I will easily accept that I am one of those girls who takes fashion inspiration from the southwest of France and the surfer haven of Biarritz, where the style scene is all about a sportswear chic style and effortlessness in every single detail. But what has the most influence everywhere else in the world is without a doubt the Riviera style.
There is only one thing that gets me more excited than new clothes or a statement bag: my favourite part of styling during summertime is jewellery. I like colourful and playful jewellery that elevates any look from day to night, and brightens up your day no matter if it’s a back to the office kind of day or you're still working from home. There are endless possibilities to style your wardrobe with playful jewellery that is both effortless and elegant. A successful outfit will include these amazing pieces that I want to share with you that will instantly elevate any outfit you wear this summer.
Have been the luckiest person to have a few sunny days away in Biarritz in this rainy month of May, where the Atlantic Ocean offered me a few days of good waves, enough to get the taste of what surfing is about and how it makes you feel. Though it was mostly cloudy while in the water, I did managed to get my face burnt by the sun (even though I used SPF 50).
I have been longing for gatherings for as long as I can remember. There’s comfort, love and protection when it comes to the feeling of being around family and friends around a table, and there is one place that has this same philosophy: Villa Magnan. Situated in the what is known as the "European California" on the Côte Basque, where everything revolves around surfing, Villa Magnan is a charming six-bedroom boutique-hôtel oasis for those visiting Biarritz, in the South West of France.
As a child I remember often going to check out the packed racks of clothes at a local second-hand store with my mother. These trips were the starting point of my learning to appreciate good quality fabrics and cuts. Family members were often envious of my selections.
I am used to feeling worthy only when I am productive, when I work a lot, and for as long I can remember, since I changed my country for the first time, all I knew was work. I love working, have never said no to job calls, and I always measured my self-worth with the amount of work I am getting done. But for a while now things have been different; after living through the first year of a pandemic, there has been a carousel of emotions and states of mind, and the work side of things has definitely not been the same ...
Talking about favourite fashion designers with a friend the other day, and we remembered the famous story about Karl Lagerfeld when he decided to lose weight (and he did—almost 41kg) because he wanted to be able to wear Hedi Slimane’s designs—those razor-thin suits of the early 2000s.
The first movie I saw Anouk Aimée in was A Man and a Woman (Un homme et une femme, 1996) written and directed by Claude Lelouch and was moved by her beauty, that is both sophisticated and mysterious in some way. Some of her other unforgettable movie roles were as Maddalena in La Dolce Vita (1960) and Luisa Anselmi in 8 1/2 (1963), both by Frederico Fellini. I also loved her as Anne in André Delvaux’s Un soir, un train (One Night... a Train, 1968), and as Barbara Spaggiari in Bernardo Bertolucci’s Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man (1981).
In the midst of a new curfew time and talk of a new lockdown here in France, inspiration is more and more lointaine. Besides books and movies there is not much else to take the mind off the melancholy that comes with the season and this endless wintery month.
The past few days I’ve been enjoying a slower rhythm of life: some time with friends and the empty and rainy streets of Paris. I’ve also been particularly enjoying American author, Fran Lebowitz, in the series Pretend It's a City, biographical documentary created in collaboration with filmmaker Martin Scorsese. The series captivates―not only with her wit and way with words―but with the bond between her and Scorsese, talking and laughing together on the streets of New York. And I’ve also become very fond of her style and endlessly inspired by it, especially by her choice of her blazers.
These past few days I walked into the November sunset, into a marvelous light that bewitches, for Paris has a certain energy, an energy that feels like being plugged in to electricity. Here, you don’t have to go to a special place to find beauty. Look around wherever you are and you will see it: the parcs; the libraries and museums—but mostly on the streets.
Paris Women’s Spring 2021 ended on a rainy Tuesday (the 6th of October) after 8 days filled with digital and (still) physical shows. There wasn’t the same business and the same euphoria on the streets, but there was still hard work and creativity shared on the runways.
This summer I have been mostly wearing earthy tones, linens and lighter shades, and effortless pieces―not following trends, but always choosing wearable pieces every season. As I've been spending hours going through the most popular and mentioned brands this season, I wanted to share with you a few pieces that I currently have on my mid-summer wishlist...
Instead of delaying or cancelling their show because of the health crisis, the House of Chanel, headed by Virginie Viard, revealed their Cruise 2021 Collection this past Monday on digital platforms. The fashion house's first ever digital show, Balade en Méditerranée / A Mediterranean Jaunt, brought Capri to Paris. The collection was originally intended to be shown on Capri, but was recreated in Chanel’s Paris photo studio instead.
Shaina McCoy is an artist based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is known for portraiture that references family photographs: “Heritage is important to me when it comes to my process and everything I do with my painting and the things I present to the world”, she said in this profile.
