Fashion Beyond Gender
On the occasion of our annual anniversary, we would like to thank to our family and friends for being with us, because without you, it wouldn’t be a D-day that has become unforgettable for us. THANK YOU once again to all who came and enjoyed our special day with us. Pictures are more than words, so enjoy over 400 pics included and feel free to comment. 🙂
Michaela and Vlasta
Today was a beautiful warm sunny day in Prague, so we went for a walk to the newly built replica of the original Marian column on the Old Town Square. Column stood here for almost 370 years, and was overthrown by an enraged mob after the declaration of Czechoslovak independence in 1918.
The Marian Column on the Old Town Square also indicated the local Prague time. Although mechanical clocks date back to the 14th century and the Old Town Astronomical Clock dates back to the early 15th century, their adjustment depended on solar time. Each village had its own time given by the meridian that passed through the village. The line that defined the Prague meridian was marked by three strips of paving stones and headed north from the center of the column.
After a hundred years of walking around the square without the column, it was no longer clear to many of us why the meridian was marked in the pavement. But with the construction of the replica it became clear. So today we went to see how the column measures noon again. The shadow showed noon thanks to daylight saving time at 12:58 – 2 minutes ahead. 🙂
Michaela picked for me combination of polka-dot dress with new jacket. We were surprised at how well it matched together. On the way home we stopped at the Swarovski store to look at some bracelets, and then we were glad to relax with cafe in the House of the Black Madonna.
We have seen Tosca at The State Opera yesterday. The performance was breathtaking. And we finally enjoyed the opportunity to wear evening dress. 🙂
Due to the covid pandemic, the performance was moved from the spring term, and took place in a slightly modified mode. The individual groups of visitors were separated from each other, including separate entrances. We thought for a while if we should go at all, but in the end we were glad we did. Even though the performance was sold out, in the end one third of visitors did not arrive. So even the social distancing was artificially created.
So let me as a woman dive little deeper with the first tip mentioned in previous post What the girls know, but no one told the boys. 🙂
I’m sure we all know that. We look at a photo of a beautiful model in a perfect outfit, and we long to look the same. We browse e-shops, we will find the same or similar clothes that we buy and wait impatiently for the package to arrive. And here it is. We eagerly open it, dress new pieces and … that’s not it. What happened? There may be several reasons, but the most common reason is that the model on photo was young, slim, tall, with ideal female proportions. And lets face it, even most of us women doesn’t look like her. It’s called marketing. But anything she puts on would suit her, even a bag from potatoes.
We all grow old, we all change, we all know it. In the first third of life, we look forward every day to being older, taller, more mature. Then, unnoticed, the time comes when we look in the mirror every birthday and slowly come to realize that we are no longer teenagers. Our body is changing. Everyone changes differently, it depends on how we care about ourselves, what genetic predispositions we have, what health shape we are in.
We must learn not only to live with our wrinkles, degrading skin and hair, altered proportions, but also with the fact that we can no longer wear everything that comes to our mind. But I think that by following a few simple guidelines, we can enjoy fashion at any age. But don’t get me wrong, if I am talking about age, it means how you look and feel, not exact biological number.
Don’t think of this article as a dogma, but rather as a few tips that could help you better orient yourself in the world of women’s fashion. Nor does it mean that with age, your style must look like an old aunt. Not at all. I was just trying to say that it’s good to think about whether your outfit is more for someone younger or for someone much older.
I wish everyone a lot of courage and freedom in fashion and fun and joy it brings to your life. It’s a feeling that as a girl, who can wear whatever she likes, I can’t fully and trully experience, and you have my admiration for it.
Hope it helps and feel free to express your thougts in comments bellow.
Looking at the picture above, you will immediately realize how different and diverse women’s fashion is compared to men’s fashion. And this picture does not cover all areas of women’s fashion at all, but only serves as an illustration of how different these two worlds are.
When Vlasta and I met, we realized that there are things that girls know and do subconsciously and automatically, but they are a big surprise to men. For men who like women’s clothes and struggle with shyness, it is difficult to ask anyone for advice. After all, it is a hot topic, and these things are hard to discuss with the boys having a beer, don’t they? They sometimes have a natural shyness to their loved ones, and if you do not have a girlfriend to help you, it is hard. That is why we thought we might try to help this community.
We can offer something like a fashion consultancy for men who would be interested in it. We assume that it is much more difficult for most men to orientate themselves in women’s fashion, and therefore they will make mistakes that are much easier to avoid, if they follow the basic rules. You must have read and heard about these rules long before our article, and they are not a major discovery, and are valid for both sexes. However, men’s fashion is much simpler, and more forgiving of minor fashion transgressions.
We are mainly based on our experience and a lot of combinations that we tried on Vlasta. At the same time, we respect that each of us likes something different, but the final impression should still be flattering and nice.
And just like in photography, it is true in fashion that by following a few simple guidelines, you can very quickly improve your style and appearance.
This is not complete list at all, but we think these rules are particularly important for most important reason: self-esteem.
If men want to wear clothes according to what they like, and not to what social conventions expect from them, several things must come together to create the desired result. Because how these men look is subject to a much greater critical view than in women. At the same time, depending on how you look, you also feel. If you don’t feel well, your self-esteem will drop, your surroundings will notice, and you feel embarrassed. And you are in a vicious circle.
Sometimes we say “it’s quite nice, but it’s a shame that…” about the photos that men share on the Internet. So we said to ourselves that we would like to offer those who would be interested to “evaluate” their outfit with possible advice on how to improve it. The only condition is that they will agree that it will be public. But we say that going public in such an outfit requires a lot more courage.
We have also decided to address each of the above points in more detail in future contributions. Also add some advice on how and where to shop, and possibly where and what not to buy.
Subscribe to our blog, if you would like to stay informed. 🙂
Yesterday we went for a walk around Prague, but in the end we did not go very far. Along the way, we came across a shoe store with huge sale, where we spent almost the entire afternoon. This is one of the accompanying phenomena of the ongoing pandemic – almost everything is on sale, almost everything can be bought for 50% or less. The less hilarious part is that it’s almost nowhere to wear. But this is hopefully just a transitional state.
On the way back home, we stopped at our favorite restaurant Tiskárna for a late lunch. We had a meal that all Czechs from school cafeterias know – dill sauce. One Czech proverb says: “When two do the same thing, it is not always the same”. In this case, it was more true than ever. 🙂
We had beef in traditional creamy dill sauce, baked potatoes, cured egg yolk, and for dessert we had homemade blueberry ice lolly. The food was, as always, amazing. Pilsner beer here is probably the best beer in the whole of Prague, and the service in the restaurant is excellent, friendly and professional. Definitely worth a visit.
And one more interesting thing. From the moment we know each other, we have one habit that helps us stay fit. In addition to walking a few kilometers every day. We share the meals in the restaurants. Usually we only have one main course, no appetizers. You wouldn’t believe how little food is enough for us, and how we as people are constantly overeating. And as every girl knows, and the men should know as well – it is not very good for your figure. 😀
In these extraordinary times we have decided to visit the wonderful and charming Venice. We did go there because we wanted to take advantage and see the city without tourists. We have been there before and have seen it packed with hordes of them. But this time it was different. We do understand, that for the business are these times difficult, but we think, that it was once in the lifetime opportunity.
We don’t want to tire you out with the details of our visit, but we thought you might like the photos of our outfits we wore in Venice. Hope you would enjoy it, as we enjoyed the visit.
Take care, be yourself and don’t waste your time with people who do not deserve it. 🙂
Vlasta & Michaela
Just couple of pictures from our trip to Poděbrady. We just stopped by for a walk in colonnade park and light dinner & beer on our way back home from visit to our 95 years old grand grandmother. She’s always inspirational and we love to talk to her. And we love her open mind and wisdom. Her first words were “you both have beautiful dress”. 💋
Pictures were taken by nice young couple with cute 2 years old boy.
The weather in Prague has been unusually rainy lately, so we took advantage of that, and this weekend Míša, my daughter Mia and I went to an exhibition of street art by Banksy. We were lucky that we didn’t get wet on the way there or back. I wore Desigual dresses and silver Next pumps. Enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed the exhibition. 🙂
We were trying some tweaks with the plugin which seemed not working properly. Nothing except the one of the pics is here. 🙂
It’s finally here, there are open beer gardens in the Czech Republic and we can have a beer. We choose summer clothes, I ignore Vlasta’s remarks that 14 degrees is not enough for a beer outside, that it’s cold. In the end, my enthusiasm wins, we add pantyhose and we are standing in front of the house and it is… COLD. We’re taking the car, so what, a non-alcoholic beer is fine too. A little blueish, but determined. In the half-empty garden we look exotic, not only because of Vlasta’s dress, but because the people around us have winter jackets… 😀
I capitulate soon. I order mulled wine for me, Vlasta quickly “kicks in” a non-alcoholic beer and we disappear in the car where we get warm. In the end, it’s good at home on Friday too, and we’ve been to the garden before. Hopefully it’s going to be warmer tomorrow, because we would like to go sailing.
When I’ve met Vlasta I noticed that women’s dresses on him cause a stir everywhere. I mean EVERYWHERE. People were staring at us, taking photos, commenting. And than I suddenly realized:
I’m invisible!!! 😀 It was a whole new feeling.
As a girls we’re used to attention. From an early age, the surroundings evaluate us (nice dresses, shoes, hair). But not for boys. They are measured by their actions. He broke it, arranged it, repaired it, invented it. And suddenly it’s different. There is a lot of attention around us, but not on me, on Vlasta! I’ve became used to it. But it’s a completely new experience.
One story for all. It’s a February night and we’re leaving the dance ball. We’ve decided to walk because we don’t live too far. We both have dresses. It’s three o’clock in the morning, at the National Theater we pass a couple of young and handsome people (boy and girl). The boy suddenly stops and says:
– “Excuse me, weren’t you at the National Theater at the Ballet Bridges in November?“
We’re both a little surprised, but we answered unanimously yes. The boy smiled, looked at Vlasta and said:
– “Blue cocktail dress and brown pumps! Am I right?“
He was. But no one remembered what I was wearing. We all started laughing and a couple disappeared into the darkness.
Once, in the morning, we went to work together. Vlasta was exceptionally wearing pants. He looked at me and conspiratorially said:
– “Now, if they’re staring at us, they’re staring at you“. 😀
And he was right. I had my attention again. Even though it was so little compared to him wearing dress.