"I Am Super French."- Emmanuelle Alt

Super Chic Emmanuelle Alt

 

I had intended to do a blog today about Parisian Street Style during Fashion Week 2015 but honestly, I just couldn’t. I was looking through hundreds of photos and 99% of the fashionistas who showed up on the streets of Paris this past week looked like… How can I say this delicately … They looked like fools. The phrase “trying too hard” is an understatement. These people do not represent Parisians. I mean, I know it’s Fashion Week but must you look like a clown?

The woman that I always thinks represents Fashion Week best is Emmanuelle Alt. Mme. Alt is the current editor-in-chief of French Vogue and there is a reason why. She encompasses everything that we love about a Parisian woman… Chic, demure, confident and a wee bit mysterious. With her signature look of skinny jeans, Saint Laurent heels, T-shirt and a Balmain jacket, Mme. Alt acts her age and reminds us that fashion is not here to shock, only inspire. There is a great article in the Telegraph by Kate Finnigan chronicling the virtues of Emmanuelle Alt. As I am coming up on my 45^th birthday, I especially appreciated Mme. Alt’s views on growing old gracefully… “She's not interested in the magazine being a vehicle for youth either. "What we shoot in Vogue is expensive stuff. It's very luxurious and it goes with an age, I think," she says. In the May issue, one of France's best-loved actresses, Sophie Marceau, 46, appeared on a sort of pop-artish cover against an orange background in a pair of black La Perla pants and a black Ralph Lauren sweater. It wasn't a summer look, it wasn't one of the key looks of the season (or anything near): it was a beautiful fortysomething woman in her knickers and a sign of a fashion magazine doing its own thing.”

You can read the whole article HERE.

So instead of looking at photos and a bunch of “look at me, high-fashion clowns” during Paris Fashion Week, let’s rise to the occasion and focus today on the style of Emmanuelle Alt who is always the epitome of Parisian chic before fashion week, during fashion week and after fashion week.

 

Right?

 I found this awesome website called I Want to Be an Alt that stalks all things Emmanuelle Alt. You can check it out HERE. What are Mme. Alt’s favorites? Voilà…

 

 Maison Michel Fedora

 

 Balmain Crystal and Faux Pearl Embellished Velvet Blazer

 

 Uniqlo Classic Men's Tee

 

 Topshop Skinny  Jeans

 

 Balmain Hommes Leather Belt

 

 Hermes Collier de Chien Cuff

 

 Isabel Marant Poppy Pumps

 

 Diptyque Figuier Candle

 

Prada Infusion de Fleur D'Oranger

 

 

There are a few other women who managed to come to Paris Fashion Week with their high-fashion A game… Olivia Palermo, Giovanna Battaglia and Miroslava Duma. These three women, in my humble opinion, manage to respect fashion without going overboard. Take a look…

 

Right?

I put together a board of Parisian Street style on Pinterest. You can check it out HERE. I also put together a semi-stalker-ish Pinterest board on Emmanuelle Alt as well that you can follow HERE.

So that’s it for my Paris fashion week Roundup. That was fun. We will do it again in July for haute couture. Now, let’s get back to decorating and cooking. Do you guys want to see the antique shop I had called Circa with my mother in Santa Barbara? After that, we will get back to our list of the dishes you should master. I think we are on pesto. Stay tuned…

“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.” Coco Chanel

 

Afternoon Tea With the Man about Town: Derek Blasberg

Derek Blasberg
Photo by Terry Richardson
 

Good ole Instagram. It’s been fun these past few days hasn’t it? The good news is that I learned that Instagram has a “block follower” button. Hallelujah!

I don’t follow that many people on Instagram… Only 107 people. But let me tell you, those 107 people are stellar. My most favorite person on Instagram to follow is my daughter. I use it more like a tracking device. However, she has blocked me. I have no idea why. :-)

My next favorite person to follow on Instagram is @thefatjewish. Usually makes me laugh out loud every day. And finally, I never go a day without checking DerekBlasberg on Instagram.

 I don’t know how I started following Derek because I usually only follow people I know or anything that has to do with interior design. Derek is the crown prince of fashion so why would I be following him? Because he is hysterical, that’s why.

Let’s start with a little background… According to his website, www.DerekBlasberg.com, Derek is “currently the Editor at Large of Harper’s Bazaar, and the Editor at Large of V magazine and VMAN, the fashion titles from the art collective Visionaire. He is also the founder of www.MrBlasberg.com, a website from the NowManifest and Fairchild media groups. In his career, Blasberg has contributed articles to a variety of publications, including numerous international editions of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, W, Womens Wear Daily, WSJ. Magazine, the New York Times, TeenVogue, the London Sunday Times, Elle, 10, and Another Magazine. From 2006 to 2010, Blasberg was the Editor at Large of Style.com, where he wrote a column called The Blasblog. From 2009 to 2012, he kept a column called Fast + Louche for Interview magazine.”
 
Like I said, Derek is the crown prince of fashion. On top of that, he is adored by fashion royalty including the likes of @KarlLagerfeld, @CarineRoitfeld (former editor of French Vogue and current editor of CR Fashion Book), Lauren Santo Domingo @thelsd of modaoperandi.com, my favorite reality star @KimKardashian, supermodels @KarlieKloss, @CaraDelevingne, @JoanSmalls and of course our beloved @GigiHadid

 

 

Derek Blasberg with Lauren Santo Domingo

 

It seems like Derek is in a new city every other day doing fabulous stuff. I don’t know what exactly that fabulous stuff is but it’s all fabulous, of course. Without fail, Derek was in Paris last week hanging out with the Who’s Who of Fashion Week including our beloved Gigi. Gigi knows that I absolutely adore Derek so she immediately arranged an introduction. 

The very next day, Derek Blasberg was on his way to my apartment for tea! Truth be told, if you told me that I had a choice of the President of the United States or Derek Blasberg to have over for tea, I would without a blink of the eye choose Derek. Is that shallow? I don’t care. So, needless to say, I was a wee bit excited. 

As I expected, Derek was a treat. Polite, cordial and engaging. This is not a surprise as Derek is a New York Times best-selling author of a book on etiquette titled, Classy: Exceptional Advice for the Extremely Modern Lady. Casual and affable, we had a wonderful chitchat covering everything from interior design, fashion to the art world. This is definitely my kind of guy!

All of my friends know how completely obsessed I am with a website called PaperlessPost. It is a website where you can send cards, any type of card/invitation via email. For me, it is genius, as I am unable to physically write a card. I use the website every single week for invitations, thank you cards or birthday cards. They even have personalized stationery! Oh my God, I love it so much. I usually go straight to my favorite cards designed by interior designer, Kelly Wearstler but now I have just learned that Derek has his own line of cards on Paperless Post as well! Woo-hoo! Check it out HERE but first let’s take a look at some of my favorites from Derek…

Saving the best for last, I really love Derek’s sense of humor. He doesn’t take himself too seriously, is totally self-effacing, witty and completely down to earth. It’s always nice to have a fellow Missourian right here in Paris craving Steak-n-Shake just like I am. Derek will be back in Paris for haute couture week in July and I am looking forward to growing our friendship because he definitely puts a smile on my face. 

Do yourself a favor and start following Derek wherever you can… Instagram (@derekblasberg), Twitter (@DerekBlasberg), or his website (www.MrBlasberg.com). Keep up keep up!

 

Tomorrow is our last little series for fashion week… Stay tuned for Parisian street style.

McQueen Did It Best...

Well, well, well, Fashion Week is definitely saving some of the best for last. Today, let’s talk about two shows… Valentino and Alexander McQueen.

Rarely do you see fashionistas at a fashion show jump up, start clapping, nearly singing and dancing. Well, that is exactly what happened at the Valentino show. There was a complete showstopping surprise at the end. But first, the collection… Fashion writer for now fashion.com, Jessica Michault, says it best… “The collection was inspired by two women who moved the men in their lives to accomplish great works while at the same time blazing their own creative paths. One was Emilie Louise Flöge, who was the subject of a number of Gustav Klimt’s greatest works as well as being his longtime companion. A couturier, she was also credited with stripping out whalebones and corsets from her dresses, marking a shift in the fashion of her day.  The other was Celia Birtwell, Ossie Clark’s wife and the muse of the British painter David Hockney. Birtwell is also a renowned textile and fashion designer. The designer picked these two extraordinary women because, according to the show notes, they “share a singular approach to life: they combine fragility and sensuality and give strength and depth to feminine grace.”

 

Check out my favorites…

 

 

A very serious collection and then Boom! The last two models dressed in Valentino’s men’s collection were not other than… Derek Zoolander and Hansel a.k.a. Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson announcing the February 2016 release of the sequel, Zoolander. Strutting the catwalk to 80s band Human League’s classic hit, Don’t You Want Me, the duo completely stole the show. The perfect juxtaposition to a Valentino show. Check out the whole show HERE.

And then, we have Alexander McQueen. I have to say, so far, I think it is my favorite show. Chanel for day. Alexander McQueen for evening and late into the night. I became an instant Alexander McQueen fan from day one. My respect, admiration and adoration went through the stratosphere after I took Gracie to the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibit, Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty. The exhibit encompassed all of one’s senses: sight, sound, touch, smell and nearly taste. But it also triggered the sixth sense… Intuition. My intuition told me that I was amongst genius. Yesterday show with designer, Sarah Burton, representing Alexander McQueen, had the same effect.

Held at the infamous Conciergerie, I concluded that this was the absolute perfect venue for the collection.… Dark, dangerous, moody and yet historically chic. I knew we were in for something special as the first models walked out wearing razor thin pleat skirts. It only got better from there. And the detail, the detail! I should probably just shut up and let you see… These are my favorite pics from the show and then you absolutely have to, must, without fail, immediately watch the show HERE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good news: Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, exhibit premieres tonight in London at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The most anticipated exhibit in the museum’s history, tonight’s opening gala will see the likes of Victoria and David Beckham, François Pinault and his wife Selma Hayek, Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell. I’m still checking for my invitation…

Wrapping up Paris Fashion Week, Wednesday schedule was Louis Vuitton, Moncler and Miu Miu. If you want to check out those shows which were just “so-so” you can click HERE.

Now that the shows have concluded… The fun begins. This week, let’s take a look at my favorite “Parisian Street Style Fashion” for this season’s autumn/winter 2015 ready-to-wear. But first, I have a special surprise for tomorrow’s blog. Can’t wait to tell you all about my afternoon tea today with the Crown Prince of Fashion, Derek Blasberg!

Q