Prima Ballerina

Vogue, you make me want to pick up ballet again...

Sasha Pivovarova in Vogue China November 2005 photographed by Laurie Bartley

Caroline Trentini in “Flights of Fancy” in Vogue September 2008

(pictures: slideshow fashionista)

I wish I spent more time in the Repetto-store when we were in Paris. But shopping for the perfect ballerina flats is not that simple when two bored boys are waiting for you outside the store, ticking their watch every 2.5 minutes. Wishlist: demi-pointes and custom-made flats from Repetto's atelier. 

At La Gioia - Vip Room, Rue Rivoli, Paris

Check out which fashion celeb my sister spotted in La Gioia Paris at Shark Attack 1! Happy birthday, Krizia! 

Paris - Fall/Winter 2010

Or how to keep warm in Paris ...

City Trip - Paris

I need your advice. I've only been to Paris once: it was for school, the Tour Eiffel Concours de Francais. We slept in a Formula 1-hotel and it stormed for two whole days... No need to explain that I don't have the best idea of the city.

So please, can anyone give me some tips on where to shop, where to eat and what to do (on bank holidays)?

I know I'm gonna love Rue Cambon though

Screen Shot - Google Maps

Paris Wishlist

Since our city trip is only a few weeks away, my sister and I are already preparing our itinerary along Paris' must see-shops.

As mentioned before, I'm crazy for French rock 'n roll boy meets girl-brand The Kooples, and so off course my wish list consists of some cool items of the label. The pants are definitely work wear material while the grey sweater is just an easy going piece for cold fall days -love those sheer details btw.

(Pictures: thekooples.com)

Prèt-à-Porter

As mentioned before, for my thesis on film and fashion I'm analyzing Robert Altman's Prèt-à-Porter. The film is a parody and satire on the fashion world, and ridicules the industry. The movie, set during Paris Fashion Week, sends out a quite stereotype and negative message that only greed, betrayal and shallow 'keeping up appearances' are of the greatest importance in the business.

And yet, never did I see a Hollywood picture in which so many 'real designers and models appeared; Jean Paul Gaultier, Gianfranco Ferré -back then working for Dior-, Sonia Rykiel, Christian Lacroix, Issey Miyake, Campbell, Schiffer, Christensen... And not to mention the designs by many other great fashion houses. It's a shame that I've left the DVD at home, but when I return for the weekend I'll put up a screen shot of the end credits, so you can discover which designs -by whom- were featured in this 'fashion film' yourself! This movie beats Sex and The City for sure.

But the 'communications scientist' in me can't help but wonder; why were these fashion icons so happy to work on this project, if it puts the industry in bad daylight? Is bad publicity better than no publicity?

For anyone who loves fashion, this movie is a must!



Don't let this boring trailer mislead you, the film is much more fun...
And the title chosen for this movie is genius, Ready To Wear, when all designs presented are totally unwearable.

edit: And according to literature, Karl Lagerfeld was so furious that one of Altman's characters portrayed the french designer of chanel as a 'thief' that he called in the German juridical system and had the movie banned from German cinema's. But the picture does however feature quite some product placement by the house of Chanel. Curious and curiouser...

Alice au Printemps

If there is one subject I have been blogging about too much now, it has to be Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. The movie hasn't hit theaters yet, and I would already describe it as a fashion film, since so many top designers already have been inspired by Lewis Caroll's story.

My sister and I have mentioned the jewelry lines (Stella's and Swarovski's) and the editorial in Vogue's December 2003 issue. But do you remember the post about the Alice-window display at the Parisian department store Printemps? It's finally here -or there, to be more precise- until March 14th.

Nicolas Kirkwood's sketch has become reality. And I think the shoes are 'Alice'-inspired in an obvious way, but nonetheless very cool and clever. Both his and the story signature 'design' is incorporated in the shoe. Those window mannequins don't know how lucky they are to wear them.

The shoe designer states: “I think my favorite Alice character is the March Hare. You can see I’ve made his watch rather prominent. This was a different design process for me, because I’m not usually so applicative—typically, I’m thinking about line, silhouette. But this time, I figured, why not just pile as much as I can on top?”

And how I wish I could go admire the store's windows myself. Christopher Kane, Alexander McQueen and Haider Ackermann; I would go crazy.

Alice au Printemps des Merveilles.
Photos by Francis Peyrat.

For more wonderful Wonderland-designs, go to Style File.

Edit: Every time I see those last few pictures, I think of Donnie Darko.