Entre Nous and the Components of French Style

I borrowed this book from a friend a few months ago. At first I took it way too seriously; I thought why does this person have to put the French up into such a high pedestal like that? She described them like they were gods sent down to mingle with us mere mortals. Or maybe that's just me. I was not very convinced with the introduction although I've been intrigued with the French ways for some time now; their food, their style, their music and of course where they live.

The book was an easy read and should be just taken lightly as it cannot be compared to the conditions that this country is in. Clearly, the French are more fortunate with how everything in their side of the world works for them: how their government works, the fresh food and all the cheese available to them, how they are in the fashion capital of the world, etc.etc.

Nevertheless, there are some points that can be taken from it style-wise:

A closet with a few quality items is worth much more than a wardrobe of so-so clothes. The French believe in investing in their clothes. They put quality over quantity and thus have much smaller wardrobes. Every item is well-thought out. Every item therefore will be much loved and cared for and would definitely last them for a long time.

The French girl takes the time to stop and consider not only how she looks in her clothes but how she feels in them. Ollivier repeats several times how the French girl has a true sense of self; that she has a sense of individuality, that she knows her strengths. I guess this explains the je na sais quoi that seems to come up all the time whenever and wherever the French are concerned. (It literally means "I don't know what". Googled it.) They do exude a certain air of confidence, which must come from their deep knowledge of self. This translates well into their style and how they look in their clothes. I guess this one is more difficult to achieve.

With regards to hair, the French are more traditional. According to the hairdresser the author interviewed the French tend to find the look that suits them best and stick with it. Clemence Poesy and Audrey Tautou are such examples.

via ffffound and listal.com

As I was looking for classic wardrobe pieces that the French rely on on the net (breton tops, crisp white shirts, or anything black), I stumbled upon a marvel of a site called Les Composantes. They sell beautiful vintage clothes, bags and shoes, and some are even of their own design.

These are looks that I picked in their archives. It's not hard to imagine how one can live on these pieces alone! The silk blouse, the breton tops, the blazer, the dress, the skirts, the satchel are just utter perfection don't you think? They make a closet of beautiful clothes that would have you look effortlessly chic every single day.

But the thing about perfect pieces of clothing are just that. For it to be perfect in our eyes the piece may have a certain fit, a certain length, a certain material, a certain color, and a certain cut that we are looking for so this makes searching for them quite hard. The search might even take years! But such is the nature of the pursuit of perfection.

I now dream of building my own wardrobe not unlike the looks above that would last me years.
And maybe, just maybe I would have found in them my inner French girl.

Hello There, Mr.Sun!

...you have been missed!

The skies have been grey and overcast in this part of the world lately. Not a very ideal setting for taking photographs. So when the sun came out the other day and yesterday morning I took the chance and grabbed the camera to take some photos. 

The flowers are amaryllis (identified it through an intensive search of the internet), which are bulb flowers that blossom at this time of the year but the rest of the year they leave a common-looking boring old plant by its plain lonesome. The flowers started out looking like this.

My dad told me that when capturing plants I should spray water on it first to make it fresh-looking. It does indeed have quite an effect. I didn't, however, spray water on the flowers. The drops of water on them, I suppose, are from the rain that poured the day before.

Photography has been somewhat of a passion of mine recently but unfortunately I don't get to indulge in it as much as I want because I can only take photos using a friend's camera when I'm outside. I'm still not allowed to bring our own from home. Sad. Well, I suppose it's a good thing that I'm a home person. But this makes for very limited subjects which calls for a bit of creativity. Not that I'm complaining so much.

I will get to bring that camera someday. Hopefully that will be this year.:))

A Foray into Portraiture

...Or into photography in general.

I think I may be becoming a kind of a frustrated photographer lately. Frustrated due to the lack of a good camera in which I could control the settings and because I can't (not allowed to) carry the simple digital camera around with me.

I guess this is another one of those things that I get into just because I want to practice an art-related activity.

I noticed that I have a small collection of portraits that has accumulated over time and most of it is my always-ravishing-and-mesmerizing sister; she doesn't decline to be taken which makes it very convenient for me. There's my brother, too, and some friends.

I have taken to photographing random stuff around the house too, and my diy-ed things too, of course.

I will definitely be taking more photographs this year, good camera or not.:)