Paris Street Style...Marion Rocks!

Marion from Marion Rocks! (see post below)

My French is pretty much non-existent but I gather, from trying to translate Marion's blog, maybe Marion, Charlotte (from Tinky Minky) and their friend Bouchra from Boubouteatime were on a petite bloggers expedition around Paris: shopping, chatting, Ben&Jerry's, photos- a bit like us London bloggers!

Paris Street Style...Pink Bow-Tie

Okay, so I only had a little time in Paris on Saturday morning to make some photos (phrase borrowed from the very sweet Jack Daniel from Daniel's Graphic Life) and I completely forgot that many Parisians leave for summer holidays in late July/August....so I only managed to get a couple of photos for the blog. But what I lacked in quantity, I made up for in meeting some very lovely people (apart from the fab bloggers that I was on my petite Paris jaunt with, that is). Like Elle here*, Marion from Marion Rocks (photos in the above post) and Charlotte from Tinky Minky! .

Elle has been stopped in the street before by a Spanish street style blogger (she said she was wearing the same denim dress as she has on here) and many of you are probably already familiar with Marion and Charlotte's blogs, or, like me, you have seen their faces on the blogs of other street style photographers!
*I am really hoping her name was Elle....I didn't write it down, and I had 4am-wake-up-call-brain going on.

Eurostar: Little Break, big difference- Paris!

Okay, so pretty much I haven't ever won anything in my life, a colouring-in competition and a meat tray excepted (actually, I don't even think I won the meat tray- I think my friend Jen claimed the win and gave me a couple of sausages as compensation!). So when I got an email from a communications agency asking if I would like to join a group of fashion bloggers from London on a "Little Fashion Break to Paris" with Eurostar I thought all my Christmases, Easters, birthdays, anniversaries had come at once. Within 5 minutes of the email, my passport was packed, my euros were pocketed and I was firing off emails and texts to my friends in excitement: "Soooo, I'm off to Paris for the day next week" "Seriously, VJ?" "Yep, that's just how I roll these days: London one day, Paris the next ;-)"

Anyone who reads this blog knows that I adore Paris, so the opportunity to head over for the day to do some shopping, some eating, a little (lot) of champagne tasting and maybe take a few photos sounded brilliant. And it was. Despite those "first day of school nerves" that always seem to surface when one is plonked into a group situation with new people, and despite the 4am wake up call most of us had, everyone was soon chatting and giggling, talking blogs, fashion, design, art, study, work and everything else in-between.

So what did we get up to in Paris? There was shopping for some (which kicked off at Colette), while others ran around madly trying to find stylish Parisians to shoot for their blog (okay, that was maybe just me :)), lunch at B4 restaurant (with champagne), a visit to the Les Arts Décoratifs to see the Madeleine Vionnet exhibition , a cruise down the Seine with a tasting of 3 different champagnes, followed by a 9pm-ish journey home on the Eurostar (with more champagne!)

For me, one of the highlights of the day was getting to meet Marion Cointot over lunch. Marion is a talented fashion designer and stylist, who recently won the Concours de Style award. She presented some of her beautiful designs while we sipped champagne*, talked us through her career so far and allowed me to take some photos of her after lunch. You can read more about Marion here.

So was the day long enough? Hell no! Of course, I wanted to stay longer BUT I will always want to stay longer in Paris, no matter how much time I spend there. As I said to Sandrine, one of the organisers, it was an amuse-bouche: a little taste of Paris to whet the appetite, excite the taste buds, and limber up the senses for future visits.

If you are keen for your own taste of Paris, you can get Eurostar return journeys for only £59 at the moment. Click here for the "Little Break, Big Difference" deals.

*oh yeah, do I LOVE champagne!

Running with the Fash Pack....Paris Men's Collections SS 2010

This guy just oozed style. What he was wearing was fairly simple but the little details- the nonchalantly wrapped scarf, the heavy glasses and the jewelled ring- made him intriguing. Obviously he was in Paris, but I could equally imagine him sitting on a rooftop terrace in Marrakesh on a steamy summer's night drinking G&T's, cigarette in hand ...

Running with the Fash Pack...Paris Men's Collections SS 2010

Great Legs
Great Dress (love that split.... so sexy, especially when she walked!)
Great Shoes

WOUND magazine: The Girls

Squeaaaaaaaak. Rummage, Rummage Rummage. Thwack. YEOW!

That would be me opening my closet door, fossicking around for my white flag and getting thwacked in the head by a zillion things I've stuffed in there in an effort to be "tidy".... Yep, its been a long time between posts and I am madly waving my little white flag around in a hopeful attempt that I may still have some blog readers left.

I could tell you that I've been busy (true), my blogger photo upload button broke (false), my camera broke (also false), but the truth is, I think I just lost my mojo a little somewhere between Gare du Nord and St Pancras 3 weeks ago. It may have been that I left it on the station bench in Lille (we had a unscheduled Eurostar stop there) or maybe it slipped down behind Seat 17 in Coach 8 while I was napping- either way I haven't been "on the streets" very much at all since I got back to London. Fortunately, I am heading back to Paris tomorrow for the day* and will be able to collect my mojo on the way :)

One thing that did lure me out of my self-imposed home detention was the launch last week of WOUND magazine's WOUND digital (an on-line edition of the magazine) and iWound (a bespoke application for iPhone which gives you the magazine plus music and video content all at the um, touch, of a screen). The launch was held in the very beautiful "Nash" room on the first floor of the Institute of Contemporary Art, which is situated on The Mall and has wonderful views across St James's Park and Big Ben. The Rose champagne was flowing freely, the art work- from artists featured in the magazine- was fabulous (note to self: heavy camera + alcohol + v v expensive sculptures = dangerous), drag queen Jonny Woo was doing his thang dressed as a goose (damn he is a fine looking man under all that makeup!) and the music at the after party in the bar downstairs was pumping (the editorial director, Ken, was throwing moves that even I would be proud of!). It was an excellent night and I don't think it would have been just me who felt a little bit happier with the world the next morning- it is amazing how a fashion/art soiree can lift the spirits.

Rick Owens dress and Burberry boots:

Back of the Rick Owens dress:

Right then, I'm off to track down my mojo :)

*I will tell you all about how this little adventure came about next week!

WOUND magazine: The Faces

Some of the girls at the Wound party at the ICA:

The light was a bit tricky inside and my camera doesn't like ISO's above about 400 (and I wasn't using flash) so I did what any photographer who can't be bothered messing around in lightroom/photoshop for hours does: I converted to black and white! And, in the case of the very bottom photo, I processed the absolute crap out of it in photoshop :)

I have photographed my Brooklyn girl before-at London Fashion Week way back in Feb! You can have a peek here.

And I have photographed this model (she is with Models One) before as well: at The Clothes Show, London. She is a studying at university and models part time in her uni break. She was demonstrating the iWound application for iPhone which was rather intriguing....especially for me who is without an iPhone (I have a bad track record with small, expensive electronic items: some of you might recall the incident involving my new mobile phone and the toilet earlier this year ;-))

WOUND Magazine: The Boys

The Boys at WOUND magazine's launch of Wound Digital and iWound.

Y'all remember Tamer (above)? This is the third time I have photographed Tamer for the blog (click here for Tamer in his cowboy boots and trench way back in April). In a weird twist, I picked up a copy of LOVE magazine a few days after the party and lo and behold there is Tamer featured in an article! Not only is he a stylist, he also makes up 1/3 (vocals) of glam electric trio Pandering&the Golddiggers. Check 'em here on MySpace. Their song Disco Bloodbath is freakin' naughty hot- it is the kind of song that would never fail to get me on the dancefloor to show off my, um, moves :) Love their influences: "Words and Wigs, Dictionaries and Designers, Linguistics and Lashes, Colloquialisms and Couture".

He was sporting all Tom Ford:

Paris Street Style....Red and White Stripes

Red and White stripes in the Marais (above) .

Red and White sripes in the Palais de la Bourse (below).

They were the sweetest couple-I asked if I could take their photo but this image was actually one I sneaked after they walked away and forgot about me and my camera....Sometimes it is nice to have completely candid photos, no?

Paris Street Style...Play Date

The playsuit.

Paired with sky-high wedges for a very grown-up playdate.

Exchange thoughts of climbing frames, jump rope and sticky fingers for champagne, fromage and a very cute boy.

Catch&Kiss, optional :)

Running with the Fash Pack....Paris Men's Collections SS 2010

Hyuna Kim

Student/Model/Stylist

Outside the Dries Van Noten show (above) wearing leather turban and neckpiece by Igor Dewe (who, incidentally, was sporting a killer pair of heels before the show......I would have needed 5 glasses of champagne just to stand up in them and I'm a girl!).

Before the Hermes show (below).

London Street Style...Suit Candy

As soon as I spotted this gentleman near Savile Row, I couldn't take my eyes off him....there was something about him. He had, for want of a better word, presence. And I wasn't the only one who noticed. I watched as he walked along the street and a couple of people (men and women) actually turned their heads to look back at him...not in a "is he or isn't he a celebrity" kind of way but in a "there's something about that guy" kind of way.


Yes, he was wearing a beautifully tailored suit* (braces/suspenders, no belt) but it was more than that: it was the glasses, the way he carried himself, the thin gold bracelet on his right arm, even the way he held his cigarette was incredibly chic (you can almost hear the sound of the silver lighter flipping open).


Photographing this gent conjured up thoughts of Yves Saint Laurent (those heavy glasses), Mad Men, martinis, 1950's/60's glamour and sophistication, smooth whiskey, dark, smokey art deco bars....

*the "crinkling" in the photo was caused by the way he was standing, not the cut of the suit.

Paris Street Style....Anna

It was a BAKING hot day in Paris and I was "between shows" (READ: The Fashion Show Schedule said "see invitation" and I was, sadly, lacking said invitation ;-). I was wandering around the Marais aimlessly, contemplating a walk back to our apartment on the Île Saint-Louis for a quick toilette and a cheeky Berthillon rhubarb ice-cream. And then I happened upon Anna and her friend. Anna is an actor and, quite simply, one of the loveliest, most vivacious girls I have ever photographed (maybe you can see this from the photographs?). There are a million people around, Anna is dying for an afternoon café au lait with her friend and it's freaking hot but Anna is a trooper and starts cutting shapes for me and the Nikon in the middle of the Marais! (The Eiffel Tower move was particularly entertaining but shall remain safely tucked away in my archives :) ). She also gave me some tips on cool places to go in Paris and encouraged my attempts at extremely bad French!

Merci Beaucoup Anna!

Running with the Fash Pack...Paris Men's Collections SS 2010

Probably Jean-Paul Paula needs no introduction.

But here is an introduction anyway!

Meet Jean-Paul Paula

23 year old Model, Stylist and Editor at Mykromag, Designer and Performer and, it has to be said, one of the nicest guys to photograph and chat to at the shows. Jean-Paul was featured along with Bryan Boy, Yu Masui (who, incidentally, was wearing a fabulous sheer black lace slip outside the Rick Owens show and toting a HUGE Lanvin shopping bag- oh how I wanted to tip- toe over and take a peek at what he had purchased!) in an article in the New York Times/T magazine The Moment Blog entitled "The Next Level/Boys with Birkins". You can read the article here.

The gold rose Jean-Paul was wearing? I asked him and he said it was in "memory of someone who is no longer with us". I didn't pry and initially thought it was perhaps a friend who had passed away but now I remember that I took this photograph outside the Thierry Mugler show on the morning that Michael Jackson's death was announced. Perhaps it was for him...

Jean-Paul's blog, Jeaniuss, is here.

Running with the Fash Pack.....Paris Men's Collections SS 2010

My love of girls with short hair continues!

Eva Fontanelli, stylist, Elle Italia (above) who, the day before, was wearing the Louis Vuitton Bunny Ears*to accessorise her gorgeous crop outside the Hermes show while working on a (probably) secret squirrel fashion shoot with The Sartorialist!

Outside the Rick Owens show (below):

*Did y'all watch the video of Marc Jacobs talking about how the bunny ears came about? You can watch the video of Marc talking bunny, French courtesans, Madonna and clothes on the Louis Vuitton website here. Love the quote from Marc "Clothes, to me, mean nothing, it's the person in them, the person that gives them the life and the personality...."

Running with the Fash Pack....Paris Men's Collections SS 2010

Louise Ebel

Aka Miss Pandora. Her blogspot, Miss Pandora Pandora (click here), is like a treasure chest full of gorgeous photos taken by the best street style photographers, Garance, Nast, Altamira, The Sart, and Face Hunter. And two beautiful shoots by Alix, The Cherry Blossom girl.

Oh, I suspect I could photograph Louise every day and never get bored. I think she looks like an ethereal nymph here but with a thoroughly modern twist: her trademark black glasses and looong legs*.

Sorry you can't see her looong legs but I sort of cut 'em off :(

London Street Style....Statement Earrings

Virginia

Statement Earrings from Mexico

And her hair? Oh yeah, that IS statement hair....absolutely perfect for setting off those earrings

Somehow even scraping back hair into a tight pony would seem like cheating.... Short hair = owning it*

*I, however, am exempt from the short hair cut. I had one dalliance with short hair and I have one word for y'all: H I D E O U S. Okay, so maybe I combined it with (gulp) a perm (it was the early 90's!) which may have tipped me over the edge from looking Sarah O'Hare/Linda Evangelista fabulous to looking more like a poodle had fallen asleep on my head :)

Paris Street Style...Breezy Summer Whites

So this was what she was wearing early on a Sunday morning in Paris....effortlessly beautiful, relaxed and fresh. Love the athletic influence in the white tank, the pale blue beribboned thongs snaking up her ankles and that little straw handbag. Me? I would be useless with such a handbag....I would need to take another GIANT bag with me to cart around all my, um, essentials :)

Running with The Fash Pack....Paris Men's Collections SS 2010

Lotta Volkova

Designer and Stylist

You can read more about her in this article from Dazed Digital here.


Edit: And just found her blogspot with her new womenswear collection here.

Running with the Fash Pack...Paris Men's Collections SS 2010

Running with the Fash Pack....Mr Karl Lagerfeld

Hollllllllllllllaaaaa, so you want to know how this photo of the legendary KL came about? YES we do!!!! I hear you cry :)

Okay, so I am going to tell you anyway, even if you don't really care one little iota. Well, the Dior Homme show was over and I was standing around chatting to a lovely guy, Adrien, who told me that Karl Lagerfeld was rumoured to be at the show. Ahhh but of course given that he shot Kris Van Assche's first collection for the Dior Homme campaign. Anyhoo, so I spotted Lily Cole heading around the back (all fun things seem to happen at the back of the shows not at the front ;-) and thought I should go and investigate with the Nikon.... you know, just in case Mr Lagerfeld was there.

I headed around the back and yep, there he was being interviewed! For a girl who grew up in Brisbane, Australia, just getting to lay my eyes on Karl Lagerfeld in person was a marvellous thrill. So I tried getting some candid shots of him through the wire fencing that separated me from the fashionable people (think: a visit to the zoo but substitute the animals for exquisitely dressed men and women) but my lens was too big and I kept getting bits of wire in the shot. So I almost gave up and almost walked away......

And then he left. And I kind of left as well. And I kind of happened to be going the exact same way he was going ;-) And well, here is the result.

Not my best photo, but still it IS Mr Lagerfeld.

He was accompanied by two extremely good-looking men-I think one was Mr Lagerfeld's model and muse, Baptiste Giabiconi, and the other was maybe his bodyguard/assistant. Weirdly, the day before I was walking past the Colette store and I spotted Baptiste and the bodyguard/assistant pull up on a very large, very sexy scooter...and I wondered who they were. Mr Lagerfeld's ride? An extremely large Hummer!

Running with the Fash Pack...Paris Men's Collections SS 2010

Outside the Bernhard Willhelm show. She was French and was helping a friend with his accessories booth at the Tranoi Homme trade show. -

Running with the Fash Pack....Paris Men's Collections SS 2010

The Boy
His Hair
And His Bike

Rodolphe

Possibly the most photographed guy at Paris Men's Collections. Who could resist his awesome hair and those fabulous glasses? Certainly not this street style photographer :)

If you want to find out what he does, what he was wearing and see some more photographs of Rodolphe, check out this post from the wonderfully talented Fred the Mole of Easy Fashion in Paris who I met in Paris, along with his lovely wife.

p.s. In the first photo above, Rodolphe was wearing a Pigalle black t-shirt underneath his jacket. I photographed him outside the Francisco Van Benthum show (first photo) and outside Cerruti (second photo). Oh yeah, and the Eiffel Tower just happened to be handy for that shot :)