Harrods Girl's Weekend in Paris

Oh my gosh, I FINALLY have internet connection!! Ahh, so happy! So during my no-internet weekend two weeks ago, I went to Paris with my family. We didn't get the hotel we wanted because everyone was there for the fashion week and we booked late, but we did manage to get a high-starred hotel near the shopping district at the end.

I must say that the area where we stayed and the main shopping area is dirty and crowded. And by this, I'm talking about where all the high-end stores are. I suppose the outer areas (ie. non-shopping areas) were less cramped but those were much less glamourous. Like I said to my mum, I don't see what's so supposedly romantic about Paris. The taxi drivers are rude and hotels, despite being multi-starred are just not as pleasant as hotels in Asia. Moulin Rouge is tiny, and Mona Lisa is even tinier.

However, it did open my eyes. I haven't seen so much Chloe merchandises in a store before -the store even had Paddingtons for sell! My mum decided that since Chloe stuff were cheaper in Paris than any other countries (believe me, we've compared the price to the UK, US and HK,) she bought a brown Paddington. The shoppers were actually buying the clothes in Chloe! I'm v impressed since I hardly see anyone actually purchase clothes from Chloe.

I didn't like the Hermes store though -too crowded and too many old people. There was even a guy walking around with his dog in the store, like why would you take your dog shopping with you? You can totally see the clientele difference between Chloe (where female shoppers pay for their own things,) and Hermes (where old males pay for boringly dressed females.)

This street is where loads of other high-end stores are located, and I have never felt so awed by the many fabulously-dressed people all in one small location. Everyone, whether they were tourists or locals were draped in leather and furs of the latest style and sporting lots of 'it' bags.

Sadly we didn't manage to get into the huge Vuitton store because they were preparing it for the aftershow party but we settled for a smaller store nearby where my mum and I both managed to buy a lovely Vuitton bag each.

My mum bought this monogram vernis houstan bag. It's perfect for a classy shopping trip.

I bought this monogram vernis pouch in perle. I'm planning to use it for nights out. The color makes it so easy to match with outfits, although Barneys Girl warned me that the bag may dirty easily.

Ooh, we found this shop that sells prints of memorable images. Inspired by watching Audry Hepburn movies during the summer, I bought a large b&w photo of Audrey in huge shades looking into the Tiffanys windows. I figured after I get it framed, it will be good decoration when I get rich and move out in the future. So ya, that was Paris.

In Her Shoes

YES! Just what we needed to brighten our day. Another chick flick! My first impression of the movie was. .what gorgeous shoes!

And indeed, Rose the older sister in the movie had quite a collection of beautiful shoes that her sister, Maggie, loves to borrow. Rose was understandably outraged when she found the heels of her Jimmy Choo's broken and stuck together with a piece of gum!

But the movie was not just all about shoes, fun and love (although this being a chick flick there was of course its share of true love and happily ever afters). It had suprising depth. They all did some soul searching, found out who they were, patched up their relationship with their long lost grandmother and came a full circle to admitting their love for each other (o dear, its so hard to tell u why its so good without spoiling it!).

The deep bond between the characters were all just really touching. Not quite the "tear jerker" the lady next to us claimed it was, but it was definitely more than what one would expect from your typical chick flick.

Weekend Plans:Tea at the Peninsula

So after another very stressing week, we decided to treat ourselves to tea at the Peninsula. And this time we chose the Peninsula because on the site it said, " variety of luxury boutiques and retailers present an informal fashion show during Fashion Friday Afternoon Tea at The Peninsula Chicago," how cool is that?
So very excitedly, we booked a table and got all dressed up arriving only 30 minutes late (we got lost, the roads of Chicago are very hard to navigate and mapquest just does not work!). So we sat down and ordered a club sandwich (seen below), scones and of course, tea. We decided against the lovely 3 layer tea set because we were not very fond of pumpkin that and something else, which for the life of me I cannot remember the name of now.The food was ok. Settling down, we wondered, where was the runway for this informal fashion show? Did the website lie?? Because we don't see any fashion show anywhere. Then these two tall ladies dressed in very colorful stripey stockings (it turns out to be from Wolfords) came by handed us a catalog and explained that what they were wearing was from Wolfords and how the shirt sleeve was reversable blah blah blah. They went back somewhere and changed into other outfits (one was a skirt that rolls up into a strapless dress and rolls down to be a pencil skirt which was really cool) came out and toured the tables again. And THAT ladies and gentlemen, is apparently what they call a "informal fashion show." Suffice to say, we were quite disappointed. They should've said, "representatives from luxury boutiques and retailers will be coming in to annoy patrons every friday afternoon tea at the Peninsula Chicago."

Barneys Girl wants. . the Ixus i zoom

After having been through it all with my trusty Canon Ixus II digital camera for the last 4 years, the pictures are getting blurry and the coloring is getting darker. I think its time I moved onto another more advanced digital image recording device.
I've been on the look out for the while now. And at some point, I'd considered the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX9. Its nice small and stylish looking. It has 5 megapixels. It has anti-shock. It has leica lense. And it has a mega big screen! It really is quite ideal. But I hesistated. . because I had a friend with the FX1 and we didn't have very good picture taking experience there. Although arguably it has evolved 9 times now. Any problems should be fixed by now!

Ultimately though, I think I just couldn't convince myself to buy a Panasonic when I've been a devoted Canon camera fan for so long (talk about brand loyalty!). And recently, they launched THE camera for me-the Ixus 55. It has 5 megapixels. It has a bigger screen. AND it looks exactly like my Ixus II! I know they already had a Ixus one with 5 megapixels out before, the Ixus 50, but that one had this weird outer rim metal layer that rusts off most unbecomingly. This one is much improved!

Just when I was about to make up my mind and buy the Ixus 55, they HAD to come out and launch the perfect Ixus i collection camera-Ixus i zoom! Before, the only problem with the completely adorable Ixus i collection was that it didn't have the optical zoom. But now it has a 2.4X one, so its perfect! The problem now is what color to get. It comes in 4 colors, but I've already narrowed it down to the purple . .

. . or the black. To be honest, I'm not very fond of these two colors either. The purple is just. . too purple. And not very versatile at all. And the black. . its just not very cute or feminine at all. Maybe I should wait for the next generation of ixus i to come out with a better color. . or go back to the Ixus 55?

Paris Spring/Summer 2006 Wrap Up IV

They really do save the best for the last. The finale to the Spring/Summer 06 fashion marathon was magnificient. Everything was simply gorgeous. These collections are amongst my favourites this season-and that IS hard to top when I've reviewed countless fashion shows in the past weeks.

Yves Saint Laurent

I personally have a thing or two for YSL. I do believe that this is one of the brands I am going to drape myself in when I become a power woman. This season's collection was stamped all over with the message a power woman wants to give-strong but still feminine with the very defined waist belts and all that frill.

As if the models legs are not long enough, those high waisted cropped pants make them look even more impossibly long. I really should get my hands on one of those pants! And although I've never been much of a fan of the pencil skirt, I definitely see the merit of it here.

Although I must say that the balloon (or was it tulip?) skirt does not look very flattering on the model. What chances do us mere mortals have?

That black dress is very sexy. But the purple dress is just a mite too frilly for my taste.

Louis Vuitton

What is fashion week without Louis Vuitton? This season, instead of all the seriousness of elegance, the collection was wrought with street chic fun and youth.

I wonder how long the wait list for that gold chain collection of Vuitton bag is going to be.

The collar of that jacket is just soo cute with a little bit of purple peeking out. And I LOVE that swim suit. Its not blatant but still very sexy.

I adore the strapless dress. Its soo simple but soo stylish. And the loose fuschia shirt over the black dress is a perfect example of the tough street chic look I was talking about.

That is one useful chain necklace/belt. It transforms a perfectly bland outfit into something else.

Elie Saab

I've had a weak spot for Elie Saab ever since I spotted it on the haute couture runway. And her SS06 collection was romantic, ladylike and simply fabulous!

The flowers on the dress, on the jacket and on the straw bag definitely adds romance to the air.

The red dress is amazingly well structured and totally hot. And the silver on the flowy white dresses just makes it all the more whimsical. Simply beautiful, oui?

Valentino

I am head over heels in love with this collection. It was genius!

There were strong clean lines. That is a gorgeous pink coat (it also comes in white!), interesting how the flowery shaw is worn and that clean white shirt tucked into black pants look is ultra chic here.

Now THIS is how gold should be used.

And these dresses with the floral print, the gentle sway of the skirt and the sheer poofy sleeve is all just oh-so-romantic! I'm in love. . .

Studded Bags II

Browsing around, I've come across this interesting trend of these metal hole embellishment on bags, so I thought I'd share it with everyone. I was tempted to call this, "Metal Holes", but Harrods Girl informs me that this is a variation on studds. Hence "Studd Bags II."

So as usual, the trend was started by the leader of the pack: Muiccia Prada. Or at least that was when metal holes caught my attention anyway. After that I just started to see it everywhere, Chloe, Todds. .

. . Luella. And this one from Luella is actually very cute! Plus, I recently just found my perfect belt which also has these metallic holes in it. So I'm thinking, yes, these metal holes are here this season and not an abberation on Muiccia's part. They add intrigue and dimension to the everyday studds we're so used to.

I also found this really fab one with metal holes on the handles from Nordstrom! When I first saw it, I thought it was from some super fantastic and insanely expensive brand!And then there are these similar looking ones from Girlshop.com. They even look big enough for school!

Anyway girls, enjoy the trend while it lasts!

Paris Spring/Summer 2006 Wrap Up III

Br. . it was cold this weekend. There's nothing like the Paris Fashion Week to warm one up with excitement and suprise. Especially the final weekend of this 4 week long festivity for the fashion world.

Christian Lacroix
Ever since seeing his Haute Couture collections, I've had a thing for Christian Lacroix. And he has not disappoint me. Its refreshing to see color on the runway after seeing so many nuetral palettes for the past month. And this collection is just so different from all the others, although I cannot quite put a finger to it.

I can just envision these ladies with their colorful head ties walking along the streets in some quaint little village in the South of France.

And I'm loving the dress on the right. Its just so Parisian chic.

These two dresses are just divine. All long and flowy. . Its also interesting how he decided to throw on a trench coat on top of the dress. Its like she cannot be bothered to find something cute and matching to put on, and so she decided to grab her trusty trench coat which matches with everything.

And these two are just soo marvellously rich and colorful.

Chloe
Ah. . Chloe. My absolute dream brand. It never fails to impress me. And this time was no exception. The collection was voluminous and somewhat more structure then the flowy smooth dresses last season. I LOVE it.

She started off with this big white dress. Its loose, but its wonderful how she still hints at the female curves with the wide waist line.

For the more officey look, Phoebe has got these sligtly more structured professional looks. The black jacket is just perfect.

Having just been pregnant herself, Phoebe has designed these absolutely BEAUTIFUL dresses that even pregnant ladies can wear. Talk about designer maternity clothes.

Genius how she plays down the heavy embellishment and pumps up simplicity. And HOW she can make such a simple looking dress so gorgeous is beyond me.

John Galliano
Usually John Galliano's heavily embellished style is far too much for my tastes (although I DO admire his superior cutting), but this season, I just find it brilliant and utterly refreshing that he would bring normal people (note:not stick thin with impossibly long legs) onto the catwalk. The show was practically an abstract art performance that speaks way beyond the realm of everyday fashion. I admire that. But everyone appreciates art and its message in different ways. So I'm going to leave you with a few pictures from the show and let you draw your own conclusion..