Madrid Fashion

Supposedly Europe is almost an entire year ahead of the United States in terms of fashion. I'm not sure that I entirely believe this. I think that Europeans are just more fashionable in general and so they show off the latest fashions more often, whereas in the US people are not as brave or willing to put in the effort when it comes to fashion.

For the first month that I was here was Rebajas: the month long sale following Christmas that gets progressively better each week or so. The issue with this intense sale is that everywhere in Madrid is quite skinny and so all the smaller clothes go rather quickly. It was not uncommon for me to find a really cute shirt only to find that only larges are left. No one seems to be a large in this city. Not even the men, who are incredibly lean and surprisingly fashionable. Actually, almost every clothing store I go into will have women's clothes on display in the windows, but then upstairs will sell very fashionable men's clothing. I still have no figured out how the men even know that there is men's clothing in that store other than recognizing the brand.

Especially during Rebajas it was noticeable HOW many people were out clothes shopping all-day and then till around 9pm at night throughout Madrid. Sometimes later. There are entire streets that are no longer drive-able as they have been claimed by the masses of shoppers. Just about every store participated in Rebajas, even non-Spanish stores such as H&M, which is cheaper here in general probably because they do not have to ship the clothes as far. Two of the big Spanish clothing lines are Zara and Mango. Zara supposedly only keeps the current clothes on the shelf for two weeks when the clothes are then sold cheaper at their other store, Lefties. I love Lefties. And then Mango has really expensive clothing, but their adds always have the best looking models. I took the picture below. I just want her body...okay, or maybe just her abs.

Shopping Las Rebajas in Madrid 

         Gorgeous Mango models

People really are more beautiful here: men and women. A lot of it has to do with their attention to fashion. How people dress to "go out" in the US is their daily clothes in Madrid. When people work-out, they even dress very fashionable, its just insane. But let's be honest, no one works-out here. I have yet to see an incredibly buff guy. Everyone walks so much in their normal life that there is no need to make an extra effort. The women all have incredibly long, gorgeous hair and I rarely see anyone with acne.

Of course, every store will lore you in with its wonderful window-displays. They just have adorable clothing EVERYWHERE that I look. A lot of stores will get me to enter to just look around, but dress shops I just cannot allow myself to go in. They are absolutely stunning, but incredibly expensive. Wedding dresses are even more amazing here from what I've seen in windows. Its true that heels are much more common here. In fact, there are clubs that you cannot enter unless you are wearing heels. And eye make-up is incredibly common as well. I will admit that I am surprised how few "curvy" women I find here. They are all very skinny and straight: confidence booster, haha. I guess walking around a city all day, everyday will do that to you.

The most common item I see on the street is a pea coat. EVERYONE (man or woman) is either wearing a fitted pea coat or a bunchy, black ribboned coat. And every one is wearing a scarf. I almost think the bigger your scarf means the cooler that you are. 

Black boots are very common for women, as are ankle-bootlets. Then tights, tights, tights. Its incredibly common for women to wear shorts with tights underneath. I'm not brave enough to go for this style quite yet, but some girls really rock it, even middle-aged women. I will say, its bizarre because even middle-aged people shop at the same stores as the college students. People dress trendy their whole lives, unlike in the United States where many people dress outdated at times as they age. Some girls can also rock leggings and cute tennis shoes ("sneakers"), and not look athletic but fashionable. Loose shirts and leggings are all around popular right now, and I keep seeing shirts with tigers on them in every store. Its a random trend, but it actually looks really good on certain shirts. Looks like the US may see some tigers soon. Any sort of pant is always incredibly tight, which only accents everyone's amazing legs. I love the current cargo jackets and would love to buy one for myself, but any jacket is expensive. They are not for me, but many women wear fur vests and look really good. I particularly love how all the old women here wear fur coats. People are just classy.

 

For men, unlike in the US where a suit is the staple "nice" outfit, they have many options as they are experienced in fashion themselves. For this, man in business suits actually stand out on the subway, whereas in every American city they would be all one would see. Men just know how to dress well.  I have yet to see a boy with saggy pants, and could count the number of times I've seen anyone in a standard T-shirt. Most guys wear fairly fitted jeans with stylish leather shoes. Well-kept tennis shoes are also common, but not the bulky kind you'll see in the United States. They look classier.

So of course, I have to buy some clothes for myself. I bought two incredibly cheap summer dresses that I posted in one of my first blog entries that I bought upon arriving in Madrid. I'm a sucker for clothes with a red tint, so in my next shopping "spree" I only bought one red shirt. I need to cut back. I miss las rebajas because each item I bought was 10 euro or less. I've gotten really into the trend of wearing leggings everyday. Before living here, I saw girls in the US wear leggings without pants/skirt but always felt weird doing it myself, but now all of a sudden it seems completely normal.

          Lose shirt that cinches my waist              The first strapless dress I've ever bought

         Red shirt with a really cute belt             Always something that's too expensive to buy