My first turban

If you ask me for an exotic destination, the first country that comes into my mind is India. Besides, I have a hyper-romantic conception of the Indian woman and every time I think about its male version it always occurs to me that scene from The English Patient where the character played by Juliette Binoche starts drooling about Naveen Andrews (Lieutenant Kip Singh) washing his hair after we’d seen him carefully taking off his turban.

Some of the photos that show up here are concepts that I had previously designed in my mind and just waited for the right opportunity to materialize. The turban was exactly on of them. I must admit it was the turban that took me to Martim Moniz. This part of Lisbon and the idea about it that the people from Lisbon have sends me back to everything we cheer about London, New York and all of those big cities that serve as paradigms for the “melting pots” and the “multiracial societies”. The truth is that we tend to appreciate these sociological concepts better if they’re several thousands of miles away from our homes. This is just my own personal confession…

This all came to my mind the moment I walked away from Balbir Singh. I just never would have thought that his last name would be the same as the movie character responsible for my charming vision of the Indian man.

Smells like Summer

The Gentleman - lilac mood

Tropical Lisbon

I can’t think of any other European capital where sea diving and History can get along so well as in Lisbon. I can imagine, for example, that for those that live somewhere between the English Channel and the North Sea, the idea of being able to go to the beach in March or October can seem… tropical. Our Portuguese judgement tells us that anyone that loves a shirt like these should keep them religiously destined for a beach party or a vacation in the Pacific, but go and tell that to those that only have 1500 hours of sunshine per year.

Rossio train station - bohemian vintage

I’d read somewhere about a Titanic exhibition in Lisbon. The idea didn’t got stuck into my mind, but when I walked by the Rossio train station, I thought this was a good excuse to see the old (but renovated) station. Too bad the price of the tickets didn’t quite fit into my concept of killing time waiting for my lunch company to arrive. I turned my back to the shipwreck and faced Gonçalo. Well, the rest of the story, you already know…

Conference about style

Apparently these two gents were coordinating a fashion production right in the centre of Lisbon. For some reason I can’t explain I’ve found them a more interesting concept to work with than the model. I have to admit she was probably 7 years younger and 3 centimetres taller than me. Even so...

São Saturnino - green over green

An English lady at Guincho

How wonderful to see the effect that a single accessory can have on the whole.

4 ways to use your head

Chequers and coincidences

I’ve realised some months ago, reading a fashion editorial in Men’sHealth, that chequers are back for good. It reminded me of the shirt I (probably) took to a Pearl Jam concert in 96 and it made me realise that I’m not that immune to fashion tendencies as much as I would like to think I am. We’re done about chequers.

I like coincidences. They don’t leave me wondering about the good or bad energy of the universe, but I find them amusing. These two fellows are German. In 5 days, I’ve found them in two different places of the city. Ok, they’re designers, they’re here for the OFFF, but it’s still a funny coincidence. The thing is that I really enjoyed talking with these guys. More than a photoblog or a fashionblog, this is a peopleblog. Without nice people like these two guys The Lisbon Tailor wouldn’t have survived for more than two weeks.

The day Terreiro do Paço stood still

I heard a horn. Drivers never tended to go crazy about me walking on crosswalks, but I turned around by instinct. I saw two police agents, gazing, the same agents that had just missed two blatant proposals to get cocaine (from there to Rossio, the rule is the same: just as long as you don’t try to offer “dope” to the gentlemen in the uniforms, everything will go on just fine). The way they elbowed themselves reminded me of how we used to do it, in our pre-teens, every time we saw Mariana Cardoso, a girl from our school, walking in front of us. I held the camera firmly and took the shot. Some may like it, others may not… But the fact is Terreiro do Paço stood still.

Encore

“I just don’t know how you could not shoot him again”, my girlfriend said when, one day, going up the avenue, we found him walking the dog. That’s more or less the feeling I get every time I come across Luis. When he told me he was going to Paris in June, I couldn’t resist and suggested him “Until then, every time we meet I’ll take you a picture”. Here’s his answer. I win, you win and the Taylor wins. And I hope Luis wins too.

My (2nd) precedent

(Like my 1st precedent) I would like to publicly apologise to this lady and, at the same time, thank her for being here. I loved her look. I can only hope that someday she can meet this blog and also (who knows?) love it.

Campo Grande, summer look

So Indie

I don’t care much about labels, and even when I was 15 I still didn’t have much patience for that “urban tribes” crap that everybody kept identifying in every type of hairdo, length of pants, colour of underwear or in the number of times you pick your nose. But the truth is I have to name every post, or at least I think that their beauty and sense begins on the title itself. Hence, and taking into account the look of those that show up here…

Bahia de Alcudia and Magaluf, long shorts (male and female)

Port de Sóller - An English Lady in a "North-American" dress

"I´m just an old lady" she said. I just answered "Well...I love your dress and my girlfriend agrees".

Palma - the tourist, the girl and the street artist

United Colours of Vespa

I like Time Out and apparently Time Out likes me too

It feels good to see a young blog like this in an article in such an amazing magazine. Thank you TIME OUT Lisboa!