Summer 2013 collection L’été Papillon de Chanel

JUST TOO PRETTY!!!

20130531_SummerCollection_V2_r3_c1“A poetic beauty look that expresses all the energy, playfulness and lightness of summer” indeed!

Find the colour combination and the shimmer just stunning!!! Surprisingly, I really like the colourful bottom lashes in the video, in blue and orange!

And, surprise surprise, I am in LOVE with the nail polish, I believe it is Azuré. Ooooh.

See the collection on the Chanel website.

The little (Chanel) black jacket

In the photo exhibition which took place at the Saatchi Gallery in London, everything revolves around the classic Chanel black jacket, created in the 50’s. Karl Lagerfeld photographed several personalities and celebrities, wearing the jacket in a creative and individual way and cementing the garment’s versatility and longevity.
Amongst the many I like, my favourite picture has to be Tilda Swinton’s with her exotic androgynous beauty. The picture is strong, with simple lines. Elegant.
The book on which the exhibition was based, “The Little Black Jacket: CHANEL’s classic revisited by Karl Lagerfeld and Carine Roitfeld”, contains 109 picture of friends of the House, including Anna Wintour, Sarah Jessica Parker and Yoko Ono. Luckily, I made it there in the nick of time, as the exhibition closed on the 04/11, but I hear it is still to take place in some cities around the globe. Find out more here: http://thelittleblackjacket.chanel.com/
And I will let the picture speak for themselves!

Elle accessories report

It took me a while to go through the Elle accessories report, out a few weeks ago. There are so many choices that I decided to concentrate on my favourite types and created  picture gallery with my heel, bag and jewellery picks.

Just as I would with an outfit, I am starting with the high heel shoes: it might come as a shock but I haven’t fallen *madly* in love with any number in particular – none made me want to cash my shoe fund immediately.

Having said that, I could easily see Lara Bohinc’s Tatjana courts in leopard print gracing my footsies – definitely my favourites, these amazing shoes have a somewhat art-deco brass circles sitting on the leopard print calf and at the top of the heel, giving them an amazing texture. I really love the metal details on the shoes upper – Bohinc’s Tatjana collection is definitely worth checking!

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A self confessed heel lover, I am fascinated by their architecture, thickness, material and texture so I was immediately drawn to the heel shape in some selections, special attention to Miu Miu and Prada, with very exquisite heels  (I had to go to Selfridge’s Shoe Galleries to actually touch the Miu Miu’s – they are amazing!). Their shape was almost remitting to historical/costume footwear, with the back of the heel quite prominent and the high heel itself quite chunky and arched outwards, almost like a “C” at the back of the shoe.

Designer until then unknown to me, Chrissie Moriss stood out – amongst my favourites are the Liliana peeptoe shoe boots, the Metropolis and the Dakota – they play beautifully with geometrical shapes on the body and the black Liliana has very sexy heels with a “precious” stone at the end. Fierce!

Other favourites are Giuseppe Zannoti Design’s orange suede sandals, Jimmy Choo’s Kerfield, Flaxley and Kemp, Camilla Skovgaard’s grey peeptoe and grey and silver with zips stilettos, Charlote Olympia’s Cordelia tall boots, Alejandro Ingelmo’s Nighthawk (what a cool name, I am glad the shoes live up to the expectation!) and Pierre Hardy’s leopard print circle cut out sling back sandal.

Style wise,  lots of sparkle, multicolour compositions and loafers seem very strong. Platforms are still present.

Now, the bags –  I noticed that there are many clutches featured, especially box clutches. Amongst my favourite are the Prada python, Miss Dior jacquard, Valentino snakeskin box bag, Jimmy Choo Candy and “Lanvin Evening”.

Satchels and totes also appear quite a bit, as well as fur/pony skin. Other picks are Chloé’s Aurore, Celine Trapeze, Versace Metallic bag (with the iconic Versace Medusa head made in gold metallic mesh, with long-ish straps, lush!) and also from Versace, an embossed number with tassel, very pretty.

Victoria Beckham‘s bags appear a few times, with their clean, sharp cut, straight lines design, and my personal bag obsession, the Mulberry Bayswater, appears as a fox-riveted haircalf incarnation. I did miss Chanel, only one pick for Coco’s brand and that didn’t blow me away.

As far as jewellery go, big, bold cuffs are everywhere, chunky collars and chokers too.  Among my favourites are a Louis Vuitton collar, a BOSS Black red feather brass cuff (gorgeous!),  a Cavalli shell gold cuff and an owl ring, a Vionett gold cuff and a D&G star necklace.

Needless to say, the shoes are my favourite part – and I don’t see them as merely accessories! I enjoyed going through the report, and overall, it does provide me with plenty inspiration when looking at accessories to buy.

Autumn/Winter 11-12 nails

Illamasqua nail colours

A couple weeks ago, I bought a few nail colours from Miss Sporty – a classic red, an iridescent purple,  a hot pink to replace and oldie and… I floated towards my very first new season nail colour, a  dark mettalic gray. I am very sure I will be wearing it soon and  it will feature on the “nails of the week” – have applied it, just to try it on, and it looks fab!

Chanel nail colour

I haven’t really seen that much in terms of nail colour tendencies so far on the web, apart from a mention on Vogue, but by digging a bit I think my bet is on a multitude of ash tones, especially graphite, charcoal and matte greys. Midnight and cobalt blue, pearlised deep mocha, greige and metallic/iridescent green also seem to be popping up. I would also count on deeper reds –  berry, burgundy and even maroon.

Dior nail coloursChanel‘s Black Pearl, Blue Satin, Graphite and Particuliere, as well as  Dior‘s Underground, New Label and Perfecto and Illamasqua‘s Bacterium, Viridian, Propaganda and Phallic(!)  really fit the bill (all pictured on the right). I will be  definitely looking for more affordable options to test!

I have to confess I am a little bit sad that the super brights are getting a rest for the colder months and although it does make sense, I remain a big fan of glowing nail colour – I shall miss the flaboyance of summer in that sense. I do prefer warm colour on my talons – but I suppose red will always be there to comfort me!