"no thoughts, head empty"- Alex Turner, 2018 alt. title: VVIBE WITH ME: a review of tranquility base hotel and casino in leopard print and shorts

vvibing to the Arctic Monkeys' The Ultracheese, I'm a firm believer that if you didn't like Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino you are just not really listening to it and letting it tell its story. It tells you everything you need to know to like it, from the moment Alex sings that he just wanted to be one of The Strokes at the beginning of the album to the moment he sings that he's probably not deep in thought, that's just his face.

The evolution from AM to Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino is delightful to see, AM being the top, the maximum fame that Arctic Monkeys has ever had with the catchy songs and the construction of Alex's character during that period; You know,  going from the whole bad boy look of the 50s, the way AM talks about parties and bars and people to TBHC being the opposite of it, talking about the illusion of fame with a debauched tone but at the same time with a touch of loneliness, like a drunk person who makes fun of the situation he is in but knows that in the background there’s a little bit of truth to the jokes. The way it talks about dressing up like a fictional character from a place he calls America seems to me like a perfect response to the life he lived back in the AM era.

AM is a peak album, an album dazzled by a surreal American world and perfect to conquer American youth and TBHC is a deep dive in this tattered illusion, a beautiful album about decadence. In a way I feel like AM has an adolescent energy, perhaps because I listened to it a lot during my teenage years, but also because of the way Alex Turner describes things in such a dramatic way, full of life or death, love or hate, in the lyrics and sounds like someone who's drunk on teenage power. The disappointment of AM is not the same as that of TBHC, the disappointment of the former is singular, it’s a person; while in TBHC it’s the world, it’s the creative scene, it is the industry. I feel like the band but mostly Alex, understood that trying to make another AM was simply ridiculous so even if unconsciously they embraced the idea that the thing after that was decadence and they built an entire reality around it, like what would decadence feel like? How does it sound? How does it look? And to them it looked like the vacation spot on the moon, far away from humanity but still human, being treated like a god and then being forgotten.

The criticism towards society is also so on point in this one, while AM was quite empty in this subject, a thing that pops up every now and then in Arctic Monkeys’ songs, see Teddy Picker for an example, Tranquility Base just goes deep into it, from technology to politics and not in a forceful way, I mean it’s clearly there, but it’s also not just about it and it’s not a political album like the openly critical about the government American Idiot by Green Day. Alex sings very delicately about the way social habits have changed in the era of social media in The Ultracheese, talking about freaking out from a knock at the door when you haven’t been expecting one, and satirizes advertising in Four Out of Five with the idea of selling people things in the verge of an apocalypse.

The way he does not demonize any of these things, but just kind of brings it up, makes me feel like there’s a bright future for the band even after the great success of AM and the popular hate on TBHC. It feels contemporary, I feel that in a personal level Alex is aware he’s aging and he doesn’t try to stop it, he embraces it, he collaborates with new younger artists and he is not the young and wild rockstar anymore, and I am talking about the way I read it, but he feels secure in his age and it shows so much that it feels like to the outside world he is perceived as cooler than he has ever been because Alex writes about this part of probably his career without making us listeners feel like it’s just an old man's complaint.

One other thing I really like in this album is this dark and golden vibe it has, the '70s inspired aesthetic, I think it ties well to the idea of decay and rejection of modernity right now since the '70s were an era of embracing modernity and rejecting tradition, people who didn't agree with the technological advances of the time or failed to open their minds to a new moment in history were left to decay and be forgotten. I think the fastest way to decay is to not accept and embrace modernity like I can see this in my own generation in the way people reject Tik Tok just because it’s new, it’s young and dumb when in reality it being young and dumb is what makes it so amazing. Being open-minded and getting in touch with another generation and at least partially understanding them is a blessing and I think the band understands this so although people hated the album back in 2018, I feel like it’s on the way to becoming a modern classic.

vibing in leopard print shirt from Zara (R$119, 2018), running shorts, that I bought because "make some noise" is written on them and I just really like MCR, from Renner (R$69, 2018), sunglasses (R$40), old ass picture of NYC that is around 11 years old (R$??????)

What did you think of Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino? How are you feeling about the end of the world?

VVIBING IN: Alphets to scandalize my mother

 This was the very start of this blog, 22nd of October? November? I don’t remember exactly but I remember I said a big "fuck this".

I looked at Mark Foster's outfit for the cover of Foster The People's latest album, aka Sacred Hearts Club, and I thought “Mark Foster doesn't think about what he wears with the cheetah print coat”, like I did, always with an all-black outfit and heels, “he is a star, he just wears whatever he wants and no one questions it.” and that was the energy I wanted in my life.

vibing in a leopard print fur coat from c&a (R$ 99, 2016), iron man t-shirt from renner (R$39), running shorts from renner (R$69), ironing board (R$????)

So I started flirting with the idea of testing the limits of ridiculous, unusual, eccentric and all the outfits in this blog are part of this, I see it as a year-long exercise, let’s see how weird I can get till October next year. I haven’t worn most of them out because… well, because of the pandemic, but I am so excited to wear them.

Dressing up has never been more fun than this, and scandalizing my mother has always been fun, so no news on that front, she thinks everything I wear is hideous, she has always been very classic, like Chanel perfumes, she was an executive secretary when she was younger.

Back to the point, I want to make fun of myself at this point, and of my degree, what’s the fun in graduating in Fashion Design if you can’t wear what you want, right?

Give me suggestions on things to test! Color combinations, print combinations, anything, if I have it available to wear I will make an outfit and tag you! Maybe challenge you to wear something different too! Could be fun, what do you think?

NOT A VVIBE: Tennis Skirt

I don’t really like this skirt anymore, it’s just not a vvibe. I think the internet oversexualized it and sometimes I wonder if there’s still a way to style it and not feel like a sex doll. 

I’ve been seeing a lot of this weird infantilization of adult women lately. I remember when it started, back in the day it was just a kink people talked about on tumblr, but it grew into 25-year-olds wearing things that have Baby Girl written on it, and to me, it’s a little disturbing.

What really bothers me is the idea that dressing childlike doesn’t come from a place of innocence, it comes from a place of sexualization of childlike behaviour and aesthetic. The image we have of sex changed and got more infantilized on the internet for some reason and it is very damaging for actual children or young teens.

I feel like this kind of clothing sends the wrong message to young girls and it also creates this distorted image that there are adult women who are like that. It’s almost an inverse of a study I’m reading, “Impact of Age-Ambiguous and Sexualized Clothing Styles on the Self-Concept of Early Adolescent Females” by Laurabeth Allyn. 

She talks about the impact of girls dressing older and in a sexualized way in early adolescence, and it makes me wonder about the impact of seeing women dressing younger, much, much younger and taking pictures with giant plushies and pig-tails on teens, but that’s a discussion for when I finish reading her study. 

And that’s fucking scary, it’s scary to see 25-year-old women dressing like Lolita, acting like kids by faking a look of innocence and naivety to a male audience and it’s scary to see how the male audience responds to it.

Don’t get me wrong I’m all for dressing sexy, but I like tight jersey dresses and deep necklines, I can’t help but feel like this skirt and this aesthetic is sexy in the wrongest and most vile way because it makes me look younger. It makes every girl look younger.

Let me know what you think about it, it can’t be that this is only problematic for me and another 6 people between Tumblr and Tik Tok, and I seriously would love to talk about it.

vvibing to Flowerball by The Wombats, which I accidentally discovered just this morning, despite loving The Wombats. I like the way love hurts a little bit when Matthew Murphy talks about it. Not saying that in an emo way, it's just that people and relationships are never easy. My therapist asked me how my latest relationship is going and I actually said: "as well as it ca, there are two people involved so I can't really ask for much if I wanted peace I'd be alone."

TENNIS SKIRT, BABY GIRL, DD/LG AESTHETIC, AESTHETICS, LIGHT PINK SKIRT, LIGHT PINK, BEIGE SWEATSHIRT, EUPHORIA, RIVERDALE

VVIBE WITH ME: Declan McKenna

 The way this boy has such a clear idea of what he wants is so scary and also the reason I adore him and his music. 

Declan is 21 years old, he was born in the same year I was, and his songs bring me peace. Not because his songs are calm or talk about the world the way Jack Johnson (except on Sleep Through the Static, which was a very heavy album) does, but because someone else sees what I see and someone else is mad enough to scream about it. 

makeup always on point

I only started formally listening to his songs last month but since then I’ve been completely obsessed with everything he has to say. From the song’s lyrics to the interviews, the way Declan sees the world around him is fascinating. His songs talk about social problems, about politics, about prejudice, and the way people are suffering but it’s not annoying and well… pedant like some other artists. It’s the voice of someone who has grown up seeing this stuff and just wants to call people out on their bullshit. I feel like he is very sincere in his songwriting.

The feeling he gives me is that he’s not purposefully trying to write these songs, these are just the subjects running around in his head all the time. Maybe it’s because we were born in the same year and I’m projecting my own dissatisfaction in the world onto him, but I feel like we come from the same place, just laying your head on your pillow and thinking: “am I the only one who feels like the world is ending and not one cares?”

And the way he talks about it... how he has such a clear idea of what he wants for each song and how he talks about the subjects he beautifully writes about with so much certainty, I mean I love the confusing and artistic way Alex Turner breaks down his music but it is refreshing to see someone with such a clear idea of what they were trying to convey.

I have listened to both of his albums and can’t get enough of them, the first one, released when he was 18 if I’m not mistaken, is ridiculously mature for an artist so young with songs like Paracetamol, Listen to Your Friends, and Brazil, which are on the more serious side and my personal favorite, Why Do You Feel So Down, a fun energetic song where he kind of makes fun of himself.

vvibing in a polo shirt, large, ralph lauren ($myex's), holographic sequin hot pants(?) or shorts(?) from forever 21 (R$99, 2014), pink duvet ($mybrother's), silk pillowcase that looks like the one from Howl's Moving Castle ($ I made it), sunglasses (R$40, 2019), dog cap from renner (R$30max, 2018)

And this second one, released last month, Zeros is the name of it, full of even more serious subjects, like humans destroying nature, technology, people’s expectations, conspiracy theories, and ignorance. All of this in a slightly futuristic, sci-fi sounding album. I currently can’t even name a favorite song of this album because it’s simply fantastic and it hits something deep, deep inside me.

So I want to dance to those songs, I want to see him live, I want to shout all the lyrics because they just make me feel hope. Not because there is something truly hopeful in them but because someone else sees what I see.

vvibing to Why Do You Feel So Down by Declan McKenna. Do you ever get this weird impression that people think you are cooler than you actually are and they are a little disappointed when they get to know you? Or is that just me?

VVIBE WITH ME: in a Large Ralph Lauren Polo Shirt + Pink Fishnets

I think I peaked at 19 and should have died there, I’m not being dramatic, I just had everything I had ever wanted.

I was living in London when I was 19, studying at the London College of Fashion, living the dream you could say. It had always been my dream to live there because of Doctor Who and my ridiculous love for British stuff, from music to tv to food, I still miss cocoa pops.

This polo shirt is from that semester abroad, it’s my ex’s, he was fucking huge, he was a rugby player on the weekends, hence why the shirt is a dress on me, but I didn’t vibe with it until this year and before that, I didn’t vibe with polos in general until I got obsessed with Kingsman: Secret Service in 2019.

vvibing to Greek Tragedy by 

The Wombats because it

 was my song with my ex,

his name was Paris and

the first thing that crossed

my mind when we met was

“what a fucking greek tragredy, huh?”

You see I already adored Kingsman and Taron Egerton, but I had a brutal Taron Egerton as Elton John phase in which I watched only Rocketman for a month and a half. Every friday I’d go to the cinema and watch it alone.

There was something so delicate and brutal about that movie, might write about it someday, but back to the point, I was having a mean bitch phase, I was angry and that anger turned into only wearing boy’s clothes and black, red, and grey for 6 months, and I was obsessed with Eggsy, so I bought a black polo shirt.

Also, the existence of chav culture fascinates me, not in a bad way, I just think it’s kind of cool and also the origin of the word “chave” in Brazilian Portuguese, which is used to describe the Brazilian version of chavs.

I then declared, probably whilst drinking a beer, that polo shirts would come back soon, in 1 year to cool kids and 2 to mainstream buyers, I think I was correct, I’ve been seeing them a LOT over the last few months and I believe after Covid officially ends we are going to see it everywhere.

vvibing in a polo shirt, large, ralph lauren ($myex's), pink fishnets (R$12, 2013), pink duvet from zelo($mybrother's), red duvet from zelo($mymom's), sunglasses from 25 de Março (R$40, 2019)

Anyways, I really vibe with them now and I also want a striped rugby jersey, as soon as quarantine is over I’m gonna go thrifting with Tina to find it.

Are you also vvibing with polo shirts? How are you guys? What's the next thing on your wishlist?

OUTFITS, OUTFIT OF THE DAY, OUTFIT INSPIRATION, TREND FORECASTING, POLO SHIRT, OVERSIZED, OVERSIZED FASHION INSPO, DARK BLUE, ROYAL BLUE

VVIBE WITH ME: to Conan Gray's Generation Why

I am 22 and I feel quite lost. I truly don’t know what to do with my life, I can’t bring myself to believe in the system we live in and I don’t know how to deal. I feel like a spoiled child who has now discovered they have to work to be able to live, so when Conan Gray said:

“We are the helpless, selfish, one of a kind
Millennium kids, that all wanna die
Walking in the street with no light inside our eyes
We are the worthless, cursed with too much time
We get into trouble and lose our minds
Something that I've heard a million times in my life
Generation why”

I really vvibed with that because I was born in 1998 and although I always knew I’d have to work, since I was born middle class in an emergent country, it infuriates me that the idea of success to the world these days is basically selling your soul for money and status. You have to give up everything to have a successful career and, if you wanna have a “real job” in anything, it’s expected of you to give up your health, your happiness, your sanity, all of your time, to make money to other people (because they don’t pay much even if you are doing yours and other 3 people’s job) so they can pay you a mediocre health insurance until maybe one day if you are really, really lucky and you find a fucking pot of gold, you can actually make money too.

And we are fucking depressed, it’s too much since the day we were born; have good grades, get into a good college, the phrase “work while they sleep”, just let us chill for one second, geez. I mean we are gonna end up losing our dream job to someone whose daddy is in the business anyway.

vvibing in a green plaid shirt ($15 in a nyc clearance store), a double-sided jacket I made for my sportswear class (R$400, the fabric was custom printed), black high waisted shorts from forever 21, (R$70, 2014), lobster cap from renner (R$30max, 2018)

Then there’s the problem that rich people have been saying young, poor and basically working people should die left and right these days. And we have to work for them? Kiss the ground they walk on? Be thankful for the scraps from their table? What the fuck?

No wonder my generation is trying to make money selling foot pics instead of getting a job where they will be treated as a disposable part in a machine that doesn’t care if they die. Have you seen job applications lately? It’s insane, you go looking for a receptionist job and they want you to have 5 years of experience. And then they treat you with no respect for a salary that won’t even let you move out of your parents’ house.

We have all the right to be confused and depressed and anxious you know? Look at the mess they put us in.

Anyway, how old are you guys and how are you coping with the collapse of modern society?