In Buenos Aires, despite rampant inflation, you can still find a relatively cheap apartment, buy cigarettes for $10, a bottle of good wine for $30 and eat in decent restaurants for about $100.

In a nutshell, Buenos Aires is still (sort of) cheap…. Except, that is, when it comes to buying clothes. A combination of rising costs and import restrictions makes clothing strangely expensive here, with more than a few concerns over quality too.

To help you stick to a budget when dressing for your Buenos Aires life, The Argentina Independent, with the help of savvy fashionistas Josephine Leclercq from ‘Intercambios creativos’, and Vanessa Bell from ‘Creme de la Creme’, sourced the five best second-hand fashion shops of the capital. All have offerings for both men and women.

Portobello Vintage Boutique – Paraguay 1554

Portobello Vintage Shop (photo: Kahina Boudarene)

Run by a veteran of the Buenos Aires vintage and second-hand scene, Sebas Pawlowicz, this place is definitely one of the best places to get nice clothes for cheap. Sebas, with his 20 years of experience, certainly knows a lot about good quality, used garments. All the pieces are washed and ironed.

Expect to pick up amazing clothes from as little as $30 and up to $800 at the most – if you are looking for a leather jacket or for Ralph Lauren, Burberry, or Hermes items, for instance. Decked out with a British feel, this Anglophile goes out of his way to assist his clientele in their selection. He explains that his goal is “to recycle, to help people in finding their own style out of the famous shops that all sell the same things”.

La Casa del Teatro – Santa Fe 1243

La Casa del Teatro (photo: Kahina Boudarène)

This second hand shop is really particular as it is a house for old theatre artists. To help ‘La casa del Teatro’ pay for the rent, people give them clothes and they also sell old clothes from comedians. As so, on some mannequins, you will see names like Martha Legrand and Linda Peretz, referring to the actresses who used to wear these clothes.

You can find jackets, jewellery, hats, bags, and even theatre books and programmes, as well as vinyls, at really cheap prices – ranging from around $30 to $400. Also, even if you don’t find what you are looking for, it is a nice shop to browse. The place, with its wooden walls and marble floor, definitely has a lot of charm. As you walk around it, you will be able to admire old pictures of actors or objects left from stage scenery.

Aventura – Rivadavia 3484

Aventura (photo: Kahina Boudarène)

Heading out of the Loria subte station (A line), it is hard not to notice this three-floor second hand shop. Inside, it is a real mess and you should not be afraid of searching for hours to find the perfect piece. ‘Aventura’ is the perfect name for a place like this as you will get lost in the multiple rooms filled with clothes of all kinds.

Luckily, Valeria, who opened this shop 20 years ago, will be really happy to help you find the perfect pair of jeans or an outfit for a fancy dress party. Expect to get a sweater for just $3 or $5 or a pair of shoes for $10. You can even come with an empty wallet as they exchange clothes.

Las Estrellas – Rodriguez Peña 291

Las Estrellas (photo: Kahina Boudarène)

Run by a Russian woman who came to Argentina 14 years ago, this place is great to find everything you need to wear, from a bra to a pair of shoes. In general, prices are really cheap – for example, a suede jacket, normally overpriced, will cost you around $200. You might run into an original Louis Vuitton bag that will cost you $6000, but this is an exception.

From Lacoste to Zara, you will find brands from all around the world, and, importantly, plenty that do not exist in Argentina. Lara, who opened this place six years ago, admits that she “always bought expensive clothes over there in Europe” and that she “found the idea to sell second hand clothes in Argentina”.

Vintage Retro y Algo Más – Defensa 1323

Vintage Retro y Algo Más (photo: Kahina Boudarène)

On Sundays, San Telmo welcomes one of the most entertaining market fairs of Buenos Aires. But you don’t need to wait for the weekends -you can find cheap and good quality clothes in ‘Vintage Retro y Algo Más’, five minutes away from where the feria ends, on the same street.

Jorge, who has run the place for the last three years, has been working in fashion for over a decade. He picks up his clothes very carefully, as he is mostly into ’50s and ’70s style. But, as in every good second hand shop, you will find hats, bags, dresses, and coats from all periods. All of them are more than affordable – $100 for a leather jacket or $20 for a nice vintage dress.

Courtesy of HermanosEstebecorena

Buenos Aires is a city filled with really, really good-looking people. While the fashionable and well-kept ladies garner much of the attention, it is well-known that the men are also not only handsome, but stylish and fashion-conscious. But there is one main difference when it comes to the dressing of genders, especially in Buenos Aires: selection.

Ladies have grown up shopping with various options. We can choose from a wide selection of quality clothes at any whim or fleeting trend. On the other hand, men have traditionally been provided the tiresome basics (think t-shirt and khakis) and told to make do with little selection. Nowadays, while there may appear to be many men’s labels to choose from, not all are viable options for finding quality or smart clothing. Here are our favourite men’s designers making handsome clothes for Argentines and visitors alike.

HermanosEstebecorena is brothers Alejo and Javier Estebecorena – two Argentines who know how to design sharp and practical clothing for the modern man. Their attention to detail and commitment to fine fabrics make for nice clothes; their tailoring makes for great clothes. It’s impossible not to sit admiring the cut and functionality of each piece – sporty jackets, fitted pants, basic t-shirts and an impressive line of boxers – which puts it a head above other designers in the market. The label as a whole exudes urban and comfort, something any fashionable man can get behind.

HermanosEstebecorena has two Palermo locations: El Salvador 5960 and PaseoAlcorta. For more information visit www.hermanosestebecorena.com.

Courtesy of Proyecto Cuadrilla

ProyectoCuadrilla is the collective effort of several Argentine independent designers, namely Desastreria, Urenko, Li.torres, Decrisci, Ladrón de Guevara and Fernandomore. Each designer, with his or her own academic background, artistic style, and fashion sense, bring their own component to create this conceptual and androgynous clothing line ideal for a fashion-forward man. The result is a work of art in each piece of clothing, consistently playing with irregular proportions and unconventional construction. Layers upon layers express each individual effort that creates the whole. The flagship store TiendaProyectoCuadrilla opened just this May in Palermo and features lines from each of the designers as well as other notable independent labels from Buenos Aires.

ProyectoCuadrilla’s store TiendaProyecto is at Nicaragua 4519. For more information visit http://www.facebook.com/proyectocuadrilla

Courtesy of Bolivar

Bolivia clothing for men really has nothing to do with Argentina’s northern neighbour, but much more to do with mixing preppy blazers with punky accents to make clothes for the gentleman who’s not afraid to show his fashionably feisty side. Looking for a pink tie or blue socks to match with that tailored plaid shirt? Look no further. Gustavo Samuelia, who designs the majority of the line, provides a refreshing take on clothes for the modern gentleman. Perhaps the story can be better told with a visit to their eclectic Palermo store, where diverse cultural icons – from 2-Pac to Woody Allen – hang from the walls and add to the label’s playful charm. 

Bolivia can be found at Gurruchaga 1581, with several other locations throughout Buenos Aires and Argentina. For more information visit www.boliviaparatodos.com.ar 

IdeaMe: is an online platform, which helps creators, be they inventors, artists, or designers, among others, to finance their projects through crowd funding. Each week, the Indy features and promotes one project every week, with the aim of helping the creators finance and achieve their dreams. This week: Lara Pujal, designer

Feather Earrings by Lara Pujal

From brightly coloured beads, to shiny gold metallic, and creamy laces, Lara Pujal can embellish any article of clothing and take it from last year’s short-sleeved T to this year’s hottest night look.

“I started designing two years ago but my life has always been about designing, since I was a little girl,” says Pujal.

The 29-year-old designer started simple by designing and producing earrings, necklaces, and rings. Now, her line has grown to include scarves, skirts, tops, and shorts.

“My designs are predominantly bright and colourful, favouring blue, fuchsia, and coral. However, I also have the classic black and white, but with them I mix different textures. I like to play with colours and textures.”

Looking through Pujal’s collection is a treat for the eyes. Her earrings dangle with feathers in blues, purples, greens, and pinks with always a tiny flash of metallic in the form of a wing, fairy, or simple chain. With a layered lace brooch attached to the shoulder of a plain black shirt she suddenly makes the T-shirt look fancier and more feminine.

Her clothing line is less daring than her jewellery but still has an embellished feminine edge to it. Lace is the favoured fabric of her first line, making an appearance in almost all her clothes including a pair of shorts made entirely of the creamy white nimble fabric.

Scarves are the other major product of her line. With her signature touch she mixes fabrics and patterns with a tiny bit of embellishment. A simple black fabric flower transforms one grey plaid scarf while a solid grey scarf is feminised with lace trimming and a tiny lace bow.

Pujal works out of a tiny brick walled room in Tigre full of fabrics, thread, and sewing machines. She does all her own sewing and designing. She is currently looking for donations from IdeaMe to help with the cost of fabrics and materials.

“The donated money would really help me finish my collection because right now the costs are very high. My goal is to make a living from designing clothes. I honestly can’t imagine doing anything else.”

If you would like to help support Lara Pujal by making a donation please visit the IdeaMe website.

Unlike the abundance of vintage shops in cities like Paris, London and Berlin, Buenos Aires has not quite embraced vintage shopping yet.

Many believe porteños view vintage less as fashion and more like putting on a stranger’s second hand dress, but some locals have begun moving away from the designer circuit on their search for something no one else has.

The city’s vintage shops are the most part, chaotic, whacky, diverse and random, but vintage is gradually creeping into wardrobes here in Buenos Aires.

With markets like the Sunday San Telmo market, and the weekend market besides Parque Centenario, vintage shopping here can be a rummaging paradise. This week’s Top 5 is your guide to the best places to buy vintage in BA.

Portobello Vintage Boutique (Photo: Hannah Flint)

Portobello Vintage Boutique

Having grown up in West London, near the vast selection of vintage shops and boutiques in Portobello Road and Notting Hill, Argentine/English shop-owner Julieta Cameron arrived in Buenos Aires 11 years ago. After quickly noticing a shortage of vintage boutiques in the city, she opened Portobello Vintage Boutique – probably the best vintage shop in the city.

While its exterior may not suggest it, Cameron has, quite literally, imported a Portobello vintage shop into the heart of Recoleta. Once inside you’ll find the quintessential London road signs, newspaper cut outs and posters of iconic British figures among the selection of vintage and second hand clothes.

It’s also miles away from the average vintage shop you’ll find in Buenos Aires. While others can tend to stray into costume dress territory, Portobello Vintage has its head firmly turned towards vintage European style, with a range of different designers, prices and items for both men and women.

In one of BA’s most expensive barrios, the shop receives clothes bought by wealthy residents of the area during their travels to Europe during the 60s and 70s, as well as those sourced by Cameron on her own travels back to the UK. The shop is also orderly, meaning you can pop in here quickly and find something great. Find Argentine labels, as well as designs from London and Paris, ranging from bargain buys to more expensive, special pieces.

Paraguay 1554, Recoleta. Open Monday to Friday 11am-7pm.

Juan Pérez Vintage (Photo: Hannah Flint)

Juan Pérez Vintage

Juan Pérez is one of the most well known vintage stores in the capital and stocks just about everything you can imagine.

Walking around the huge shop is an experience in itself, with obligatory lockers for your bag, a bizarre section of vintage ski-wear (including skis) woolly jumpers and fur jackets.

Crammed with clothes, Juan Perez offers hats, jewellery, bags and shoes for both men and women, and it’s easy to spend hours in here, rummaging through everything they’ve got.

The price range here varies: a beautifully intact vintage Louis Vuitton leather bag for $2000 hangs next to a range of other designer as well as far cheaper options.

Although Juan Perez is admittedly more expensive than most of the city’s vintage shops, the pricier items do tend to be worth the money; a delicate silk white shirt from 70s Paris will set you back $200, for example. Nonetheless, there are definitely bargains to be found here; such as a great selection of winter coats and jackets, which are probably nicer than what you’ll find in the average Palermo shop, and definitely a lot cheaper.

A red screen and a mirror alongside a cabinet of costume jewellery encourages all sorts of fun, so don’t be surprised if you find groups of wealthy 60-year old women playing dress-up during the day time.

M. T. de Alvear 1441, Recoleta. Open Monday to Saturday 11am-9pm.

Retro Vintage (Photo: Natasha Ali)

Retro Vintage

Located inside the Mercado de San Telmo on Bolivar, this little-known vintage shop is just a step away from the busy San Telmo market on Sundays.

Open every day, Retro Vintage may be small, but there’s a lot to be found here. The stall is crammed with mainly women’s clothes, and items are sourced through donations from churches and local residents. The shop offers a whole host of items at reasonable prices, such as winter jumpers, dresses, skirts, shirts and shoes, which are all definitely worth spending some time rummaging through.

What really makes the stall stand out, however, is its wide selection of bags hanging from the outside walls. Ranging from backpacks to small purses to weekend bags, the prices begin at around $80 making them cheaper than most bags you’d find at the touristy San Telmo market.

The selection beats many vintage shops in the city, and what’s on offer is for the most part still in excellent quality. If $80 still sounds too expensive, haggling is possible and could save you around $20-30.

Mercardo de San Telmo (Local 37-48) Bolivar 970.

Quinta Avenida Galería (Photo: Hannah Flint)

Quinta Avenida Galería

Talk to porteños about vintage shops, and most of them will mention Quinta Avenida Galería. Located among the numerous galleries that line Av. Santa Fe, Quinta Avenida Galeria looks like a normal gallery from the outside, but houses tiny shops all selling second hand and vintage items.

The shops are all run independently, and are full to bursting with clothes for both men and women. Interesting jewellery, one off jackets and blazers along with a selection of bags are just some of the items on offer.

Turning up at around 1pm will give you access to the best stock, and you could quite easily spend the whole day rooting around all the different boutiques in the gallery. Assisted by eccentric shop owners, you’re likely to leave the gallery laden with bargain buys.

The gallery is the perfect place for the dedicated vintage shopper or the rummaging expert as here persistence and patience is key. Particularly noteworthy is That 70s Shop, which specialises in vintage items mainly from the 70s as well as other eras.

Avenida Santa Fe 1270, Open 9.30am-8.30pm daily.

El Buen Orden (Photo: Natasha Ali)

El Buen Orden

With probably the most ironic shop name in Buenos Aires, El Buen Orden has been at its current address in San Telmo for 17 years and is a local favourite.

Not just a vintage shop, it offers every type of antique imaginable. Come here to find vintage jewellery, bags, trinkets, clothes and hats among a whole load of other things such as dolls, pill boxes and doll houses.

More than the clothes or accessories, the best thing here has to be the experience: walking around the strange variety of objects all arranged in a random and haphazard way can be pleasantly surreal. Yet, this is another vintage experience where dedication pays off, and you’re sure to find some interesting pieces at fairly reasonable prices if you persevere.

Antique cabinets stuffed with purses, address books and sunglasses means the chances of finding quirky one off accessories you’re unlikely to find anywhere else are high. Stock changes almost daily, so if you don’t find what you want, you can come back another day and try again. Similarly, if you do want it, get it there and then, because it’s unlikely to be there when you come back.

Defensa 840, San Telmo. Open 11am-6pm daily.

Photo courtesy of Patagonia

Company founder Yvon Chouinard

“It is business that has to take the majority of the blame for being the enemy of nature, for destroying native cultures, for taking from the rich and giving to the poor, and for poisoning the earth with the effluent from its factories. Yet business can produce food, cure disease, control population, employ people and generally enrich our lives. And it can do these good things and make a profit without losing its soul.”

So says Yvon Chouinard, Maine-born environmental activist, outdoor sports enthusiast and founder of outdoor clothing and equipment company Patagonia, in his book ‘Let my people go surfing’. The company’s mission statement declares their determination to “build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis”.

Patagonia evolved out of Chouinard’s previous venture, Chouinard Equipment. It now directly employs more than a thousand people and supports environmental projects worldwide. Non-profit organisation Conservación Patagonica, for example, aims to create Patagonia National Park in Southern Argentina and Chile. They propose the world class park to be similar in size to Yosemite National Park in California, which covers nearly 1,200 square miles.

Born in 1938, son of a French-Canadian blacksmith, Chouinard started making his own environmentally friendly mountaineering equipment in a coal-fired forge in the late 1950s. He refers to his teenage years as his “dirt-bag” period, during which time he lived close to the elements, surfing and climbing mountains, particularly in California. He recognised that traditional mountaineering equipment, such as steel pitons, was damaging to rock faces in his beloved Yosemite National Park.

Chouinard Equipment’s 1972 catalogue extolled the advantages of their new aluminium design and piton damage was drastically reduced as a result of its publication and the dissemination of the new style of pitons. Prolific climber Steve Grossman has been quoted as praising this innovation unreservedly: “Had people continued to pound pins and bust flakes off and scar and damage rock, things would have been much uglier out there.”

Courtesy of Patagonia

The Patagonia philosophy continues to preach leading an “examined life” and their online ‘Footprint Chronicles’ allow customers to track the effects of products on the areas through which they or their constituent parts have passed. It is hoped that such tracking will also eliminate the risk of unwittingly buying something produced in a sweatshop. Chouinard pointed to the words of late environmentalist David Brower: “There’s no business to be done on a dead planet.”

Chouinard returned to the US from a trip to Scotland in 1970 with a new addition to his outdoor wardrobe: rugby shirts. Not the flimsy fashion statements of today, these were highly practical garments for the extreme conditions faced by a mountaineer and demand for this style among Chouinard’s customers soon outstripped supply. The company was growing at an unprecedented rate and the decision was taken to create a separate clothing line. The company took over a disused meatpacking plant in Ventura, California, for use as workshop and retail store.

Backpacker magazine criticised their early forays into the clothing industry with the scathing question: “Do you really think that some blacksmiths can sew well?” Chouinard, his wife Malinda and the other friends with whom they worked were not deterred and the name ‘Patagonia’ was chosen for this new line. A specific label was designed in 1973, showing the shape of Cerro Fitz Roy, Patagonia’s iconic jagged mountain, outlined against a stormy sky.

Chouinard had climbed Fitz Roy himself in 1968, by what was then the new California route. Raúl Costa, manager of the Buenos Aires branch of Patagonia, explained that the name was partly chosen for its mystical quality. “When Chouinard went there, Patagonia felt like the end of the world,” Raúl explains. “It still has some characteristics of Shangri-La, a promised land.”

This notion of the “promised land” reflects the company’s philosophy and their apparent unwillingness to compromise. That a commercial clothing line should be run according to intellectual and spiritual ideals is surprising in an epoch of consumerism.

Even more unusual is the fact that these ideals – “good stewardship” of the earth and sustainability, in terms of both natural and human resources – do seem to take precedence over profit. Chouinard stopped producing the old steel pitons and sought a new, more “environmentally sensitive” option, even though sales of the original model constituted some 70% of his company’s income.

Photo courtesy of Patagonia

Recycled Fabric, part of Common Threads Campaign

A similar dilemma was more recently faced by Patagonia. Approximately 14 years ago, the company was conducting a routine “examination” of the life of their business. It was calculated that cotton production was more destructive than any other process in the production line. Toxic pesticides sprayed on the plants were having such a negative effect on the environment in which cotton was grown that the decision was taken to switch exclusively to organic cotton. In the first nine years after this change was made, worldwide demand for organic cotton increased threefold. Chouinard claims that this drove down costs, part of the reason why powerhouses like Nike began partial use of organic cotton in their clothing.

The ‘Common Threads’ campaign also aims to use recycled fabric in clothing and encourage subsequent re-use of materials. The model is circular and, according to Raúl, represents a “symbiotic relationship with the environment” and runs by “pure democracy…not politics but consensus”.

“Profit is not the goal…profits happen when you do everything else right,” Chouinard opines in ‘Let my people go surfing’.

Raúl explains that his commitment to Patagonia’s mission statement is carried out quietly day to day by fulfilling his responsibility to “the little things”. “We save paper, don’t throw away batteries and try to persuade our customers to commit also; we give them the option not to take a carrier bag but don’t dictate.”

He believes that the Patagonia philosophy also facilitates benefits for employees, which would not be possible otherwise. The holistic approach to management may not always be quite as laissez-faire as Chouinard’s professed “M.B.A theory…Management By Absence”, but all employees work on “flexi-time” and, in theory, can work when they want as long as they make up their hours. This means that full advantage can be taken of particularly exhilarating waves at the beach only a walk away from Patagonia’s Ventura HQ.

Employees at the store in Buenos Aires are unfortunate not to live by a beach and take full advantage of this rule, but everyone is entitled to childcare and can take two months’ paid leave to participate in environmental projects.

Photo courtesy of Patagonia

For Raúl, changing Argentine perceptions of environmental responsibility is vital. As is often the case, education is key and Raúl tells me that “we have to go right to the beginning and start with the young”. He likens the difficulty of convincing many Argentines to live by the Patagonia philosophy to convincing the young of today that they need not drink alcohol. However, he sees the seeds of improvement already.

“We have the resources to make a difference; we should organise the cartoneros,” he tells me. To mobilise an existent workforce efficiently, safely and fairly seems to be an appropriate application of the Patagonia philosophy to Argentina. Educating people away from maintaining linear production systems in a finite planet may be a lengthy process but Chouinard and company hold resilient principles.

The company’s founder himself declared that he is not depressed when he considers the possible fate of the planet. “I’m a Buddhist about it all. I’ve accepted the fact that there is a beginning and an end to everything. Maybe the human species has run its course and it’s time for us to go away and leave room for other, one hopes, more intelligent and responsible life forms.”

The Buenos Aires branch of Patagonia is located at Suipacha 1178. For more information on the company, visit www.patagonia.com

Photo by Daniel Estrada

What would Jasper Conran, the British homeware and fashion designer, make of a necklace made out of orthopaedic leather? Or a lampshade made out of sponge lycra? He is, after all, hailed as the fountainhead of industrial design savvy.

Matias Zuckermann of Perfectos Dragones started out his design career in 1999 doing a stint in London for Conran, and he says that much of what he learnt in the workshop back then is employed in his design team today.

Perfectos Dragones came together in 1999, and is composed of Matias Zuckermann, an industrial designer; his sister Mara, an accessory designer; Debora Hirsch and Leticia Churba, also accessory designers; and Gustavo Stekolschik, Matias’s wingman in industrial design. They are an Argentine multidisciplinary design group, designing and producing their own collections of furniture, fashion accessories and objects.

Their signature aesthetic mixes a certain avant-garde look with a cheeky irreverence. Mara impresses that the consistent innovative use of various materials is what inspires every collection: rubber, plastic, eco-leather and aluminum are some of the basic ingredients in their research. With a commitment to sourcing products that are socially and environmentally sustainable, the simple, fluid forms and sensual curves in everything from lamp stands to necklaces to bottle openers to handbags have identified Perfectos Dragones as one of the most innovative and influential design team in Argentina today.

Photo by Daniel Estrada

As well as designing for reputable Argentine brands (Maria Cher, Chocolate, Ayres), allowing for a wider audience to buy the distinctive accessory lines, they also have their own branded line of products, which sell in Paseo Alcorta, Salsipuedes, Puro Diseño, and last year at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, an accolade for the team that they would like to relive.

Their design studio is an eclectically decorated workshop in the street Dragones, in Nunez, Barrio Norte. A vast two-floor house accommodates everything from rolls of print to leather cutouts. And in the studio upstairs, the latest collection of lights made out of neoprene lie alongside prototypes they are developing.

How Perfectos Dragones have managed to boom over nine years in such a competitive Argentine market, with so many setbacks in between the Corralito and the de-dolarisation, is exactly how they have learnt to manipulate the company to what it is today. 

They decided to use materials that are readily available and instantly recognizable as their own. Stekolschik says the group initiated from a lack of identity in design and innovation at the end of the ‘90s. Today, he says Perfectos Dragones manufacture for a market in Argentina that appreciates a different approach to design by means of innovative materials and an unconventional aesthetic. The five designers don’t restrict themselves to fashion or tendency or brand; they merely subscribe to creating a brand that expresses modernity and a quirky aesthetic.

Photo by Daniel Estrada

Mara says she designs her accessory line with ‘alegria’ in mind. Tuned in to the emotional attachments people may form with inanimate objects, the team’s work is designed to be very friendly and fun – the patterning for a tablemat has evolved from “grandma’s lace tea doily”.

In the workshop, amongst all this zeal to culminate products, the team has the same work ethic as Snow White’s seven dwarves – whistling while they work, playing about with their imagination.

“We are fascinated by materials,” says Mara. “It is always crucial that we find the unconventional, pliable textures and fabrics to work with. We like to completely decontextualise everything, from earrings to bottle openers. The material is just as important as the product. Experimentation is a great source.”

The spirit of Dragones emerges from a bubbling cauldron of ideas in the design studio, which is reminiscent of Willy Wonka’s factory, with staff working on quality controls, casting plastic in an oven, mixing silicon rubber with fabric – literally cooking the team’s imagination to produce a startlingly original end product.

Despite the international recognition, Mara insists that the team is focused on national growth for the meantime. “I’d like our customers here to recognize every necklace, every handbag, every placemat and lampshade and know exactly what creative force we are trying to drive.”

For more information visit the website: www.perfectosdragones.com

Photo by Kate Stanworth

 

The first thing I noticed on my arrival in Buenos Aires – owning nothing but old t-shirts, a pair of army trousers and trekking boots – was that even the dogs were more fashionable than me. 

Some sported large t-shirts that drooped over a single shoulder in a Cyndi Lauper 80s look. I saw a poodle decked in tartan with a matching beret, while another wore an imported rain-jacket from New York. Jewelled collars, shoes and woolen sweaters with motifs are but some of the things flaunted by dogs in trendy Palermo.

Clothing is just one element of this obsessive approach to dog care. On weekends, line-ups wait to be shampooed and combed in special doggy hair salons. I met one pampered pet that ate nothing but quality boneless chicken.

The amount of anthropomorphism related to the canis lupus familiaris in Buenos Aires goes beyond what I’ve noticed in other cities. Where I come from – even when six months of the year consist of freezing weather customarily reaching the lows of minus 30 degrees – we don’t dress our mutts. 

Only here have I spotted dog walkers steering 15 mutts or a German Shepherd, Poodle, Chow, Dalmatian, Pug, Boxer, Dachshund and Chihuahua hanging out in perfect harmony. The calm patience of citizens rinsing the daily residue of man’s best friend off the surface of sidewalks is equally impressive. 

But what really lies at the root of the special attention people in Buenos Aires bestow upon their pets?

Like the medialuna and agua con gas served with little dainty coffees, one could argue that the Porteño is characterised by his attention to detail and the artful manner with which he executes the simplest of tasks. Perhaps it should be no surprise that animal husbandry might be approached with the same kind of care?

Photo by Kate Stanworth

 

Meanwhile, the people working in one store selling pet accessories in Barrio Norte believed dog services in Europe and North America to be much more developed and luxurious. Perhaps global media messages, like Paris Hilton’s recent launching of a dog jewellery line, transmit the idea that in other parts of the globe dogs eat caviar and wear pearl necklaces? 

To find out more I went to a boutique in the heart of Palermo Viejo called ‘Manoba’  where doggy fashion has been taken to another level.

I had unmistakably found the store when I noticed what seemed like a pink dog ballerina outfit in a window display. Other design numbers included skin-tight Rocky Horror Picture Show-style outfits with white fur collars for cats, little Burberry jackets for dogs, animal hair adornments and hand-knitted sweaters.

Laura Mustillo, chief fashion designer in the shop, explained that owners project themselves onto their dogs. A woman with a sporty style will buy sporty clothes for her mutt. More eccentric luxurious tastes go for the diamond-studded collar and fur rimmed jackets. Meanwhile, Laura specified a dog should only be dressed up if it shows a  liking  to do so. So basically, some dogs dig clothes and other’s don’t.

Photo by Kate Stanworth

 

Going further, Laura referred to notorious psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud’s Chow as an example of the strong relationships forged between man and mutt. Freud used his Chow to know when to end an interview. He kept it in the room during psychoanalytic sessions because it could sense when a person had reached their maximum limit of subconscious exploration for the day. The dog would get up from its seated position and Freud would dismiss his patient.

What I noticed whilst speaking with people accompanied by their bundled pups was that dressing them was a form of care that showed they were family, worthy of a wardrobe like the rest. One old man I interviewed proudly declared he slept with his dog every night. He went further saying that if a woman were to ask him to choose between her and the dog he would choose the latter. He also said: “He who can’t care for a dog can’t care for anybody.” His dog sported a red t-shirt representing his favourite football team. 

To many it seems completely absurd that a dog should be clothed. Meanwhile let’s at least recall humans descend from apes. This doesn’t keep people from sporting Armani jackets.

In a concrete jungle our lives circulate not around hunting and gathering, but around patterns of consumption and taste. What is dog’s role in this environment?

One could argue that their instincts, like ours, also remain a vestige of a primeval past. So in this context, why should people gawp at the sight of a clothed pooch, one might argue?

Man’s transition to being a clothed animal was a process of slow evolution. Animal skins preceded polyester. The dog, on the other hand, is going straight for the acrylic. Who knows what will happen next? 

Photo by Kate Stanworth

 

If you fancy frocks for your pet, visit Manoba boutique Nicaragua 4732 in Palermo Viejo or check out their website www.veterinariamanoba.com.ar