7 chic ways to rock bell bottom jeans like Jane Birkin

Serious attention to the effortless details is primarily required if you want to achieve that bohemian chic meets classic. They come natural to someone who’s so iconic that a Hermes bag has her name. 

There’s some advantage with having a badass boyfriend.

It may help to have some nothing-shorter-than-perfect bangs.

Keep it up and here we go: ingredients for the bell bottom a la Jane

- a hell of a lot of striped tops: tank, T-shirt, short sleeves, long sleeves, bateau neckline (free interpretation, the concept is to highlight that French Riviera flair);

- white blouse cotton gauze long sleeves 

- basket (it could be a tropezienne, it can be a sicilian decorated woven straw basket, and yes little bells hanging are allowed)

- espadrilles (wedges or flat, just don’t mess up with the length of the pants, if they are meant to be worn with wedges don’t roll them up. Hems exist and they have a reason why.)

- flats they can be ballerinas (Porselli should be the must, although Repetto are not a wrong choice) or horse bit loafers. As per the hem, read above, no kidding.

- turtle neck for a fall version

- silk scarf some “Flora” Gucci print, any horse bit by Hermes wrapped around head or used to cover the basket and avoid intruders inside the bag.

The Alice in Wonderland crash course on opening doors

Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
The Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.
Alice: I don’t much care where.
The Cheshire Cat: Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go.

golden gate to the Court

the doors in Paris have a special blue (+ golden here)

disheveled but still blue + golden accents

faded 

follow the line of blue doors and guess who’s at the end …

someone was here

window reflections

Look so smashing current & journalist flirting = such an ideal dream

The horsebit loafer: an affair to remember

It so happen I grew up in Tuscany and when I was in elementary school I remember day-dreaming to dress up as a grown-up with  corduroy pants, a “Flora” Gucci silk shirt, a pair of horsebit loafers (brown suede) and a Roberta di Camerino Bagonghi plush silk velveteen purse.

(image from www.robertadicamerino.it)

Truthfully, the only thing that belonged to me were the corduroy pants, the rest was my mother’s. 

This is 2013 and the Horsebit Loafer Collection is looking dapper and iconic at 60 years old. Worn by Hollywood’s who’s who in the ’50s, that double ring with bar element pilfered from the world of horseback riding became a symbol. Worn by Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver , Jane Birkin and Alain Delon, the loafer that takes up to two days to be produced has walked through the years reaching 

(image from www.gucci.com)

3 decades after playing dress-up, what’s left of those brown suede shoes are the two horsebits and a desire to own the loafers that go attached to them.

Schiaparelli: the utilitarian couturier

Paris Couture Week was a splash in the past. Eat, drink, love, breathe couture at its highest glories.

Karl Lagerfeld presented “The Glory Of Water” on the Quai of Pont Alexandre III giving a whole new perspective to the millenial spectacular fountains of Rome. Did we forget to mention the Chanel Couture theatrical presentation in a make believe disheveled theater?

Vionnet presented an utterly impressive retrospectives of her genius, we re-discovered this time through the eyes of its creative director Goga Ashkenazi.

Then the Christian Lacroix’ tribute to Elsa Schiaparelli and it was a dream at first sight. The debut to the high society after the stint with Miuccia Prada. Elaborate, fascinating, exquisite celebration of her legacy, the collection will remain in the annals. The Shakespeare of fashion? 

The cages, the virtual chirping birds and bamboo manipulated a surreal ambiance. The mannequins carrouseled the 18, looks each one bearing vivid reminiscence of Schiaparelli’s dark, surrealistic elements. The parachute pockets from the “cash and carry” collection, the jumpsuit, the symbolism of the “circus” line all recall the idea that the designer was creating something elegant yet convenient. The inspiration dates back to a the dark and scary period of World War II when “Paris could still be elegant” to say it with Lacroix.

Bravo to Lacroix who presented couture at its highest and produced a show that surpassed all expectations. Stakes are even higher for whomever will be the actual creative director now. On another note, our enthusiasm was stimulated to the point that compared all the other couture shows seemed blushing (not completely though).

And, yes indeed, Paris was more than simply elegant as usual, at least for those three days. Another milestone of fashion history was marked.

What will happen to the collection? There were no comments from Mr. Lacroix and la maison. What we know is that nothing is up for sale.