What are your spring-summer staples this year? Part 7

 Head Scarves. Actually scarves in general. I can't live without them during summer; worn as head scarves,
 tube tops, bikini tops, if the right size, they are probably the most versatile accessory for
 summer...

 Jean Shrimpton

 P.S. Don't you just love that coat?


 TTFN ♥

What are your spring-summer staples this year? Part 6

Polka Dots. Like nautical stripes, you can't go wrong with polka dots during summer...

Jane Fonda


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What are your spring-summer staples this year? Part 5

The simple white T-shirt...

Jackie O.
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What are your spring-summer staples this year? Part 4

The floaty (off) white dress. Preferably with Victorian details, like lace, buttons, satin hemlines.  Isabel Marant has the perfect ones in her collection this summer. Off white, above the knee, perfect   for beach holidays, road trips and city soirées or romantic picknicks with le beau...

  Bianca Jagger


   TTFN ♥

What are your spring-summer staples this year? Part 3

A trench of course, while spring-summers are quite unpredictable in Europe... I bought myself a
 Martin Margiela trench a few years ago, which my BFF, S. calls a bath robe (and thank you for that!).
 It's indigo blue, linen and really long. It has that Margiela element, where it looks quite classic,
 but when you open it, it has a second layer underneath, with pockets et all. It's incredibly chic and
 timeless, but also really cool.

 Françoise Hardy


 TTFN ♥

What are your spring-summer staples this year? Part 2

Tunic Dresses, the mini ones, you either wear as mini dresses or oversized shirts.

Jane Birkin                      Anita Pallenberg

 TTFN ♥

What are your spring-summer staples this year? Part 1

Something nautical: several striped tops or a jacket à la Givenchy.
TTFN ♥

THE GENTLEWOMAN

The Dutch style bible for men, FANTASTIC MAN recently launched its female equivalent:

Read the interview with the Editor in Chief, Penny Martin, former Editor in Chief of Nick Knight's  
 online platform ShowStudio @ http://ow.ly/1rb9h

TTFN ♥

Elly Jackson's Quiff

Front woman of La Roux, Elly Jackson and her inspiring style and quiff and Elvis Presley,
 the most famous quiff.


When video does not work CLICK HERE: http://bit.ly/cZRU0l

Doesn't she remind you of the über cool Tilda Swinton? 

 This portrait of Tilda Swinton is painted by her lover, 
 artist Sandro Kopp, and actually owned by my friend,
 fashion designer Lars Nilsson (designer of recently launched 
 men's wear label Mr Nils)

TTFN ♥

CALVIN KLEIN runs international augmented reality campaign

High end fashion brands seem to be competing in new media use and how to communicate interactively with today's consumer. Last October, the late Alexander McQueen was the first to broadcast his (last) fashion show live on the internet. Burberry Prorsum did the same this season by broadcasting their show live on the internet in various fashion capitals, followed by a three day online sale. LVMH launched NOWNESS, an interactive platform for the high end fashion industry, or as it says on the website: "NOWNESS presents a highly creative and technologically advanced approach to showcasing the best of fashion, art, culture and travel. "It's interesting I think, to see where this is all going. I, quite recently, discussed this topic with my close friend K, another fashion professional. Where as I am very keen in using new media and forward thinking, to communicate with fashion and luxury consumers, regarding the different platforms available today, K is completely against all of it. Thirteen year old fashion bloggers commenting on fashion and being invited to shows, sitting front row ? To hell with it! Twitter and Facebook? Go wash your mouth! Websites instead of paper magazines? Quelle horreur! For hours I tried to convince him, that it was actually an interesting development for the fashion and luxury industry all this new media. But we had to stop before getting into a real argument. K is utterly old school, something we actually bonded over, when we met years ago, after a Dior Homme by Hedi Slimane show. Well, that, and Vogue, and our love for Anna Wintour, and spending most of our childhoods in fashion books and magazines... We both agreed, that the luster of fashion used to be it's rareness, it's craft, it's quality. That today's fashion mostly-made-in-China is something to disapprove of, and that the old days, when women were still dressing up, were fabulous. If he could, I swear (although he would never admit it), he would wear Haute Couture dresses and Jar Jewels every single day. My dear K. Anyway, like I said, we couldn't continue the conversation, so we stopped. And it's such a pity, that I can't share my excitement with him over Calvin Klein's pioneering advertising move in the New World...

In April, Calvin Klein underwear will launch an augmented reality print ad campaign across GQ magazine editions in the USA, China, Korea, Australia, Taiwan and Mexico. Followed by GQ magazine France, UK, Spain, Italy and Germany in May. GQ readers with a webcam will be able to view an interactive advertising campaign on the brand's dedicated micro site. After holding the printed ad campaign or the AR code in front of the webcam, they select from four short films especially created for this augmented reality initiative. GQ.com will also run digital ads, linking to the micro site, a new branded platform for consumers to access all ad campaign materials and films. 
Photography by Mikael Jansson
Digital films by Darius Khondji, shot in New York
Multi-media campaign by Trey Laird and Laird & Partners


So buy GQ either in April or May, depending on where you live, and be the first to experience this new way of advertising. And please, if you do, let me know, what you think!


TTFN ♥

My Favorite F/W 2010 Collections NY/London/Milan/Paris

Apologies for the late resume, of my favorite collections from the past F/W 2010 collections, but as you might  understand, there was a lot of work to finish and people to meet during the hectic show period. After all the  shows (600 or so in total), what filters through, are evident trends like the camel coat (anyone?), the return of  minimalism (thank you mrs Philo), which by the way, I would rather call understated chic (stitched on pockets and  the mix of different materials don't necessarily belong to minimalism, as we know it from the nineties. And I  like revering to understated chic, it has something more elegant to it). So, understated chic, voilà. Femininity,  celebrated by Prada and Louis Vuitton with voluptuous, feminine forms. Lace and fur details, velvet, sheepskin,  aviator coats, the LBD, they all fell through the fashion filter for fall 2010. I will come back with a more  detailed trend report naturally, but for now, here are my favorite collections per fashion capital:

NEW YORK: MARC JACOBS's Serene Simplicity  

LONDON: BURBERRY PRORSUM's Winter Wrap

 MILAN: JIL SANDER's Checkered Chic

 And as always, back in my hometown Paris, I couldn't choose between the following three for obvious reasons...

 PARIS:

 CELINE's Understated Chic

 DRIES VAN NOTEN's Poetic Power-dressing

 GIVENCHY's Modern Muse

It was an exciting season. Brands seem to have embraced the crisis with a forward thinking approach where the new  woman dresses to empower herself, instead of to showing off. Which after the celebrity craze from the last decade  and the overload of bling bling, comes as a relief. And not only does it create this new empowered woman, who  does not care about her age (we spotted Elle McPherson @ Vuitton and Kristen McMenamy @ Vikto & Rolf), her  voluptuousness (Prada, Louis Vuitton), or her ambition to achieve (working girl attire allover the catwalks). It  creates this new positiveness, which after seasons of financial crisis talk, might bring back the joy in fashion,  whether it's buying new pieces or dressing up with existing pieces in the wardrobe. We're allowed to enjoy  fashion again!

TTFN ♥

KAISER KARL

 

Back in 2002, during the Couture week in July, my then boyfriend A. received a phone call from his agency, with a last minute booking: Harper's Bazar US Haute Couture shoot by Karl Lagerfeld at his place. He needed to bring at least two assistants because it would be a shoot with many models partying in the latest Haute Couture dresses. While very last minute, friend S. and I accompanied A. as his assistants. Karl's place was an 18th century hôtel particulier with a garden as big as the Luxembourg Gardens (not quite, but yes, enormous), owned by a French aristocratic family, at la rue de l'Université on the left bank of Paris in the 7th arrondissement (After 30 years he recently swapped it for a loft along the Seine, just around the corner). We were asked to dress up in black because of the party setting, and so in a black lace A-line skirt with side fringes, that actually used to be some widow-style wrap-around I once bought at a market in Greece, combined with a black velvet short sleeved Chloé top, dark brown ultra high, ultra thin Fendi heels, and my self cut mohawk (don't ask!), I tried to wiggle my way through the cobblestoned courtyard, without breaking my heels. We had to climb  a few steps before entering the hallway, where we were politely welcomed by servants dressed in black and white. Their outfits perfectly matched with the black and white marble square tiles, that covered the hall way floor. A quite impressive white marble staircase on the right, led people to the first floor. On the left and opposite the entrance, grotesque framed doors, common in 18th century buildings, opened up to a ball room, where the pictures would be taken and a smaller room where the bar was set, and cosmopolitans and champaign were already flowing. In the centre of the hallway stood a vase filled with an enormous  bouquet of white lilies. After a  friendly "hello we're here for the shoot", we were sent upstairs to what seemed to be the dining room (which it probably  wasn't) to join the team. Hair and make-up tools and food plates were spread over several modern dinner tables in  dark wood. The walls were covered with numerous mirrors in modern frames of the same wood as the tables. The  mirrors looked vintage with black little marks and scratches you normally see on antique mirrors... Models like  Jacquetta Wheeler and Maria Carla Bosconi were getting prepped by Tom Pecheux and Odile Gilbert. Actrice and Chanel ambassador Anna Mouglalis asked shyly if she needed a manicure, and Lady Harlow came up in the most stunning Chanel outfit (I remember an incredible white collar...). Assistants of the fashion director of Harper's Bazar, were busy ironing the last pieces and Karl was nowhere to be seen. S. and I went downstairs for some drinks at the bar, where socialites in couture were sitting at  little round tables. The young and then very insecure Paris Hilton was sitting at one with her sister Nicky  and her brother. She looked utterly uncomfortable. Male servants in white overcoats and black  trousers were standing in every possible corner holding a tiny silver tray with one glass of dark brown liquid,  which I learned later, was coke light for the Kaiser. When we went to the ladies room, standing there waiting,  Karl him self came out of a little side door and stood just 2 centimeters from me, getting a suit out of a  closet. He looked friendly at S. and me, and said hello. Moments after, Carine Roitfeld stopped by with Emmanuelle  Alt and her then 18 year old son Vladimir, who was cast as one of the male models. She looked at me, scanned my outfit, then nodded and smiled at me. Later that evening I heard that she actually liked my style (read: crazy mohawk with feminine clothes  and killer heels). The evening ended up more as a party then work, were I, entre autre, danced with Puff Diddy who  also stopped by. Models, and older socialites, dance coaches (a dance couple was especially flown in from New York for the occasion), aristocrats, celebrities, everybody was dancing and having a good time. Most of them dressed up in ridiculous expensive couture outfits. Model Natasa Vojnovic took the microphone of the band and started performing. Karl and his assistants were shooting away, taking numerous pictures of the party crowd. At one  point Karl grabbed the disposable camera of S. and photographed Jacquetta with it (S. lost the camera, naturally...). After the shoot, when the team went clearing everything up in the room upstairs, Karl joined us and seemed to be  amused by the probably very silly behavior of those, who drank to  many of the bubbles...(no, I'm not going to mention any names here). He listened to the laughter, the jokes and the noise. He seemed curious, friendly and approachable. But maybe that was, because it was Chez Lui...

The HARPER's BAZAR shoot:

                                                            CLICK HERE for recent interview with Karl Lagerfeld @ viceland:                                http://bit.ly/aebdtI


TTFN ♥

The Top Ten Basics I posted @ Garance's blog

Garance asked her readers to give their Top Ten Basics following a post she did on a young Emmanuelle Alt  featured in 20 Ans:

 The list I posted on her blog, consisted of the following ten items:

 1. SKINNY JEANS

Where I grew up, skinny jeans were a no-no in the eighties. While every one with Cindy Lauper hair and make-up  was fully experimenting with eighties looks like leggings, lace, skinny jeans, stone washed jeans (remember  those?), et all, I was wearing a Levi's 501, a Chippie nautical jumper and Converse trainers (2 different colors,  like a red one and a marine one) and at least 3 Swatch watches; 2 around one wrist and one around the other wrist  (have to be a teenager to get that one...:-) Don't worry, when the counter hit Sweet 16, heels, black, dresses  and balloon skirts replaced the field-hockey-girl attire, and fashion walked out of the glossy pages into my  teenage life (think Jean-Paul Gaultier, Mac & Maggie (The Dutch readers will remember that one), Puck & Hans  (another Dutch fashion Lalaland from the eighties) and vintage. Back to those skinny jeans: when the trend was  relaunched by a certain Miss Moss (or actually Hedi Slimane for Dior Homme, but that aside) a decade ago, I was  thrilled, that this time around I could wear them safely, without my mother's or girlfriends' approval. I've  always been kind of skinny (jeans size 26 anyone?), and normal jeans were never really working. So, not only did  I start wearing them, I decided to never take them out of my closet. Ever!

2. BLACK DIOR HOMME by HEDI SLIMANE TUXEDO JACKET

Remember that iconic Helmut Newton picture (1975) of Le Smoking by Yves Saint Laurent. Since for E V E R I'm on  the hunt for an original one. A vintage one. I regularly go to Didier (Ludot), to ask him if "it" arrived yet. He  has my phone number, knowing, that the first thing he's supposed to do, when one comes in, in my size, is calling  me. Growing up with a feminist mother, this piece of cloth is the ultimate. We can't even imagine, how  revolutionary it was  for its time: a woman wearing a men's tuxedo in 1966! It's one of my missions in life to  ever own an original one, which I will pass to my future, future grand daughter. Until I find one, I'll wear my  Dior Homme by Hedi Slimane. I seriously live in this jacket. I wear it with everything: to dress up an  ordinary  jeans/T-shirt outfit, to give a masculine touch to a girly dress, to perfectly match with a LBD, or as  a jacket  during spring or during fall combined with a hand knitted scarf. And one day, one day, it will be the YSL...

 3. BLACK BURBERRY TRENCH COAT

How can one live without? It's timeless, utile, chic and understated. The ultimate is of course, the made-to-  measure one, including your initials...

4. LBD as many as possible!

I can not say this enough; we girls can not live without a LBD. And you actually need many of them. I wear them  to work, dinners, parties, clubs, openings, first dates, funerals, birthdays, everywhere! So my  collection is  vast! From Lanvin to Dries, to vintage, to YSL, to Chanel, to cheap cotton made-in-China ones I  find at markets,  and buy, because I can't leave them hanging their. For upcoming winter they are an absolute  must-have. Every  respected brand had a few to show. Here are some of my favorites, which will probably end up in  my winter  wardrobe:

CELINE F/W 2010                  DRIES VAN NOTEN F/W 2010

These two are perfect for work days at the office or mommy days with the kids. Comfortable Chic. Love it!

VICTORIA BECKHAM F/W 2010 (Left)

LANVIN F/W 2010 (Right)

These two numbers of Victoria Beckham and Lanvin will bring you from lunch to dinner, to opening to party.  Perfect for one of those days at work, where you have all these things to attend and not enough time to change.  That's exactly what I like about the perfect little black dress. The multitude of possibilities.

5. BLACK BIRKIN BAG by HERMÈS

Who needs an It bag?

6. BLACK 2.55 HANDBAG by CHANEL (vintage: my grandmother's)

Again, who needs an It bag? And this one is so understated without the Mademoiselle lock (CC lock).

7. BALLERINAS by REPETTO and LANVIN 

8. GRAY and BLACK CASHMERE CARDIGANS

I can't live without these. Small, oversized, thrown on or belted, dress-like, I seriously can't imagine a life  without them...

9. GRAY and  WHITE T-SHIRTS by AMERICAN APPAREL unlimited

From casual, to chic, dressed up, day, evening, from sports to bed to parties. Is there anyone who actually  doesn't wear these?

10. BLACK PATENT LEATHER PIGALLES by CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN

Religiously! I also love them (and wear them) in black satin. Although, as mentioned before, in one of my posts,  the new shoe brand to go to these days is APERLAÏ. Founded by two dear friends: Srdjan Prodanovic, former PR  director at Giambattista Valli, who followed Valli after having collaborated with him for the house of Emmanuel  Ungaro, where I actually met him. And Burak Uyan, the creative spirit behind the shoe label, who was Valli's  accessory designer and who used to work at Givenchy before that. Plum Sykes hailed them the new Manolo's  in this  March issue of Vogue! But, until Burak is doing a Pigalles kind a heel in patent leather and satin, Christian  will be the man I will go to for those.

So, what do you think?
TTFN ♥

Mama Carine and Little Julia

How cute is this picture of an über cool 30-year-old Carine and little Julia?

TTFN

MIU MIU - Harnessed Prettiness

TTFN ♥