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Friday 25 January 2013

SPRING AMIDST THE SNOW

Despite the snow on both sides of the Channel, French designers have been contemplating the Spring.


Snow in Kensington Gardens

In Paris, the Haute Couture collections for Spring/Summer 2013 have been shown this week.  Raf Simons, Creative Director at Christian Dior, presented his beautiful and elegant collection at the Jardin des Tuileries.  Inside the large tent, it was a garden in Spring.  Models with short gamine hair and bright coloured, jewelled, glossy lips walked like flowers between green boxwood hedges.  Evening dresses with strapless bodices were the main theme, often with full skirts.  There were silks in colours ranging from very pale to dark with a few bright flashes of poppy and yellow, layering and flower embroidery.  A pale pink and white silk strapless ball gown deserved a special mention. In complete contrast, there were two black tuxedos with fitted jackets and cigarette trousers, echoing his ready-to-wear collection.  For elegance and clothes that fit and flatter the body, I think that Dior now has the edge.

Back here in London, Chanel's new season's makeup has arrived.  Printemps Précieux de Chanel is a fresh and vibrant Spring collection with an emphasis on "precious pinks" or "rich plums" for lips and nails.  My favourite lipsticks were Précieuse (No. 114), a peach and Fantasque (No.112), a pink, both from the Rouge Allure Luminous Intense Lip Colour range.  I decided on the peach,  Précieuse. 



I also fell for Merveille (No. 69), a mauve colour lip gloss with a high shine, from the Rouge Allure Extrait de Gloss selection.



I wanted to continue wearing a dark nail polish in Spring.  I did like their Le Vernis Nail Colour in Accessoire (No. 573), a lovely rich, plummy purple but I actually ended up buying Topshop's NAILS in Velvet Underground, a more blueish shade of purple.  



Topshop's nail polish is reasonably priced and I find that it's good value for the money.  It is easy and smooth to apply, looks good and stays on quite well without chipping.

Spring News: French actress, Vanessa Paradis, is the new face of this Spring's H&M Conscious Collection.

Tuesday 15 January 2013

A GREY JUMPER

In my last post, I described January as a grey month.  There's an old saying, "If you can't beat them, join them".  It's turned very cold here now - there's even been a little snow - and I really needed another warm jumper.  This grey, yes GREY, jumper from H&M Divided is warm and soft and looks good over most pieces in my wardrobe.



I rather like grey after all!  

Funnily enough, even though it was cold today, the sky was blue for a while. 

Wednesday 9 January 2013

A JUMPER FOR JANUARY

It's January in London.  It may not be as cold as it could be but it's been grey.  

The seasonal sales had lost their initial excitement and it was just too early to contemplate those first few black and white pieces for Spring that had appeared in the shops.  Something was needed though to add some sparkle to a dark month.

With the temptation of an H&M £5 discount voucher in my bag, I went to buy a jumper that I'd previously noticed in the Divided range.  In a fine, sparkly knit with a heathery, tweed effect, it is fashionably short at the front and longer at the back.  I will wear it over jeans, over a dress, over a fine shirt with collar........




To complement the colour mix of mauve/pink, blue, black and coppery gold, I have brought out old favourites from my makeup bag - YSL Rouge Pur Couture Golden Lustre lipstick in Violet Singulier (101) and Chanel Le Vernis Nail Colour in Blue Rebel (553).




It's amazing how a little bit of "retail therapy" can lift the gloom.

Wednesday 2 January 2013

A CRUISE COLLECTION WITH A DIFFERENCE

It was grey and damp today in London but some are planning to sail away now to warmer, sunnier climes.  They may be looking for cruise wear.  

Back in May 2012, I wrote about the Chanel Cruise Collection 2013 in my post "Lace, Lagerfeld and Marie Antoinette".  Karl Lagerfeld drew his inspiration for the collection from Marie Antoinette and presented it in a very appropriate setting - Versailles.  Now the collection is available at the Chanel boutiques and beautifully displayed in their windows.  I took a couple of photographs in Sloane Street one evening.

The windows are dressed echoing the eighteenth century theme and the mannequins, like the models in the show, wear little bobbed wigs over low bow-tied ponytails and a tiny black Chanel logo as a patch just below the eye.



A contemporary take on the eighteenth century crinoline....


For the rest of us at home in London, it's jumpers and umbrellas! 

Tuesday 1 January 2013

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2013 is here, a New Year, bringing with it change.  I am starting the year with my new Audrey Hepburn calendar - she is still such a symbol of style and elegance.  My December/January issue of French Vogue is helping me to make the transition from 2012 to 2013.  Carla Bruni, a contemporary style icon is on the cover and featured in the magazine.




Even as we dressed for Christmas parties in our Baroque and Rococo, the fashion buzz was already Spring/Summer 2013, black and white, monochrome, stripes, checks, graphic......... The fashion world moves on fast.  Next month the Fashion Weeks in London, Paris, Milan and New York will commence with designers showing their Autumn/Winter 2013 collections.  

2013 looks like it's going to be a busy and exciting year.  Happy New Year to all.