French Chic - 10 Commandments

“Il faut souffrir pour etre belle.”? Bullshit! According to the icon of fashion, Coco Chanel: "Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury." So basics have been covered. Now it's time to think what it takes to achieve this unconstrained style of mademoiselles and madames. I bet that most of you thought about money in the first place. Do you really have to fork out to look like a Parisienne? Again, bullshit! :)


Let me prepare ten "commandments" sticking to which will allow you to mimic successfully French style.



http://blossomgraphicdesign.blogspot.com/2010/09/french-chic.html








I. Wear dark and neutral colours (black, navy, grey and white)
II. Tracksuits? Forget about tracksuits!!!
III Buy yourself a good pair of jeans. What does it mean good? Well, compelementing your figure.
IV. Don't dare to wear leggins without a skirt or tunic. C’est vulgaire!
V. Jacket. Wear mens jackets but make them more femminie. How? Combine it with a flattering top and add a nice belt for examaple, and ta-da! :) 
VI. It's about layers! Wear clothes in a natural way. Everyday clothes are not your uniform, let some bits of your sweater just to peep out from behind your leather jacket. Add an eye-catching scarf et voila! 
VII. Trench. Your wardrobe would be just useless without it.
VIII Don't wear sets. Everybody looks in them riddiculous. And a Parisienne seeing you in them would think your useless at clothes combination. Therefore mix, mix, mix! Expensive and cheap go really well together.
IX. Accessories. Don't wear too much at a time. A necklace, bracelet and earings piled up on one woman are out of question!
X. Shoes. Parisienne hate breaking their legs that's why they avoid stilletoes and they invest in safety, namely in ballerines. Sometimes even sneakers will do! Hard to imagine, huh? ;) 

  Basically, keep your outfit simple. An obvious combination of a T-shirt and jeans can look tres chic when combined with an attractive accessorium.

And time for the EXPERT!:

http://tammie900.onsugar.com/tag/Audrey-Tautou

Audrey Tautou starred the film ‘Coco Before Chanel’. Some people claim that she was a perfect inacarnation of the French fashion icon I'm not that sure of that what I'm sure is that she's got the French look. And looking at her is pleasing to the eye.

Et la chanson!!!

Decoding Asia

 

 http://www.lifelounge.com.au/blogs/georgia/only-in-japan-_-designer-barcodes.aspx

I'm fascinated by Asian design. It's difficult to say what it takes to create that smashing stuff. Is it a question of an ability just ingrained in Asian genes? Or is it rather a question of mundane work and fertile imagination? Who knows? But the results are blow-minding. And below a bit of oldies but goodies: Collection by Kunihiko Morinage at Japanese Fashion Week 2011/2012.

Kunihiko Morinage

Kunihiko Morinage

Kunihiko Morinage

All photos above come from: http://www.ballajack.com/mode-8-bit-geekettes

And at the end one of the best commercials I've seen this year :)

Rubber Flapper

"Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening."

by COCO CHANEL 

Read more: http://www.1920s-fashion-and-music.com/1920s-fashion.html#ixzz25xXYzTG0

1920's fashion is still present. To me it's no surprise. It was a time when people made a big step to the future and with no sentiment said good bye to the previous era. The change embraced all fields of life; manufacturing, technology, music. And the revolution of that time still has wide repercussions. But the greatest change took place in women themselves. They were fed up with waiting for company of men in everything. (note that many young men had died in the WWI). They wanted to have FUN, FUN, FUN! And the first thing they did was to kick out old-fashioned torture devices like corsets and crinolines. Freedom reigned!

by Sarah Moon

 http://www.swiatobrazu.pl/eteryczna-kobieta-za-obiektywem-sarah-moon-18795.html

by Sarah Moon
http://minaandoli.blogspot.com/2010/04/other-sarah-moon.html 

Contemporary designers are still  reaching for a great variety of cuts and patterns dating back to 1920's. One of my favourite collection inspired by flappers was the one created by Galliano for Dior for season A/W 2009/2010

 http://8makeup.com/backstage-high-drama-at-dior-4911.html

       
http://www.butterboom.com/tag/john-galliano/

Some time ago I couldn't help myself and designed a rubber flapper dress. Dress is made with vinyl gloves and rubber bands. It took a w h i l e... to make it! The results below :)

And a bit of Polish music from that times but in new arrangements. Enjoy! :)

http://jeanpaulchabrier.over-blog.com/105-index.html

Frida The It-Girl :)

 Frida Kahlo was a talented Mexican  painter who married a fat asshole Diego Riviera - the photo on the left. To learn something about her works click on the "picture" on the right.

 

It's been quite a while I've been inspired by Frida's works and Frida herself. Recently I've come across a website where she was called "the unintentional fashion icon" (http://www.trenddelacreme.com/2008/12/frida-kahlo-unintentional-fashion-icon.html) Well, going through fashion magazines I must admit that there is something to it... 

Photo by Gaby Herbstein

Photo by Gaby Herbstein

http://www.trenddelacreme.com/2008/12/frida-kahlo-unintentional-fashion-icon.html

http://fashionbyfashion.wordpress.com/2011/08/30/frida-the-fashion-icon/

For Frida

That's a necklace I made being under impression of Frida's works. Later this necklace and the other one were used in a relly cool photo session arranged by Gabriela Bazan.

 





 














No doubt, Frida Kahlo didn't care about fashion. She didn't follow any trends. She used clothes and jewellery just for self expression. But with no intention to she became a trend setter, or as you may prefer an It-Girl ;)

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/treck-thunder-k-5177