PREPPY MEETS CASUAL MEETS HIGH FASHION

PREPPY MEETS CASUAL MEETS HIGH FASHION by mypitangas

 

I went from a job where I had to doll myself up and be trendy for my clients at the store, to a job where I'm kinda stuck in my atelier working with pliers and hiding behind a computer. Sometimes I miss it. Today is an example of that. So here's how I express my longing mood. Enjoy.

YSL SOIREÉ @SEPHORA

I had a great time last Friday at Sephora.
Anyone who knows me knows that I love anything to do with makeup and glam!
And if you add that to a couple of champagne flutes you just make my day. Or evening, in this case.
The music was great, the vibe was fun, there were a bunch of "cigar girls" giving samples of the brand new Rouge Pur Couture Vernis à Lèvres Glossy Stain, and I had the chance to be dolled up by one of my fav YSL makeup artist, Mário. Hands up!




I bought the most amazing mat lipstick on Grenat Satisfaction color. Loved the name. And this lipstick is so good that when I left Sephora I was totally in the mood to kiss and tell...
I just wanna thanks Carmo for the invite, a great blogger and a better illustrator. She was there with the brand in this cutest black and gold booth giving away YSL bags with a very, very chic illustration that she made especially for this event.

CHERRY ME

Necklace PITANGA; Pumps PRADA; Swimsuit HERVE LEGER; Bracelets DSQUARED2; Lipstick YSL; Blush DIOR.

Lately I've been completely abscessed by everything that's cherry color. I don't care that much for the fruit, but the color, yum yum I can't get enough! It's in my wardrobe, it's on my nails, it's on my lips, it's everywhere! I'm one step away from painting my son red cherry :)
A few weeks ago I went out wearing nothing but red cherry. Dress, necklace, lips and nails. Well, at least I wore nude pumps... I was afraid I might offend someone. Visually :)
Eventually I'll be in the mood for another color. Lets just hope it's not acid yellow LOL.

MY NEW WEBSITE

Finally! My new awesome website is on. I'm so proud you guys can't imagine. My blood, sweat  and tears are allover it! A special thanks to my good old friend Gonçalo, he's always there for me when I need to go web mode. And crazy mode too. But he can handle it.
Hope you all enjoy it and I better start getting orders from allover the World :)

IT'S A NEW DAWN. IT'S A NEW DAY.

Good things always come to an end. That's the truth. But it's also true that in order to experience new good and exciting things you must let go of the old. Most of the time it's painful, but it's much better to watch good things go away than watching them go sour... believe me. It may sound like a bold statement, almost an inconvenient one, but people tend to hold on to things, moments, more than they should. It's part of human nature. And it seems to me that this inability of "letting go" is much noticeable on women's DNA than on guys'. But the fastest you learn how to let go the better. It's something that comes with age. God, I'm starting to sound like my mom. Anyway, lately I've been coaching myself the fine art of "letting go". Not easy my friends. Especially when we're talking about something that you worked so hard for. But still, you have to make it work. You do it gently. Take your own time. Put your fears behind and move forward. Even if you have to start everything all over again. You just do it. 'cause that's what makes good things come to you. Fuck The Secret. The secret is not taking bullshit from life. Own it.
I'm loving my new atelier. And as much as sometimes I'm shitting my pants I would not trade it for what I was doing before. The old. 'cause that's how new good and exciting things happen.

COOL MOOD

Necklace by Pitanga. Sandals by Mulberry.

GQ AWARDS, SEE YOU NEXT YEAR. DEFINITELY.

GQ Men of the Year Awards turned out to be a great event. And for me, it's hard to catalog "great" a portuguese event. Well well, there were quite some international somebodies but it's not it. It was tasteful, trendy, fresh and glamorous enough. And the people invented (like me :) were the perfect match to a successful evening where was expected beauty, fun and some awards involved. The place was very well chosen at Cidadela de Cascais and either the room where we had dinner or the room where the actual event took place were sexy and GQ all the way.
I must highlight the presence of a very strong group of international celebs such as Dsquared2 boys Dean and Dan Caten, the breath-taken Izabel Goulart, Bianca Brandolini with a huuuge entourage (it turn out great for net-working), and Andrey Smidl so baby boy I swear to God that after dinner I almost burped him :) Congratulations GQ Portugal and to all the great team!
My Pitanga creations were a big success, again, hope it start to sell like crazy!

 My-cute-self, Manuela Marques

 The beautiful TV host, Helena Coelho

WTF SJP ?!

Sarah Jessica Parker should be ashamed of her latest "charity act". Actually, if I were her I wouldn't leave home for a month or two just to make sure I wasn't attacked by a Sex and the City crazy fan or a charity activist. (I am sure there are some)
It starts today, the Gotta Have Rock and Roll’s Rock & Pop Culture Auction 2013 where a bunch of celebrities have donated shoes to raise funds for the LaGuardia High School for Music, Art and the Performing Arts in New York. To this benefit little Sarah generously donated three signed pairs which were worn on the set of Sex in the City as Carrie Bradshaw. Okay, you can tell me "oh no no no, she's the best, she donated 3 pairs when everybody else donated one". The thing is: along those 6 seasons (which I'm so grateful for) and the two movies (which I secretly wish they had never happened) she brought to her personal collection hundreds of shoes! And the best she can do is a pair of Prada Serious Uglyiness peep toe heels, a pair of Dolce Vita Everyone Can Afford black pumps, AND a pair of Average Jonathan Kelsey strappy sandals so outdated as his website, in which the last collection you'll find there dates back to Winter 2010!!! Whatta Fuck?! And as far as I'm concerned , the only Dolce I know, is followed by a Gabbana.
I couldn't even found the courage to post pictures of them to illustrate my post, so ugly they are! Hello Magazine itself wrote about this publishing fabulous pictures of the series avoiding the ones of the actual shoes! Google them and you'll see what I'm talking about.
By this I'm not saying she would get rid of, excuse me, DOnate the iconic silver Manolos stolen at that fateful baby-shower, or the Choos that were stolen from her feet in the Street of Nowhere corner to I'm So Lost Avenue. Or even the perfect blue Manolos with what Mr. Big proposed to her. God forbid. No. I'm just saying that she wasn't really elegant, or thoughtful when she picked those styles. Something stylish, timeless, would raise much much more money for the cause, I'm sure, and the Sex and the City fans wouldn't be felling insulted. As I am. Right now. There you go. I said it.

BONJOUR LOUISE!

BONJOUR LOUISE! by manuelamarques

 The art of being gracious is some how forgotten in an high brand pair of jeans and a Vuitton bag. When the hell it started to be okay to carry this two items to any type of event regardless the purpose.

Adjectives like casual, effortless are often mistaken as a free pass to just don't give a shit. Or may be they do, but God forgive them, they don't know any better. This lack of commitment to etiquette I believe it started at Avenue Soccer Player Wife corner to  Pop Singer Gone Bad Square. A mix between "I can do whatever I want" and "I've got so much money and don't know what to do with it" completely ruined the ceremony around dressing up to an event. Any type of event. whether is going to the theater with your gals or going to a trendy gallery opening.

I long for the days when women will start to give a shit again and return, not the the Hollywood  30's glamor, but to a proper "I do appreciate all the opportunities the Universe gives me to brush my hair properly and put on a dress". And if your very very out-there, you'll where a fabulous pair or Pitanga earrings :) no publicity was intended LOL. 

EARRINGS ARE A GIRL'S BEST FRIEND

EARRINGS ARE A GIRL'S BEST FRIEND by manuelamarques

 So, this is the time for new beginnings. For new adventures. For what I call take life by the balls.

As some might know, a few months ago I was forced to close the space where I had worked for 7 years. I imagined it, I designed it, I built it, I made it my second home. In some occasions it was my "just home"... I laughed there, I cried there, I had successes and failures there. It was more then a work space, those walls have witnessed myself happy, in love, disappointed, heartbroken, in love again, and they trembled with me while I was peeing to a stick. It was positive :)

These moments are not in the past, they are in me. They made me who I am. And this is what I am today. A new atelier, a new project, a new beginning... but with the same you all learned to love "Pitanga vibe"! Hope you still love it the way you used to, or more... Welcome to the new me!

WWW.PITANGA.PT

WHEN IS IT OKAY TO BE OKAY?

The moments that define you in life are usually the most painful. A disappointment, a failure, a loss, a silence, an absence... All these things combined, could most likely create an all new concept of pain and a new word must be born to describe it. The ones who survive such devastation, are also the ones who, slowly, clean the rail of sorrows and transform the sadness into newborn joy. That's quite a challenge and quite a win if you make it without becoming bitter. I even dare to say you are a winner. A fighter!
I myself consider myself a fighter. A good one. But how winner are you if the time you take to heal turns into unacceptable?
The ancient people took decades, even centuries to conquer land and entire cultures, and they seemed okay about it. Even my mom says "one battle at a time my dear". But I'm an impatient being, and for more than three years now I'm impatiently waiting to rebirth from the ashes. And as I win one more battle (and realize it's not the end of it) I can´t help but wonder: when is it okay to be okay?
The more I think about it, the more I get the feeling that sometimes you just need to stop fighting. Because maybe you'll never get to that point you think it's the best for you. And all I've learned is that there's no shame in admitting you're tired. And sometimes it's fine to allow yourself to be okay even if you're not quite there. Maybe I'll never be that person again. People change. And with some luck, for the best.
Never settle for less than you aim for you. But once in a while, give yourself a brake. If you're the fighter kind, you do well deserve it ;)

POINT OF VIEW

(view from home)

One of these mornings, I went to my terrace to light up a very early morning cigarette. It's becoming a shameful habit of mine, which soon, needs to be fixed. So stressed out, so absorbed with my stupid problems that I end up facing the glass of the door and turning my back to one of the greatest things I have in my life. You see, I have "the" view of Lisbon. The old river, the bridges caressing it, the aged town diving in it... Unfuckinbelievable! And I witness all from above. Veeeery above.
And there I was, having a smoke, and taking it for granted. "Landscape has no owner". I get that. But I'm sorry. This one is mine. It has been my confident and companion for several years now, and that day it became an eye opener too. While I was stressing about shit, and smoking like a maniac, I saw through the reflection of the glass door, the most beautiful, poetic, almost illegal scenery I forgot that existed. How can I've been turning my back to all the magic things I have in life??? Yes, three question marks are mandatory. We're all so absorbed with mundane stuff that we keep missing the point. The point of life. Which is: living! Quite basic right? But we insist on forgetting.
So next time you're neglecting the good stuff like I was/probably still am, do me a favor, will you? Don't. It's a waste of life. (It's only my point of view :)