Tag Archives: Fashion

Friday@Flore

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Hitting the streets a bit late with this post today, because Friday@Flore has left the café and headed to the Tuileries gardens where the Issey Miyaki show was going out on to the catwalk in the “tente ephemère” that city officials construct and de-construct each season, for Paris Fashion Week.

The designers are unveiling their Fall 2013 collections just as the kids in Paris head off on their winter break. Having a kid in Paris means that I’ll be missing most of the shows as we head off to the mountains and I do my Mom thing. I know, “We’re going to the alps” sounds oh, so, chic, but last time we went to the this resort I came down from the slopes in an ambulance and spent more time in the hospital than at the hotel!

I am in town long enough to attend at least one show, so I bundled up and headed out to see what the designer of Pleats Please had in mind for us. As always happens during Paris Fashion Week, I saw some really great street fashion along the way.

More than previous seasons, I was shocked by the uniformity of it all. There is definitely an accent color that is “IN” ladies and gentleman, with a second color trailing close behind.

As a pale skinned red head, this does not bode well for me, but everyone else looked simply ab fab in their quirky mustard yellows and warm reds.

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone except the star of the day for me, Mr Bill Cunningham, the street fashion reporter for the New York Times and my idol. He was wearing the cooler blues and greys. I am not usually great at recognizing celebrities and I don’t recall ever having seen the man, beyond the tiny photo of him on his bike that they use for the online NYTimes, but I recognized him immediately. And then I stalked him, noticing what he was photographing, and how, adding a street fashion master class to my day at Paris Fashion Week. I can now head for the slopes, visions of silks and laces slaloming in my head.

 

Inès sez…

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Inès sez…
To heat things up this winter wear a lacy bra under your cardigan, its the sure fire way to keep the gentlemen around you feeling a little hot under the collar.

Inès is the face of l’Oreal Rivatlift, for heaven’s sake! She’s fifty! I know women who believe that turning fifty is going to be the beginning of the end, but Inès knows better. She’s French so she knows, unflinchingly that there is no age for being hot, it is all about style and owning your sexuality. Even my daughters’ 72 year old French Mamita turns men’s heads with her elegant chignon and pencil skirts and winter is no reason to cover up.

This understanding is one of the things I adoooore about living in Paris. I don’t have to go to workshops to remember that being sexy is a great, healthy part of life, I’ve got women like Inès and the ads on bus stops to remind me that there is no age for workin’ it!

 

Friday@Flore

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SMILE everybody, it’s a snow day!!!

These photos were taken over the weekend, when it really was snowing outside and blustery and beautiful. Today we’re back to DIOR grey skies with sub zero temperatures.

Loving the gloves. All that slush and nasty wet stuff on the ground means most parisiennes are wearing practical shoes. Does not happen often folks, so to lighten the moment, fun little touches like these gloves are being slipped on.

Sitting in the Flore enjoying a “noisette” that I dosed with a healthy serving of Mr French’s chocolat chaud, I noticed a lot of gorgeous handbags. I don’t know if this is because all the black coats guaranteed we’d see the bags, or if it is because everyone is desperate for a splash of fashion, which is not easy when bundled up like the Michelin Man.

 

And just like the crowd leaving the Chanel Haute Couture show, St Germain’s golden youth was getting their fur on. Even the boys.

 

 

 

 

 

I loved this lady’s snow day attire, a splash of instant sunshine. I am sure that she has read the poem, “When I’m an old lady I’ll wear purple.” She may have even scoffed at the thought of ever being an old lady herself, despite already being old enough to be my grand mother.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

People were staying close together, supporting each other when the going got difficult and generating some mutual warmth. It was a loverly day for a stroll.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had to stand out in the cold much longer than usual to get these shots, as more people than usual stayed inside. But looking at them now I feel like maybe I need to be thinking about the roll of fur trim in my wardrobe. And I’m going continue wearing that chunky wool scarf that M just knit for me me last week, it is more in than I ever imagined!

Inès sez…

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Confession time… don’t you love confessions? They’re so dramatic, n’est-ce pas? Especially as the confessor beats around the bush, writing in circles and dragging it out in an attempt to create tension for the dramatic unveiling when she announces that has a crush. A girl crush. I chose the word confession because it is no secret among friends and family that I absolutely adore, respect and admire Inès de la Fressange. I think she’s elegant, cool and terminally chic.

Despite my advanced age, I dream of being Inès some day when I grow up, but I can’t: too short, too wide and and then there’s that whole mistake about being born in to a family without a de…. attached to their name. But I try!!! Really, I do.

In case you don’t know who Inès is, she is a model who was once Karl Lagerfeld’s muse, then married a fantastic man she was very much in love with, had two gorgeous daughters and started a career as a designer in her own right. There were bumps along the way; a falling out with Lagerfeld, the death of her husband and the end of her fashion line. But she gets back up and starts over again each and every time, which is what I admire
most about this lady In her most recent incarnation Inès is the spokesperson for Roger Vivier shoes and the author/illustrator of La Parisienne, a book that imparts the secrets of Parisienne style, teaching a girl like me (or you) how to be chic. Like a Parisienne. Like her!

Clearly I am not the only one who dreams of having a smidgen of the de la Fressange style, because the book sold well and after the book there were agendas in which Inès shares her favorite tips on style and lifestyle. Her gems always seem to strike me as good ideas, sometimes funny, usually relevant, so I thought I’d share them here with you, a multi cultural blend of Inès’ thoughts and the thoughts they inspire inspire in me…
There is a thought a week in each agenda, as well as an entire book on her thoughts, so this is not an article, it’ll be a regular little pow-wow over here at FindingNoon. I warned you it was something of an obsession!!!!

Inès sez…
To deal with the extra weight gained over the holidays…

go to the gym! JK!!! No, she’s way to kind to say something like that.That was the pragmatic little yank in me who fininshed off her sentence before reading it through.

What she really advises is to wear an over sized sweater with straight legged pants. And she adds that its ok to leave the pants unbuttoned if you’ve really gone to town on the foie gras (not joking, she says that) during the festivities.

I love that she recommends pants, not leggings and not skinny jeans, because even if she can pull them off, they’re really not flattering on your average full grown female. I mean, they look fantastic on my 15 year old, but you know, she’s… Fifteen!!!!

Oops. Just read the next line of her notes, and yup, she does say to go to the gym, only she puts it more kindly….. Reminding you to keep your resolution to go to the gym, the one she is absolutely confident you’ve already made because, well, you know, she believes we’ve all got our inner chic going on.

Off for a run folks…. and while I’m out there, tell me, how do you deal with your winter fat?

Advent -5

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Works like a charm….

In her book on Parisienne chic, Inès de la Fressange notes the Parisienne’s passion for good-luck charm bracelets, and who am I to argue with Inès? I actually noticed this habit when I first moved to Paris ten years ago, when every other Mom I saw at the café across the street from the girls’ school had her wrist tied up in a collection of multi-coloured strings. It immediately went on my ‘I want’ list and has stayed there every year since then. After all, a girl can never have too much good luck.

Of course, the penultimate parisien charm bracelet is a set of Dinh Van handcuffs (600€), which I absolutely adore for the slightly twisted message they send out with absolute simplicity. And it is one of the few bracelets I wouldn’t mind seeing being worn by a man.

Since my charm bracelets are usually gifts from my charming girls, the budget is considerably more modest. I have received Brazilian friendship bracelets that they knotted themselves from a selection of embroidery threads (10€) bought at La Droguerie’s stand at Le Bon Marché. As they’ve gotten older, they started giving me engraved charm bracelets (24€) from Mitabaya. Personalized with their names or little sweet nothings, and in a variety of shapes and materials, I wear these bracelets daily, even to the most formal of occasions. Not only do I love wearing these bracelets, but I love coming up with thoughtful or particularly personal messages and giving them as gifts to friends and mentors.

These charms are all lovely and I’d be happy to wear any one of them for any occasion, but we all have more traditional people on our gift list. People who may turn their nose up at a simple charm on a string. For those giftees La Perle de Lune has a an entire collection of gold charms on gold chains (245€) that are accompanied by a series of candy toned jewels you simply want to devour.

Apriati, means gift in Greek and the jeweler on the rue du Four makes some exquisitely elegant pieces (60€) with simple charms that a delight to give. The artist works with hammered gold and had more intricate pieces that are built on several string, include diamonds and are even built up into cuff. If you visit the shop, everything is displayed in glass encased, pop out drawers you can open and explore, like a kid in a (very expensive) candy shop, making the shopping almost as much fun as the gift giving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday@Flore

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I have not posted for the last two days. No warnings, no advance notice, just *poof* I disappeared. There are no official rules in the blogosphere, but I find this to be ultimate un-cool. My apologies to all. Now for the good stuff. I disappeared to Chicago, then San Francisco where I lost myself in a sun-soaked glorious week of friends and family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Which brings me to this week’s Friday@Flore. Before the Flore became I regular part of my life’s routine, there was the Dolores Café. Located on a busy neighborhood corner, just below Dolores Park with its historic California mission. There are basketball courts, a high-tech kiddie park, rolling green hills and a spectacular view of downtown, the entire scene perfumed with the aromas of medical marijuana.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was not falling into hyperbole when I spoke of a sun-soaked SF visit. Its unusual, but it happened and every local with the slightest excuse to procrastinate had hit the slopes. I often joke that I do not know how to dress, because California has no sense of style, but my afternoon spent following the local street fashion scene proves me woefully wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Couples of every combination were putting on their fashionable best – a relaxed adult grandson with his super cool grandma, LGBT trendsetters, woefully hipster couples, true next generation hippies, and vintage vamps. It was a kaleidoscope of style and design that left me feeling like a kid who had just devoured her favorites from her plastic pumpkin Halloween goodie bag. Well, to be honest, I HAD just devoured some of my childhood, but that’s another adventure…

Friday@Flore

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I’m starting this week with the classic Paris shot. Please accept this as my apology for not being able to offer the real deal, because instead of heading the Café de Flore right now, I am sitting on an airplane with M, headed to Chicago to see our much-missed E for Family Weekend at the University of Chicago. there is no French term for Family Weekend. The idea is so foreign that I have to translate it, and then explain the concept, and they still nod at me vacantly.

Through the past six months I have collected more than photos. I have met charming people, like this lovely German couple who met in Paris as students 20 years ago. They were back for the first time, having left a young son at home so they can celebrate their anniversary.

Others don’t wait twenty years, at all. Others come daily, some even at the exact same time, settling into the same spot, sharpening their crayons and drawing their own conclusions of life @Flore.

 

And not everyone leaves the kids at home. this precious group was traveling en famille, Dad patiently watching the kinder while Mom did a little book shopping at L’Ecume des Pages (excellent bookstore next to the Flore and open until midnight, wahoo!!!)

And then there are those who are out and about exploring the boulevard with man’s best friend, les chiens that even the French understand is (wo)man’s best friend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paris Fashion Week / mystery couple

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While stalking fashion week, I kept seeing the most intriguing couple at all the shows; Guy Laroche, Belmain, Chanel… they were even front and center at Elie Saab. She is just breathtakingly beautiful and was very friendly with the press. He looks spectacular. They were not a couple in the romantic sense, but I am dying to know their story. Generally, I am not good at identifying famous people. Earlier this week I was getting emails for readers telling me I had shot Nichol Ritchie, Laetia Castas and Rachel Zoe. Who knew? Despite a fairly decent education at UCLA, with stars like Barbara Streisand auditing my classes, or Bill Cosby waiting for me to liberate the tennis court, you’d think I’d learn. But people had to tell me I was sitting next to Babs and I recognized Bill’s name on the sign-up list, otherwise I’d never had known.

Anyone have a clue who these fabulous folk maybe? Any People magazine followers out there? Au secours!!!

 

 

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