Raf and Hedi

So I dropped off the blogging grid for about a week... Sorry for the lack of posts but I have been busy keeping up with school and traveling and truthfully felt a little uninspired.  While I have been loving the Paris fashion shows, I didn't want to inundate you with fashion and wasn't feeling much inspiration from other sources.  So of course today what shall I write about? Fashion.

The big news this season (and for months now really) has been the new designers for the houses of Dior and Yves Saint Laurent.  Raf Simons left the Jil Sander brand after the Fall 2012 season and debuted for Dior as a couturier this summer.  But his first ready-to-wear line for the historic brand has been much anticipated.  Just as the arrival of Hedi Slimane at the helm of YSL.  Slimane hasn't been designing for a few years now (leaving Dior Homme for a move into photography) but he's been given completely creative control over the YSL brand.  First order of business, changing the name to Saint Laurent Paris.  He's also redesigning stores and coming up with concepts for and shooting advertising campaigns.  While Slimane did create a collection for resort, it was only viewable by buyers.  So his Spring 2013 show has been much anticipated.  Here are how both amazing designers are bringing their iconic houses into the future.

Dior Spring 2013

Raf went back to Christian Dior roots with sleek, ladylike tailoring.  He also demonstrated the beautiful minimalism he is known for, but never in a stark way.  

Saint Laurent Paris Spring 2013

Slimane channeled some classic Saint Laurent shapes while injecting his years spent in Los Angeles.  The feel was very California bohemian with the rocker chic of the '70s.  

(images via Style.com)

Happy Bastille Day!

Today is the French celebration of independence (much like July 4th for us) and as a complete francophile, it is a day I always celebrate. Bastille Day is seen as the start to the French Revolution in 1789 when the disenfranchised peasants of Paris were tired of being mistreated and very hungry from lack of food available.  So they decided to storm the Bastille, which is essentially a jail in the middle of the city.  The expectation was free a bunch of political prisoners, but the only prisoners in the Bastille were some petty thieves and such.  But things got a little rowdy and out of hand, so the peasants ended up beheading a few people (maybe the main jailer, I'm not too sure...) and parading heads around the city.  They felt very powerful and the act ultimately scared the royals and aristocracy who were outside the city hiding in Versailles.  So, while the actually storming of the Bastille may not have done anything radical (much like our Boston Tea Party) it did have an effect on the French people and give them the courage to stand up for their rights and from that act the French Revolution began.

So, Vive la France!  Celebrate today with some champagne and a French pastry.

(image via Bergdorf Princess)

Things I Love ... Coffee and Croissants

It has ended up being kind of a crazy week.  With a final exam and a final project coming up next week I'm doing lots of work balanced with lots of fun outings with friends.  So today I wanted to bring you one of the simpler pleasures in life that I love... coffee and croissants for breakfast.

I will actually eat croissants any time of the day, but this is always such a great way to start a morning.  It makes me think of loungey mornings in Paris... or anywhere in Europe.  And makes me wish I lived in France and could easily walk down to a bakery or a sidewalk cafe to enjoy such a decadent morning treat.  Nothing beats a fresh, flakey croissant and a hot cup of cafe au lait.  Especially when sipped on a Parisian patio.

Maybe I'll have to visit Whole Foods this weekend and get some croissants and take a minute to just slow down.  It's not quite the same, but it'll do in a pinch.

Happy Friday!

(images via 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)