Coco Mademoiselle

Coco Mademoiselle has always been my perfume, for as long as I can remember at least. When I was about 14 I wore something horridly sweet by Ralph Lauren, Ralph Cool perhaps? On my 16th birthday I was choosing a piece of jewellery in Selfridges and mummy and I decided to pop into the perfumery. I was looking for something sophisticated and timeless (at 16 I know!). We trawled the shop, smelling everything and a million and one coffee beans along the way! Everything either smelt cheap, of toilet cleaner or like old ladies according to my well homed palette. Except for Coco Mademoiselle. And that was where the love story started!

Introduced in 2001, the floral fragrance is light, tasteful and perfectly bridges the gap between day and night. Perfect in the winter months, better in the summer when the warmth of the skin brings out the true flavours. If you haven't sampled it yet you're missing out!

With Kiera Knightly now heading the ad campaign for the fragrance it is even more desirable. The footage is stunningly shot and Kiera looks incredible, only made better by her male co-star, wowwww! The movie, shot by Pride & Prejudice and Atonementdirector Joe Wright, starts with our heroine waking up in nothing but Coco Mademoiselle perfume, before zipping-up her beige catsuit and heading off on a vintage motorcycle for some racy driving around the streets of Paris. The campaign has been deemed to be 'suggestive, smouldering' and can now only be shown after watershed hours, in my opinion perfectly summing up the essence of the fragrance. 

LESPIRIT DE LESCALIER

LESPIRIT DE LESCALIER

-thinking of the perfect retort just a moment too late.

A few gorgeous pictures, that make me more excited about 2013; spring, summer, stories, fashion, memories. All pictures are courtesy of Tumblr and Pinterest, apart from a couple which I took over the last few months here and there.

The Art of Vintage

The term vintage was borrowed from wine making and evokes the art of fine living. Vintage fashion, introduced to the Oscars’ red carpet by Julia Roberts in 2001, has grown into a full-fledged, multi-generational trend. But what do the teenager on the look out for a worn leather jacket to match her jeans, the elegant beauty who adorns her curves with a suit from 1900, and the chic matron, proud of her 1957 Kelly bag have in common? The art of fine living. Vintage has become something of a statement for the (many) women and (fewer) men who want to set themselves apart from mass consumption and to revisit the history of elegance.

For me, 'Vintage' doesn't mean so much any more. There are so many 'Vintage' shops selling second hand clothes. I am really into second hand, but true vintage is your mum's Barbour from her twenties, your grandma's bag or ring or a silk Chanel scarf. These are truly valuable vintage items to me at least. When people add a vintage label and whack up the price, it annoys me. I love car boot sales and seeing the same thing for 50p at a boot sale and in a shop for £40 or more is increasingly frustrating. My best buy is still a neon pink, truly vintage Hermes clutch that I picked up for 20p at a Jumble Sale and its when you find a one off like that that vintage truly becomes valuable and worthwhile, as well of course as aesthetically pleasing!