Bandana Mania

Some blogs give you 3 ways to wear a Bandana. I am going to give you way more than 3 combinations.
But first what do you really know about Bandana or Kerchief as we could also called it ?

Where is it coming from ?

A kerchief (from the French couvre-chef, "cover the head") also known as a bandana or bandanna, is a triangular or square piece of cloth tied around the head or around the neck for protective or decorative purposes. The popularity of head kerchiefs may vary by culture (gang subcultures, workers..) or religion duty or commitment (jewish, orthodoxes..)

A bandana is a type of large, usually colorful, kerchief, usually worn on the head or around the neck. Bandanas are frequently printed in a paisley pattern ( droplet-shaped vegetable motif of Persian/Iranian origin)

There are three classical colors, black, blue & red.

Where to find them ?

You can definitely find some in vintage shops, but some very old one, could reach about 100$.

Better to buy a new one at 15$ and to make it old yourself, by wearing it a lot !

Dress code advise ?

Of course, forbidden the cowboy total look ! So for a Street Style session, please keep your Santiags in your closet while you are wearing a Bandana. Otherwise you are living in the Montana, and you are already riding horse, then there is no problem.

Please find below some of the best ways to wear a bandana every day 

( credit photos : Pinterest )

1. Around the neck, not to tight. 

Classic & Chic

       

More Western Way

2. As a bag accessories,  hitch around the strap.

   

3. Hair accessories, as a bow or on the front head.

      

4. Ankle Accessories, some girls like to be original right. And it's still very chic.

    

5. The Classical wrist Bandana cuff.

       

Hope you'll find your Bandana Style.

Love,

xxx

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Co"ol"nverse

Who said that Converse was not cool ? 

For more than 10 years, the Converse sneakers are omnipresent. From the playground to the after-show it now became a Basic shoes that no one is throwing out their closet. 

Let's learn a little bit more about Converse :

Why is this cult?

1908 : Converse began as a rubber shoe company specializing in galoshes. Soon after, they started using their rubber to make sneakers. 

1920 : They renamed their canvas basketball sneaker the “All Star.” The name stuck. 

The shoes were first produced in 1917 as the "All Star," Converse's attempt to capture the basketball shoe market. Chuck Taylor, a basketball player and shoe salesman for Converse, improved the shoe's design and became the product's spokesperson in the 1920s.

You, however, saw them as something more… and started wearing Converse sneakers to do whatever you wanted. You played music, made art, skated the streets and kicked back. You wore them as fashion. You wore them to work. You customized them with your personal style. You did everything to them, and in them. 

Converse sneakers has an unlimited potential!

To this day, this company spirit continues with all of their sneakers and apparel for All Star, Cons and Jack Purcell.

An improved model, the Chuck Taylor II, was announced by company management in July 2015. Incorporating Nike technology, it retains the outward appearance of the original while employing a modern lightweight insole for increased comfort and reduced fatigue. The new shoes are expected to sell for $80, a 60% premium over the originals' $50 !

Dress Code Advise ?

Everything from jeans to skirts, dresses ! 

Find Below some of the best Converse styles ! 
(Source : Bloglovin')

Your must have ?

The Classic Chuck, "Chuck Taylors" are made of various materials such as leather, the original and most widely known version of the shoe is made from cotton canvas.
Shop Here, on Converse site.

The addicts ?
Everyone...! and definitely me.

Love, 

xxx

It-Shoes : Spring 2016 - Miu Miu

Miu Miu ballet flats are now the most wanted (and sold out) shoes for spring !

WhoWhatWear wrote an article (read here) about flats, and how flats prove that powerful women Don't need heels. The wardrobe essential comes in a range of cool shapes and styles. It exists different gang for flats : Repetto Addict, French Sole Addict, Pretty Ballerinas addict... (that is for the classic type).

But this spring a new type just enter in the game : The Miu Miu ballet flats are the most wanted !

Easy to conclude when they are already sold out on the shop online. It exists different colors and two materials (nappa leather and satin) and the only way to get them is to sign up on waiting lists ! 

Already wearing by Chiara Ferragni 

MiuMiu Fashion Show 

" The classic ballet flats style with a punk-chic soul " 

This is how Miu Miu describe these lovely shoes. 

During Miu Miu  Spring 2016 Ready To Wear Fashion Show

Miu Miu flats 2016 black, nude leather (price 550€). 

Miu Miu flats 2016 red satin (price 430€), white (price 550€)

I definitely love this style, I spotted them on Alexa Chung for Glamour Shooting in the April 2016 issue. It is the perfect match of punk buckle and vichy lacet. 

Glamour UK - April 2016 Issue

Glamour UK - April 2016 Issue

Love,

xxx

French Style Secrets

French Style is for most of the woman in the world a real enigma, besides the french girl of course !

Vogue UK enter in some of the wardrobes of famous french girls : Camille Rowe, Caroline de Maigret and also Joséphine de la Baume ; trying to understand their habits, trends and favorite outfits.

Below some of the best wardrobes : 

Thank you Vogue !

To resume French Girls : classic pieces, denim & blouses, denim & t-shirt, vintage, 501, army jacket, bags, boots, bandana, coats, jackets...

How to look effortlessly cool ? Knowing you, knowing what fits you, and then to stick to it.

Actually, I don't really think there is a french girl style, the important thing about french girl is mostly The Attitude. We don't really care about fashion and "IT"clothes or shoes to have. We do care about our own style. How to wake up, and how to look effortlessly chic and cool.

But, for the others who continued to be sold on the idea that French women do hold the secrets to life somewhere in their charmingly unkempt hair or Chanel flats. Some nice books, wrote by Perfect French Girl, will be you main guide to look like One of Us.

15,00€ on Amazon

 23,00€ on Amazon

21,00€ on Amazon

Love,
xxx

It-Shoes : Spring 2016 - Gucci

Sienna Miller just step out again wearing the last It Shoes for Spring 2016.

She was spotted in New York on April 20th, wearing the mid heel loafer, and punctuating her monochromatic marine look with this " je ne sais quoi" that makes her very italian chic. She was wearing this slim fit cropped trousers from Trademark that helped to highlights her gilded studded slippers.

Crédit Photo : Splash 

Leather mid-heel Loafer 

Description : the double g antique gold toned hardware is set on a blue/red/blue web of these leather mid-heel loafers. The stacked heel has a row of GG pearls and studs and the back is designed to be worn with the heel folded down or up.

- Square toe
- 35mm heel

Gucci Mid-heel Loafer, 1100€

Some similar less expensive style are available. Like Massimo Dutti for example that developed Black Babouches with a plain upper, made from sheep leather with leather piping. They can be worn as babouches or loafers. 

Garance Doré already loves them !

89,95€

Love,

xxx

COLOUR UP THE SEASON

Every season, I try to select with Polyvore some of the best pieces for the arrival season.
Please find below the best finds or Summer 2016, I organized the sets by theme.
Hope you like it.

Love, 
xxx

COLOUR UP THE SEASON by alexam on polyvore.com

Purple Mood - Prince Tribute

"Hello, how are you?I'm fine 'cause I know that the Lord is coming soonComing, coming soon."

(vocals at the end of ‘Darling Nikki’ during the sound of rain storm are an extra verse played backwards ("back masked") through a vinyl player)

"Prince" - Prince Rogers Nelson, born June 7, 1958 was a US (Minneapolis- Minnesota) singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has sold over 100 million records worldwide.  

Prince died on April 21 at age 57 at his Paisley Park home and studio in Minneapolis.

Prince grew up in a musical family - his father was a pianist and his mother a jazz singer - and he quickly developed an interest in becoming a musician himself: he wrote his first song, 'Funk Machine', when he was only seven-years-old.  

"Purple Rain" released in 1984, is still considered one of the greatest albums of all time and has sold over 20 million copies. The album, which featured the singles 'When Doves Cry' and 'Let's Go Crazy', also served as the soundtrack to the film 'Purple Rain', in which Prince played the main role. 

Interviewing Prince was rare, but in 1996,  he invited several publications, including NME, to his home in Minnesota as he geared up to release his monstrous triple album 'Emancipation'. 

The result was a revealing, funny and frankly bizarre interview with journalist Sylvia Patterson. 

Here are some of the best and wisest quotes from Prince's fourth and final NME cover feature.

On his youthful ego
“I had a massive ego. Massive. But that’s not such a bad thing. Because at least you’re aspiring to be something, you consider yourself great because you want to be great.”

On religion
“I do feel like a punk, because no-one believes in God anymore”

On nature
“If you put a loaf of bread on the table, it turns into medicine and to me that is incredible. The bread will eventually take care of itself. That’s nature, that’s the Truth.”

On the rock and roll lifestyle
“I know those paths of excess, drugs, sex and alcohol - all those experiences can be funky, they can be very funky, but they’re just paths, a diversion, not the answer…”

On freedom
“I find freedom sexy. I find freedom so sexy I can’t even explain it to you. You wake up every day and feel like you can do anything.”

On life
“Everyone has their own experience. That’s why we are here, to go through our experience, to learn, to go down those paths and eventually you may have gone down so many paths and learned so much that you don’t have to come back again.”

On his talent
“I’m no different to anyone. Yes, I have fame and wealth and talent, but I certainly don’t consider myself any better than anyone who has no fame, wealth or talent. People fascinate me. They’re amazing! Life fascinates me! And I’m no more fascinated by my own life than by anyone else’s.

His Purple Reign Will Endure Forever : Prince as Fashion Icon.

Find here Prince best look and  his fantastical and gender-bending onstage costumes, all selected by Vogue.

R.I.P Prince.

Love 

M&S - Archive by Alexa Chung

When it comes to designing new collection and introduce her It-girl touch into English heritage brands, Alexa Chung is impressive. Mulberry, Barbour and Hunter have all enjoyed it ! Next up, it hopes : Marks and Sparks.

Archive by Alexa went on sale nationwide in stores and online on Wednesday 13th April. The collection comprises reissued classics from M&S archive, reworked for Chung with an It-girl twist. The collection comprises 31 ready-to-wear items. Alexa Chung explained the process, for which she worked with the M&S design team to recreate items in new color ways and modern fabrications.

"It was so fun to be given the keys to the M&S archive and such a treat to get to cherry pick the very best of their vast collection of pieces. I pulled from stored garments, in-house magazines and TV adverts from various points in the history of Marks & Spencer to create the collection that I believe looks every bit as relevant today as it did then."  Alexa Chung

Alexa Chung going through the M&S archives

The collection is accompanying by a campaign creatively directed by Alexa Chung. This project is the first in Mark & Spencer's collaboration, the brand assured that they will invite a range of designers and trend setters to create capsule collections in the future. 

Glamour Magazine interviewed her, giving us an exclusive look at her collaboration with Marks & Spencer, 'Archive by Alexa Chung', have a look :

Noticeable, there is no denim whatsoever in the collection! It seems like a missed opportunity when you know that Alexa Chung is the biggest fan of denims jeans, shorts and button up denim skirt. This certainly has to do with the fact that Alexa Chung also has a long-standing relationship with AG Jeans.
Anyway as Vogue's shopping editor pointed out, with Alexa Chung leading the capsule collection, M&S is back on track ! 

What of the reaction? 

Several pieces are sold out online, including the black ankle boots and Yes/No white trainers, including the classic khaki trench, are nearly out of stock. 

Shop here !

Find below my favorite pieces !

        

Alexa Mixing at the Archive - M&S Launch Party

   

Classic Tod's

Founded in 1900 by Filippo Della Valle, TOD's represents perfectly the Italian handmade tradition, selecting the best quality of leathers. Products are unique due to their perfection. And it is a closet basic, we all have a pair of this " mocassin à picot" !

Why is this cult?
The Italian brand has developed a wonderful way to treat leather. From bags to shoes through belts and bracelets, resulting pieces of exceptional quality and sleek design.

Details of hand made.

You won't believe it !
Home designs its models and develops them by hand, they call it "contemporary luxury". No relocation here so we are in the respect for tradition and quality suffers: the creations remain immaculate for years.

Dress code advise ?
Tod's is very chic, very classy, a real preppy style. So with the  classic Tod's one be careful, not too much destroy-rock elements. Therefore prefer sober colors (marine, camel, beige..), neutral, and basic with impeccable cuts.

Your must have ?
Gommino moccasin leather, always chic worn next to the skin.


The addicts ?
Inès de la Fressange, Catherine Deneuve, Olivia Palermo, Clara Ferragni, Gala Gonzalez..

Gala Gonzalez, with classic white Gommino

To reverse the brand's image and hit the fashion must have shoes, Tod's decide to develop a special collection for Summer 2016, with new details : studs, rhinestones and craft cutting games with contrasting colors for theTod's Gommino.  Matte leather remixed into a rock spirit, the Gommino is now a unique accessory that combines a young and dynamic spirit and a great refinement !

Tod's, 715 euros