Architecture graduation ceremony à la Spanish. We talked graduation and prom outfits before in this post, but this is the real deal: what I wore to our 2012-2017 Architecture School of Valencia graduation ceremony, how it felt and what was the whole evening like! First of all, I can't believe it's been almost a week since the whole thing and I'm already at Firenze, Italy with almost half of my luggage to unpack, two boxes to hit the mail and lots of sightseeing to do!

So, last Friday evening we, more than 200 Architecture students, relatives and professors gathered in the Palacio de Congresos of Valencia (built by architect Norman Foster) very early in the afternoon (and when I say early, I mean "early for an Spanish gathering of people". With these warm temperatures in all the Mediterranean coast, we are all night owls who like to convene very late!) for a graduation ceremony which had both its institutional and more serious side; and the other way round which had us laughing and enjoying to no end. For what I've heard from friends at other Universities and Faculties, graduations in Spain basically consist in reuniting all the students on a hall, listen to a couple of speeches (we even had some videos played in ours!) and then call us one by one to stage to put on our shoulders the beca (which translates directly as "scholarship" but it's actually a kind of sash which color depends on the field or studies you take) to finally reunite with our relatives to take pictures, meet our friends' families and head to dinner all together to celebrate and party.

It was very moving and special to share with all of them this evening, and let everyone on that hall know that every project we've worked hard on has a bit of their soul, for accompanying and holding us during this journey. Then, we headed to dinner and had lots of fun dancing, catching up with those who left this year for their abroad year and basically enjoying the night with our friends and classmates.

And, moving on to the outfit part! I had a couple of graduation gowns at home I actually planned on wearing. I was very undecided for months, and when I finally cleared my mind about which one I was about to wear, this gorgeous blue gown (is it actually blue? Blue and orange? Multicolored? I don't have a clue) appeared right in front of my eyes on a random Summer sales' afternoon out (I didn't even started my Summer internship yet!) all put together beautifully in a mannequin. I runned towards it. Like, literally running. At the mall. Like a crazy thing. I knew I was looking for something different, not too crazy or showy, nor revealing; but something that depicted as much as possible the kind of woman I am, and who I want to be in the near future. My ideal dress didn't have any shape nor particular color until that moment. I wanted something both as unique and special as playful, fun and classy. My dress needed to be an statement of intents of all sorts, and I think I made it!

To top off this graduation outfit à la Spanish, I needed accessories worth the dress' style and an appropriate hair updo which fitted the event and the whole look. The prom-inspired hairdo I'm sporting came from this Instagram video from Heather Chapman's profile, and was beautifully and patiently crafted by my mum (although some hair pulling and tangles were made, I must confess). The ah-mazing tassel earrings came from Emokë Diseños, who handcrafted these unique soutache earrings according to my preferences, and who kindly lets you customize and take care of all the colors, sizes and details. I also wore her designs here. No comment on the makeup, I just did my regular day-to-day cat eyeliner with a blue pop of color on the lower lash line and put some (Well, OK. Actually, TONS of) signature red lipstick.

I've been popping up the topic about leaving for an Erasmus for a while (you can read about it here or also in this post). But, after all that, I've realized I never did a full post about it. Although it is not really a fashion-related topic, I find it perfect to write about and tell you all a little bit about, as Something Fashion was born in the middle of a trip abroad, so, traveling is a serious matter around here too.

First of all, you might be wondering... "Weren't you leaving to The Netherlands?" Well, yes and no. Netherlands and all Holland are my architecture come-true dream when it comes to teaching and education, and I hope I have the chance of moving there in a near future for a doctor's degree or to work. But, very few spots were offered on the Erasmus grant application and only one at TU Delft, which is the place I ever dreamed of taking a year abroad. Every course the Architecture School here in Valencia sends the highest grade applying, which wasn't my case, like, AT ALL. So, I had to think about other places to put on my Erasmus application form.

That said. I wanted to throw some light about why I decided to leave for a studying year abroad, and give some advice based on my previous experience traveling and studying in a foreign country. First thing's first, I must say that I wasn't the regular student who couldn't think about anything else but Erasmus year (or similar) when getting to my way to mid-career (in Spain you are not allowed to go study abroad until you reach your third year of college. Although it depends on the college career you're taking, and where you're taking it). In fact, I didn't want to leave. I wanted to get my architecture degree in Valencia as fast as possible, save money and then leave for a master's degree abroad.

Photos by trasotracamara

#AirMomentUPV. Some say it's the journey and not the destination what matters the most. Well, when it comes to architecture and design of anything I would absolutely say that! Last Saturday we had the chance to have the girls from Conjuntos Empáticos (which is an investigation group about architecture, art and pedagogy which gathers up some cool people mostly from Madrid) as guests at Valencia Architecture School to teach us about inflatable and pneumatic architecture, which we could make ourselves with their priceless help.

We spent the whole day at the School, a group of nearly 30 Architecture students working non-stop patterning in huge plastic rolls, cutting edges, "sewing" pieces with our flat irons and basically, invading the whole School's hall to build a huge inflatable, plastic "mushroom" in which we can get inside!

It feels amazing to see the process, from the first excitement and don't-know-exactly-what-I'm-doing moments to the peak of the day when you see it all black and you're sure you won't achieve the goal, to the final countdown in which you realize you're part of the the team, everyone's working super hard to get the work done and you'll achieve it. It makes me remember last year's ETSA·TOPIA festival, which was all about team-work with people you might not even know at all, but whom you end bonding and sharing those crazy, race-against-time moments. I find these kind of experiences super important for anyone in any professional field: it develops teamwork, empathy, social and crisis-solving skills which are essential in any job, but specially in architecture. You are supposed to be against this kind of experiences every single day in your future, so better be prepared!

So, that's the main reason why I'm bringing you these pictures today: mostly to see the process behind that very cool thing we built. Those are the pictures which hide our conversations while "sewing" plastic, our desperation moments because we couldn't find any sense to the patterns and seams (but we figured it all by the end of the afternoon) and the final result. At the end, fashion is a series of processes and creative solutions to some needs and problems which are supposed to be solved, too. And which are supposed to be of good use: in this case, we will use the #AirMomentUPV pavilion to meet and have a cozy place to relax between classes and seminaries at the Architecture School. How cool is that?

Fashionart defines themselves as a club for art, fashion, photography and scenery lovers. About a month ago they held a presentation at the Fine Arts Faculty, right behind Architecture School on our campus.

I'm always super interested in attending these events to meet new people, new ideas and look around for some inspiration. The young designers who hosted this catwalk where Eduardo Jairycovich with his ''New Baroque Collection'', Andry Wears for ''Tika Chains'', Mayte Oliver and Anna Vicent. The hall where the catwalks were developed was super crowded and I was super pleased to see that there are so many people around Valencia who cares and loves so much fashion.

A really fun evening filled with music and colors everywhere, seeing the proposals of these young designers who have just landed into the creation of craftsmanship pieces, all of them out of the ordinary, with a line and style that maybe it's still being defined but which will strengthen in coming years for sure. I wish to all of them the best of lucks on their adventure which has just begun.

Thank you so much for inviting me to this presentation, and congratulations!

 

Seems like it's been an eternity since I wrote here and talked to you about my first days on University. So, today I'm leaving very quicly because I'm writting this before going to sleep, and I must wake up very early to attend classes and so on.

(This is the front page of my ''Introduction to Architecture'' notebook. Can you guess the bridge's name?)

Ok. I know the shots are very improvised on my room, but as I really go out a lot to take pictures of buildings and things usually alone, no one can take my outfit pictures! That's why today I prefered to show you some architecture pictures and some of my drawings for homework, and talk to you a little bit about architecture here in Valencia (you've been asking me to mix, and add some architecture posts, so, here's the first one!), and specially downtown whe re I like to go and see antique buildings, and to the huge library there (my University is almost on the edge of the city).