Let's Get Together!

In one of our last posts on summer's street style, here is one of the oddest, yet cutest (yes, gentlemen, I said "cute") trends: moving in groups, preferably with the same exact dress codes.

Though I always thought pulling a David and Victoria was kind of silly, I'm now wondering if I wasn't just being a French snob ;)

She's Got The Funk

This is to show you that a little really goes a long way sometimes ... Remember your Playmobil? Then I guess it's time to get them out of the basement and play.

Here, Funky Lady is playing with the pirate theme, though you can of course also be a nurse, a police officer, a construction worker... Gotta LOVE this!

By the way, and as a side note, you'll probably have to enlarge the pictures in the last posts to view them clearly. Don't ask me why, can't figure it out (yet ;)

Marinière

After a long period of working on my other business (you know, the serious internet one... actually, no, you don't know, but that's quite ok ;), I'm back with pictures from this summer in Paris.

I spent some time there on and off, amazed, again, at how Parisians constantly redefine femininity. Why? How? I'm still trying to nail it down myself. In the meantime, I'm just grateful to be able to watch. And share with you...

This week, you'll find a glimpse of the overwhelming number of sailors in town?? *

* Tried to take a picture of myself, but it just ended up silly ;)

The Good Thing

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While most of us would be hard pressed to find g-reeeaaat things about life in an economic crisis, style wise there definitely are some advantages. This year's fashion focuses a lot on accessories, of which you can find from the cheapest to the most ridiculously expensive.

It's time...

To look in your closet... and seek...

All the hats you can dig out :) MUHAHAHAHA!

* Dress: Swildens, Eur. 250 + Hats: Gant Eur. 96; A.P.C. Eur. 60.

Courtesy of the Sartorialist

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Oh my... Here is Giovanna Battaglia, editor of Vogue Italia.

Picture after picture that I watch of her, I see an understanding of styles, timing, colors that shows real intelligence and a capacity to dream, simply.

Also, the shoes (since everybody asks on The Sartorialist!) are from Pierre Hardy SS '10 collection. It's the second time we mention him in this blog ;) Pieeeeerrrree, visit our page!

Tout Est Bleu

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Looks like Paris has a case of baby blue shoes lately?

With special thanks to graceful Kenza, who also has a fashion blog in Paris :)

Rockabilly

After a few years attempting to win the hearts and minds of Parisian ladies, the cowboy look has finally made it to the streets... and nowadays, you see it everywhere.

And in the manner of designers Dolce & Gabbana's S/S '10 collection, you'll see even more of these around, as brands will flood the market with this easy to use style that is also affordable - a major scoring point for fashion CEOs these days ;)

So here are two looks, one in a variation of blue, (cowboy) brown, black and dark red and the other in blue, off white, black and grey. Note the use of the silver detail in the third picture, and her actual choice of belt, the leather breads reminding both of a rope and the 'interlacing' of her shirt colors.

If you want to make this look your own, you can also pair a plaid shirt with ruffles, a la Dolce & Gabbana mentioned earlier, or go for the kill, indulge in a vintage cowboy shirt, leather pants and some ridiculously obvious ankle boots... Not for me, although I love the idea of Rockabilly in France ;0

We're Launching!

After the blog, 31 Million - the business, which rests on the idea that:

If 31 Million women have the French Touch, so can you,

is launching shortly!

We offer several services, including fashion & nutrition classes, wardrobe consultations, shopping trips to Paris and soon, a rental platform for French-styled clothes & accessories.

Since returning from the holidays, we've been busy finalizing our website and getting ready to meet with the women of Amsterdam (and later those of London :) This is why we will disappear from your screens until the end of March... when we will be back with a bang and a smile, just like our Parisian Mammas would want us to!

See you back soon, and drop us line in the meantime if you want to contact us at nicky@31million.net or info@31million.net

Introducing Maxime

Since the beginning of the year, Natasha, 31 Million's new intern and I have been reviewing a list of about 25 new designers that we'd possibly like to share with you. We'll post them at some point, but while she and I could debate many of these hopeful's takes, there was one, unique, individual that just moved us.

He's touched by grace. His name is Maxime Simoens, and he reminds many of Yves Saint Laurent.

Not much is known about this mystery, apart that he's 25 years old, a previous apprentice of Jean-Paul Gaultier's and some of his micro dresses took as much as 15 meters of fabric to sow. Oh, and this man's got serious humor and marketing skills, as his first collection's theme shows... That would be "Michael Jackson's dead".

Please watch the work of a man who truly loves women: introducing Maxime Simoens (the first series is picked by Natasha, the second by yours truly).

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A Nous Les Petites Anglaises*

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Whenever I see two wildly differing interpretations of any style - here the English - within 5 meters of each other, I know I'm in Paris... namely Place Saint-Sulpice

Featured here, 1) the old money aristocrat (meets E. Hemingway) who knows she's impossibly stylish but mends her kids' socks and generally thinks lowly of anything new, and 2) for the lady in the background, the "let me teleport to Edinburgh 2025" look.

These are impersonations of course, both these women look awesome simply because they are playing with codes. And that's très Français...

* "A nous les petites Anglaises": 70's French cult movie, with an even culter soundtrack by Mort Shuman. yep.

Rethinking Darwin

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Sheep... Wool... Without it, we'd be extinct.

Nuff said.

*actually, the dress is See by Chloe and prices at Eur. 196 and the sweater is Zadig & Voltaire and prices at... Eur. *cough*