Printemps-Ete 2010 Part 1

So I know that the shows happened in September but I've been a little busy with my life in Paris to sit down and really take stock of the collections. But perhaps January, staring down the barrel of European Spring (and willing it to arrive with all my might!), is in fact a pertinent time to reflect on what's coming.

Printemps-ete 2010
La Petite Nicola's take on the collections shown at Paris.
Part One

Dior
Love the silk knicker-shorts, the defined and high waist, the dashes of purple, the corsetry and the lingerie-esque nature of pieces.

Chanel
Def a Lily Allen fan, well played. Like the palette, it's refined without being boring or prematurely aging the models. Again, loving the sheer. Especially like the sheer white dress/jacket that comes to mid-thigh with puff sleeves and baby ruffles to finish (Natalie Portman wears it on the latest cover of.....Elle?). Shoes are moche (ug-lee).

YSL
Leather halter neck dress? Ew. Even the models look terrible in their over-sized collars, excess fabric and strange lines. (As for those errant strawberries!) One or two outfits really work, but they're more classic in their look (long pencil skirts with high waists, refined shape and the pleating work kept to a minimum.) According to the show notes, Pilati sought "...an aesthetic paradigm of new minimalism." Riiiiiight.....

Louis Vuitton
Moche, moche, moche, moche, moche. Those afros, those hideous shoes (they look like the escaped from a Doctor Zeuss book), the apallingly liberal use of lime green. And those shorts that ended an inch above the knee- all the models needed were bicycles and they could have ridden back twenty years onto the film set of "My Girl." I often split fashion into one of two groups- aspirational and inspirational. Aspirational is a look we try and mimic, we wish we looked like that. Inspirational is for the zanier stuff that needs diffusing before seeing the harsh light of day; fashion concentrate. But Marc is making me think I need a third cateogry: tragic. As in, a tragic waste of time, energy and money.

Balenciago par Nicholas Ghesquiere
Strange. Strange in the way the original mod-con looks of the 60's must have been strange. And with a similar feel, in fact. Splashes of fluro green, orange and pink on a collection largely in gunmetal grey and shades of indigoblack. The slashed leather miniskirt look isn't for everyone. Not are the slashed tops, for that matter. But to be honest I'm just relieved not to be looking at Marc's carwreck anymore.

Lanvin
Clever lighting made for a dramatic show. It's like Elbaz succeeds at what YSL wanted to do. Swathes of fabric draped, pulled, tucked and pinned into dresses. Oversized, wavy ruffles used to accentuate the hips or shoulders and everywhere I look I see nipped in waists. Heaven. Even the sequin-encrusted jump suits have a lifespan beyond the catwalk. And definitely the most successful use of lime green yet. (Perhaps the secret lies in only using the colour ONCE!)

Valentino
The shoes! O the celestial confection that is their SHOES. The poofs of tulle, wisps of lace, whorls of silk. Despite their whimsy, the stilletos seem to ground the outfits- I think this is the solidness of their black contrasted with the beige palette. This is broken only by shades of grey, including a lilac-grey (that could, in all honesty, probably have been left at home that day) and of course black. I'm enjoying the attention to detail, like the lace used to make the inner pants pockets of a sheer organza jumpsuit. Their break from red is marked: it is an anti-crimson collection. There would certainly not have been any tacking some on at the end.

Miu Miu
I'm just not so sure about the cut outs. Or the lines. The patterns are cute, but I'd expect to see them in a Liberty collection, used in a more classic manner. The collection looks confused, and not in a cheeky, contrasts kind of way.

Givenchy
Sharp, graphic, stripes, ruffles and zigzags. I see some wearability peeking through the OTTness. But what on EARTH was Tisci THINKING with those pencil hats? The girls look like Derwents. That or the KKK stripped bare.

Balmain
Black, khaki, bronzes (both in fabrics and detailing), leather. The texture of Decarnin's collection is distictively different to the tulled-softness of most others. HIs is shiney, hard, tough. Sleek women with 'tude. And boots, lots of laced up tall ankle boots.

Alexander McQueen
What the avatars of Cameron's film would have been wearing if it weren't computer generated. Surreal, etheral in an under-the-sea way. Strong shoulders, little waists and tall, TALL platforms.

Chloe
Relaxed, slouchy, white/beige palette. Pay a fortune, look like a bag lady. Except for the thick-strapped sandals. They're channeling Jesus.

Comme des Garcons
They're wearing fairyfloss on their head. Which might not have been such a bad thing, if it were all traditional pink-flavour. But no, there is lime, violet and a particularly brassy mango shade. I'll be generous and place her collection in the "inspirational" category. Although Kawakubo's particular brand of fashion concentrate probably needs distilling a few times over before it BEGINS to make sense.

Celine
Frankly Philo should have stayed at Chloe- I'm not sure her move was worth the loss. Strange high-waisted a line mini skirts (in leather?) and bizarre leather tee-shirts. Here, the exclusive use of beige, black and white and the clunky shoes are bor-RING.

Junya Watanabe
Black and white. Graphic, mostly of the squared variety. The large square patterned blazers looks like the girls stole them from the Circus Oz costume rack, and possibly the checked brogues too. Apparently his theme was menswear for women. Sure, if by men you mean Bozo.

John Galliano
What a show! Blahnik once describe Galliano as a "funky little fashion troll" and looking at the colleciton (and at him afterwards) is seems apt. Colour, lace, feathers, clashing lines. At the same time as exhibiting a somewhat nutty collaboration of effects, Galliano never seems to forget that it is actual WOMEN (albeit of the model variety) who wear his clothes. We see their waists, or their chests, or their arms or legs shozn to their advantage. Fashion concentrate of the best kind.

Hermes
Classic with a sports twist. Cream and navy, contrast piping, tennis-style skirt pleats, bathing suits, forehead bands, socks.

Jean Paul Gaultier
It looks as though Gaultier spent too much time on the Hermes collection and had to pull together something at the last minute for his own. Which could explain why it looks like something the cat dragged in. Then ate. Then threw up. It's all about reusing his iconic lingerie in different ways but it just looks....regurgitated, rather than reinterpreted.

Stella McCartney
Electric blue, dark beige, grey, traditional denim, lace, corn yellow, turquoise blue and white. Sound mismatched? It looks mismatched. Vogue describes fashion as "the magic of simply slipping into an outfit and not having to think about it for the rest of the day." If you slipped on a piece of Stella not thinking about it for the rest of the day is exactly what you'd have to do, in order to avoid ripping it off and swapping your outfit with the homeless guy on the corner. Or at the very least having a strange "Did I trip and fall back to 1994?" moment.

Still to come: Kenzo, Karl Lagerfeld, Sonia Rykiel, Vivienne Westwood, Rick Owens, Dries Van Noten, Cacharel and more........

Chantal Thomass

Bras, knickers, le string, slips, slippers, stockings...
I just had the most fabulous lingerie shopping experience. I am a big fan of bra shopping, and I have made wearing a correctly fitted bra one of my personal causes. I tell all the women in my life how important it is, and also that lingerie is about you, it's not about 'him'.

To that end, I have been looking forward to Paris lingerie shopping immensely. I have browsed through many of the renown boutiques, such as Chantal Thomass, Aubade, La Perla, Eres, Chantelle, Lejaby and some of the smaller ones too such as Princess Tam-Tam, Simone Perele and Etam. It wasn't until this week, however, that the stars suddenly aligned and I found myself with both the time and inclination, during shopping hours.

My standard shopping haunt...
I started at Printemps (with its late-night Thursday shopping, and its proximity to my house, Printemps is one of my favourite shopping locales). With a spare 20 minutes, I plucked some bras in my size from La Perla (is a 200euro bra really worth it?), Stella McCartney (the colours were so gorgeous I broke my rule of not even bothering with non-lingerie brands. For anyone above a B cup they are normally hopeless), Aubade (their ad campaign, 100 lessons in love, has got to be the world's sexiest). Being within a department store, instead of within the oftentimes impressive but overwhelming individual boutiques, makes me feel at ease and comfortable enough to hoist a quick selection off to the change room. (Which, in the case of Printemps lingerie dept., is a couple of unattended cubicles in the middle of the floor.) I didn't have much time and not wanting to hurry through my first French lingerie purchase, I left a tangled pile of bras and hangers behind me and continued on with my evening.


Le Bonne Marche
The next night I found myself at Le Bonne Marche, another of Paris's exclusive department stores. Unlike Printemps and Galleries Lafayette, however, Le Bonne Marche is not centered around catching the tourist dollar, but the French franc. This makes it a much more satisfying experience. To be in Art Deco surrounds, only French signage, a more compact layout and each area feels like a boutique unto itself, instead of just another section of a department store.

The lingerie change rooms at Le Bonne Marche ("Les Salons") are placed in a circle all facing into a large communal space with settees and warm lighting. Each "cabin" has a telephone, so that you can call for help and get it, no matter what your state of undress. This is on top of the helpful assistant who is manning the reception desk at the entrance to Les Salons.

Success!
I found the mature lady at the Chantal Thomass counter to be unexpectedly helpful. She virtually ignored me when I "made the rounds" and gathered up all the bras that caught my eye (only bras with nice bottoms- I love having sets!) This didn't bother me, however, because I felt free to poke around without being pressured. And yet perfect when I "appelled" her on the telephone for assistance, and she even disappeared into a back storeroom for me!

And thus, a gorgeous (yet substantial- no flimsy lace for my girls) leopard print number is now mine. If you go to her website you may just be able to identify the newest addition to my collection....

Eat Cake More Often

Here is a random assortment of things in my life that I would like to share with you:

Gloves.

Bought by my mother in Berlin, brought to Australia in her suitcase, given to me upon the eve of my departure, travelled back to Europe in my suitcase, and much admired around Paris.

Felt flower.


Bought at La Droguerie on Rue de Jour. La droguerie is actually a fairly generic term, used to describe anything from a fabric store, to a corner store. In this case, however, it is one of the most amazing spaces I've been in. All woodpanelled and just COVERED in spindles and spindles of ribbons, racks of buttons, drawers of charms, jars of flowers, shelves of material, skeins of wool....This particular flower is an auberginey purple, to be pinned upon my grey winter coat de temps a temps.

Mini-satchel.


I spent my latest Sunday afternoon wandering Montmartre and came across, of all things, a Mexican store. I'm not surprised it drew my eye, I can be somewhat of a butterfly at times and it was COLOURFUL. I have been searching for a toiletry bag, but often the options are naf, not made in a my-shampoo-leaked proof fabric, and have holes at the zip ends. This baby is none of those things, and I'm happy to have her on display and use her all the time (the dust in my apartment is astounding, so bagging things instead of leaving them shelf-side should help protect them.)

Paperbag.


While in Montmartre I also tripped past a favourite bakery and grabbed my first piece of Parisien quiche. I normally eat only the pastryless quiche that I cooked with E, so I had forgotten what a deliciously naughty indulgence it is to have a perfect pastry crust surrounding the rich cream, egg, cheese, bacon filling. This is the bag it came in (I ate it outside in the sunshine to save money) and it says "Eat cake more often." Here, here.

Zebra


Love the colours, the composition, everything about it. It's stuck up in a possie that I see all the time.

Paris fashion week

So for the first time since about high school I knew a guy who knew a guy....which got me a ticket to this show during Paris fashion week. I can't remember the name of the label, and the clothes were frankly some of the ugliest I've ever seen. All patterned, fluro, gold lame, flowers, plastic.....very 'student fashion', as my friend described it. Definitely trying too hard. However, I was most excited to be there and here are some of my shots from the night.