Pure Beauty

If I was a man, I'd ask her to quit smoking and marry me.

Profiled: Emmanuelle Seigner

Emmanuelle Seigner is a French actress/singer/model, married to cult film director Roman Polanski (a little Rosemary’s Baby for you?), sister of another famous actress and granddaughter of Louis Seigner, a monument of French theater. This is for introductions…

Now - and apart from her famous associations - I’ve always been fascinated by this woman.

First, because of her evident beauty and raw sexuality. Second, because she’s proof that the most potent beauty ingredient is love. Third, because she has a style of her own, yet is unafraid to be versatile: here the icy blonde à la Grace Kelly and the diaphanous Californian babe, à la Sharon Tate of course…

Style-wise, this lady is typically Parisian, wearing extremely simple garments and in her case, an almost absence of accessories. It’s very smart, because while the goal is to downplay her strong presence, the result is to enhance her mirroring abilities as she is, definitely, a mirror to our fantasies*.

For more pictures, click on our making of page.

* as seen above, the “fantasizer” group strongly and universally including men from 13 to about 75 years old ;)

That Generation

A bit of Patti Smith rock, a little Sonia Rykiel frivolity and an unapologetic dose of practicality with her sneakers and, wait a minute, waist bag? This lady’s telling us that, in the end, it’s all about freedom.

Veeeery generational :)

So, in order to honor this woman - just as she'd expect - on this early Monday morning, ladies and ladies, please find our Etsy picks (of the week?)

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Treasure Hunt

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♫♫♪ La la laaaaaa ♫♪♫♪♪♪. Every time I come across these boots, I start singing like a child who's just discovered a treasure. Unlike Tavi, the genius 13 year-old who rapped for Comme des Garçons' collaboration with H&M, my singing's more solemn and in line with my age (and Castafiore readings as a kid ;)

Anywayyyy, why you may ask? Because mythic shoe designer Pierre Hardy has waved his magic wand over these pairs, designed for GAP... and priced at Eur. 114 in Europe (by the way, watch for increasing numbers of US companies looking into serving European markets - and making you ladies happy - thanks to their currency exchange benefits... :)

The heels and straight angles make these shoes serious and bossy, while the colors and texture make them very bohemian. This unlikely combination is what did it for me, how about you?

Daily Life

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Simplicity Pays

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Ahh, the lady in blue... She blew my mind with her outfit, but also her smile and generosity. "Merci Madame", and although charm's not in what you wear, here's why I loved you:

- you are aware that a good accessory is an investment, not a cost: a luxury bag (which doesn't have to be as expensive as this Hermes) while costing much will serve you well for years.

- you understand that while your accessories can be expensive, frankly your clothes don't have to be. This lady's pants and shirt are well tailored, but can also be found in any shop.

- you know that blue and orange match. Light blue with light orange, dark blue with dark orange, funky blue with funky orange... whatever the combination, check your color wheel: these two are complementary colors and as such instinctively activate a sense of esthetics in us.

Le détail qui tue*: her pants, shirt and soles of exactly the same color.

*the detail that kills me!

Forward To The Summer... "Pre-summer" Actually

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Originally, my entries were not going to feature designer collections, advertisements do enough of that... But blogs being a work in progress, I finally quit resisting Alexander McQueen's pre-Spring/Summer 2010 collection :) Besides, I can imagine a lot of these looks hitting the streets of Paris next year, like the tight geometric dresses. What are you waiting for H&M?!