Week 24: Saint Sulpice

So – first weekend room-mate-less and it felt only right to go mourn her presence at a Catholic Church... I’M JUST KIDDING, I HAVE OTHER FRIENDS. I did go to a Catholic Church, however, where we did this week’s shoot: the church of Saint Sulpice.

As the name might suggest to those of you who know their saints, this church is dedicated to Sulpitious the Pious (though you’d think they’d all be pretty pious really, still, maybe ol’ Sulpy was extra good at it..)

After Notre Dame Saint Sulpice is the second largest church in Paris- though it’s much younger, with construction on it starting in 1646. It carried on being built, rebuilt, and having bits added to it until the 1780s – right before it ceased being a Roman Catholic Church and temporarily became a temple to the “Supreme Being” whilst Christianity was suppressed during the French Revolution

It is believed that the advent of the famous gnomon (a sort of sundial) in 1727 was one of the only reasons Saint Sulpice was  not destroyed during the Revolution – due to the rational nature of this primarily scientific tool (even if it was originally added to help the priest remember when Easter was...)

The poor old church underwent another temporary political takeover in the 1870s with famous anarchist Louise Michel giving a speech from the pulpit.

Other famous people to have graced its pews include Charles Baudelaire and the Marquis de Sade – both of whom were baptised here – and Victor Hugo who got married here. As did a couple the day we were shooting. Coincidence? Almost definitely...

Finally, Saint Sulpice has found fame in recent years because much of the action of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code takes place in the church. This is largely due to the claims that the church stands on top of an old pagan temple and that the “P” and the “S” one can see in the window’s stands for “Priory of Sion” – a hilarious fictional organisation which I’d happily go into myself if it weren’t so complicated. (and for those of you who are interested, the “P” and “S” actually stand for St. Peter and St – you guessed it – Sulpitious)

Going to a Catholic church gave me the perfect opportunity to do a shoot inspired by Givenchy’s ready-to-wear Spring collection 2013. Ricardo Tisci’s Italian Catholic inspiration may not immediately be obvious because it is all hidden in the detail – the angelic fabrics and colours, the metallic priest collars, the billowing bishop sleeves, and tunics worn over trousers giving a vestment-esque impression.

For my attempt at being a Givenchy nun I paired this dove grey linen skirt with a voluminous, baby blue chiffon shirt and my Monki silver choker – which is fast becoming one of my favourite bits of jewellery.

Shirt - Primark
Skirt - H+M
Choker - Monki
Shoes - H+M
Cross - Antique

The church is beautiful – and was much calmer and quieter than Notre Dame, being a little less well-known, and a little further off the beaten track. The area is lovely too, but expensive – so be prepared if you plan to go for a pre- or post-church bite to eat! Anyway, fashion party is over and it’s back to the dissertation for me. If you fancy following my mournful daily tweets on the subject, you can find me here. Happy Heatwave!

Week 23: La Mosquée de Paris

This week marked the last blogshoot with the dream team – that is to say, with Joy of A Roommate as my designated photographer. She has gone back to Blighty and to celebrate her last days in France, we decided to have a bit of a girly weekend. With that preamble, it may sound a bit strange when I say that we went to a Mosque, but don't worry – I'll explain all!

The Paris Mosque is situated in the 5^th arrondissement, right next to the Jardin des Plantes and is one of the largest mosques in the country. It was founded in 1926 as a thank you to the 100 000 Muslim "tirailleurs" from the French colonies who died fighting against the Germans.

The Mosque  was built in the mudéjar style – that is, in the style of Moorish architecture which originates from Spain and the other largely-Muslim parts of the Iberian Peninsula - and its minaret stands at 33 meters. My favourite fact about the mosque is that, during the Nazi occupation of France in WW2, it served as a secret refuge for Jews, giving them food, shelter and safe passage with fake Muslim birth certificates.

Along with gorgeous architecture and a great history, the Paris Mosque also has a restaurant, a tea room, a souk and  - most importantly – a hammam.

A Hamam is a Turkish bath, which is the Turkish take on a sauna the main difference being that there is less steam and more water. Quite honestly, Joy of a roommate and I had NO idea what to expect when we headed there, so we were pleasantly surprised to find several warm rooms, with small alcoves where you could sit and chat, fitted with taps and buckets so you could wash/cool yourself down. One of the rooms was more like a traditional sauna, but with a pool of cold water in the middle which was utterly wonderful to take a dip in once you had sweated out all your toxins!

Top - New Look
Trousers - H+M
Shoes - Marks+Spencer
Earrings - Bijou Brigitte

It is a women-only space Monday and then Wednesday-Saturday, with men having free reign on Tuesdays and Sundays and while, at 18 euros, it may sound a little expensive, but it was worth every centime. Massages and other treatments are also offered, but JOAR and I decided to stick to the baths. I came out with skin as soft as a baby’s and feeling so relaxed- a feeling only intensified by the mint tea and baklava we had in the mosque’s tearoom, whilst amusedly watching pigeons devour the leftovers of the table next to us!

As it was JOAR's last weekend AND the hammam was her idea
I thought it was only fair she got some airtime. 

I didn’t want to take any outfit pictures inside the mosque as I felt that would be extremely disrespectful, so this week’s outfit is inspired by the beautiful architecture of the mosque, but all photos of me were taken in the park across the street. I figured the lacy patterns in my beloved H+M trousers mimicked the delicate stonework of the mosque wonderfully, and I tied them up at the bottom to turn them from palazzo pants into harem pants (or, should that be, HAMMAM PANTS – I’m hilarious...) The top is from New Look and one of my favourites. Again, I felt it went well with the mosque’s overall aesthetic, as well as tapping nicely into this season’s love of graphic floral prints. Also did next to nothing to my hair and went for minimal make-up, so what you’re experiencing here is a post-hammam glow (if that’s not a cracking advertisement for this place, I don’t know what is!)

SO there you have it folks, get yourselves down to a hammam near you soon and embrace their steamy relaxation. In the mean time, enjoy the rest of your week and keep your eyes peeled for next week’s Blogpost (which ought to be much more punctual than this week’s!)

Week 22: Opéra Garnier

From the crazy hair accessories of last week’s shoot, I decided to go for something a little more elegant and sophisticated...

Nestled resplendently in Paris's 9^th arrondissement is the great and famous Paris Opéra, where we did this week’s shoot. Originally called  "Salle des Capucines" (after the street it sits on) it came to be known as the "Palais Garnier" after the architect who designed it. The opera house was built between 1861 and 1875 as part of Baron Haussmann's restructuring of the city, and designed to reflect all the opulence and luxury of Napoleon III’s empire. The most expensive building constructed under the Second Empire, it is now widely regarded as a masterpiece and considered emblematic of its time.

It was the primary house of the Paris Opera company until 1989 when they moved to the larger Opera Bastille. Nowadays the Palais Garnier is mostly used for ballet and, (fun fact alert) Givenchy's Ricardo Tiscidesigned the costumes for a recent production.

When Opéra was built it needed a deep basement underneath the sub-stage area. This basement needed a double foundation due to the ground-water level being unusually high. This fact began the myth that the Opera house was built over a vast underground lake, a detail which Gaston Leroux incorporated into his 1910 novel The Phantom of the Opera.

Phantom of the Opera tells the story of Erik – a previous architect of the opera who is also a physically-deformed musical genius who always wears a mask. Erik lives under the opera, by the fabled underground lake and is believed by many to be the Opera Ghost. He falls in love with Christine, a young soprano, and does everything he can to help her advance her career. One night, when the solo is given to another leading lady, Erik causes a chandelier to drop into the audience before stealing Christine away into his underground lair. This scene in the novel is actually based on a real event; in 1896 one of the counterweights for the auditorium's enormous bronze-and-crystal chandelier broke, causing all 7 tons of it to fall into the audience below and killing one person.

It really is a remarkable building, elaborate baroque moulding, gold leaf, mirrors and red velvet cover almost every visible surface. All the halls and spaces are wide, so as to accommodate the enormous crowds (and the enormous hooped skirts of the women) who would frequent the Opera every night. It was a place to see and be seen, and what a backdrop for people-watching!

Having a certain fondness for the dramatic, I wanted to incorporate small touches of Leroux’s novel without it coming across too gimmicky. Taking inspiration from the various stage versions AND from BurberryProrsum's SS13 collection, I decided to turn this black brocade cropped jacket into a makeshift cape by tucking the sleeves inside. For the hair and make-up I wanted to keep it a bit gothic and striking, so went for the dark lipstick and eyeliner, taking hair-inspiration from Emmy Rossum's Christine in the film version.

The rest of the outfit was inspired by the flurry of Pre-Fall collections using brocade, jacquard and baroque patterns this year. Baroque may have hit its high-point several seasons ago, but touches of it can still be found at Alexander McQueen, Vera Wang, Versace, and Louis Vuitton (among others) and it is a style which fits perfectly with the opulence of the Palais Garnier.

I hope you all enjoyed your trip around the Opera, tune in for another beautiful Parisian spot next week!

Top - H+M
Skirt - ASOS
Jacket-as-cape - H+M
Shoes - New Look
All jewellery is my own