SPOTLIGHT - Cycle 13, task 1.

Guess who's back ? Yeah ! Hello dear Readers and welcome to this new session of "Spotlight on FM-Style's new cycle" ! Maybe you've been waiting for it (haha no jk 😝) or maybe you're thinking "oh no, not again" but, spoiler alert : this is my blog, so I do what I want - and all I want for Christmas is a new endless (just like Game of Thrones - don't lie I know you love it when it comes around) competition ! Yep, bare with me, because we are on a cruise for several weeks, I feel chatty and, trust me, things are already quite spicy !

Loving the new banner of the club <3

Ok so, this year, no competition for me. I'm "almost" in charge, because I will do for this cycle what I wish I was paid for in real life - 😂 just kidding, if only doing nasty fashion police while sipping wine on a café terrace was an actual job, then yes I'll be tremendously rich. I mean you guess it : judging.

Long story short, this is awesome - thanks for the opportunity SSS siblings 👯 ! But I didn't imagine that this could be hard as hell (yes there are a few cursed words here this is my blog sorry not sorry lol). You definitely have to be quite "balanced" : what's good, what's bad, and above all : how can we improve this - yeah because without this third part, I think that judging would be pointless. Competing isn't all about winning (ok this is turning into your granny's recommendations on life but again : who's blog is this ?), but also how can you be better next time and improve yourself. Trust me, these competitions gave me confidence and maybe sharpened my eye a little better ; so why wouldn't it be the case for you ? As I'm taking this matter seriously (actually, I'm curious to see if what I just stated about style evolution is true), I plan on doing some charts (but not now, I need data - think with your brain a little !) so you can see the contestants improvements. I'm sure that astonishing talent is around the corner and, if you want to be the first one witnessing it, then follow this new cycle here (the club where the good stuff happens) and here (the cycle's album where you can find all the entries, no excuse 😬)!

Anyway, I'm done with my endless rambling (nope). Let's move on to the heart of the subject : the first task !

The privilege of a judge is to give the first hint. My fellow team and I had to give some example of what we expected. I was worried at first that I should clearly state what I was looking for in the task.. But I think that this is not the best idea ; and I'm going to explain you why like the old person that I am.

I've learnt during my studies - I did some oenology - some tricks to challenge your free will.. and to give your most personal opinion possible. When you taste a wine 🍷 for example (it works also if you blind test food for all of the kids reading this of course), never read what's written on the label about the flavors you're supposed to find : your brain will assimilate what you have on your tongue to what you read, and it won't do the searching work itself. In a nutshell, it won't train.. and that is specifically how you can't improve yourself.

What I try to say here, is that if I give you all the clues, I'm afraid that you will stick to it in order to, somehow, please my judgment.. and that is terribly boring. For this cycle and, of course, because I can, I want to give good marks 💯 - and I won't hesitate to use them as long as there is that extra good feeling about an outfit, something I would never have thought about !

Ok I was reading over myself to check on spelling mistakes and I feel like I kinda sound like a freak. This is a game after all - no pressure folks ! But still, here is a list of what I was implying with this example/outfit :

- Christmas-ish tones ; not necessarily the green and red ones but some that imply festivities and winter, therefore I used dirty white (snow) and golden (paaaaarty 🎉).

- subtlety ; no obvious Santa references, but implied ones such as the purse-clock (waiting for the 25th) or the bow heels (presents 🎄 !).

- style ; something personal, something that looks like it only came out of your head and that this is not only a costume but something a little more special for you (I think that the best way to do it is to stick to that street style condition, so you don't feel like you're overdoing things and you can stay focused on what you do).

Haha this is turning into a methodology article.. but I think that this is better to set things straight from the beginning. So no sneaky manners here !

Ok so, here comes the results ! I will give you my personal top 5 for this task. Bare with me, it won't take long I promise 🙌 From left to right :

Rank 5 - Navi (vousme) with that perfect effortless vibe !

Rank 4 - Stefan (Sweet_gal11) with that edgy energy !

Rank 3 - Beata (B.E.A.T.K.A) for that glamorous drama atmosphere !

Rank 2 - Letìcia (leiona_-) for that flawless composition !

The number 1 💕 - Alicja (alusiak123) for literally provoking the unexpected !

Congratulations everyone !
If you want to see the complete recap of the task with the complete judges' comments outfit by outfit, click here.
Also, a little shoutout to my partners : Marta and, of course, our hosts Mireia & Judith are reviewing everything on their blogs, please check them out !

Anyway, 
who would you have ranked #1 ?
What would you have done ?

Can't wait to meet you on task 2,
and while we'll be expecting it,
here is the most fabulous cover of Last Christmas.
Enjoy 😚

M.