of us, but all our girl friends. Believe me, I have nothing against men's leggings but you've got to have a killer physique to pull them off AND then of course, I DO live in Lima, Peru, where I get "Barney" yelled at for wearing purple jeans...Ah! The Third World!
Back to our main subject, regarding the 80's and stuff (yes, I said "stuff"), it is common knowledge music and fashion go hand in hand most of the time. From disco to rock to rap to the next thing, we've seen and heard it all happen. Gianni Versace was one of the first designers to take advantage of this by signing Madonna, Prince and Elton John among others to star in his ad campaigns and by having all of them front row at his shows. This also reminds me Gianni would have turned 63 this year had he miraculously avoided that fatal encounter twelve years ago.


MADONNA IN A 1995 VERSACE AD SHOT BY STEVEN MEISEL


OK, now seriously, back to what brought me to my blog once again. I was paying close attention at how Lady GaGa and, on a very different level (at least up to now), Adam Lambert were adding so much NEEDED glam to the musical scene. It had been a long while since we had seen such attention grabbing theatrics from pop newcomers, the trend had been quite the contrary lately, just remember when Britney came out, then Christina (though she was quick to break from her initial image), Mandy Moore, etc. They all pretty much filled the same pattern.
I think it's refreshing to see people who are willing to challenge an audience that had become numbed by a flatlined scene. Now, this only applies to mainstream pop, I'm in no way trying to ignore the fascinating and amazing talents of the likes of Roisin Murphy and others who HAVE been doing their own "thing", pushing musical and fashion boundaries for QUITE A WHILE but have gone unnoticed by the masses. I mean, Roisin has been wearing avant garde wardrobe (including shoulder pads) for a loooooooong time.



She's wearing a deer-shaped jacket for Christ's sake... (and I love it).



Anyway, this glam thing going on in music is once again VERY 80's. I was just humming "When You Were Mine", thinking it was a Cyndi Lauper original only to find out it was actually performed first (and written) by Prince. However, her version stood out, I think. I youtubed it immediately and found a live performance from the American Music Awards I was happy to recognize as one I had seen many times as a child. Now THAT was a true GENUINE performance. And to think it was over 20 years ago. I think that was probably more shocking back in the day than what our discussed boundary-pushers have done at the last award ceremony held two weeks ago.
It'll be interesting to see how this new wave of pop artists that are embracing louder images shall influence people around the world. Maybe they will let more people bring out their flashy side and enjoy fashion as the role-playing game it can be.
Cyndi Lauper SURE was an influence back in the day, we've seen that hair and make-up on the street, don't you remember?
Here's her UH-mazing performance at the 1985 AMA's for "When You Were Mine". Enjoy.

I VOGUED UP FROM BED TODAY

It's been a while since I've been experimenting a new phase in...narcissism (?), I guess that's what I should call it. Most of these "exercises" have come out of boredom, a designer's-block in the middle of work, or something of the sort, but today's came out of my love of all things Madonna. Yes, I am one of those people that actually have August 16th marked on their calendar as a special date, not because I actually need a reminder, but just because I like to have it written down, I guess it keeps the fantasy alive, the fantasy that I actually know her. It also manages to ease the pain of having about 5 friends who share the same birth date as her...1,2,3,4,5...breathe....
Anyway, this is the first series of self-portraits I've decided to publish on my blog. I know that "self-portraits" may sound a bit pretentious, but I do need to stress the fact that all these pictures have been taken by none other than yours-truly. Either with the help of my laptop or my camera on self-timer, all done in private.
Since I already declared this an exercise in narcissism, I'll go all the way. I'm particularly proud (yes, proud) of this one because I think I managed to compose something visually pretty with the few elements my unshaven-self had around at 9am this morning. I will admit I changed into that t-shirt (the one I wore to my famous hand-grabbing moment at the Confessions Tour in 2006), but that was it. As I took the first three pictures I thought I should have done this in a sleep-walking version, but then I realized the first one looked sort of like a Tamara de Lempicka painting (again, in my very own private fantasy)that I like, so then I couldn't help but link that to the opening of the Vogue video where Madonna's own paintings by this artist mix with some of the dancers posing as sculptures.
Even though the whole set of pics is almost like a Vogue tutorial, I actually think my look came out to be very à la Jean Seberg, I guess it must be my short hair, the striped t-shirt and sunglasses. NOUVELLE VAGUE meets VOGUE. Or maybe it's just me. Voilà :




DREAMING OF: A LEMPICKA PAINTING...



...A FEATHERED FAN...



...AN ART-DECO SCULPTURE...



...GRACE KELLY, HARLOW JEAN, PICTURE OF A BEAUTY QUEEN... GENE KELLY, FRED ASTAIRE, GINGER ROGERS DANCE ON AIR...



...THEY HAD STYLE, THEY HAD GRACE, RITA HAYWORTH GAVE GOOD FACE, LAUREN, KATHARINE, LANA TOO, BETTE DAVIS WE LOVE YOU...



LADIES, LADIES, LADIES, LADIES...



LADIES WITH AN ATTITUDE...



...FELLAS THAT WERE IN THE MOOD...



...DON'T JUST STAND THERE...



...LET'S GET TO IT...



...STRIKE A POSE...



...THERE'S NOTHING TO IT...



...VOGUE!




HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Eyes, hair, face, image, all must be preserved...

Still life displayed forever, no less than she deserved.
Aging: it has come to be a frequent topic in my conversations. As I mentioned before, I am approaching thirty, I'll be turning 29 in April. Last night, at a birthday party, eye soothers, facial creams and other sorts of hope-infused ointments were part of what I discussed with my friends, along with Flashdance, nostalgia, remembering how all of us had met, and the breaking news of my blog (I haven't told that many people about it yet but I have now included it in my web info on Facebook).
To add on to the topic, I was watching a Madonna special on TV, and it included a recent post-plastic surgery interview. Now, in order to create some background for what I'm about to say, I need to make clear that I'm a HUGE Madonna fan. Ever since Dress You Up (which means I was about 4 then). I love her. I was lucky enough to see her up close during the Confessions Tour where she grabbed my hand at the end of her perfomance of La Isla Bonita and made my trip from Lima to Boston (especially for the concert) worth every penny and more.
OK, so I love her, and I will definitely have posts in the future just about her, but after watching this interview and her "new" face, I think she's made it clear that she is now officially old. It's a certain look, the high cheekbones, the eyebrows, something about this "young" appearance that comes across as a clear statement that she has reached a certain age. I don't know if I'm being clear here, but, I no longer look at her and say "wow, she looks amazing for her age" because plastic surgery just makes those calendar blocks evident. I'm not against plastic surgery AT ALL, I might go through it myself in the future, but I hoped Madonna would stay looking fabulous and plastic-surgery-free forever. That just goes on to show you how hard it is to please everyone when you're a public figure.
On the other hand, after thinking about all these things, I couldn't help but watch some clips of one of my favorite movies ever, Death Becomes Her. I seriously consider this movie a masterpiece, from the AMAZING performances to the script to the humor, I can't help but laugh like crazy every time I watch it. It's one of those movies that if you had to make a selection of highlights, you'd probably end up selecting 95% of it.
The opening is just hilarious and Meryl Streep confirms the fact that she is one of the greatest and most versatile actresses of our time. The set, the decoration, the choreography, the mix in musical styles and, of course, the lyrics to the opening song make this scene kitsch to the max (please pay attention to the feathers coming off her boa) and part of that 95% I was talking about.
Enjoy.