Fashion clones

Speaking of fashion is speaking of different styles, brands, tastes, clothing; however, what is really fashionable, at least in Spain, can be reduced to a few items that become viral among consumers.

It's amazing to walk the streets of Madrid and stop for a moment to count how many people wear the same shoes or the same jeans ... the results are surprising.

Three out of every ten girls may wear the same, it´s as if they just went out of a catwalk where they were showing off the same clothing line. And this happens every time that something goes viral, like the white and black Adidas or currently with the "yellow fever" of the famous jacket from Zara.

While it is true that we live in a hurried life where time seems to be valuable, although I do not think the lack of time is one of the causes why people narrow their clothe-purchasing choices to what the rest are wearing, since most of the people buy clothes every month.

The fashion industry is going as rapid as fast food chains, collections are created almost monthly, the funny thing is: What leads people to want to have that clothing that everyone else wear?... Is it because of the feeling of finding a thousand more people wearing the same piece and ratifying the fact of being IN? Or are there still people who make their purchases based on what they really like and go with their own style?

These are some of the questions that I have no answer to.

That is why is worrying the "power" that we give to the media and the fashion industry. They decide to make of fashion something quick, easy, massive and equal where the personality and style are put aside. In contrast it is important to promote meaningful purchases where you acquire something that you really like and you will use, not whatever else you have seen most of on your way to the store.

The more I try to think as to why is there such a thing as alienation of style, I must say that I still have an unanswered question... When did we become clones of fashion?

Fashion Revolution Week compilation of pictures

Last week was the Fashion Revolution Week, this week exist since the collapse of the Rana Plaza building were thousands of workers were killed or several injured just by working in the fashion industry. Since that wake-up call we asks for a change in the fast fashion world.

That’s why we wanted to do something and here is a compilation of pictures to contribute with the cause.

Of course this couldn’t be possible without the interest for a change of all the persons that decided to be a part of the project, so THANK YOU all, and thanks to the Fashion Revolution Organization for the creating this initiative, you are all REAL!!

If you want to be part of the Revolution just write to us in any of our social networks ( @arealfashionist )!

And if you want to find out more about The Fashion Revolution go to: /http://fashionrevolution.org/

Is well know that some people that have made pieces of clothes to diferent brans, sadly have also died because of the abuse of #TheFashionIndustry, therefore @jessy29ch from USA wants to ask #whomademyclothes to #CharlotteRusse❓for an industry with more transparency

Guys also ask #WhoMadeMyClothes that's why @alfredog11 is asking @TommyHilfiger 

It says "Made in China" but #WhoMadeMyClothes asks @albasmile20 to #GAP ❓

From Venezuela @aritaquintana asks #WhoMadeMyClothes to @converse ❓

Mothers also care about the clothes of their kids, that's why @carolinayanto in Spain asks #WhoMadeMyClothes to @disneystore❓for her kid.

Be a #rebel and ask #WhoMadeMyClothes like @albertuflis asks @mango

Mariel asks #WhoMadeMyClothes to @victoriassecret ❓

Be #curious and ask #WhoMadeMyClothes like @andy25a does to @bershkacollection 

@vvictoriarivas from Venezuela asks #WhoMadeMyClothes to Thomas #Burberry ❓

 Be different an asks the brands❗️ Like @ivanacnc is asking @stradivarius #WhoMadeMyClothes ❓

We ask#WhoMadeMyClothes to find answers like this from UK of Nelly Pretova, one of the workers of a factory that makes clothes to many #brands like Boohoo, Assos, Pink Clove, Influence and Missi. She can proudly say #IMadeYourClothes 👏🏻

 This photo is possible thanks to: @lora.sm

Is it bad to be a feminist?

Many people openly deny being feminists, and they show a serious dislike for the word "feminism" that makes us wonder Is it bad to be a feminist?

According to the Merrian Webster the word feminism means: 

“the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities”

Throughout history and even today women has been deprived of basic rights and feminism seeks to establish that men and women have equal rights.

However there seems to be misunderstood by those who know the meaning of the term and associate it to the opposite meaning of the concept of male chauvinism, which by the Merrian Webster means: 

“a belief that men are superior to women”

So feminism could be taken as the arrogant attitude of women over men. An act of female supremacy, when true feminism seeks equality of both dry for several years.

Then left to wonder Is it bad to defend equal rights and opportunities for men and women?

5 must follow Instagram accounts if you like fashion without filters:

@ZADY

Is a fashion sustainable brand that brings a new vision about the future of fashion. They have pictures and realistic content that is worth seeing.

@BARBIENOX

Young model that challenges the fashion standards, however, her naturality and style are not missing.

@THEASHLEYGRAHAM

Model, designer and body activist that have done many important things in the last years of her career. If you follow her the motivation and love for the curves will fill your IG.

@AERIE

Brand of lingerie and swimsuits that is all about no retouching the pictures of their models under the concept that: “Your real you is sexy!”

@EMMSWATSON

We all know her as “Hermioni Granger” from Harry Potter, but this young activist shares in her social networks news not only about fashion, but also about sustainable fashion and craftsman artists that will surprise you. 

Have you ever wondered where comes from the clothes that you buy?

You may not like the answer. But it is a reality that the hasty fashion industry has allowed the elaboration of many products at once at a high cost. So it is becoming more demand for the "IN" pieces of fashion, in a society where the main entertainment activity seems to be shopping.

The companies have decided to hire workers, where 80% tend to be women, to produce thousands of pieces a day. The age of these workers is sometimes very young, and their health conditions seem not to be relevant. Efficient and very economical workers are the priorities.

That's why the "workshops" of clothes are located in countries like: Bangladesh, Kenya, Tanzania, Pakistan, Philippines, China, among others. Where monthly labor will not be enough for them to live and buy one of the pieces that they produce if they wished.

There are cases of negligence on the part of the subcontractors, which force workers to stay working long hours in poor conditions such as the famous collapse in 2013 of the building Rana Plaza (Bangladesh), where about 1100 people were killed while working on the elaboration of  pieces for thirty brands, including Benetton.

Besides all this, the environmental pollution generated by these "factories" is imminent danger.

Change is needed and many have already noticed.

Links of interest:

Greenpeace. Detox Campaign: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/multimedia/videos/Detox-How-People-Power-is-Cleaning-Up-Fashion/

The True Cost. Movie: http://truecostmovie.com/

Clean Clothes Campaign: http://www.cleanclothes.org/

The social media society

We live in a society where having access to the Internet and social networks seems to control the life of many people. From posting a mood, to share the last picture of your favorite artist.

It is true that thanks to social networking is established a kind of relationship between celebrities of fashion and people. However it seems to have side effects when people become obsessed with this.

Obsessions that can start with not going a day without reading all your favorite celebrities posts, wanting to imitate her-his style of life, ending in some cases with a feeling of unexplained depression.

Studies say that the social networks that use to claim to unite people, all that have done is to isolate them more and more in their own world, one that may become more sad.

While we do not know the extent to which social networks are good or bad, we just know we have to do a moderate and intelligent use of them.

Remember, everything that is published on the internet is not necessarily true, and that the numbers of followers-likes you have do not define who you are.

Say NO to furs

The human being has change across time, just fashion has...

The current industry has plenty of flaws, among the most shocking ones is the use of animals to make items from their hide or skin.

"If it´s real fur, it´s luxury" ... this is a wrong perception that a lot of people have. It´s true that human beings had worn fur clothing throughout it's history but they use to wear them as protection from the cold weather in cold environments, however this does not justify the usage of said clothing in recent times because nowadays the possibility of fabricating clothing with different resources without the sacrifice of an animal's life, and with the capacity of mataining the wearer's body heat, exist.

Using fur of different animals to be more "fancy" it´s not ok.

Many animals are needed only to make a crocodile bag, for example, not to mention that the mistreating of the animal is eminent during the skin extraction process.

It has been confirmed that the animal is still alive during the process, this being clearly not a concerning factor for the companies, extracting the most amount of fur without damaging it, on the other hand, is clearly the up-most priority.

Despite this being true it is not something new, animal cruelty is a well-known fact throughout the years... Many documentaries and campaigns seek to confront this problem.

One alternative is to use faux that is much cheaper, look very much alike and most importantly: you don't need to take the life of various animals.

So join the change and say no to furs.

The capital of fashion regulates their models

Last thursday in France a new law that tries to "regulate" the health of the models was approved.

It´s a well-known fact that the fashion industry is all about super skinny models that may look like they have an eating disorder in some cases.

This law says that every model must possess a medical certificate that ensures their physical wellbeing. Because everybody is and works differently, they completely threw out of the equation the idea of establishing a  minimum body mass index (BMI), plus any magazine that modifies the image of the models digitally has to specify that said image has been "touched up".

With this law the government tries to show the reality of the world of fashion facing the anorexia problem that mostly affects the young girls that pursuit this ideals of beauty.

The act of disobeying this law can cause the person or company responsable to receive a fee of around 75000 $ and up to six months in jail.

This law shows that exists a problem that we have to fight around the world. Each day are more the countries that use their legal systems as a way to try and regulate the fashion industry in order to reduce cases of diseases like anorexia and bulimia, for example in Madrid in 2006 was stablished a minimum of the BMI to be able to participle in the catwalk of the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week.

Only a question is left: Is the making of regulating laws the solution to the biggest issue in the world that we know as fashion?

Top Christmas

We are in the most wonderful month of the year December, and for all the girls who want to know what is IN for that special Christmas dinner or party here we leave all the trendiest details for a perfect outfit:

-Christmas is full of sparkles and shines and more glitter, sequined and metallic colors dresses will be all over.

-The colors: emerald green, black, silver, gold, burgundy and of course you can not miss the star of Christmas: red!

-Jewels and embroidery if you want a more striking outfit.

-Tops, skirts, dresses, shoes, anyway ... if it is velvet, better.

-Transparent, tulle and lace are indispensable details.

-The animal print and prints are a must...

-The ankles boots are here to stay, so you can opt for a shiny or snake one to complete your look.

And above all, dare to be yourself and give a special and unique touch to your Christmas outfit for these dates.

The dark side of fashion

For the most part, fans of the fashion industry have a distorted vision of how it actually is in reality. Regardless of all we see on the outside, in the world of fashion not everything that shines is gold.

When we look at a magazine or a catwalk we think about the models, in the way they look like recently taken out of a box dolls­; but we do not tend to think about all that they have to go through to get to that point.

The ideal for the “perfect” women is someone tall and thin, but we fail to realize that beauty lies on the inside, not the outside. And are those ideals the ones that make it so that each time more teenagers suffer diseases like anorexia or bulimia. By recent studies, the girls situated between the ages of 16 and 18 years old, are the ones that more frequently suffer from illnesses of this kind.

In my opinion, I think that we should be more aware that perfection does not exist and that we do not have to be slaves to the society that surrounds us.

By @AlbaSmile97

Have you ever thought that being skinny would make you happier?

Happiness is a mood that shouldn’t depend on if you are more or less skinny, or if the society thinks that you are beautiful or not. Happiness depends on YOU.

Everyone has a different body type, so is not necessary to pretend to have Karlie Kloss´s body to feel like you are happy. Whatever is it that you want, is for YOU to decide, not for others to take that choice from you.

If you have overweight problems and this is affecting your health and physical shape, losing weight is a proper solution. But it won’t be a solution if you do it to be more like a super model, or to be accepted by the fashion industry. Sooner or latter you will see that being super skinny doesn’t make you a happier person.

“The taller and skinnier models are happier” “Being skinny will solve all my problems” “ I will never be skinny enough” this are NOT TRUE!

If the society and the fashion industry tell us that one super skinny type of body is perfect, this doesn’t have to determine the opinion that we have about our own bodies. We are part of this society and we can change this perception for a different one, where the types of beautiful bodies will be every type that exist naturally and not the ones that will cause biological disorder or health issues.

We all have Imperfections (if they can be consider as such), even the famous models. Every one of us should learn to accept these so called “imperfections” by the way they are and then happiness and self-satisfaction will be a step closer.

So remember that your healthiness and your happiness are more worthy than chasing a beauty ideal imposed by a society that cares more about the size of the women, than the women herself.

You DON’T need to starve to be happier, you DON’T need to size cero to be more beautiful, so LOVE yourself for what you are and prove to society what is wrong!