6 Degrees Peacock Print Knit Dress

to revive a sense of catching peacock dress each piece of 6 degrees.

Gisele Bundchen for COLCCI Spring Summer 2010.11

Le Doulos

Instead of taking French lessons at a school, online or with the Rosetta Stone, I am taping French movies on my DVR and watching them (usually on a Sunday night). Here was my most recent fare ...

Le Doulos

One of the meanings of the French "le doulos" is "hat," and hats convey an abundance of meaning in this spare, stark Jean-Pierre Melville excursion into film noir, Gallic style. For example, simply offering a hat to a hat-check girl gives Melville the opportunity to linger hesitantly on the object in question, just long enough to cause a slight discomfort. Melville is similarly in love with lights and shadows, with obscuring and revealing, appropriate for a film like Doulos in which the intricate plot keeps the viewer guessing as to what is going on and who is doing what to whom. Nicolas Hayer's brooding black-and-white cinematography aids Melville enormously in creating the tense atmosphere that is all-important to this subtly exciting film of loyalty and betrayal. Special mention must be made of the centerpiece interrogation scene, an eight-and-a-half minute marvel filmed in one take in which the camera and the actors dance around each other with nary a false step. Special credit, too, must go to the marvelous cast, especially Jean-Paul Belmondo's ambiguous Silien and Serge Reggiani's determined yet thoughtful Faugel. Though some fans of American noir may find Le Doulos a trifle too existential, most will appreciate the skill with which it has been made. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

Ladies, you will enjoy Jean-Paul Belmondo...

She's beautiful. She sings. She has POWER. She is ...

... Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, France's First Lady. See what she is up to now, and with whom!

En venir au fait or I hope this doesn't happen to me ...

Ooooops ...

 (That's a "no battery" sign on the camera!)

I have two cameras that I plan to bring with me on my upcoming trip to Paris. One runs on alkaline batteries - it's my old trusty Nikon camera. The newer camera (a Sony) doesn't - it charges up by plugging into a wall outlet. My plan was to take both cameras fully charged, plus a Flip video camera (fully charged) and snap/film away, getting however many shots/minutes of footage that arsenal of photography equipment would give me. And that would be it. Hopefully, it would be enough to last my whole trip, which is only a week. If I used up everything, I could always buy a disposable old-fashioned camera, right? Why am I thinking of doing this? Well, the thing is I don't plan to bring adapters with me on the trip, so I won't be able to plug in and recharge anything. And I won't be able to download any shots on a computer because I'm not bringing my laptop. I might have to rethink my strategy. But that is the plan anyway. I wasn't planning on using my cell phone in Paris either.

The fact is, very soon I am going to have to get down to brass tacks (en venir au fait) and get my financial stuff together, buy adapters, etc. For now, I've been daydreaming about the trip and doing some minor shopping for clothes, shoes, and so on. Time to get serious and get my euros, get my MAC card ready, get my camera strategy together and decide to bring adapters or not.

Until Paris! Only 56 days. Wow ... the time is really flying by.

What does this look like?

It's a knitted dish towel, 100% cotton and machine washable. My friend in Australia made it for me.

But when I look at it, I see ...

you guessed it ...

The Eiffel Tower!

And it is actually LESS than two months until my Paris trip. I hope I don't start hallucinating other Paris sites as the days get closer. Because we ARE having a heat wave in Bensalem, PA.

This has been a hot summer in France, too. Why, earlier this month, the world's biggest cake MELTED in Paris.

Jeggings, Algebra and Hong Kong shopping markets

Stop the presses! As today, I broach the scholarly subject of...Jeggings. Pray tell, what are jeggings, I hear you cry. Allow me to enlighten you by way of simple algebra:

Jeans + leggings = Jeggings.

And you thought fashion and algebra were mutually exclusive! Fye on you nay-sayers. Despite the fact that the dictionary on this blog keeps drawing the rather irritating red zig zag beneath the word jeggings (fear not, reader, you will not be privy to such grammatical interference), jeggings are a real and recent variant of the legging, the love child of the 80's legging craze and the skinny jean trend of today. If you're in the mood for some comedy, check out Urban Dictionary's definition - and use of it in a sentence here.

Basically, I found some awesome jeggings (and legging) whilst shopping downtown in Hong Kong for a great bargain. I love a good bargain - not sure whether this is an admirable trait I should be shouting from the rooftops. Also, I can't quite decide whether it is because my taste in fashion is so fickle and I hesitate to drop hundreds on a single item, or whether I am simply just a cheap bastard. But I digress.

I was shopping in an area of Hong Kong often mocked for being, god forbid, 15 minutes from the more expat-laden area of Hong Kong island and thus nicknamed 'the dark side' for it's mistaken feral image and non- propinquity (I've decided that people who live on islands are a bit weird). It's called Tsim Sha Tsui, and I was in Granville road (buying neon themed clothes for a recent pool party but again I digress...). One takes shopping in markets here with a pinch of salt. There is a lot of junk to sift through before you find the good stuff. The term 'less is more' is foreign in these markets. Many items mix several fabrics and decorative materials i.e. I have seen dresses with wool, polyester, lace, sequins and some sort of chinglish print, all on the same dress. Which is not a massive deal if you want to look more Carrie than Charlotte.

In Hong Kong, I find normal denim too thick for the stifling heat, so jeggings/ leggings are the most suitable alternative. Plus, at literally $69 HKD a pop, they're a bargain and so it's fun to try out a few different styles. I almost bought one the other day that had a newspaper print. Almost.

I can't wait til my trip to Japan next month so I can get away with the quirkier (read: weird) stuff in my wardrobe. I find style here, in a city where the financial industry usurps the creative one, rather conservative. Oh, and so I can go mental with my street-style photography. Harajuku girls, here I come!

Rafé New York Zippered Glazed Leather Hobo

The Zippered Glazed Leather Hobo by Rafé New York is nothing short of amazing! Has exposed zippers and brushed goldtone hardware lend a rich, edgy touch to a shiny glazed-leather hobo with downtown appeal. Even if it is leather (as you know not a big fan of the leather bags) this bag just looks great. Do you like it?

Sexy Intimate Apparel with Center O-Ring

Valentine's day 2PC halter lace chemise sexy lingerie intimate apparel with center o-ring and g-string

Intimate Apparel with Mesh Roses and G-String

2PC sheer babydoll sexy lingerie intimate apparel with mesh roses and g-string

From Gene To Lucy - In Paris

So far, my FAVORITE French movie is An American in Paris, starring the incomparable Gene Kelly and beautiful Leslie Caron. The movie captures what Five Months Until Paris blog readers say they love most about The City of Light ...

 ... its incredibly contagious atmosphere, where hope seems to spring eternal. If you haven't seen this movie, do so immediately and be in for a delight that's even better than a freshly baked macaron

An American in Paris was made in 1951 - and it undoubtedly influenced this next bit of entertainment I'd like to share with you. From the same time period, here's a little humor - I Love Lucy style - about Paris. And as you'll see, should you get in trouble, you'd better be able to speak French! The shenanigans start here in an I Love Lucy Paris at Last episode that aired in 1956. In this episode, Lucy thinks she's discovered an unknown, struggling artist much like Gene Kelly's artist character in An American in Paris. Turns out Lucy's artist find is a fraud, out to take her francs - which by the way are counterfeit!



When Lucy is caught passing counterfeit francs (before there even was such a thing as the euro) at a outdoor cafe, she's whisked off to a Paris jail. In this clip, Ricky comes to her rescue at the jail and tries to help her out.



Until Paris ... only 69 days to go!

Chanel Le Vernis 527 Nouvelle Vague | Current Obsession | Beauty

   

 

 

 

Photos: Weheartit, Tumblr, Cherry Blossom Girl, Fashion Is A Playground, Lulu Bryant, Pretty Young Things, etc.

Handbag Love | Reece Hudson | Lookbook Fall 2010

   

Tommy Ton of Jak & Jil shot the lookbook for Reece Hudsons new fall collection. My mouth is watering after those vintage inspired bags.

 

Photos Reece Hudson

Are you bringing your iPhone to Paris?

Bring The Paris Apartment iPhone app with you, too - it's called The Keys to The Fleas, and it's your guide to finding where all the great flea markets are all around the City of Light.

Description

A lifetime of shopping the Paris markets has given author Claudia Strasser the chance to explore the labyrinth of French flea markets and brocantes. With her new flea market app, Keys to the Fleas, Paris, she shares her passion, years of research and trade secrets with you.

Whether you're planning a shopping trip or just want to daydream, this app will be your best friend and travel companion. You'll have the Keys to the Fleas in the palm of your hand.

It's got in-depth information on the Paris markets and brocantes by location & date, along with Métro stops, maps, and beautiful photos. It also includes some of great markets on the outskirts too so you can plan day trips easily.

And for the icing on le gâteau, she reveals where the bargains are stashed and how to ship it all home without hassle the way the pros do!

- From iTunes Preview of The Keys to The Fleas iPhone app

Get it here and visit Claudia's blog here.

Chanel Girls | Chanel Couture Fall 2010 | Backstage Candids

   

 

 

 Photos V Magazine, Displaced Bones