The Voguettes

The Vogue Paris crew is adorable. Not only they look incessantly chic but they also look like people making not an overpriced luxury catalogue (a thing that most magazines turned into), but something that women flock to for actual fashion. Their style is easily recognizable: long legs, high heels, black from head to toe. Due to these minimalist leanings, the effect is long, lean and handsome. It possesses the charm of the nonchalance and refined arrogance.
As I find Emmanuelle Alt's and Géraldine Saglio's style most appealing and very inspirational, I was very pleased when the news came that Emmanuelle was appointed the editor-in-chief of Vogue Paris. Mes congratulations!








P.S. This is my favourite look par Géraldine.




















pictures: tfs
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Winter drawings

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Anna

Anna Mouglalis, who, as you know, is not only a successful French actress, but also a model for Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld's muse, makes me think of two things. New Year celebration and, quite surprisingly, consumerism. Her beauty, which is of baroque kind (large dark yellow eyes and dramatic make-up), makes me think of stars and champagne and the clock that chimes at midnight. Whereas her style brings up the comparison with pathetic pre-New Year crowds I saw yesterday in the shopping mall. Women trying on colourful silk dresses to make December the 31st the greatest night of the year. I might have turned too pessimistic but I think it won't help. There's nothing you can buy to turn into a beautiful princess overnight. At first, I couldn't make out what exactly put me off. Now I know. It is that it was all about trying to impress. Plus, it was overdressing, which is unpleasant aesthetically.
These photos of Anna are my inspiration for the upcoming New Year celebrations. Hope they'll inspire you just as much.
xx

P.S. Did you know Anna Mouglalis speaks 5 languages and reads philosophy books? Makes me feel empty-headed. Beauty is certainly not only about clothes & make-up (banal, I know).

Elegance is refusal

The girl I'd like to tell you about might be called 'potentially stylish'. Agnia Ditkovskite, born in Lithuania, is a successful actress. She claims her favourite style is minimalism. Though sometimes her outfits are too eclectic, she looks genuinely beautiful when wearing subtle and sophisticated minimalistic pieces.

Seduction, etc.

I'd like to share a bit taken from a very inspiring article by Ellen Wallace. It concerns an ever-present issue of 'what's so peculiar about French nonchalant style'. However, it is not French style I'd like to focus on.
"French women do not dress for men. "We don’t dress to be sexy. Of course we do dress to seduce — that’s different from trying to ‘catch’ a man by wearing flamboyant clothes. The basic attitude is different. A French woman never feels she’s offering herself. There’s never a sense of surrender, but an attitude of ‘I belong to me’."
It's nothing new, of course. It is just that it made me think of all these poor girls parading the streets in extreme miniskirts, really tight dresses, higher-than-the-sky heels,with their overdone faces giving out the effort put into them in the morning right away. Don't you sympathize with them? At least, I do. Such severe sufferings to attract a man's glance in the street!
Don't get me wrong. I'm far from being a feminist, and I do like seductive clothes. But don't you think there is something utterly tempting about this "I belong to me" attitude. Self-confidence and self-respect come first. A woman should rather try to seduce herself. Well, it does imply a certain level of stylistic skills and a developed self-identity. So, it is not only "seduce yourself first", but it is also "be hard to seduce"!
P.S. Remember Carole Bouquet in "This Obscure Object of Desire"? She looked discreet, but very seductive (seductive enough to make a man obsessed with her, almost insane).
xx

5 Things I'd Never Do (Though I'd Like To)

1. Cut my hair really short.

I do love short hairstyle. It's boyish, it's provocative, it's sexy. But only if nature granted you with certain kind of appearance. The point is you have to be really slim, high cheekbones are required, and your face should be perfectly oval. I have always had some vague dreams about acquiring an extreme but charming hairstyle, but I invariably stick to the long straight look my hair has now (by the way, the only one approved by my boyfriend).




2. Wear skinny jeans on a daily basis.

In fact, any jeans (skinny jeans just seem more sensible to me - I want the shape of my legs to be seen and admired). Well, I adore the plain white t-shirt + blue jeans look on photographs, but I'm afraid it wouldn't work on me. Or haven't I just found the proper tee and the proper jeans?

3. Wear thick wool socks over tights.

Hélas! No way I could do it.


4. Buy only basics.

I'm trying hard. So it's not because I don't like the idea I'd never do it, it's because I'm not sure I will ever be able to limit my wardrobe to simple-and-elegant clothes. It's quite hard to find real basics. What shops suggest you is the result of some weird fantasy applied to a piece of cloth. And being extremely picky leads you nowhere.
Plus, combining basics is the easiest way. And we want challenge, don't we?



5. Wear oversized (men's) clothes.

As a normal girl of 18, I love men's clothes. I do sometimes steal things from my boyfriend's wardrobe. And I keep feeling guilty every time I do it, thinking 'Girl, it's no good to wear men's pullover with those...hm...feminine hips of yours'.
What a shame!

xx

Wishful Thinking