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Today I am going to talk about a topic that complements your personal image: personal development and attitude.

I love this topic, because I believe that external beauty is the result of your internal beauty and attitude, you have to believe it! Or at least, I love this phrase: “fake it till you make it!” Self-confidence is so strong that it will change your life and give you a very singular vitality!

And talking about vitality, yesterday I assisted, to an event organized by Maria Cherñajovsky, Argentinean designer and owner of the brand “Maria Cher”. Together with Dove they organized an encounter called “Vital Voices”, which was a very special evening where the main topic was “Women who inspire”.

There were five speakers, well six … because the first one to talk was Maria Cherñajovsky. She explained the reason of the encounter and also a little of her very inspiring history. The other speakers where Alexandra Rampolla (sexologist and producer of her own TV show), Orly Benzacar (director of the Art Gallery Ruth Bencazar), Susana Trimarco (mother of a missing girl named Marita, in Tucuman, Argentina), Cecilia Roth (actress) and Tini de Bucourt (ambassador of Dove and ex-model).

As you can see, each one has a very different personality and profession, but the thing that all these women have in common is that they had influenced their environment and other women with their actions. As they said, what is required in life is to dare to do things, go after your goals and pursue what you really want to do from the bottom of your heart, fight for it and don’t rest until you get it.

Each presentation was basically the summary of each ones life, how do they become what they are now and their achievements. Here is a summary of each talk:

Maria Cherñajovsky – entrepreneur, fashion designer, mother and brand owner of the brand with her own name since 2001. In 2006, together with her mother, created the Association for peace and no violence, and she was selected as women of the year in 2008. Currently she owns 10 stores and manages 150 employees. The encounter is the second one that she organized to inspire other women and help their lives. Maria is part of the Vital Voices board in Argentina.

Alessandra Rampolla, is a certified sexologist, born in Puerto Rico. Since her youth she felt that she had something else to say to help other girls, as her, to have a better understanding about sex, because nobody really explained anything to her. That’s why she decided to study and promote the sexology. She had to stand the criticism of the society, but at the end, she end up having her own TV show and international fame. I don’t know if you have seen her, but if not please try to catch a show, she is very funny and completely honest, you will learn a lot because she explains sex as is she was explaining a cake recipe! ☺

Orly Benzacar, biologist and art lover. In 1990 she started to work in her mother’s art gallery, Ruth Benzacar. When her mother dies, Orly started to run the gallery and she made it grow with international recognition. How does she change from biology to art? Following her heart and fighting for her believes, helping Argentinean artist to grow and import their job.

Susana Trimarco, “Marita’s” mother (Ma. De los Ángeles Verón) who was kidnapped on 2002 and is still missing until now. Susana has been fighting to find her daughter since then, finding that it is a very important prostitution net in the north of Argentina. During the desperate search of Marita, Susana has saved hundreds of women creating an association to help them and their child. Susana is a very brave woman who will not rest until she finds her daughter she also hopes to be able to make a real change in her country with her association.

Cecilia Roth, Argentinean actress, in 1977 she moved to Spain where she become a international well known actress after working with Pedro Almodovar. Cecilia has a very strong personality, during all her career she had been fighting for her ideals and although she is very famous, she’s still very humble. Her son is the love of her life the more authentic love that she has ever found.

Tini de Bocourt, Dove ambassador. She started as a fashion model, but after 17 years of success in the fashion world, she quit to dedicate her life to help women with her personal growth. She had lived in India where she developed her inner beauty, and currently she has a company devoted to help other women in her inner growth.

Her talk was perfect to close the event and I am talking a little more about it, since it is related to what we talk about here in Manequi. Tini says that inner and external beauties are always together it can’t be one with out the other since the first thing that we need to do is to accept us the way we are.

I like a lot a phrase that she mentioned from Coco Chanel: “There are not ugly women only lazy ones”. This is so true … because we need to work in ourselves to be able to know who we are, and what is the best for us, and that is something that we need to work on, unfortunately it is not usually something that we “just know”, it requires a little effort from our part.

Tini mentioned something that I loved, how many times you have said about other woman: “ I hate her, she looks fantastic in everything, it doesn’t matter what she wears”?? Well, she looks fantastic because she believes that she looks fantastic, it is amazing how the attitude can change the way you look. Same thing if you believe that you have a horrible nose, it is very probable that everyone else will think the same about your nose, because you act like it is horrible! Get it??? You project what you want to project, and it’s in your hands to make the others to buy it or not.

Well, that was the summary from what I heard yesterday, I wanted to share it with you because I believe it was very inspiring. I guess that the organizers will soon put on line the video here is the link: www.mujeresqueinspiran.com.ar

The conclusion and the reason why I wanted to talk about this topic, is that we all have a lot of potential to be beautiful the only thing is that you have to believe that you are beautiful and work on it.

As Dove’s advertising states (and I am not selling anything) let’s work in the real beauty, developing your attributes and accepting who we are in order to get the best of us!!! How can you do that? Well here in Manequi I will help you and we will do it together.

See you soon!!!

Fabiola Silva

Comments Off on Women who inspire | In: Uncategorized @en | tags: attitude, Encounter, fashion, vital voices, women. | #

Hey! I am back! I was traveling for a week, the thing is that all of the sudden we organized a trip to Puerto Madryn (in the south of Argentina) to watch whales, so as you can imagine, I had to go! I strongly recommend you to do it, it is incredible to watch whales, and penguins whenever you have a chance, try to go!

And meanwhile I was traveling, we change season!! Here in the south hemisphere we start to feel the warm spring meanwhile in the north hemisphere you are starting to breath again with a fresh autumn after a very warm summer!!! Since the readers of this blog are from all around the world, I am going to talk about the shoes that you can use either for spring or autumn, for the north it will not be something new but it is always good some information that you can apply for the next season!

If you are in the north hemisphere, now you are ready to wear boots in all lengths, so here are some tips for you:

• Upper knee boots, with this you can be very sexy or very weird if you don’t use them correctly. First you have to be sure that this kind of boot enhance your legs, if the boots are too tight don’t use them. Since this kind of boot will never be unnoticed, do not use them with a tight mini skirt so you will not become “Pretty woman”, try to combine them with loose mini skirts or with pencil pants.

• Knee length boots, especially if you are using them with skirt, have to be tight to your calf, it doesn’t matter the width of your leg. The boot has to sculpt your leg, if it’s loose in the ankle or to tight in your calf, just don’t use it and forget to buy it! If you are using this boots with pants, don’t let it too baggy over the boot, the trouser has to be straight and the best is with no wrinkles. That is why it is always recommended to use pencil pants with this kind of boots.

• The ankle boot it is usually more difficult to combine since many women could look little shorter with them. Avoid use them with skirts half-length, and be careful to use them with pencil pants since sometimes, not always, it could seam like it enlarges your hips.

If you are in the south hemisphere, here are some tips to use sandals:

• If you use sandals you should do a pedicure, it can’t be one with out the other.

• It doesn’t matter the height of your heels, the foot has to be always inside the shoe. The sandals will never be smaller or bigger, just exactly the size of your feet. This sounds kind of obvious, but sometimes, especially if you are using high heels, the feet tends to move to the front, or goes out a little on the back when you walk. Try them and give some steps with them on before buying a new pair.

• Gladiator sandals that are tide at the ankle could shorten your legs.
• If you have a hard time using high heels, you can always use wedges shoes … it will give you more stability and usually they are very comfortable.

Believe it or not, your shoes reflects and define your personal style, the way you dress and your personality, so always be careful to what you wear and how your wear it!!

See you soon!

Fabiola Silva

The brands showed here are Anthropologie, Nine West, Jimmy Choo y Sofi Martiré.

Comments Off on Spring is here … or … it is autumn? | In: Uncategorized @en | tags: autumn, Boots, sandals, spring. | #

Yes, that is the way that we usually start our day, we make a mental map of the activities during the day to be able to identify what will be the perfect “look” for all of them. Usually, we have problems matching colors and textures, and it is worst if we just bought a new bag in red (color that you don’t use that much) and we are trying to match it with the outfit. Disaster!

That’s why I am going to give you some tips in order to ease your life every morning:

• It is not necessary to match bag, shoes and belt; you can use the same color and texture for the three items or just match two of the three things. Actually, it is better if you make contrast with one of the three things in a completely different color.
• Always try to have in your outfit just one center of attention (the first thing that you want people to check when they look at you). For example, if you are using a colorful necklace try to use the rest of your clothes in a more neutral combination so that the “star” of your look will be the necklace.

• It is totally fine to mix brown with black, but never brown with grey.

• Do not be afraid of contrasting colors in your outfit, mix colors and play with combinations like blue with red, orange and violet.
• Try not to combine clothes of the same range of color if they are not exactly of the same tone, it is always better to create contrast mixing with other colors. (Dry clean tip: always send to the dry clean the dress and the belt together, or the pants and the jacket, if not, you may see a change of tones between each item)
• If you are happy with your outfit but you still have the feeling that “something is missing”, try on a scarf, it will always help to complete your look is like the “final touch”.
• Do not use jeans and jean jacket, try to use with your jeans corduroy or lather jackets.
• Snickers are ONLY to go to the gym, and to be used with pants and gym clothes, never with jeans or any other kind of clothes. There are other kinds of cool tennis that you can use for a sport and casual look, but running shoes are only to run.
• If you are going to use sandals or any open shoe, remember that you have to do a pedicure since your nails have to be perfect they become part of your shoe.
• Remember that your look goes form head to toe, so don’t forget little details, use accessories and enjoy the every morning process of getting dress!

I hope that you can use this information in order to have better and more relaxing mornings where you don’t have to ask to yourself … and today, what am I going to wear?

See you soon!

Fabiola Silva

Comments Off on mmmhh … What can I wear today? | In: Uncategorized @en | tags: beauty, looking good, tips, women. | #

Es el accesorio que me saca de apuros, que complementa lo que sea que traiga puesto, lo pueden usar hombres y mujeres y sobre todo hay miles y miles de formas, diseños y colores.
¿De que estoy hablando? De uno de los accesorios que yo más utilizo y que me imagino que tú también, y sino, nunca es tarde para empezar a usarlo!! me refiero a las bufandas, mascadas, chalinas o como las quieras llamar. Para no confundirnos con los términos ya que en cada país le dicen distinto voy a llamarlas bufandas de ahora en adelante.

La magia de este accesorio, es que es atemporal, dado que existen en todos los tipos de tela para todas las estaciones y nunca pasa de moda. Lo más importante de todo esto es saber como usarla para que no se vea como un agregado mal puesto en tu vestimenta.

Existen ciertas cosas que debes recordar:

1. Al elegir el tipo de bufanda busca que contraste o que combine con tu ropa, nunca utilices el mismo color. Busca estampados coloridos que puedas combinar con varias cosas.
2. Si tienes cuello corto, evita usar bufandas atadas al cuello, lo hará más corto aún.
3. Bufandas delgadas y largas estilizan la figura.
4. Si vas a usar la bufanda dentro del cuello de la blusa busca que no se te haga un bulto enorme en el cuello y si sobra mucho nunca lo metas a la blusa, te va a hacer ver un busto deforme. Busca siempre que tenga el tamaño ideal para que no te sobre ni te falte al atarla al cuello.
5. Trata de escoger el tipo de tela (grosor) adecuado para cada ocasión.
6. Si eres muy bajita, procura no utilizar mascadas (chalinas) grandes ya que te van a hacer verte más bajita.
7. Las chalinas (la bufanda más grande estilo ruana) son el elemento ideal para un día frío ya que no solo te cubren el cuello sino también los hombros.

8. Si eres hombre, la bufanda delgada la puedes usar dando varias vuelas al cuello sin ajustarlo. Si es invierno y la bufanda es gruesa dobla la bufanda a la mitad y envuelve tu cuello pasando las puntas por el círculo creado al doblar la bufanda, luego ajústala al cuello.

Una ventaja de este accesorio,  es que las bufandas delgadas siempre las vas a poder convertir en un buen cinturón o en una banda para la cabeza, de ahí que sea comodín!!

No importa la estación, si es primavera u otoño, sacale provecho a las bufandas para dar un toque especial a tu look . Yo las uso todo el tiempo, mis favoritas son las más delgadas y de mucho color.

¡¡¡Hasta la próxima!!!

Fabiola Silva

No Comments | In: Uncategorized | tags: bufanda hombre, bufanda mujer, consejos. | #

This is the accessory that you will always want to have in your closet, it complements what ever you are wearing, men and women can use it and the best is that there are thousands of colors, shapes and designs.
What am I talking about? I am talking about one of the things that I use more than anything: scarves. If you are not using that until now, there is always a good time to start using it!! It will help you a lot to giving some color to any outfit that you use.

The magic of this accessory ,is that it can be use  at any time of the year, since there are made in different fabrics to be adapted to the weather. Scarves will never be out of fashion, but there are some tips that you should know in order to always create a great complement to your outfit.
1. When you choose a scarf, always try to create contrast or to make a good combination with what you are wearing. Avoid using the same color of your outfit.
2. If you have a short neck, do not tie scarves under your chin it will look shorter.
3. Thing and long scarves around your neck will help you to appear taller and slimmer.
4. If you are using the scarf inside the blouse, be sure to use the correct size to avoid a huge thing under your chin, or a bundle inside your blouse that will deform your bust.
5. Try to choose the right fabric (thickness) for each occasion and season.
6. Petite women should not use big scarves because they will look shorter.
7. Oversized scarves are ideal for a cold day since they not only cover your neck but also your shoulders.

8. If you are a man, you can use a thin scarf around your neck not too tight. For the winter scarf, fold it on half and then tie it around your neck and pass the ends through the circle created when you folded it.

One of the advantages of this accessory is that you can always use a thing scarf as a belt or as a bandana in your head, that’s why is so handy!

No matter the season that you are, spring or autumn, use it as much as you can. Scarves will always give a special touch to your look. I use them all the time; my favorites are the thin and very colorful.

See you soon!!

Fabiola Silva

No Comments | In: Uncategorized @en | tags: men scarves, tips, women scarves. | #