Tartan Time

Dolce & Gabbana Fall 2008 Print Campaign

Have you seen the new Dolce & Gabbana print ads that have hit the fall fashion magazines? I love the mix of tartan plaids and the Grace Kelly-style silk scarves in the collection. The look is so British!

I have always loved classic British style so I love this tartan revival in the fashion world! I was also married in Scotland so I just happen to have a few tartan scarves already in my closet!

Here are a few photos to inspire you to mix in some tartan plaids and silk scarves into your fall wardrobe.

D & G Fall 2008 Runway Collection

Kilt inspired Skirt and Grace Kelly-style scarf.

D & G Fall 2008 Runway Collection
Whoever said "you can't mix plaids"?

Lochcarron
Real Scottish style from Lochcarron!

Lochcarron of Scotland

My husband and I were married in Duns Castle in Duns, Scotland in 2001. Duns is a small town in the Scottish Borders. While driving around the Borders we found the Lochcarron Mill Shop in Selkirk. My husband did not wear a Scottish kilt at our wedding but he did wear a Scottish Locharron tartan tie!

Lochcarran is the world's leading tartan manufacturer. They are the source for many fashion designers including Ralph Lauren. Their fabrics and tartans appear on major catwalks all around the world. There is a good chance that they are the supplier for the D & G tartans.

I stocked up on some gorgeous Locharron tartan scarves at the Lochcarron mill shop. I can't wait to pull them out and be fashionable this fall in tartan!

How about you...will you be wearing tartan?

Fall 2008 Knit Scarf Report

Scarf Style throwback to the 1970's!

Attention all knitters. Knit scarves are all the rage for the Fall 2008 season. Plan to buy more yarn this year because the skinny scarf is gone. This fall season scarves are longer and wider.

Here are some photos from the Fall 2008 Runway Collections to inspire your knitting projects. Notice there is a bit of a throwback to the glam and hippie looks of the 1970's and 1980's this season. Some knitters, who have been knitting long enough, may already have some older vintage patterns to knit up these fashion trendy scarves for fall.

Retro Brown is Back!

1980's Glam Mix Scarf

1970's Revival in Grey

I've been collecting vintage knitting patterns so I already have a pattern in mind to knit a longer scarf for fall. How about you?

Will you follow the trend and knit a longer and wider scarf for fall?

Audry Tautou, Chanel No. 5 & Coco

French Actress Audry Tautou

French actress Audry Tautou is the new Chanel Face.

She was the adorable, shy Paris cafe waitress in the hit 2001

French movie Amelie.

Nicole Kidman has been replace by Audrey Tautou for the new fragrance campaign for Chanel No. 5. The glossy magazine and television ads should be released in 2009.

The World's Most Famous Perfume

Ever wonder how Chanel No. 5 got it's name?

Coco Chanel commissioned, chemist by trade/perfumer, Ernest Beaux (1881-1961) to make six abstract perfumes with "a woman's scent that smells like a woman". Each was labeled numerically No. 1 through No. 6. Coco liked No. 5 the best. Beaux asked Coco what she would call the fragrance and she replied "number 5". (5 was also her lucky number.)

Reportedly superstitious, she debuted her new perfume Chanel No. 5 on the fifth day of the fifth month on May 5, 1921. The rest is history!

Her superstitions paid off. Chanel No. 5 is the world's most famous perfume!

Coco Before Chanel

Audrey has another famous Chanel part, too. She is playing Coco Chanel, as a young woman, in the French feature length film Coco Before Chanel. Directed by Anne Fontaine. Expected release 2008/2009. The movie is based on Coco's life in her early years before she became the legendary fashion designer.  I can't wait to see it!

Coco Chanel Story on Lifetime Television

Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel

(1883-1971)

Shirley MacLaine as Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel

Don't you just love this photo of Shirley MacLaine as Coco Chanel? Notice her signature Chanel style with her classic tweed jacket, layers of pearls and her Camellia flower pin. The photo looks like Rue Cambon (Coco's apartment) to me where the film crew was probably filming on the streets of Paris.

Last night I saw a commercial for this upcoming Lifetime Television 2-part miniseries Coco Chanel.

It's the rags to riches story about the life story of legendary fashion designer Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel. Shirly MacLaine is portraying Chanel in her later years. It airs in September so watch your local listings. I can't wait!

How did Mademoiselle Chanel become Coco?

Wondering how Ms. Chanel acquired her nickname Coco? One of her first stints (1905-1908) was as a cafe cabaret singer. One story is while singing Who's seen Coco in the Trocadero, the soldier patrons nicknamed her Coco and it stuck. She also began sewing cabaret stage costumes and that led to a career in millinery and fashion in Paris.

She was certainly a woman ahead of her time! There is so much more to her story and her life....I can't wait to find out more about Coco Chanel ! How about you?

Anthropologie Vintage-Pretty Sweaters

Daisy Day Vest

Speckled Knit with a Trio of Daisy Flowers

Okay, I am in trouble. I live only 12 miles away from the new Fountains Shopping Center in Roseville, CA where the new Anthropologie store just opened!

I went shopping in Roseville yesterday. I hit the big Nordstrom Anniversary sale . Can you believe, I left Nordstrom empty handed? I didn't leave Anthropologie empty handed though!

I couldn't wait to go back to the new Fountains shopping center. Not all of the stores are open there yet. I noticed though when I went to the Anthropologie grand opening party that Sur La Table was about to open. On my list was to check out Sur La Tab but (truth be known) I actually couldn't wait to get back to Anthropologie!

Stepping into an Anthropologie store just makes you feel good! It is a visual feast for the eyes...everywhere you turn and look there are pretty things. There is such a groovy vintage vibe with the hip music playing and the aromatherapy candles burning. I love this store!

I adore the pretty vintage-inspired sweaters the most at Anthropologie. I suppose that is because I am a knitter. Their designs inspire me to get creative and add pretty embellishments to garments already in my closet. I am also inspired to add vintage inspired appliques and details to knits that I make in the future.

Here are some pretty sweater knits that I can't help but adore!

Japonica Cardigan

Would this not be adorable with a black and white polka dot skirt for Paris!

Sweet Blossoms in the Tea Cup Pocket!

I love tea so I naturally love this tea cup pocket detail!

Cardigan with Felted Flowers

This design inspires me
for all those thrift store wool sweaters I have felted.

Felted Flowers Applique

I am going to give felted flower appliques a try!
I will probably use this idea on a pre-made made sweater
or a thrift store wool sweater felted.

Novella Shrug

Ooh, la, la! Okay, this one I could not resist to buy!
Gorgeous peacock blue wool shrug.
Reminds me of vintage Parisian scroll wallpaper.
I had to have this for my next trip to Paris!

Anthropologie
Fountains at Roseville
1182 Roseville Parkway
Roseville, CA 95678
(916) 789-9100

Are you as inspired as me at Anthropologie?

Let me know what inspires you?

Perfumeria Gal Madrid

Vaselina Fraganced Balm

by Perfumeria Gal

Perfumeria Gal lip balms are on my favorites list!

Thanks to actress, Catherine Zeta Jones I discovered Perfumeria Gal lip balms. Years ago, I read in In Style magazine that she loves these lip balms from Spain. The pretty Art Nouveau tins really caught my eye. I finally found these adorable tins while shopping in a boutique in the San Francisco Bay Area. They have been on my favorites list ever since!

The fragranced balm is a petroleum (vaseline) mix with an SPF 4 and it even says vaselina on the tin. This is not just your ordinary vaseline though! I think it's the parafin that makes the difference in how nicely it feels and glides on...or maybe it's the delicious fragrance that makes them so special. Either way it's a wonderful European product!

My favorite fragrances are Violette and Red Currant. It also comes in Apple, Orange, Strawberry, Peach and Vanilla.

If you ever spot these adorable tins grab a few because they are rather hard to find. I can't go a day or night without using mine. I love putting it over lipstick as a gloss and I almost always put some on before I go to bed at night.

Let me know which Perfumeria Gal fragrance is your favorite!

Celebrate Bastille Day!

Celebrate Bastille Day!

We Americans have the 4th of July. The French have Bastille Day. Bastille Day is the French national holiday that commemorates the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789.

The Bastille was the King's prison in Paris and a symbol to the French people of the absolute power of the King Louis 16th's rule (Marie Antoinette's husband). The storming of the prison by the peasant class was a symbol of liberty and the fight against oppression for all the French people. This day in history marks the beginning of the French Revolution, the birth of the Republic and a new government.

Place de la Bastille
(early 1900's vintage photograph)

The Place de la Bastille is a monument where the Bastille prison once stood. (The Bastille prison was demolished two days after the outraged Parisians stormed it in 1789.)

In the center is the column called the Colonne de Juillet (July column) honors the Parisians who died during the July 1830 Revolution. At the top of the column stands the cherub like figure of the Genie de la Liberte (The Spirit of Liberty).

Today in Paris there will be a grand military parade down the Champs Elysees. There will be festivals celebrating all over France. There will even be French celebrations in major cities across America.

You can celebrate, too! You could cook a French inspired meal...or dine out at your favorite French cafe. Easier yet....

pop open a great bottle of French wine or champagne

and toast "Vive la France"!