if gucci is your god...

A prayer for fellow Bootists.

(to the beat of "Our Father")

Armani
Who art in Holts*
Hallowed be thy shoes
Thy Prada come
Thy shopping done
On Bloor Street**
As it is in Paris
Give us this day, our Visa Gold
And forgive us our balance
As we forgive those who charge us interest
Lead us not into Wal-Mart
And deliver us from Sears***
For thine is the Chanel
The Gaultier, and the Versace,
For Dolce and Gabbana
Amex.

Legend
* Canada's version of Saks Fifth Avenue
** Toronto's high street (on which La Femme happened to be born)
*** Akin to Macys

Joyeux Noël. Bonnes fêtes. Don't shop too hard!

trip the light fantastic

Anyone acquainted with my wardrobe knows that I wear a lot of black... I am a francophile after all. Every few weeks though, particularly in the wintertime, I get bored of the penetrant darkness and try to combat it by reaching for as much bright colour as I can. That is when editorials like this one from American Vogue make me want to break into song (or my version of song, which would involve joyfully strutting along a boreal street in patent blue pumps or a vivid free form dress). Even if the end result is slightly more neon than chic (like a raver Audrey Hepburn), what a refreshing change from the dreary sea of grey and black that most of us hibernate in.

via the coherent

iqonic

Ooh la la! On December 24th, La Femme will be featured on the homepage of avant garde online fashion community IQONS*. I don't think I could ask for a better Xmas present. Well, except perhaps these fetching Fendis in an 11 (worn a la Emmanuelle Alt, bien sûr).

To quote Holly Golightly: "Did I tell you how divinely and utterly happy I am?" Thank you to the iqonians who selected this blog. May you be blessed by the deities of style.

xx

masks mandatory

A night in Venice was the theme for this year's holiday masquerade held by Marc Jacobs. His annual extravaganzas are never exactly average office parties, but the Carnival theme seemed to inspire particularly wild antics- as one guest put it, "the sexuality was off the chains". Hmm. I would love to have been a fly on the wall, particularly as the doors were bolted shut a quarter of an hour after guests were ushered in.

Around age 14, my favourite style icon was 16th century Venetian courtesan Veronica Franco (yes, I'm serious- homeschooling has many benefits!). Had I been a lucky employee in attendance at MJ's bash, Signora Franco certainly would have been my costume muse, however even one of her famed gowns (silk, lavish with jewels and worn with colourful stockings) may not have passed muster among the very creatively clad guests. A quick perusal of party photos yields:

Dandy courtiers...

Un Oiseau...

A crystal chandelier...

And the host in full pigeon finery...

I'd like to know where those "chains" came in. Aren't you curious?

"that's all"

In the world of fashion editors, Anna Wintour of American Vogue will never be quite as dear to me as Paris Voguette Carine Roitfeld, however I always enjoy hearing her diplomatic musings about fashion and style (even for a mediocre Barbara Walters Top 10).

*I've removed the video due to template problems- you can find it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEkmKyBzDOE

"jeans and T-shirts can be equally fashionable as an Oscar de la Renta ballgown"

Fabulous and true. I wish I had a few more of the latter though.

On a shallowly intriguing side note, La Wintour looks more stunning every year (she is purportedly 57). I suppose we should all try being in bed by 10 pm and getting up at 5 am for tennis practice. A little Botox never goes awry either...

via FAD

ambrosial aubergine

When mini robot posted about a pair of Scorah Pattullo booties last month, I appreciated her passion but didn't think I would lust after them in quite the same way (despite being a Hopeless Addict of boots in all shapes and sizes). At the time I chalked it up to the printed glitter stars. Stellar though they undoubtedy are, zippy patterns don't usually do it for me (and anyone going for glitter had better strut it with a confidence comparable to Ziggy Stardust). However, look what happens when you add a wash of purple...



Suddenly La Femme Ziggy is transformed into a vision of deepest, most opulent plum. Starry shoes like these are the only embellishment necessary for such a violaceous ensemble, and momentarily (as often happens in fashion fantasies), ₤300 doesn't seem an exorbitant amount for the kind of booties Cinderella might wear to a rave. This is a transient delusion though. I suppose that is why purple is known as a royal hue and us plebs are forced to stick with less grandiose shades...

espresso vivace

Another sweet brown dress (this time on Kersti in Seattle). Her white tights would normally remind me of a nurse's uniform, or Alice in Wonderland illustrations, but they work surprisingly well in contrast to the brown in her APC ensemble. This is also the first time I've seen a headband being worn by someone who doesn't look like they are emulating Mary-Kate Olsen. Definitely the cutest girl on Capitol Hill.

muses, mutterings, milkmaids... and penguins

Oh dear, I have been back from my highway rampage for several days now and proving a lackadaisical blogger. Thank you for the notes of concern*. I'm afraid my excuses for being elsewhere are too mundane to bother articulating, so I'll just mention a few of the items I missed musing over in the last week and hurry up in getting my boots back in gear for this one.


1. There is a new muse in town. She is Spanish and could be described as a cross between the current reigning ingenues, Cory Kennedy and Valentin Fillol-Cordier. What makes this femme special to me is that she decorates her eyes with rhinestones like the club-goers of Reykjavik (and yours truly, on occasion) and can pull off mustard coloured tights like nobody's business. Ladies and gents, meet am_lul:



2. Penguins! They seem to be everywhere at the moment. Perhaps it is just a matter of paranoid perception, but not since living in South Australia (where small, flightless birds known as fairy penguins toddled around the beaches) have I seen so many of these creatures. I just bought penguin toys as presents for cousins after seeing not one, but two feature films starring the adorable Arctic dwellers, and then last week I switched my wall calendar to "December" and was met with the stare of a fuzzy penguin chick nestled comfortably under her mother. Most recently, I came across this dress while perusing the sales at built by wendy. It would be tricky to pull off in a chic rather than cute manner, but I'll take silvery penguin over olive ostrich any day.

3. The pink tinted "milkmaid" look is in for spring 07:

(as illustrated to optimum effect by Scarlett Johansson for Louis Vuitton)

Kind of like a modern Marie Antoinette. I'll leave the pink hair (unless it is cut into a bob like Natalie Portman in Closer) but definitely take the white sunglasses...

* "Send us a proof of life to assure us you haven't been kidnapped by a marauding band of fashionistas" Ha, if only I was so lucky. Thank you though, BB. I am certainly lucky to have such readers!

fly femmes

Two very sharp lookers at the screening of Words Remembered, the latest installment of fashion films by DVD/magazine Fly. I love how the femme at left paired her brown Marni-esque babydoll with yellow leather tote and jet black shoulder length earrings. Demure and edgy. Her friend (whose boots I would kill for) reminds me of the Paris Vogue girls.

from the lovely bobble bee

le retour

I hadn't intended to be away all week... sorry for being an absentee blogger. Took a few days off to stroll the highway in head to toe YSL, but we're back now. Happy December. Hope you are well and having fun (not shopping like a mad fiend for the holiday season- though that can be fun too!).

Bisous, A