March 8, 2015

Be your own (S)HERO.


“How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!” 
Maya Angelou

I really don't like an expression 'better half' or a 'prettier half' for women. I never considered myself to be a half of a person (well, maybe when I was 10kg lighter ;)). 

Being a half sounds like I lost a half of myself when I entered the relationship. I imagine those couples who share facebook account, toilet where he is pooping and she is shaving her legs at the same time and calling each other 'honey bunny' in a grocery store consider themselves two halves of a one whole. 

HOW I MADE A TOUGH DECISION. 

Ever since I moved to Barcelona and embarked on a new personal and professional adventure living in much different surroundings of people then before I find myself spending much more time thinking about and seeing women cutting themselves short. 

From being surrounded with highly competitive business women in US, mostly solely focused on careers and often staying single to to moving to Croatia where I observed some ladies in my company trying to juggle (and doing it successfully) their private life, their family (where they still assume the traditional role where they cook, clean and care about kids) and demanding careers in international corporation. Often looking really exhausted. 

Next I moved to Budapest where there was a bigger office and I noticed there were much more single or divorced women then in Croatia. All of this made me wonder how difficult it really is to have both fulfilling career and happy personal life for a women?

'CAREER' WOMEN vs. 'ATHLETES GIRLFRIEND'.

Today when I (subjectively) observe myself 2-5 years in retrospect I wonder how did I appear to people? I don't like to put myself or anyone else in a box and label them but from society point of view I am assuming many considered me a single women focused on a carrier only and there is nothing wrong with that. In early twenties my carrier did take priority in my life and I wouldn't want to have it any other way. Looking back I didn't think about family as I yet didn't meet a man I would like to have family with.

I made professional-emotional decision to finish my corporate career in P&G and go back to work in fashion industry. Not working was never an option. I co-launched my own online fashion business which allows me location free work and as such accommodates my personal life of being in a relationship with a professional athlete. 


“Women need to shift from thinking "I'm not ready to do that" to thinking "I want to do that- and I'll learn by doing it.” 
Sheryl Sandberg

In this new environment I live, most ladies I am surrounded with are not working. Some of them are starting to follow their personal dreams once their husbands finish their basketball careers,  while some commit to be full time mums (which is, lets face it often more then a full time job).
        
These women are beautiful and smart and many are really talented in area of their interest but do not have financial need to work, they are changing the country they live in often (sometimes every year) and in all this location insecurity somehow never get to start to do anything truly for themselves as years go by, and they go by fast, they continue to be fully dependent on their husbands. 

BE YOUR OWN (S)HERO.

In comparison, I personally don't think it's healthy to live only for your career or at least I never met a person who was 100% happy having no personal life to go home to after work. 

On the other side, the goal of working and having a career is not only financial, working and developing your interests, learning, accomplishing things and creating something new from scratch and making a world better place for yourself and your kids is one of the reasons to live.

 I think that women who work are also better mothers as you are teaching your kids working habits by example. Women who work are also better girlfriends and wives as they husbands don't need to carry a burden of being the only provider for the family and in general they respect you more as independent from them and having your own life, your own personality, interests and value as a person.



HAPPY WOMAN'S DAY LADIES!

No matter if you decide to be a full time mother, run your own business, work in a firm or fly to the moon never stop learning and never stop chasing your dreams! There is nothing in this world you cannot achieve! If you want to make people you love happy, start with making yourself happy first!


XoXo


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March 6, 2015

History is Her Story! #LeanInTogether



Just to make it clear, I don't consider myself a feminist. One of my missions in life is to help other young women who have ambition and drive to fulfill their dreams with my advice and support if they need it. I would like to help make the society a better place for my child one day (no matter if it's a girl or a boy) to have an equal starting point in life in no matter what they dream of becoming.

There is a saying in Croatia for when you are expecting a baby which saids "Dear God, just let the baby he healthy and born with a penis." In it's core Croatian culture traditionally values men over women. In media when there is an article about a man adjectives used if article is positive will be: successful, accomplished, talented.
 
When there is an article about a women (no matter the job position she does) it will most often be about her looks: she lost weight, showed her boob, no panties, got married for a politician, business man or athlete. 

To support my claim above, here are some stats for Croatia (source: LeanIn Croatia):

  • Only 15% of women in Croatia own a real-estate property
  • Women in Croatia earn 10.6% less on the same roles as men
  • More women in Croatia generally have higher education then men but are paid less
  • Research show that 36% of men and only 18% women are targeting promotion 

Lot's of things have changed and are still changing for the better but the gender inequality still remains highly noticeable in daily life. During job interviews it's not uncommon (although it's illegal) to get questions like "Are you married?"and "Do you plan to have kids?" which if answered with "Yes" often automatically disqualify the potential female employee for the position. 

When I came back from studying and working in US to Croatia, straight from the airport I went to three job interviews. On two out of three I was asked if I am married or in a serious relationship and if I plan to have kids in next couple of years or not. Talking about a culture shock right there and then at the spot.

On the more positive note, Croatia as an ex-socialist country (from when it was part of Yugoslavia) still has a strong social care system where health care is available for all and where women are staying home with new born babies much longer then in Western European countries (although on minimum pay) and family (as long as it's considered as a man and women community) is well protected and valued by laws and society as a whole. 

WOMEN IS HER OWN WORST ENEMY BUT SHOULD BE A BEST FRIEND.

There is so many reasons why something might not work for you in life, but even more why it could. Having a positive outlook on life, being persistent and being your own biggest fan and a cheerleader is important trait to have to succeed both in business and to be happy in personal life.

Going from security and safety of your parents house (which in Croatia lasts until end of college years) and then getting married right away and entering the safety of your husbands care is not how you take responsibility over your own life. From how I'm looking at it. It's like being a bird in a cage who just changes cages but never learns how to fly. It's not fair to your husband and it's not fair to you. What are the chances you will know how to learn your kids how to fly and sore higher? 

I had some major doubts when I left the safety of working in large global corporation P&G where I spent some years to build a place for myself and venturing into a new personal and business adventure.

 I made a hard and emotional decision after preparing financially and emotionally for a full year and then I moved to Barcelona to give a better chance of my relationship to work but also to get closer to working in a fashion industry which was my goal all along so I could put more time into blogging professionally, freelancing and working on my fashion startup.


"Doubt kills more dreams then failure ever will." 
Suzy Kassem 


I became a business co-owner in a startup called Trendcy.com and my 10 hour corporate work days turned into 12-14 hour ones. A new business is like a new baby, it keeps you up at night (work days and weekends). On top,  I started to live with a man for the first time, not just any man. With a professional athlete to whom I cook three full meals a day, we together take care of our apartment and we both #LeanIn to make it work every single day. There is no men's or women's jobs in our home, we both do it all.


"When it comes time to settle down, find someone who wants an equal partner. 
Someone who thinks women should be smart, opinionated, and ambitious. 
Someone who values fairness and expects or, even better, wants to do his share in the home. 
These men exist and, trust me, over time, nothing is sexier."
Sheryl Sandberg


The challenges I face today for me are much different then what they were before. Today I earn sometimes more and sometimes less then when I had safe corporate job.But now I am working for myself, I do what I love the most, I blog and do freelance writing on top of my startup business to supplement my income. 

I share living expenses with my boyfriend and my challenge today with some of my clients who know the amount of money my boyfriend makes is to have them pay me on time for work I've done as I guess they think I am taking money from my boyfriend so paying me on time is not as important or some even try to ask me to work and write articles for free.

MENTORING vs. JEALOUSY.


Look at HER, it's easy for her to be successful SHE.....
....... comes from a rich family.
....... went to a good school.
...... she is pretty and skinny.
.... she lives in a bigger city.
..... she has a rich boyfriend.

When we feel jealous of someone it's most often because they have something we want. Instead of building up negativity which makes us a bitter and negative person and it's not productive at all, why don't we actually act and ask the women we admire for an advise or mentorship to make ourselves more productive and successful. 

Sharing is caring. No person is an island. At some point, somebody extended their hand to help us climb up so our responsibility is to make this world a better place for ourselves and our kids to grow in and to extend our hand to other young women.

I am happy to mentor a few ladies I met through my blog and to try to help them by sharing my personal experiences or just be there to keep their hand through rough times. I encourage all of you ladies to grab the hands of those women you admire and extend yours to young girls looking up to you.


"We need to live in the world where men do half, women let them do half and being a parent is not a full time job for a women and a half time job for a man."
Sheryl Sandberg


This post was inspired by Sheryl Sandberg book and movement #LeanInTogether. I am very happy to see the movement spreading around the world and creating positive and productive networks of women ready to help each other succeed! 

I highly recommend all girls and women to read the book. Get inspired, aim high, stay positive and never, ever give up on their dreams! You can do it all!


Did you read Sheryl's book? How do you feel about your rights as a women?


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March 5, 2015

This is how diva listens to music.

Photo Source: Style.com | Dolce & Gabanna RTW Fall 2015.

Long has pass the time when we just used the same little white buds earphones we get along with our iPhone. Since fashion collaborations started with tech and sports brands our phones and now our headphones started getting their own seasonal designer wear.

Designer houses noticed that on top of bags and shoes (which are still super expensive) great entry point for young generations to start buying their brand name items young (when still not earning lots of money) is tech accessory like iPhone and iPad cases which usually range anywhere from $30 to $100 and now these (I'm sure much more expensive) earphones. 

I won't lie I am definitely a sucker for good pair of fabulous ear phones, pink leather camera bags and fabulous new iPhone mask. 

No matter what I am doing and where I'm going I always have a pair of earphones on me,  even when I am walking my dog, working out in the gym, running or cleaning the house. Music is always on!

Even though I was mesmerized with Dolce & Gabanna's gorgeous modern mummy inspired clothing and accessory collection these fab earphones were the highlight of the show for me. How brilliant I though,  I can now finally wear an actual crown even when it's not Halloween (with being 30) and not getting those 'look at this crazy women' looks as D&G made a crown into a fab bedazzling earphones made in collab with earphone brand   Frends who previously collaborated with    Rebecca Minkoff as wel on a capsule collection.

 I'll be saving for these crown ones for sure, they have my name on it!




How cool that these winter fur earphones also serve as ear warmers? :)


In my research for this post I automatically looked to investigate if there are some rocking ear phones for men as well as my boyfriend (even though not a huge music listener) travels a lot so this could be a fab gift for him for next celebratory occasion.

These black Chanel ones can easily be unisex, you might remember them from Chanel's Supermarket Show. Chanel also had 'Star Wars' inspired braided pair on one of their last shows for all of the super geeks out there!



Chanel Quilted Earphones, $7,200 



Scullycandy + D&G mens earphones $119.99


Would you wear these or are they a bit to much for you?
Which ones are your favorite? (Don't say crown, these are mine :P).


XoXo


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February 26, 2015 Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

080 Barcelona Fashion Best Women's Shows.


Photo source: 080 Barcelona Fashion

This summary post of 080 Barcelona Fashion event (local fashion week in Barcelona) was long overdue as I was covering the introductory post to larger fashion weeks - NYC, London, Milan and Paris however this event features some extremely talented designers and some very well established, high quality brands with rich heritage who's collections are both artsy but wearable and what's most important of a high classic quality which lasts for more then one fashion season.

I really love how local Spanish fashion shoppers love and support their local design brands when it comes to following them through different media touch-points and what matters most, buying their clothing for generations. 

In this post I am covering some of the Spanish brands who's shows I found most interesting and which are highly wearable and affordable for mid class shopper. I will cover some other brands left out in this post in more details in upcoming posts.

YERSE

Spanish brand founded in 1964. started as producer of woven sweaters for the whole family. During the last 50 years, they focused on creating a total feminine look. I adore the softness and easiness of their pieces, as a huge hat person I went crazy for their hats for upcoming Fall seasons with brown leather braid belts wrapped around. I love the vintage but still urban look the brand managed to form through the years as it showcases their heritage but it's styled to follow modern 21ct. women's lifestyle. 

Every year this brand designs and markets 4 collections: regular Spring/Summer & Fall/Winter lines, an accessory line and two capsules (Resort and special edition).

Fall/Winter 15' collection is named 'Beauty Surrounds' and it features winter floral bloom prints, slouchy pants and high slit skirts and comfy soft sweaters hugging the delicate blouses in layered looks.  I love the earthy color pallet of dark greens, luxurious looking camel browns and patterns on accessory which lifts up the full look.



WHO

I had the pleasure to visit Laia Roca (designer behind the WHO brand) at her studio last year when she showed me her families production facility in the small city close to Barcelona. Although Laia founded WHO brand in 2000. her family has a long tradition in Barcelona's textile industry as well as well established clientele. WHO collection's are recognizable by their quality of making, androgynous appeal and beautiful soft fabrics. Fall/Winter 15' collection featured interesting metal jewelry for the show as well.  Laia used innovative fabrics, easy to care for and she added some gentle and feminine blush pink details and dark, wine red color to her usually mainly black color pallet.




TXELL MIRAS
Txell Miras started her own brand in 2004. before that she was a winner and a finalist in numerous designer competitions and worked in Neil Barrett designer team. Her current collection was named Angles. It was an exercise practicing purity of form.  A retro-futuristic voyage, a combination of technical and natural materials in black, white, grey, burgundy and cardboard - yes, cardboard! 


TCN
Designer Totón Comella launched TCN out of her personal need for swimwear which is both versatile and comfortable. The brand is known by it's shabby chic style. For 2015/16 collection intimates were combined with 'outwear'. Collection features secondary colors like ocher, blues and greens in TCN's best selling fabric - silk. Silk, cashmere and wool are what TCN uses for their soft and beautiful layering looks reminding of effortless looking french school girl (with a great taste in clothing, obviously).  


SITA MURT
Sita Murt, designer behind own brand name is interpreting trends of the moment and adapting them to fit her brands style. She designs for the 21ct women who works around the clock at work and at home and needs clothing which can follow her intense lifestyle. Sita Murt collection showed on last Barcelona 080 fashion event flirts with masculine British style and mixes it with soft, fluid fabrics to create sexiness and contrast. Collection features woven tops mixed with jersey or structured trousers or pleated dresses and skirts. 




RITA ROW
The brand is a mixture of North American and Mediterranean inspiration, each of the brand designs has a story and each is very unique. Inspiration for the new collection was retirement of the two widows to the Woods of Norway wearing tartan as their uniform. Collection features interesting and modern mixture of yellow tartan patched with custom floral prints in blouses, bomber jackets and high waist shorts as my favorite pieces from the collection. 



PABLO ERROZ
The brand named by the designer himself is founded in 2010. and it carries men's and women's RTW collections. Brand produces fully in Spain and it mixes modern and classic influences with special focus on quality of details. On top of his own collection, Pablo Erroz works on collection for other national and international brands. Collection for season Fall/Winter  2015/16. offers unisex clothing solutions for modern women. It's based on warm materials (100% wool),  suede, leather and furs. Dominant colors in collection are navy, brown, gray, white and yellow. The collection mixes historic influences of 20's and style of modern, slick and sophisticated working women.  


NATALIE CAPELL
Since 2002.Natalie Capell and her Barcelona team design inspired by a new kind of femininity. Since she was 14 designer was interested and working on intricate embroidery and designing pieces to follow female form. Latest collection is titled Terra (Earth) is an ode to a women who is like an African voodoo doll draped in sheer fabric and her strong believes.  Collection features jackets and scarves which follow female form.  


EDGAR CARRASCAL
Designer, Columbian was educated in New York and Barcelona and founded his name brand in Spain while at the same time working on collaborations with major brands like Diesel, Levi's, Swarovski etc. The name of the current collection is 'Blue Rose' and it features both men's and women's line. The collection is based on interaction of a modern man and urban architecture. The materials in this collection are cotton, polyamide, wool voile, and unconventional materials like polystyrene board.


CUSTO BARCELONA
Created at the beginning of the 80's by the Dalmau brothers: David & Custo. After brothers traveled the world their launched their brand essentially called Custo Line with particular interest in prints and different techniques to get innovative prints on clothing. Today brand has men's, women's and growing children's line. Every season Custo Barcelona premiers it's main line at New York Fashion week known bu their signature bold print and color look. Custo Barcelona has become a go to brand of Hollywood celebs like Julia Roberts and Charlize Theron. 

Their latest collection brings back the 70's vibe with red glasses and mixing black and white prints, fabrics and layers highlighting new trends like culottes pants and digital print bodies & blouses.  



ALDO MARTINS
Designer Nuria Bisbal inherited Aldo Martins fashion brand from her father - Aldo. Latest collection is titled Winter Passion and it's inspired by heritage of alpine sports and folktales. Collection features mixture of colors, jacquard and patterns to form eclectic but modern new spirit of Fall/Winter 2016 season. 



BRAIN & BEAST
The brand was founded by Angel Vinda, Cesar Olivar and Veronica Raposo. Brain & Beast is showing garments which combine emotion and reason, with a strong influence of contemporary culture, as well as a large dose of sophistication and a sense of humor. 

New collection titled Maniac calls on women to release the inner beast. Day wear clothing pieces have unexpected erotic details like red tie up side on mini skirt or large bell sleeves on white shirt. 


Look for more comprehensive coverage of the rest of the 080 Shows in next posts. 
I was so thrilled to discover such an abundance of fashion design talent despite of the bleeding economy and negativity which comes out of it among young people. Keep being creative Barcelona! 

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February 12, 2015

5 Valentines Gift Ideas for Him.


I always loved making gifts for holidays like Valentines Day, these kind of gifts usually mean the most to people and they cherish and remember them for a long time so as we are celebrating love, no matter if we are currently in love or not, there is always someone we can gift whom we love and cherish, be it a friends or a sibling or significant other.

Without sharing what I have prepared for Valentines Day for my boyfriend this Saturday (as he might be reading this) I would like to propose a few fun and easy but thoughtful ideas which can make a beautiful gift for your boyfriend for Valentines Day.

I personally love to give and get Bold Loft Valentines Gifts, I think their are adorable.

1. NAUGHTY MESSAGES IN A CUP.
Write a naughty message on a white coffee cup with permanent sharpie, fill it with his favorite candy and wrap in a cellophane with a bow. Here are some ideas off message to write: "Good Morning Handsome", "You Make Me Strong", "Hot, strong and able to keep me up.", "I Like You A Latte", "I Dig You".



2. THE REASONS WHY I LOVE YOU IN A JAR.
Get a medium size jar and a bunch of colorful post-its and write a jar full of messages why you love Him. Decorate the jar with a red paper heart sign and write your message on it "Happy Valentines Day" or "100 Reasons Why I love You".



3. ROMANTIC MIRROR.
Write all of the reasons why you love him on a bunch of red or pink post-its. Sneak out of the bed early on Valentines Day and arrange the post-its on his bathroom mirror in the shape of a heart. 


4. LOVE GOES THROUGH STOMACH.
If you are good at baking, make him a box of heart shaped cookies and package them nicely in a large box. Depending how long you have been together you can write on the sticker something like "Be My Valentine" or "Happy Valentines Day My Love".


5. CAN'T GO WRONG SEXY PACK.
Prepare a classic strawberry, champagne and red lingerie naughty box package and leave it on the table after dinner so he get's a sense of how you plan to spend Valentine's evening with him.



How do you plan to celebrate Valentines Day ladies? Any more ideas on gifts for him?
What would you like to get from your significant other?

XoXo


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February 7, 2015

080 Barcelona Fashion Week Review.


Barcelona is a capital of fast fashion with being a home of Inditex (Zara, Massimo Duti, Bershka etc.) as well as Desigual and Mango so it's normal that these brands take head spot and a lot of media attention during their traditional 080 Barcelona Fashion event. 

This local fashion week is taking place twice a year and it is largely sponsored by the city of Barcelona but it also attracts local corporate sponsors like water Solan de Cabras (served for free by a super cute hosts in matching white shirts and blue pants), coffee, beer and make up companies like Mac. In comparison to Paris, London or Milan Barcelona is as urban but when it comes to local fashion designers there seems to be a lot of hippy, artesian and indie kind of designers most of whom are struggling to compete with fast fashion brands and not really finding a local clientele.
 

DESIGNER FASHION SHOPPERS IN BARCELONA

Fashion shoppers in Barcelona are used to cheap mass market clothing and struck by a huge local unemployment rate are not willing nor able to shop a bit more pricey (but often better in quality) designers brands which was reflected on the sales results of 080 Barcelona Fashion Market.

 My favorite items to shop in Barcelona are leather goods like boots and purses as they are usually made out of great quality locally sourced leather and with high level of craftsmanship so if you find yourself in this beautiful Gaudi's city, be sure to invest in a great quality locally made leather piece. 

Working for as a co-owner of e-commerce boutique @Trendcy and being in a role of a both seller at 080 Barcelona Fashion Market and a buyer looking to network and recruit local designers I found that very little or no designer (even young ones) speak English which also presents a problem for them when trying to reach out and sell outside of Spanish speaking area.

EVENT ORGANIZATION

080 Barcelona Fashion organizing team did a beautiful job using the gorgeous historic Maritim Museum venue for all of the activities surrounding the runway shows. They organized a fashion summit, photography masterclass, gorgeous Celia Vella exhibition and many others. 

There was plenty of free water, coffee and drinks to go around as well as free wifi and electronic charging stations. Advertising and marketing for the event around the city was done really good with great visibility. Unfortunately not many tourists seem to have visited the 080 Fashion Market most likely because of the horrible weather we had here last couple of days.



The great thing about 080 Fashion Market for designers who were presenting was that it was a great opportunity to present their work to potential buyers of local boutique stores and create connections with factories, other designers, media and bloggers.

WHO CAME TO THE SHOWS?

When it comes to fashion shows there seem to have been a whole lot of very young people, almost teenagers in attendance as well as media representatives, company sponsors and bloggers, while much less fashion buyers both for online and offline boutiques but I am sure that as times go by and this event becomes more well known globally, there will be more international buyers in attendance as well.This fashion event is where I saw the most men in skirts and heels and they could actually walk in them!

DESIGNERS SHOWING

It was refreshing to see a fair number of great quality mens designer collections like Pablo Erroz, Edgar Carrascal, Isometric, Josep Abril, Miguel Suay, Modafad, Torras and Georgina Vendrell. In comparison to other mens fashion weeks around the world I feel like in Barcelona we've seen the most wearable collection with rich selection for different type of men including athletic, casual and dressy looks for men and boys of all ages.

Torras

Overall, attending 080 Barcelona Fashion in my roles as exhibitor, buyer and a blogger was a great experience, I really think that craftsmanship in fashion really came to show both in fashion shows and looking at young designers showing at Fashion Marketplace. I'm looking forward to create relationships with all of the talented designers from Barcelona and work with them in my Trendcy role. Can't wait for the next event in Fall!
 

XoXo

 
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