if i am occasionally a little over-dressed, i make up for it by being always immensely over-educated

this is an ideal party situation for me. a select cast of people, fashionable setting, macarons, champagne.... reminds me of a night (or two or three...) that i had in paris with a few wonderful friends.

images from cherryblossomgirl and title from the importance of being ernest

summer beauty

i adore this old photograph of carine. she is the definition of soft, natural beauty and healthy radiance. beauty goal for the summer.

chez nous: moroco

moroco chocolate boutique is where my friends and i spend our time. it seems that if we are ever meeting in the evening (or even during the day sometimes), this location is implied. lovely patio (top), so many types of macarons (middle, my vice), the food is excellent, the desserts are even better, and its easy to sit there for hours with the white wine du jour on those lovely hot summer nights in toronto.

images from serina's (left with mosha, right) blog, chic du chic.

im in love

i just have to say, after spending so much time out of toronto (my home base), i freaking love this city. i know right now g20 is inconvenient and the protesters are everywhere, blah blah blah, but i tell you this, i will not complain about the city this summer, im too smitten.

i got off my plane (coming from victoria), and what do i feel? heat. as in real summer warmth that requires shorts and sunglasses rather than them just being a possibility. beach anyone?

on top of that, im all of a sudden so aware of how fortunate i am to live in a city like this. its so culturally diverse, so many neighbourhoods, theres always a new cafe, restaurant, exhibit, etc. to go to, the downtown streets have a good energy, theres a range of employment and industry, its safe, its in canada.... i can go on. of course every city has downsides, but then, every city has downsides. for now, toronto is playing opposite me in the story of my summer.

vintage miu miu

how amazing is this? i cant believe its from 97.. yup, 13 years ago. i still get the same vibes from miu miu: simple, strong, intelligent.

reblogged from ma vie privee.

transclassic/future classic

montreal-based designer rad hourani is being featured in a solo exibit, transclassic, in paris' galerie joyce. mosha lundstrom reported this show on flare.com, emphasizing his gender-neutral pieces inspired by audio, film noir, and photography. oh, and she also asked for my thoughts on the concept and quoted me in the post! see the post, here.

the exhibit runs from june 24-july 22. if you are in paris pls go see it and report back!

love fear pleasure lust pain glamour death

i apologize for my infrequent posting, busy busy week! but i did manage to visit seattle for a day and see the art museum which is now exhibiting love fear pleasure lust pain glamour death, an andy warhol feature.

i am quite the fan of warhol, so its always nice to see his art from a fresh angle. this exhibit was small, simple, and concise, with a clear statement (much like the rest of the gallery). opting out of andy's paintings, this show focused on his common fascination with ephereral beauty, celebrity, youth, etc. through the use of photographic and video portraiture.

i was particularly excited to experience the two rooms that were playing his 'screen tests' on loop.. six large projections at any time in both rooms. the sense of immediacy you feel looking into the eyes of a young edie sedgwick, for example, is so sharply contrasted by the realization that it is not immediacy you are feeling... its just that you are seeing what the still image cannot capture: life, movement, gesture, as it happens.

l'amour et la mode

1. julia is wearing the same miu mius that i (and mosha) have.. more style brainwaves

2. i love how she and robert genuinely adore each other

3. i know that they genuinely adore each other because she seems oblivious to the fact that those shoes are excruciatingly painful

source: harpers bazaar russia via iwanttobearoitfeld

"la mode c’est la ganache dans le macaron"

quote by garance. this is my perfect parisian afternoon.

the modern woman

so i had to give you my thoughts on the modern woman exhibit (originally mentioned here), correct? i didnt want to review it immediately because i tend to get flustered at openings, the wine, the music, the nine thousand people crowding around each piece... and so it would be unfair to review it when my judgement was impaired.

anyway, i would like to think i have a critical eye when it comes to this period in paris, and i have to say, the curating was so good. the coloured walls made you forget that it was an entire floor of almost colourless sketches, you weren't drowning in text, and the didactics for each theme were flawless, like seriously, air tight. they gave thorough historical context, and provided the type of information that gives insight into every piece in the room. all useless overly-specific information: non-existent. the curating reminded me veeeryy much of the orsay's max ernst exhibit that i reviewed last year here.

only qualms: despite some amazing surprises (like degas' café boulevard, montmartre above) in a couple of places, i might have made different choices with the sketches as far as the subject best exemplifying the theme... i'll let you make up your own mind as this would be a whole other post!

sunday pleasures

i had to post these amazzinng pictures from my friend andreas blog, la vie francais. shes moved to france for a year which kind of makes her my hero. ive linked her blog so you can live vicariously through it with me.

only in my daydreams

these mius! i saw them in vogue paris a few months ago and couldnt so much as find a picture of them on the internet so i could blog about my desire for them! this girl is lovely, but her hat is distracting from the amazingness of these spring beauties. i will likely continue to include these in my daydreams throughout the season. photo from jak&jil.

i spilled. i spilled at chanel.

these are my colours for summer, and i am quite obsessed. the nars blush in mata hari is a big step for me as i have never been into blush before, but i love the romantic flushed look it gives, especially with the freckles of summer. my coco rouge lipstick in téhéran has already made a cameo on my blog, but i just want to follow up and say im still in love with it, it totally makes grey tops adapt to summer weather perfectly.

as far as the nailpolishes go, particulière and inattendu are the perfect neutrals for this season (alongside my usual red, dragon by chanel). and re: the title of this post, its true, i spilled at chanel. luckily the people that work there are so happy and nice (presumably because they are surrounded by chanel products) that they didnt seem to care. i was looking at some limited edition polishes and spilled the black one all over the stone floor. yyuupp. that doesnt come out. so, taking a cue from carrie circa paris, i had to buy inattendu for the sake of my embarassement, as if i needed an excuse anyway!

reviewing: cliniques all about eyes serum

im not so saavy with eye rollers, but i thought i would try the new clinique one because its fragrance-free and reviews were saying that it does not irritate the eyes. this is definitely true, but it is also definitely true that it does not help the puffiness under my eyes.

my advice: if dark circles are your issue, put your money towards ysl's touche eclat eye highlighter instead. the bonus of this choice is that you will also recieve lovely customer service from the well-trained ysl reps, rather than the confusing non-advice i recieved at clinique. if puffiness is your issue, i still havent found anything that works better than placing cucumbers on your eyes for a few minutes.

game changer

i often find myself feeling nostalgic for a golden age in womens fashion: when tom ford was designing for gucci and yves saint laurent. his designs spoke to a woman who was beautiful, fashionable, and, most importantly, strong.
i am definitely a big fan of stefano pilatis work with ysl, but gucci slipping into the background for me is an understatement. and... yeah actually thats all i will say about that disappointment.
aaanyway just in case you havent heard, you can rejoice with me because it has been confirmed that mr ford is working on a womens line. let the good times roll.

two more things before i go..

ive been told by a couple people that they would enjoy it if i update more, and since im going away for 3 days, heres two more (with a grand total of 4 posts today, record!). i hope you can make them last. so, first kind of a selfish post. marnie emailed me this picture of julia with the subject heading: "you!"

first thing that goes through my head is obviously, "i wish" but i was certainly flattered. upon closer inspection i found that my style just really related to julia's look here... the all black, the hair colour/messy styling, the fact that i too have cranberry peeptoe platforms that i wear with tights... and as a final note, i think im going to buy a short fur jacket this weekend. marnie knows all this. genius! xox

et le deuxième..

guess where im going? to whistler and thhheeen vancouver for the modern woman* opening at the vancouver art gallery. i am so excited to see this exhibit from the musée d'orsay's collection. listen to the amazingness of this abstract from gallery's site

Poet and art critic Charles Baudelaire noted that the artists at this moment in France had uniquely captured a sense of the “modern” in their work. The exhibition explores the ways in which, in subject matter and technique, this art was considered to be innovative through a focus on one of the most popular subjects: depictions of women. Reflecting the changing social roles in society, artists began to portray women with an increasing level of individuality and independence. Pictured in the café or in the street, in the boudoir and the bath, lounging or reading, and often unaccompanied by men, these depictions of often anonymous women departed radically from the traditional portrait genre and historical conventions that had relegated women in art to images of virgins, saints or idealized allegorical figures. These works, with the subjects’ direct gaze and contemporary dress, announce a very different approach. Art history had rarely seen such representations of independent, confident women.

read the rest of the abstract here. more to follow!
image: toulouse-lautrec, woman pulling up her stocking, 1894.
*the modern woman: drawings by degas, renoir, toulouse-lautrec and other masterpieces from the musée d’orsay, paris

yves saint laurent homme

this short film - directed by samuel benchetrit for the ysl mens spring 2010 line - is definitely worth taking a look at. the unique story is clever and imaginative and really kept my attention with the unexpected juxtaposition of a young boy exploring a mans life... so simple. i kinda love it..

battling the terrain

im increasingly attracted to editorials set in extremely rural settings (like the vogue nippon shoot with daria). i like the way this one from vogue brazil uses the military trends but suggests a battle with nature rather than warfare.

until the real thing comes along

you know when you see a picture and you can just feel youself in it? i saw this one on garance today and felt europe. the setting, the clothes, smoking and drinking on the street (i dont do this, but it is so very appropriate), and of course the ease. so excited to go back...