Estilo Español

Hello, my dear readers! I am back-- returned last night (some would say it was early this morning) from my week and 1/2 in Spain. It was wonderful, awesome, such a great trip! =)

As I travelled through Madrid and Granada I noticed a few trends that I kept seeing over and over again. I thought for my first post back I would talk a bit about some of these. Here goes:

1. Leggings- These were everywhere, particularly calf-length leggings worn with a short skirt, usually one of those bubble skirts (where the fabric folds back under at the bottom so it puffs up a bit).

2. Bra Straps- Apparently the taboo-ness if blatantly showing off your bra straps has gotten lost somewhere over the Atlantic ocean. Many girls wore racer-back tanks, or even halter tops, with a bra underneath. To their credit, the bra would look quite intentional and was coordinated into the outfit, often in a matching or complimentary color. I also saw many of the clear bra straps, and even a store selling bras that had clear shoulder and back straps, to wear with backless tops.

3. Panty-Peek- The Spanish have certainly come up with an interesting solution to the low-rise jeans problem-- you know, low-rise is so flattering yet you risk showing the world your thong or impersonating an overweight plumber. Instead, they've followed a similar path to the bra-straps trend, in that they wear what look like spandex shorts/undies in a solid color (or a pattern, I once saw one that matched the girl's shirt) and let that show to the world while allowing their jeans to sit mid-butt. It's kind of clever, you get the benefit of the low-rise waistline, you don't have to show any extra flesh while doing it,m and you get to add yet another accessory option with the underwear!

4. Let the Curls Flow- I noticed what seemed to be an incredibly high number of girls who had curly hair. I realized that there must be a lot more women there who simply allow their curly hair to be curly and have learned how to style it so their curls look prefectly frizz-free. Here in the US I think many of us have become dependent on our blow-dryers and flat irons for the simplicity that is straight, sleek hair. They do seem to be helped by the other trend of having uber-layered hair, which allows curls to be more springy and alive. Which brings us to my last item of business....

5. The Euro-Mullet: It's not just for men!- I don't think I noticed the quantity of mullets untill I was in Granada. I'm not sure if there were more there than in Madrid or if I simply hadn't noticed them before, but a high number of the make and female population seemed to have mullets. Some were a bit subdued, with short layers on top and longer layers in back. Others were straight-up, unapologetic mullets. I even saw a guy with an faux-hawk and dreadlocked mullet in the back. I overheard one American female traveller say "You know you've been here tool ong when you look at a guy and think 'hey, he looks pretty good... oh wait he's got a mullet!!'"

So there you have it, a few of the style trneds I noticed most while I was overseas. I have pictures to go with these, but blogger isn't letting me upload them right now so we may just have to wait for those till later. I hope everyone's doing well, and didn't miss me too much! ; )