'America is my country and Paris is my hometown.'
Gertrude Stein
When firmly pressed for an answer to what country they would most like to be from i wholeheartedly believe that women answer, 'i'd like to be french.' Just like how there is a 75% chance that when people are asked to give a number they reply 7, it must be a scientific fact that women want to be french. It's the insouciance, the je ne sais quoi, the chic, the svelte figures and high heels, the sexy lovers, the art, the culture, the food. It's France, for goodness sake.
I was reminded about this today because i saw the movie how to lose friends and alienate people today with my friends. This post is not about the movie, which was kind of fun, and interesting to watch considering my career aspirations. No, while watching the movie i was suddenly reminded of France. Not because it was set in france, or there was a french character... or even because they ate at a french restaurant or something. No, i was reminded of France because of Kirsten Dunst's character (Alison Olsen)'s wardrobe.
Kirsten Dunst is actually one such woman who i'm sure would answer 'French' if she had to change her nationality. She is always running about in A.P.C, little wedge heels, classic separates in subdued chic tones and quirky accessories. She is one of the LA crowd who hasn't succumbed to the devilry of the tanning salon, and her ethereal pale skin and skinny phsyique can be seen poking out of denim cut offs and smock dresses a la Lou Doillon but with blonde hair.
Her costumes in How To Lose Friends and Alienate People were almost like an extension of her off-duty wardrobe, and thus were endlessly intriguing and captivating on the big screen. She wore cute little shirts, pencil skirts, vests and dresses in black, white, pale blue and floral patterns. I particularly liked her first outfit at work, a black skirt suit with a white striped tee-shirt and plaited milkmaid hair.
Recently i've been getting the feeling that my wardrobe has been maturing. Not in any obvious ways, but i've been drawn to a softer palette and in classic designs, the blazer, the full skirt, the bias-cut top, the long a-line silk skirt, the oversized shirts in block colours. Like Kirsten, both on and off the screen i feel myself sub-consciously, and, it must be said, consciously, emulating the effortlessly chic dressing style of that stereotypical Parisienne, the woman with perfect hair, striding down a street purposefully in a fitted skirt, crisp shirt and interesting jacket with super high heels. She may be dressed in something ostensibly uninteresting, but she wears it with such flair. Suddenly the pencil skirt takes on a whole new level of style.
I am guilty of unashamedly worshipping everything french in both my life, and this blog. One of my favourite designers is Vanessa Bruno, whom i love not for an ingenuity of design or innovativeness and creativity but rather because she manages to make the female form look so damn good. Ghesquiere is all well and good for your fashion needs, but i don't think i would look fabulous in one of his Balenciaga dresses with foam accentuated hips. But i do look great in a draped VB top in silk jersey that just hits my curves and makes them look like gifts from god, rather than gifts from too much chocolate and turkish delight.
A.P.C is another of those brands that is successful and much-loved not because it is fashion forward, but because it has distilled so perfectly the allure of the french ingenue and channelled the energy into its clothes. I do not own anything by A.P.C, but i have tried on several items and instantly felt transformed. They are well made, classically constructed and quirkily embellished clothes that made me feel, just for a second, that i was in paris, and gloriously fabulous.
So what is the point of this post? It's just a mishmash bit of fluff about my favourite city in the world, and as i traverse the road to chic, compiling lists of things i need to reach a level of Parisienne perfection, how little things can make me feel like i'm making inroads at last. One of these things is buying beautiful french clothes. And another is seeing such classic costumes in the cinema. Kirsten Dunst and her fabulous outfits in the film were a little moment of joy for me. It was inspiring to see her looking so chic, in such simple clothes. Perhaps i will get there too, one day.
Hope springs eternal, right?
[apc.fr]How to lose friends and Alienate People:
[kirsten-dunst.org]
I love her plaited hair in the first photo.. such an inspiration. i may even try it tomorrow!
much love.
X
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