A Fall Day In Paris

As much as I love an European summer, I love the fall in Paris even more. The overwhelmingly beautiful architecture in every nook and corner of the city, dried leaves falling off trees everywhere and the cloudy sky make it the prettiest place to be come autumn. The day we were out and about in Paris was a slightly nippy one which was perfect since I had been dying to wear a winter jacket. This baby pink one I'm wearing was just so pretty and I was quite excited to shoot it. I love its oversized silhouette with slightly dramatic sleeves and the big lapels. Plus the colour was just gorgeous. What I wear underneath a winter coat is of equal importance to me so if I'm indoors and peel off a layer of clothing, I can still look stylish. I chose a very chic sleeveless white shirt with a Victorian collar and ruffled bib detailing and wore it over a pair of blue jeans and I was good to go. A total hassle free look.

Jacket, Jeans, Shirt, Earrings - H&M (Click here for the jacket,  and here for a similar shirt)
Sunglasses & Bag - Dior
Shoes - Gucci
Location - Paris

Dior SS17 Review

The fashion world waited, with breath that is bated for Dior's SS17 collection. Not just because there's a new creative director on board, but because she's also the first ever female creative director at the couture house. Naturally, everyone was excited to see what Maria Grazia Chiuri had in store. However, it came as no surprise that it would be a beautiful collection given the years of experience she comes with and her spectacular work at Valentino.

The show opened with a sporty white segment consisting of twelve all white looks. Chiuri drew references from fencing uniforms which were prevalent throughout the show. Quilted cotton jackets that came in the form of gilets with buckles on either side or full sleeved with buttons or a zipper on the side were worn over cotton knit cropped pants and tulle skirts.  What was so special about this entire collection was that the creative head didn't only work with Monsieur Dior's codes. She turned to every designer who held the reigns at Dior in the past and worked with their codes too. The recurring bee motif for example, was used by Hedi Slimane during his tenure at Dior.

A lot of the silhouettes exuded a very effortless chic vibe. Almost as if they were just thrown on without much thought and looked fabulous. Case in point: A red leather jacket paired with a red tulle skirt or a black sleeveless leather vest worn over a white cotton shirt and black pants. There were Chiuri's version of the Bar jackets that were sharply tailored with less volume on the hips. More outerwear came in the form of a lustworthy and minimalist long black coat. Exposed lingerie worn under sheer clothing was another constant. Except bra straps and underwear bands were cream with J'Adior Christian Dior printed on them. And finally, came some ethereal evening gowns with imagery inspired by Christian Dior's superstitions. Tarot card images, zodiac signs, clover leaves, the number 8, insects and some fun motifs like a bat or a heart with an eye in it were intricately embroidered on dresses that were instant red carpet hits.

Accessories for this collection will be flying off the shelves with plenty of new handbags on the runway and some cool shoes. Rectangular shaped shoulder bags boasted DIOR or J'ADIOR in big metal letters on the clasp. Some of these came with an optional strap so you could hold them as a clutch or wear them on your shoulder. A saddle bag was seen too, with the same gold lettering. A black roomy tote in soft leather with its bee motif and CD embossed on the front looked divine. Another tote, brought back memories of their iconic 90's saddle bag (a la Galliano) with Dior printed all over the front flaps and the shoulder strap and a revamped CD logo. And finally, there were mianudiere style evening box bags with colourful tarot card imagery on them. I loved the Le Diable one in particular. Jewellery was understated and consisted of simple earrings and chokers. I've got my eye on the number 8 choker. Footwear was comfortable came in the form of floaters, sneakers, summer boots, etc. However, it was the pointy toe kitten heels with monogrammed ribbon on them that stole the show. Chiuri sure knows how to create covetable accessories.

Images via Vogue.com

Walking Around Èze In A Blue Jumpsuit

Another must see destination in the French Riviera is the prettiest little medieval village Èze. Roughly about 1,400 feet above the Mediterranean, this charming village offers some of the best views of the ocean and is just so romantic. You can just keep walking and walking in the little lanes, and checking out random art galleries, perfume shops and various other local boutiques. For me, the real attraction was the 13th century architecture that the village boasts and the old world charm that comes with it like uneven cobbled streets, low archways, ancient stairs. And imagine hearing church bells ringing whilst you're lunching. Doesn't it sound dreamy?

Getting there is fairly easy whether you're in Cannes or Nice. There are busses and trains that can get you there but we rented a car for our stay so we just drove. Only tricky bit is you really have to make sure you follow the GPS extremely accurately as once you start going through the tunnels and miss an exit, it'll be a while till you get back on track. We missed the exit for Monaco (which is what you need to take for Èze, and next the thing we see is a board saying"Thank you for visiting, come back again" which left us very confused. Moments later we see another board saying "Welcome to Italy"! We had crossed the border and ended up in the Italian riviera and we had to drive for about fifteen minutes to get to the exit that would take us back into France. It was still fun though.

Now, for my outfit. So as I mentioned in my previous post, I've developed a new thing for jumpsuits lately. And I discovered this blue one just a few days before my holiday. I loved the fabric it was made from and this one in particular just screamed holiday with its loose and wide flared bottoms. It also had multiple straps criss crossing at the back making it very playful. I threw on a blue, sleeveless jacket  that came with a brooch to add a little drama to the look.

Jacket & Jumpsuit -Nitya Bajaj (Click here to buy the jumpsuit and here for the jacket)
Shoes - Gucci
Bag & Sunglasses - Dior
Necklace - H&M
Location - Èze, France

Exploring Old Antibes

Choopy's Coffee Shop for the best coffee in town!

Exploring Vieil Antibes was first on my to do list in the South of France. More than the seaside part of Antibes, I was more keen on taking a long leisurely stroll through its narrow, cobbled streets filled with pastel coloured buildings and the cutest window shutters. The husband and I are not too hyper about sight seeing. We always pick really historic spots in a city with interesting architecture and just walk around aimlessly or sit and sip on cappuccinos in small coffee shops and people watch.

If you liked the photos above, and want to know how to get there, then read on! Whether you're staying in Nice or Cannes, Antibes is relatively easy to get to and is just a 30 minute drive from either cities. We didn't visit the sea side part of the old town, but more towards the inside of the city. If you're driving, then you need to think of parking. The good thing about all these cities is that they have huge public parking spaces with a name so it's easy to find on your GPS. The closest one a friend told us to park was Parking LACAN 2 and we got to it without any issues. Once you've parked and paid, you can just keep walking till your heart desires. Inside one of the lanes, we discovered this amazing shop selling dried lavender, essential oils and soaps. The French Riviera is known for it's enormous lavender fields and I was in dire need to restock all my dried lavender that little Rania pretty much destroyed. So I grabbed a whole bunch of those gorgeous, fragrant, dried blooms to take back home along with soaps that were handmade in Marseille. If visiting cute little villages is your thing, then Antibes is a must see in this region.

Finally, I'm going to talk about my outfit. Holiday dressing has to be fuss free, but stylish at the same time. I've been wearing my Gucci Princetown slides non stop since I got them because they instantly change the look of any outfit and are also so comfortable at the same time. I've realised, nothing is more effortless on a vacation than a jumpsuit. I bought this white in Dubai a few weeks ago and thought it was really cute with it's playful straps and the raw looking drawstring. I paired it with a pale tank top and threw on an old denim jacket (which we all have in our closets) just in case it got a little nippy. I kept the accessories light so nothing felt too heavy on me and I was free to explore in ease.

A holiday handbag is also of equal importance. It has to meet all my requirements. Not too big in size, easy to carry (shoulder strap is a must), fit my wallet, sunglasses case and a little make up, and of course has to be FABULOUS! The Diorever in red grained leather fit the bill in every possible way and looked amazing with all my outfits. It's been one of my favourites since I reviewed it a few months ago. The best feature is the front flap which can be folded to the back and basically it stays in place because of the magnetic buttons on both sides making it so convenient for me to dig into it whenever I need to.  Read the old review here.

There you have it, an effortless chic holiday outfit inspiration.


Jumpsuit - Mango (Click here to purchase)
Shoes - Gucci
Sunglasses & Bag - Dior
Location - Antibes, Côte d'Azur

Dior Cruise 2017 Review

For Cruise 2017, the couture house chose the stunning and historic Blenheim palace to stage the show. The palace is embedded amongst Dior's history books with two previous shows held there. One in 1954, designed by Monsieur Dior himself and the other in 1958 when Yves Saint Laurent was the creative director. Both were attended and loved by Princess Margaret.

The duo managing the design team took to the English country life and posh post war wardrobes as inspiration. The collection consisted of quirky and young silhouettes as opposed to the elegant ones we had been seeing in the past. Rounded puffy sleeved dresses were layered with slightly flared pants, skirts or worn on their own. Whilst there was lots of floral embellishment, I adored the way flowers were embroidered on to printed fabric. Case in point: The black cotton embroidered printed shirt. There were blazers with a thin silk scarf like fabric flowing through from one side to the other. Whilst the blazers were nice, the flailing fabric seemed unnecessary.The bar jacket was reworked and instead of a peplum, they came with a soft U-shaped drape on the waist. The same draping technique was seen on dresses and tops too. Amongst the outerwear, an off white crepe and wool jacket that folded over below the waist with oversized buttons was a favourite and so was a powder blue tweed number. Hunting imagery was depicted on casual jacquard knits and there were lovely English style tea dresses. Accessories included fun bangles made from wood, leather and metal. A flap bag brought in the old Christian Dior logo and was reminiscent of their iconic saddle bags from more than a decade ago. There were also these oversized shopping bag kind of purses which I wasn't a fan of.

Overall, it was a nice collection that worked on revamping the house's codes, but I wasn't bowled over by it. There needs to be the guidance of a solid creative director to get that WOW factor we have been used to by geniuses like Simons and Galliano. However, having said that, hats off to the design team for still putting in a solid effort because Dior loyalists will still be queuing up to buy their favourite pieces.

 

Recycling My Closet

More often than not, I find myself constantly feeling the need to buy new clothes despite bursting closets (I've now started stuffing things in the husband's and the baby's wardrobes). A couple of days ago, I realised that I need to start finding new ways to pair my old clothes. I went hunting inside my cupboard and was determined to succeed in this new project of mine. My first stop: the million white shirts in all shapes and lengths I own. A white shirt is like a blank slate. It works with almost every bottom: skirts, jeans, trousers, etc. You get where I'm going. In addition, since it's a neutral, all colours can be worn with it. The boyfriend shirt I chose for this look had always been paired with jeans. And the denim mini I'm wearing would always be worn with super high heels. This time, I decided to combine these two and throw in a pair of sneakers since I'm all about the comfort these days.

Since it was a relatively simple look, my accessories had to make a statement. I've been all gung ho about these Diorama Sunglasses that have recently hit the boutiques. I love how the frame has a cat eye shape outlining the square lenses. Furthermore, the metallic pink really makes them stand out and so does the signature Dior cannage detailing on the sides. It's a real must have piece for the summer. I used a Dior collar and layered it with their Number 8 necklace to add a little bit of excess and used a plum cross body purse. Hand embroidered sneakers completed my look.

Any thoughts?

Bag, Sunglasses, Collar, Necklace & Sneakers: Dior
Shirt: River Island
Skirt: Zara
Earrings: HnM