I’m truly excited to strut my stuff in a fun and classic Caribbean look I updated for the city’s girly girls. It really has it all for me to represent Cuba, I even love the cliché factor.
Why Cuba?
First of all, you must know, two things made me do it. One, my cute pink mock guayabera, as the traditional tropical palm print shirt is called across the Caribbean. Two, my personal feelings for all things Latin American.
Not everyone knows I speak Spanish and I’m something of a salsera. Dancing and Latin America in general represent a whole era of my life, along with a bunch of lovely people. I’ve never been to Cuba but I’m fascinated by its live postcard of a traditional, distinctive style. Goodness, I’m all for the pastel-sepia coloured rundown colonial buildings of La Habana, the Cuban dialect, the home restaurants, that extra smug way Cubans play, sing and dance old school salsa. Finally, let’s not forget the vintage American cars, the Panama hats and those iconic palm print shirts worn by men with crisp white pants and, err, Panama hats.
That old school Caribbean look
I have a confession to make. I love shirts. Classic, boyish, feminine, crazy, cool or somewhat boring, plain and printed, loose and fitted – whatever, come to mamma. That said, it’s no wonder I picked up a few of them when the old style short (I mean long short) sleeved cuts crept back into style. I have one in crisp white cotton, another in semi-sheer pastel colour block, one with white daisy print on black, and this little pink thing.
To tell the truth, I’m totally out of touch with wearing pink. I can only see myself sporting this colour with white – hence the tropical vibe. Not too versatile, then, right? Still, I can make good use of this shirt with a few different white bottoms. It would look just as cool if I paired it with shorts, tailored pants, relaxed summer pants, cropped or full length jeans, as with this A-line biker skirt.
Now comes the part where we throw on the accessories. I wanted to highlight both the Cuban concept (the straw trilby) and the city girl stuff (chunky minimal sandals, an embossed clutch and an extra tassel from another bag). A bit ballsy overall for someone whose style gets more minimal by the week. But I’m glad I tried it – this look felt easy, chic and fresh enough for a day out.
P.S. Un abrazo a todos por allá que lean esto – hasta la próxima 🙂
Cheers,
Gabriella
palm print shirt: New Look
skirt: Topshop
sandals: ASOS
clutch bag with black tassel: H&M
neon tassel: Paul’s Boutique x Topshop
trilby: New Look
Photography: Laszlo Kubak
