makes me wanna dance

Prada SS'11...makes me wanna dance and makes me wanna draw it.
I'm going with both.

The Coveted

(Karla Martinez's closet)

What everyone's talking about, the Selby for closets...The Coveted. 

This is giving decoration a whole new meaning. I mean, why hang a painting when you can hang a gorgeous Carolina Herrera gown. 

Spring Illustrated.

During the first days of the year, the people of Refinery29 were all about looking forward into 2011, and still clad in winter clothes they caught the spring-fever (we all have!) and started daydreaming about Spring. Six color Trends you can't miss this 2011 as written by Refinery 29, translated into illustration, by me. 

From left to right...

Pink. 

(Jil Sander in the illustration)

Pantone chose pink as the color of 2011 (Honeysuckle), so expect lots of it this year.

Pink invaded the Spring/Summer collections, now it's taking over the red carpets (Claire Danes, anyone?), next our wardrobes, and then who knows...maybe even the world. 

Earth Tones.

(3.1 Phillip Lim in the illustration)

Spring is coming with a a lot of bright, cheerful hues. But muted, earth tones are here to stay. At least for one more season.

Yellow.

(Proenza Schouler in the illustration)

A bright almost sheer yellow was seen all over the runways. My favorite? Proenza's see through yellow.

Orange.

(Prada in the illustration)

Orange in Prada was ge-nius. Word. 

Blue.

(DVF in the illustration)

Also, there will be plenty of blue. I say go with blue pants, shoes or accessories. I'm looking for a pair of turquoise sandals myself. 

White.

(Derek Lam in the illustration)

Head-to-toe white this spring. Careful with that soda. 

Also, starring in this series of illustrations are 3 of the 5 spring hair trends also chosen by Refinery29 (YES! I'm a big fan!). In pink, the low-bun; in Earth Tones, the swoop and in white, the Jane-Birkin-Bangs.

What colors are you looking forward to this spring?

xx, em. 

Ps. Illustrations made with pen, oil pastels + watercolours. Sorry for the weird lightning but due to a lack of scanner...I had to photograph them.

l.o.v.e. + thursdays

It's Thursday, let's spread the love.

the b-sides

Being my birthday and all I want to take a moment to explain the name and purpose of this blog.

(not that it has anything to do with my birthday)

I'm a fan of everything vintage, vinyls being no exception obviously. And there's something in particular that I love about them: they have two sides

Side A + Side B. 

I like to think of life as an old vinyl record, there's always another side to it....side -b, and it's a matter of choosing to see it...being it in fashion, in music, in traveling, in movies or in everyday life. Side B is about all those little things and details that make a difference, at least for me. Things that keep my life colorful, and I'd like to share those things.

Also (in a more egocentric manner) "B"-sides because "B" is a nickname of mine. 

So this blog is mainly about fashion, yes, because I love it and I love fashion illustration, but it doesn't limit to that. This blog is about anything and everything. (If there's anything you'd like to see here do tell.)

So, that said, I'm off to lunch for my birthday. 

xx, em. 

Twenty-one.

So...happy birthday to me.
I can't believe I'm turning 21. I'm not that old I know, but still, 21 feels a lot like "welcome to the rest of your life..."
Let's celebrate anyway.

xx, em.

So This Is The New Year...

There's a song from Rent that most of you must know that goes something like this...

"Five hundred, twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes. 

     How do you measure, measure a year?

In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, 

     in cups of coffee, in inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife..."

Every new year I can't help thinking about this song. I look back to the year that has just ended and think: How do we measure a year? 

In days? minutes? Parties? People?

When I look back to my 2010 the amount of things that happened this year really astounds me...I began the year with a trip to NYC with my best friend at the time to celebrate my 20th birthday, I played soccer, I injured my ankle while playing soccer, I was part of the production of a shortfilm,I went to see Coldplay and The Sounds on concert, I worked all sumer, I was the art director of a show in the theater I created in summer too, I saw my sister who I hadn't seen in a year and a half, I went back to painting, I traveled across the country, I visited Baja twice, I went whale-seeing twice, my grandma passed away, I had to quit school for a while, I lost my best friend but made a lot of new friends who I adore, I saw my sister again, I started this blog...really 2010 was a year of highs and lows, and there will always be lows, but the important things is to climb "up" again. 

All of this is part of 2010. 2010 now belongs to the past, but I'm taking all of this things into 2011. Everything we live, everything we experience builds us, it makes us who we are, and no matter what happens we learn from it and we move on. Now we're moving on to 2011 but we're taking everything 2010 taught us with us. 

And it may sound like I say this every year, but I think 2010 is the year I've learned (not academically of course) most in my life. Maybe I can't come up with an exact number of how many things I learned, but this is how I'm measuring my year because it's what I'm taking with me along the way. 

I learned that the only thing that remains constant in life is change, as ironic as that may sound.

I learned that you can't always get what you want, but sometimes even when it's hard to acknowledge it, you get what you need. 

I learned that fear is useless. When you think about what could be worse things that could happen...the truth is nothing. 

I learned that things aren't always as we think they are, there are always to sides of the story and we only see from one point of view. Sometimes we need to go a little distance to see things from another perspective.

I learned that drama is really useless. 

I learned that there's nothing like spending time with your family.

I learned that you can plan as much as you like and talk about the future, but talking about the future is like writing bad checks, so fuck forever.

I learned that it's entirely up to you when you want something. 

I learned to never say never...and I learned that as bad things can seem to be, time is wise and sometimes we must give time itself a little time to sort things out.

So to everyone who was part of my 2010 and who in some way or other helped me learn all of this: thank you. 

And thank you 2010 for a year of experiences, opportunities, lessons, friends and memories.

2011, bring it on. I think I already love you.

xx, em.