Monday 29 April 2013

Week 14: Petit Palais


Petit Palais Paris

Well, would you believe it, a whole two days of summer last week before it was back to the old 12-degrees-and-raining trick. Yes indeed, temperatures have plummeted and all of my shoes are damp again but the white skies worked a treat with this week’s outfit, so I suppose I shouldn’t complain too much.

Petit Palais Paris White Broderie Anglaise

Petit Palais Paris White Broderie Anglaise

To begin, let me share a fun fact with you that I just learnt: until the end of the 19th century (1880, to be more precise) the City of Paris did not have a single museum. Not one! All national collections were either stored in the Louvre – which was open to the public 3 days a week – or was displayed in museums in other major French towns.

Petit Palais Paris White Broderie Anglaise Pearl Hoops

Petit Palais Paris White Broderie Anglaise

This week, we headed to the third museum to be opened in Paris: the Petit Palais (Little Palace). The Petit Palais was built in 1900 in order to host the Universal Exhibition, which was a world fair celebrating the mechanical, architectural, and electrical achievements of the previous century. (Things on show included the Eiffel Tower, Ferris Wheels and talking films). It became the Paris Museum of Fine Art in 1902 and now houses collections ranging from the Classical Era to the Renaissance and from precious manuscripts to Impressionist masterpieces.

Petit Palais Paris White Broderie Anglaise

Petit Palais Paris White Broderie Anglaise

My favourite item was Houdon’s plaster sculpture of Voltaire’s head. My favourite philosophe has the most blissful smile on his face. As, indeed, you would if you lived somewhere as beautiful as the Petit Palais.

Petit Palais Steps Paris White Broderie Anglaise


I wanted this week’s look to chime with the simple yet ornate aesthetic of the building. Covered with delicate ironwork, sculptures and murals, it still manages to feel clean and uncluttered and I would put that largely down to the colour. White is everywhere this season and plays a huge part in the collections of Louis Vuitton, Chloé, Valentino, Stella McCartney, ElieSaab, Giambattista Valli, Carven, Rochas and Roberto Cavalli, among many many others.

Petit Palais Paris White Broderie Anglaise
EDITED

Petit Palais Paris White Broderie Anglaise
EDITED

Such a simple colour leaves so much room for adornment whilst remaining chic so whites on the catwalk were covered in sequins or feathers, laser cut, embellished, and embroidered. As for myself – I decided to take inspiration from Chloé, Valentino and Stella specifically and  go with broderie anglaise. One of my favourite materials for summer, the broderie anglaise of this New Look top means that it looks both innocent and sexy, it is both revealing and demure.

Petit Palais Paris White Broderie Anglaise

Petit Palais Paris White Broderie Anglaise
Top - New Look
Skirt - Asos
Belt - New Look
Heels -H+M
Jacket - Vintage
Bracelet and Ring - My own
Earrings  - H+M
I kept the lines of the outfit as simple as possible by pairing the top with a linen pencil skirt and holding back on the accessories. To liven up an otherwise very simple, elegant look, I added the earrings to carry on the street/chic look (pearls AND hoops, you have to love it). The black of the belt and the shoes helps to toughen up the look slightly and strengthen the sex appeal (sorry Mum), but the simple styles of both mean that they don’t detract from the uncluttered approach. The leather jacket was added in a couple of photos because joy of a roommate mentioned that the outfit was a bit 80s. Also I was really cold. Like, really cold. This look may say summer to you but I’m sure my goose-pimpled flesh would have suggested something else.

Petit Palais Paris White Broderie Anglaise
EDITED

Petit Palais Paris White Broderie Anglaise
EDITED

Another exciting thing to mention this week is that, along with the usual happy-go-lucky-go-amateur photos that you expect from this blog, I am including some which have been edited by my lovely friend Jonny. The ones that have been edited are marked as such, and I have decided to put them all next to the unedited ones because I think it is important that fashion blogs are as accessible as possible.

Petit Palais Paris White Broderie Anglaise

Petit Palais Paris White Broderie Anglaise
EDITED

An overwhelming emotion I have when looking through some of my favourite blogs is a mixture of admiration, jealousy and despair, because they look so professional. This is, of course, wonderful – and the results are certainly to be aspired to – but I wanted this blog to be as much me as possible. Therefore I am trying to showcase only those skills which I personally possess. And I’m rubbish with software in general. The photos you see will be of my face, in all its occasionally-patchy glory, but just to show how darn fabulous I could look, I’ll let you look at the edited versions and compare.

Petit Palais Paris White Broderie Anglaise
EDITED

Petit Palais Paris White Broderie Anglaise

Hope you all have a lovely week and I’ll see you next weekend, somewhere else in this crazy city. As ever, all comments MUCH appreciated, so do leave some below and if you really want to show me the love, follow me on Twitter here. I’m desperately seeking online validation of self.

Petit Palais Paris

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Tuesday 23 April 2013

Weekly Wardrobe 8

As you may or may not have noticed, the format of the blog has undergone an alteration or two. It was, quite rightly, pointed out to me today that using the over-excited, tiled photo of the Eiffel Tower made it a bit difficult to focus on the pictures/read any of the words... Anyway, it's springtime and about time for a wee change so here it is; Dressing up in Paris mark two.

Working Wardrobe Paris, white and gold

Working Wardrobe Paris, white and gold

Working Wardrobe Paris, white and gold

Working Wardrobe Paris, white and gold

Working Wardrobe Paris, white and gold
Top - H+M
Skirt - Esprit (second hand)
Shoes - New Look
Necklaces and ring - H+M
Earrings - Vintage
To mark this completely un-momentous occasion, here's another weekly wardrobe post of what I wore today. Very much loving head-to-toe white or beige at the moment. It's the perfect canvas onto which to throw lotsandlots of jewellery.

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Monday 22 April 2013

Week 13: Parc Montsouris


Parc Montsouris


This week we’re keeping things al fresco and moving from a garden to a park, but – more importantly – we are going to venture once more into one of France’s greatest exports: cinema. This week’s film may be a little more obscure than Amélie but it links quite nicely with one of the major inspirations behind many collections for Spring-Summer 2013, that is, the 1960s.

All stills from the film are screenshots I took myself.


 Agnès Varda is a French film director, actor, screenwriter, photographer and editor and a large part of the inspiration of this week’s shoot. Part of the Rive Gauche cinema movement from the mid-50s onwards, Varda was one of the most original and influential European filmmakers of her time. She and her Left-Bank contemporaries saw cinema as an art-form, similar to theatre or literature, and her films are tied to the nouveau roman literary movement and often display a distinctly experimental style.

Parc Montsouris Cleo de 5 a 7 Varda dressing up in Paris blue 50s dress

Parc Montsouris Cleo de 5 a 7 Varda dressing up in Paris blue 50s dress

Her second feature-length film, Cléo de 5 à 7, was made in 1962 and follows a young singer (Cléo) through 2 hours of her life as she waits for the results of a biopsy. The film also explores Cléo's transformation from a beautiful, objectified doll to a woman who sees and engages with the world around her.

Parc Montsouris Cleo de 5 a 7 Varda dressing up in Paris

Parc Montsouris Cleo de 5 a 7 Varda dressing up in Paris H+M sunglasses

We studied this film at university in my first year, and so I'm trying very hard not to essay at you all! I must admit, I'm not sure I got it the first time around- Varda is such a brilliantly clever director, that there are all sorts of references and techniques that you can miss completely on a first viewing. That said, it is a beautiful film, set entirely in 1960s Paris, so it's worth a watch even if you aren't a pretentious ponce like me!   

Parc Montsouris Cleo de 5 a 7 Varda dressing up in Paris

Parc Montsouris Cleo de 5 a 7 Varda dressing up in Paris

Parc Montsouris Cleo de 5 a 7 Varda dressing up in Paris

A major turning point in the film is when Cléo meets a young soldier called Antoine in the Parc Montsouris and that was where we did this week’s shoot.  Despite Napoleon III's desire to create more green spaces in the city, the Parc Montsouris (opened in the mid-nineteenth century) has a less-than-savoury history. Formerly a quarry and a cemetery, it gets its name (which literally means “Mountain of Mice”) from the multitude of rodents who used to live there. Classy.

Parc Montsouris Cleo de 5 a 7 Varda dressing up in Paris

Parc Montsouris Cleo de 5 a 7 Varda dressing up in Paris Marks and Spencers' nude heels

Parc Montsouris Cleo de 5 a 7 Varda dressing up in Paris

Luckily for us there wasn’t a whisker to be seen on Saturday and the only animals we encountered were the 
ducks and swan gracing the lake at the park’s centre. Not only attractive to bird-life, the shores of the lake are often visited by turtles, imported from Florida, who wish to sunbathe. I'm full of great facts, me.


Parc Montsouris Cleo de 5 a 7 Varda dressing up in Paris

At the beginning of the film we see Cléo in light clothing which is often floaty or feathery and with her hair elaborately piled on top of her head. By the time Cléo reaches Montsouris she has undergone a major mind-set change which is demonstrated by the simplicity of her outfit. She has discarded the hairstyle (actually a wig), rid herself of her feathers and put on a simple black sheath dress.

Parc Montsouris Cleo de 5 a 7 Varda dressing up in Paris
Dress - Lindy Bop
Belt - Vintage
Shoes - Marks and Spencer
Sunglasses and Necklaces - H+M
Scarf - Edinburgh Grassmarket

Parc Montsouris Cleo de 5 a 7 Varda dressing up in Paris

The sheath dress is possibly the most classic and timeless items of clothing there is. One of the simplest dress-shapes, it offers endless possibilities for re-invention and adornment, as can be seen by this season’s catwalks. Dior dipped the hems to alter the silhouette, and added layers of fabric, Lanvin added boxy tailoring, Sportmaxadded graphic patterns and mesh panels, but perhaps my favourite was Bottega Veneta who modernised the sheath by using a range of surprising patterns, bold fabrics and exciting new textures.

Parc Montsouris Cleo de 5 a 7 Varda dressing up in Paris

Parc Montsouris Cleo de 5 a 7 Varda dressing up in Paris

As for my outfit this week – I took my inspiration almost entirely from Cléo’s attire in the film – nipping in the waist with a vintage belt and using a variety of spiky jewellery to modernise this otherwise failsafe, classic look.

Parc Montsouris Cleo de 5 a 7 Varda dressing up in Paris

Parc Montsouris Cleo de 5 a 7 Varda dressing up in Paris

Hope you're all enjoying glorious sunshine wherever you are and that your weeks are going swimmingly. If any of you are interested in seeing Cleo de 5 a 7 you can watch the whole thing on YouTube (with English subtitles) by clicking here. See you soon!

Parc Montsouris Cleo de 5 a 7 Varda dressing up in Paris

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