HI HI
As you know I love fashion and adore Karl Lagerfeld at CHANEL. This is not one of his best seasons but there are some interesting things to note. Midriffs, jewel brights and soft pastels, long skirts still around, flat heels, big outlandish hats.
To be honest the set outperformed the frocks.
Enjoy this short look at SS 2015 CHANEL
Portia xx
Hi there APJ,
French, the word inspires terror in speakers everywhere. Not only is the language at least as convoluted as English but their words have SEX! Pronouncing French words is bound to make all except the most intrepid, dextrous and fearless quake in their boots. When I am in France I say my very poor schoolboy French in the most obvious and terrible Australian accent so that everyone can at least have a laugh, and then get on with speaking English to me.
Photo Stolen lovemeagan
When questioned why I speak so little French I always tell the asker that I went to Sydney University (our most prestigious halls of learning) to learn Hindi and if they’d like to switch to that I can also massacre that language with an Aussie accent. Usually they are so ridiculously impressed that I would try to learn something so outlandish as Hindi that they forget to ask me to say a few words, remaining unused for so long I have only a smattering of half formed sentences and a plethora of swear words.
So here is a helping hand. A word I hear massacred quite regularly and in fact pronounced disgracefully until my friendly SA at Hermès in Sydney put me right. I made sure to OK it on my travels just to be sure she wasn’t extracting the urine (taking the piss, as we so elegantly say in Australia).
So I used to say Her-Mees. How do YOU say it? Are there any other hard ones?
Portia xx
Heya Fragrant Travel Nuts,
In under 3 minutes Louis Vuitton is about to show you a couple of things in Singapore that you probably never thought of doing, and a few on everyone’s lists.
No matter what style of travel you choose, backpacker to 6 star, there are always a few “Must See” destinations in every city you land, disembark or alight. Of course I have been to cities and not seen them all, often unwittingly or because I’ve been working in the clubs and our hosts have taken us to do very low key local stuff instead (equally valid way to see a city but very different). Louis Vuitton always manages to pick a couple of things I’ve not done in the city or did too quickly to enjoy.
Photo Stolen WikiCommons
I hope you enjoy a little slice of Singapore, one of the few places I’ve landed in that I felt totally at home.
Portia xx
Hi there DIOR Couture and Fragrance fans,
I love the house of DIOR. It has been with me through my childhood years making clothes for Barbie dolls, the years of fashion school and the fashion industry, even after I have tried to keep up with what is happening on the world’s runways. So here is a very interesting piece of information that I was only vaguely aware of. Christian Dior loved Japan! Now that it’s pointed out so simply it makes complete sense.
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Here then is a short film introducing the idea and giving a potted history of their engagement through time. I really enjoyed it as a forerunner to the DIOR Esprit Tokyo show.
Enjoy,
Portia xx
Woo Hoo!
For a while there I thought Dolce&Gabbana were losing their touch, the sparkle and zing were fading from their runways and advertising. I was worried that they were concentrating too hard on makling diffusion stuff and little to none on their Haute stuff.
Photo Stolen Dolce&Gabbana
Here they are again, third or fourth successive season doing fabulous, elegant, wearable (if you’re a coltish young thing) and wonderful. For summer 2015 they hit the bullfighting arena for both men and women, see the clip because it’s so simple and lovely. Also, I am thrilled to see spots and dots back on the menu, I miss them when they’re gone…
Portia xx
Hey Crazy Cats,
One of my favourite European royalty stories is the Empress Elisabeth (Sisi) of Austria. When I first visited Vienna in the 1990s the story was much less Disney-ised than it is now. She was considered a bit crazy, headstrong, ungrateful and had some wonderfully naughty escapades. Now they gloss over the madness and make her out to be a misunderstood saint. I liked her better before, more real, more human.
Karl Lagerfeld and the CHANEL crew have come together with some pretty top flight names, Pharrell Williams, Cara Delevingne & Géraldine Chaplin. It’s kind of stupid but also very engaging and fun. The clothes are spectacular in themselves, everything else is background anyway. Sadly, the song is not single worthy, but it is oddly cool.
Portia xx
Photo Stolen GooglePlus
Hello Beautiful People,
If ever there was a time where my writing was superfluous, this is it. Please enjoy these 2 Cartier movies. you may have seen one or both before but it’s worth having another look.
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Until we see you tomorrow please be good to yourselves and those around you,
Portia xx
(This is a Re-Blog from 24 November 2012)
Heya Fashionistas,
It looks like New Romantic is even newer! This is one of my all time favourite fashion trends and I am thrilled to see it back on the runways. Thanks CHANEL and Karl Lagerfeld. This time it’s fun, quirky, silly and beautiful. The jewellery alone is enough to elicit a gasp. Here I’ve given you the edited version and the making of.
Enjoy.
Portia xx
Photo Stolen ThisIsJaneWayne (Problem using image, get in touch please)
View the full film of the CHANEL Métiers d’Art 2014/15 show at http://youtu.be/4X86geNxxlA
Hi there Perfume Junkies,
Recently we showed the return of Christy Turlington (Burns) who was the original Calvin Klein Eternity model in 1988 return with husband Ed Burns as the faces of a new steamy 2014 Eternity campaign. I was so impressed with them bringing Christy back that I went and bought a brand new 30ml bottle to show my support.
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Citrus, green notes, sage, freesia, mandarin
Heart: Jasmine, narcissus, rose, violet, lily-of-the-valley, lily, carnation
Base: Heliotrope, sandalwood, musk, amber, patchouli
To be honest I was expecting it to be terrible, absolutely disgusting and completely unwearable. Having bought it (for almost no money at a chemist) I was then surprised that I unwrapped it immediately to have a sniff.
Fresh citrus blasts its way out of the bottle, a joyful reminder of a hot summers day dream of fresh citrus fruit salad lightly sugared. When the flowers come through they are a 100% faux bouquet, very synthetic, but not bad for all that. Eternity is a simple seeming, light but noticeable, clean fragrance that already has hints of the amber/sandalwood in the base. There is a lightly peppered feeling, cracked black rather than wet bell, through the heart too that is very appealing. I can remember smelling Eternity on people in the 90’s, it captured the fragrant zeitgeist (funny that that word is also used in the Perfume Shrine post) of its time perfectly and I think we are seeing a return to this style of fragrance. They are not scent similar but I think the Serge Lutens, Laine de Verre, is a modern take on Eternity and its cohorts, that 100% synthetic feeling.
Photo Stolen Calvin Klein
Luca Turin blasts Eternity thus, yet still gives it 3 stars: I have always though Eternity a copy of something not worth copying, Jardins de Bagattelle. Smelling them together now I can see why JdB, while arguably better, was a flop and Eternity a success. They art both unpleasantly screechy and soapy but at least Eternity does not pretend to be demure. LT
The rose is not rose-ish for me but I do get a spicy fruit/berry accord that could very well be a nod to rose? Yes, there is a very soapy vibe going on through late heart and dry down but it feels nice, wearable and I can see it still being extremely popular with the mainstream wearing public.
If you are only into niche and indie fragrances, want your scent to be filled with naturals or totally freaky then you will need to look elsewhere. Here we have a scent that will keep you smelling freshly showered and laundered all day, a slightly chemical wash that may not have people stopping and asking you what you’re wearing in the street but they may think that you are clean, neat and healthy and it will make a great weekend or work scent where you don’t want to stand out but would like to be fragrant. On these front Calvin Klein’s Eternity delivers in spades.
Further reading: Perfume Shrine
FragranceNet has $25/30ml (before coupon)
My Perfume Samples have $2/ml up to $7/5ml
Did you ever get on the Eternity scent bus? Was there ever a Calvin Klein fragrance that you did wear?
Portia xx
WOW!
From DIOR: “A black and white voyage of hypnotic beauty.
A new genre of film presents the Dior Homme composition in a way that no other fragrance has ever been seen. Poetic and in-depth, modern and sophisticated, it allows itself the luxury of stopping time.”
Photo Stolen DIOR
Here is Australian Perfume Junkies look at the original DIOR Homme
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Lavender, sage, bergamot
Heart: Iris, amber, cacao
Base: Vetiver, patchouli, leather
Beauty Encounter currently has $51/50ml
My Perfume Samples starts at $2.50/ml
Australian Perfume Junkies 