Ok, so most of my readership (all 3 of you!) will know that I am no longer in the City of Lights. Therefore, I am no longer LaSourisParisien!! I know I've been a bit slack about this blog, I've struggled a lot with motivation...mainly, I'll be honest, because I found Paris to be a SERIOUSLY uninspiring city! I don't identify with the style, I never really enjoyed my job and I didn't even met any French people that I like enough to blog about.
I'll be starting a new blog, which you can find at www.themouselife.blogspot.co.uk; it'll be a bit of fashion, a bit of fitness and a bit of everything else. Hopefully I'll find this more inspiring and I'll keep up with the posts a bit better!
Lots of love xxx
Wednesday 9 May 2012
Sunday 4 March 2012
Models Are Very Tall Compared To Normal People
This is a post for the models. As I heard a buyer remark outside of Chalayan "They are just so young and so tall". It's like they're a different species. Maybe it's just me, but standing next to them, I don't even feel bad about myself; they are just SO much taller and SO much more beautiful than any mere mortal could be. So this is a collection of my favourite pictures. Because I love them :)
Legs
Friends
Tall
Apple&Moped
Eyebrows
"Walk to the bottle"
Thursday 1 March 2012
Nina Ricci
So Nina Ricci was the final show I went to today and something so exciting happened that I had to give it a separate post....
I GOT INTO THE SHOW :D I couldn't believe it! I was outside, taking photos and generally mooching near the bouncers when, just before the show started, they said "Oh well if you want to get into the press queue, perhaps you'll get into standing." So I RAN in my ridiculous stilettos across to the press area (along with about 20 other people who'd heard him!) and pushed my way to the front of the queue. I KNEW that all the time I spent pushing to the front at gigs would be useful one day! I actually only took two photos from inside the show because I was completely on Cloud Nine about being there and I didn't want to be distracted by anything. Especially since I completely love Nina Ricci! Anyway, the show was the most divine and fabulous thing I have ever experienced in my life. Honestly, I think I must have had the most stupid, goofy smile on my face through it all but I don't care :) I had such a good view and the clothes were so beautiful, it was just the perfect end to my day!
Outside the show was great for taking photos, since after entering the Jardin Des Tuileries the guests has to walk about 400m down a lit, white pathway. So obviously it was completely jammed with photographers as you got to see absolutely everyone who arrived.
I'm not usually a fan of matching handbags and shoes but I really thought that it worked here. Maybe it's because they're both such an unusual colour...it looked really quirky, rather than being matchy matchy!
I also liked the fact that you can only see the browns of the fur coat against the bright colours of her accessories. It's so simple but it works so well.
I thought this was great. Angelica Cheung, one of the most powerful women in fashion, and she just stood there having a giggle while I took my picture.
I thought Angelica's coat was great, she'd been wearing it all day (I photographed her at Balmain, too) and although it's not boring it's definitely a hard-working piece.
I know it's not a great quality picture but I'm a sucker for anything 80s throwback, which this definitely is!
Loved the clashing jumper with the skirt, although I thought the clutch was taking it all a leeeetle bit too far! It made it look like she'd just borrowed a bag off a mate on the way...
Again not a great quality picture, but it's GRACE!! I was so upset not to photograph her at Balmain and this + getting into the show completely made up for it!
And finally...
Just to prove I was actually there!! Haha :) I only took these two because, like I said, I was completely off in my own little bubble and I didn't want to miss out on anything!
So now I can barely keep my eyes open, all of my limbs ache and I absolutely HAVE to go to sleep, immediately! I've got a really full day tomorrow so I'll so another post in the evening :)
I GOT INTO THE SHOW :D I couldn't believe it! I was outside, taking photos and generally mooching near the bouncers when, just before the show started, they said "Oh well if you want to get into the press queue, perhaps you'll get into standing." So I RAN in my ridiculous stilettos across to the press area (along with about 20 other people who'd heard him!) and pushed my way to the front of the queue. I KNEW that all the time I spent pushing to the front at gigs would be useful one day! I actually only took two photos from inside the show because I was completely on Cloud Nine about being there and I didn't want to be distracted by anything. Especially since I completely love Nina Ricci! Anyway, the show was the most divine and fabulous thing I have ever experienced in my life. Honestly, I think I must have had the most stupid, goofy smile on my face through it all but I don't care :) I had such a good view and the clothes were so beautiful, it was just the perfect end to my day!
Outside the show was great for taking photos, since after entering the Jardin Des Tuileries the guests has to walk about 400m down a lit, white pathway. So obviously it was completely jammed with photographers as you got to see absolutely everyone who arrived.
I'm not usually a fan of matching handbags and shoes but I really thought that it worked here. Maybe it's because they're both such an unusual colour...it looked really quirky, rather than being matchy matchy!
I also liked the fact that you can only see the browns of the fur coat against the bright colours of her accessories. It's so simple but it works so well.
I thought this was great. Angelica Cheung, one of the most powerful women in fashion, and she just stood there having a giggle while I took my picture.
I thought Angelica's coat was great, she'd been wearing it all day (I photographed her at Balmain, too) and although it's not boring it's definitely a hard-working piece.
I know it's not a great quality picture but I'm a sucker for anything 80s throwback, which this definitely is!
Loved the clashing jumper with the skirt, although I thought the clutch was taking it all a leeeetle bit too far! It made it look like she'd just borrowed a bag off a mate on the way...
Again not a great quality picture, but it's GRACE!! I was so upset not to photograph her at Balmain and this + getting into the show completely made up for it!
And finally...
Just to prove I was actually there!! Haha :) I only took these two because, like I said, I was completely off in my own little bubble and I didn't want to miss out on anything!
So now I can barely keep my eyes open, all of my limbs ache and I absolutely HAVE to go to sleep, immediately! I've got a really full day tomorrow so I'll so another post in the evening :)
Ann Demeulemeester and Balmain.
Wow. So I had a fabulous first day of Fashion Week; of course it wasn't really the first day but I was a day late getting my arse in gear. As mentioned my camera and I had a slightly misunderstanding which I will tell you about *takes steadying breath*...
I was just leaving the Balmain show and heading back to the metro, looked to my left and Grace Coddington was literally just standing around on the pavement, right next to me. Just standing there, talking to someone. And when I turned round and realised she gave me the biggest, loveliest smile like I was *gasp* an equal! Obviously I stopped and got my camera out to ask for a picture only to find that...the battery was flat. This may seem like an over-reaction but I honestly nearly burst into tears. Grace is pretty much my ultimate idol and favourite person and I couldn't believe I'd messed up such an amazing opportunity. Still, shit happens and I did get to photograph her later at Nina Ricci (I'll write all about Nina Ricci in a separate post!).
Below are just my favourite photos from the day; I took over 100 and out of these I liked 50 enough to upload them to Facebook so if you're my friend you can look at the rest on there :) But I figured I should be a little more picky with the ones I put on here...
Ann Demeulemeester
I think this girl was photgraphing for Style Magazine. Anyway I loved her look, she was obviously spending the entire day running between shows and I thought that the sheer skirt was great with the leather jacket and chunky boots (you can't see them in the picture...). Also, anyone who knows me will know I am an absolute sucker for a Chanel clutch!
The skirt had a split to the thigh which was great as it totally stopped the look going 'Frumpy Biker'. I've had one of these skirts on my shopping list for a long time and I think after seeing one on this girl I'll have to head out and buy one!
This is the model they sent out. I couldn't get round to the front for a pic because it was just crazy crammed with the press but I kind of like this photo :) There was definitely a bit of a lion look going on and she kept roaring and clawing the air and giggling which was kind of funny and cute!
Balmain
I think these guys might be the coolest couple I have ever seen! What was better is that when there were no photographers they were having a right laugh and looked really happy and then as soon as there was a camera on them it was like BAM and they were cool! They also must have smoked an entire pack of cigarettes each in the time it took for the show to finish!
I loved the girl's skirt suit. It was a little bit Kooples but about 10,000 times more high end and individual! She was very, very petite but the cut was perfect so it didn't swamp her at all.
This is the Balmain model. Probably the only girl I have ever seen in the world who could mess around, pull the most stupid faces and still look impossibly beautiful!! I was gutted not to get in to see this show because I really, really love Balmain!!
I absolutely loved what this girl was wearing. She obviously spent her day doing the same as me because I saw her at all three shows, but her eye make-up (there's a close-up pic below) stayed perfect the whole day. I really liked the idea of the little collar necklace and a lower cut top since an actual peter pan collar would have made the whole outfit too 'little girl'.
The picture doesn't show them too well but those boots also had an absolutely killer wedge on them which toughened the whole outfit up.
This is her eyes close up. So pretty!
So, at this point my camera battery packed in and I had to head home to recharge it before the evening; I had a fab day though. There were so many well-dressed people outside the shows that if I posted them all I would be blogging all night instead of getting my beauty sleep ready for Roland Mouret in the morning! At the end of the week I'll post a best-dressed list so you can see all of the fabulous people who I've had to miss out of my daily posts.
I was just leaving the Balmain show and heading back to the metro, looked to my left and Grace Coddington was literally just standing around on the pavement, right next to me. Just standing there, talking to someone. And when I turned round and realised she gave me the biggest, loveliest smile like I was *gasp* an equal! Obviously I stopped and got my camera out to ask for a picture only to find that...the battery was flat. This may seem like an over-reaction but I honestly nearly burst into tears. Grace is pretty much my ultimate idol and favourite person and I couldn't believe I'd messed up such an amazing opportunity. Still, shit happens and I did get to photograph her later at Nina Ricci (I'll write all about Nina Ricci in a separate post!).
Below are just my favourite photos from the day; I took over 100 and out of these I liked 50 enough to upload them to Facebook so if you're my friend you can look at the rest on there :) But I figured I should be a little more picky with the ones I put on here...
Ann Demeulemeester
I think this girl was photgraphing for Style Magazine. Anyway I loved her look, she was obviously spending the entire day running between shows and I thought that the sheer skirt was great with the leather jacket and chunky boots (you can't see them in the picture...). Also, anyone who knows me will know I am an absolute sucker for a Chanel clutch!
The skirt had a split to the thigh which was great as it totally stopped the look going 'Frumpy Biker'. I've had one of these skirts on my shopping list for a long time and I think after seeing one on this girl I'll have to head out and buy one!
This is the model they sent out. I couldn't get round to the front for a pic because it was just crazy crammed with the press but I kind of like this photo :) There was definitely a bit of a lion look going on and she kept roaring and clawing the air and giggling which was kind of funny and cute!
Balmain
I loved the girl's skirt suit. It was a little bit Kooples but about 10,000 times more high end and individual! She was very, very petite but the cut was perfect so it didn't swamp her at all.
This is the Balmain model. Probably the only girl I have ever seen in the world who could mess around, pull the most stupid faces and still look impossibly beautiful!! I was gutted not to get in to see this show because I really, really love Balmain!!
I absolutely loved what this girl was wearing. She obviously spent her day doing the same as me because I saw her at all three shows, but her eye make-up (there's a close-up pic below) stayed perfect the whole day. I really liked the idea of the little collar necklace and a lower cut top since an actual peter pan collar would have made the whole outfit too 'little girl'.
The picture doesn't show them too well but those boots also had an absolutely killer wedge on them which toughened the whole outfit up.
This is her eyes close up. So pretty!
So, at this point my camera battery packed in and I had to head home to recharge it before the evening; I had a fab day though. There were so many well-dressed people outside the shows that if I posted them all I would be blogging all night instead of getting my beauty sleep ready for Roland Mouret in the morning! At the end of the week I'll post a best-dressed list so you can see all of the fabulous people who I've had to miss out of my daily posts.
Paris Fashion Week
Ok so after a long and inexcusable absence I am back in the Blogosphere. I've had a LOT of stress over the last few months and been generally VERY BUSY doing things other than blogging. However Paris Fashion Week was too good of an excuse to miss, so here I am, hat in hand, hoping somebody might still want to read!
Today was Ann Demeulemeester, Balmain and Nina Ricci. Haven't actually been to Nina Ricci yet but I am leaving just as soon as my camera has charged. My camera and I are not currently on good terms due to death of battery at JUST the wrong moment. So it is sulkily taking longer than usual to charge and I have put it on the floor and am refusing to look at/upload any of the pictures from today until it's made it up to me this evening. However, other than our minor disagreement, today has been awesome! I took looooads of pictures and, surprisingly for me, loads of people seemed to want to photograph me. I gave a few people the name of the blog so if you're here via my (probably terrible) web interview or any of the other pictures of me looking awkward but well-dressed which may start to surface, HELLO! :)
This post was really just to announce that there will be new and exciting posts to follow in the next few days, I really need to start thinking about making a move so I'm going to disappear again for now. I PROMISE I will be back either late tonight or tomorrow with pictures and a few lines :)
Love
Terribly-lax-at-blogging-but-also-incredibly-apologetic Mouse
xxx
Today was Ann Demeulemeester, Balmain and Nina Ricci. Haven't actually been to Nina Ricci yet but I am leaving just as soon as my camera has charged. My camera and I are not currently on good terms due to death of battery at JUST the wrong moment. So it is sulkily taking longer than usual to charge and I have put it on the floor and am refusing to look at/upload any of the pictures from today until it's made it up to me this evening. However, other than our minor disagreement, today has been awesome! I took looooads of pictures and, surprisingly for me, loads of people seemed to want to photograph me. I gave a few people the name of the blog so if you're here via my (probably terrible) web interview or any of the other pictures of me looking awkward but well-dressed which may start to surface, HELLO! :)
This post was really just to announce that there will be new and exciting posts to follow in the next few days, I really need to start thinking about making a move so I'm going to disappear again for now. I PROMISE I will be back either late tonight or tomorrow with pictures and a few lines :)
Love
Terribly-lax-at-blogging-but-also-incredibly-apologetic Mouse
xxx
Monday 7 November 2011
Parisian Parents
So, we all know that the family I work for are very, very posh. To look at them you wouldn't really think so... The kids wear sensible clothes and the parents, at first glance, just look like average parents. With my family, you have to look closer for the clues:
CLUE ONE: The parents clothes get sent away to be cleaned, then they arrive back through the door ready-folded in colour co-ordinated piles.
CLUE TWO: When I moved into my studio, there was a lot of stuff stored in shoe boxes. Some of these shoe boxes were Chloe. The rest are all from French shoe shops which sell pumps for over 100€. And not just beautiful party shoes; a lot of the pictures on the boxes are just standard things like ankle boots.
CLUE THREE: The children do not wear hand-me-downs. When the ten year old grows out of something, the six year old is not forced to wear it with the sleeves rolled up.
CLUE FOUR: They go away for every single school holiday and quite often just for the weekends. Since I have been here they have gone to Normandy twice and Barcelona once. Over Christmas they are going skiing. In February they are going to New York and staying in a hotel overlooking Central Park.
CLUE FIVE: What I originally thought were cute, matching pink plastic macs belonging to the girls have, on closer inspection, turned out to be Burberry. Actual Burberry. For two little girls who are shooting up like weeds.
A lot of the other parents aren't this subtle. Before moving to Paris I would never have thought to take fashion advice from a child. Or a baby. Or, to be honest, most people's Mothers. But honestly...everyone here is so beautifully dressed!! The Dads at the six year olds school are a prime example. They lean one of two ways, either they are beautifully suited (Paul Smith or Armani suits, Hermes ties) or else they look like rockstars, complete with 200€ headphones and Alexander McQueen hi-top trainers. Either way they smell edible.
As well as at the school there are the Ballet Mums. Not many mums actually seem to show up at the ballet school, they prefer to send the Help instead, but the ones that do are definitely taking style lessons off Anna Wintour. They all have that different-simple-dress-with-understated-matching-accessories-every-day thing down to a tee, which I suppose is good because it means that when your little darling performs their repertoire of irritating, attention seeking habits (including but not limited to: climbing up the side of aforementioned dress, flicking bits of puree at shoes) they are only ever going to ruin ONE outfit at a time. Before I moved to Paris I always thought I was pretty well dressed, but I sit in that ballet hall and I feel like I've been shopping in Peacocks.
I don't get it!! In England, even the posh parents at least look like parents! What do they do when their child wants to play in the sand at the park? Or spills food? Or falls over? Do the have Special Plastic Overalls stashed in their Vuittons for just such occasions?
No, they must just prod them with the ends of their Laboutins until the child stops and acts normal again.
CLUE ONE: The parents clothes get sent away to be cleaned, then they arrive back through the door ready-folded in colour co-ordinated piles.
CLUE TWO: When I moved into my studio, there was a lot of stuff stored in shoe boxes. Some of these shoe boxes were Chloe. The rest are all from French shoe shops which sell pumps for over 100€. And not just beautiful party shoes; a lot of the pictures on the boxes are just standard things like ankle boots.
CLUE THREE: The children do not wear hand-me-downs. When the ten year old grows out of something, the six year old is not forced to wear it with the sleeves rolled up.
CLUE FOUR: They go away for every single school holiday and quite often just for the weekends. Since I have been here they have gone to Normandy twice and Barcelona once. Over Christmas they are going skiing. In February they are going to New York and staying in a hotel overlooking Central Park.
CLUE FIVE: What I originally thought were cute, matching pink plastic macs belonging to the girls have, on closer inspection, turned out to be Burberry. Actual Burberry. For two little girls who are shooting up like weeds.
A lot of the other parents aren't this subtle. Before moving to Paris I would never have thought to take fashion advice from a child. Or a baby. Or, to be honest, most people's Mothers. But honestly...everyone here is so beautifully dressed!! The Dads at the six year olds school are a prime example. They lean one of two ways, either they are beautifully suited (Paul Smith or Armani suits, Hermes ties) or else they look like rockstars, complete with 200€ headphones and Alexander McQueen hi-top trainers. Either way they smell edible.
As well as at the school there are the Ballet Mums. Not many mums actually seem to show up at the ballet school, they prefer to send the Help instead, but the ones that do are definitely taking style lessons off Anna Wintour. They all have that different-simple-dress-with-understated-matching-accessories-every-day thing down to a tee, which I suppose is good because it means that when your little darling performs their repertoire of irritating, attention seeking habits (including but not limited to: climbing up the side of aforementioned dress, flicking bits of puree at shoes) they are only ever going to ruin ONE outfit at a time. Before I moved to Paris I always thought I was pretty well dressed, but I sit in that ballet hall and I feel like I've been shopping in Peacocks.
I don't get it!! In England, even the posh parents at least look like parents! What do they do when their child wants to play in the sand at the park? Or spills food? Or falls over? Do the have Special Plastic Overalls stashed in their Vuittons for just such occasions?
No, they must just prod them with the ends of their Laboutins until the child stops and acts normal again.
Saturday 5 November 2011
Yep...sorry guys...
I just can't keep up this blogging stuff. I am too lazy. But I will try, because it makes my Mum happy and I still have two hours until I have to take the 6 year old to a birthday party.
SO, I have made a worrying and dangerous discovery...
There is a Kooples store 5 minute's walk away from my apartment. And it's a really good one. I found it when me and Chris were walking home from Victor Hugo over the weekend. It has the most amazing blazer in the men's section, it is leather and wool with faux fur lapels :') It's only 500€. If I saved for 6 weeks I could afford it. I wouldn't even have to stop eating because I get my food money on top of my wages. Then again, if I stopped eating I could probably afford the blazer in 4 weeks... I can't help it, I know that most people who wear Kooples clothes are probably tossers who take themselves a bit seriously but I love them (the clothes, not the tossers who take themselves too seriously).
The assistants in there were so nice as well! I tried to go into the Kooples pop-up store in Printemps and the assistant basically followed us round, one pace behind, the whole time I was in there which I HATE because I am obviously not going to buy anything (I was wearing Topshop ffs...). But in the Victor Hugo store it was just two blokes and they were lovely! Then again, maybe this is because I was wearing more expensive clothes and looked like I might actually purchase the fabulous blazer rather than just trying it on to torture myself...
That's one thing I really like about the posh boutiques in Paris. In London, if you walked into Chanel or Valentino, or even somewhere a bit cheaper like Vivienne Westwood, they would immediately total up how much your outfit cost and completely ignore you once they've worked out that you're not in there to buy. Mostly they won't even bother saying "hello". I don't know if it's just the weird compulsion the french have to say "bonjour" to everybody but as soon as you walk in, even if you are blatantly just looking, they say hello and ask if they can help you. Then they say "merci, au revoir" when you leave, even though you've had your sticky, high street fingers all over their 1000€ dresses. Then again, I think this non-threatening approach to designer clothing is going to be very bad for my bank balance once I've managed to save a bit!
One thing I'm really missing since leaving Cornwall, though, is second hand shopping. I have been told that the charity shops in Paris are completely amazing and out-of-this-world but I'm yet to actually find one! The closest I got was in Montmartre where I found a second hand shop selling a vintage Burberry trench, but it was still 200€ so not exactly bargainous shopping.
SO my mission before my next blog post is to find an amazing vintage market or similar. Probably a job for next weekend...
Over and out until then ;)
SO, I have made a worrying and dangerous discovery...
There is a Kooples store 5 minute's walk away from my apartment. And it's a really good one. I found it when me and Chris were walking home from Victor Hugo over the weekend. It has the most amazing blazer in the men's section, it is leather and wool with faux fur lapels :') It's only 500€. If I saved for 6 weeks I could afford it. I wouldn't even have to stop eating because I get my food money on top of my wages. Then again, if I stopped eating I could probably afford the blazer in 4 weeks... I can't help it, I know that most people who wear Kooples clothes are probably tossers who take themselves a bit seriously but I love them (the clothes, not the tossers who take themselves too seriously).
The assistants in there were so nice as well! I tried to go into the Kooples pop-up store in Printemps and the assistant basically followed us round, one pace behind, the whole time I was in there which I HATE because I am obviously not going to buy anything (I was wearing Topshop ffs...). But in the Victor Hugo store it was just two blokes and they were lovely! Then again, maybe this is because I was wearing more expensive clothes and looked like I might actually purchase the fabulous blazer rather than just trying it on to torture myself...
That's one thing I really like about the posh boutiques in Paris. In London, if you walked into Chanel or Valentino, or even somewhere a bit cheaper like Vivienne Westwood, they would immediately total up how much your outfit cost and completely ignore you once they've worked out that you're not in there to buy. Mostly they won't even bother saying "hello". I don't know if it's just the weird compulsion the french have to say "bonjour" to everybody but as soon as you walk in, even if you are blatantly just looking, they say hello and ask if they can help you. Then they say "merci, au revoir" when you leave, even though you've had your sticky, high street fingers all over their 1000€ dresses. Then again, I think this non-threatening approach to designer clothing is going to be very bad for my bank balance once I've managed to save a bit!
One thing I'm really missing since leaving Cornwall, though, is second hand shopping. I have been told that the charity shops in Paris are completely amazing and out-of-this-world but I'm yet to actually find one! The closest I got was in Montmartre where I found a second hand shop selling a vintage Burberry trench, but it was still 200€ so not exactly bargainous shopping.
SO my mission before my next blog post is to find an amazing vintage market or similar. Probably a job for next weekend...
Over and out until then ;)
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