It’s the combination of effortless insouciance and perfectly chosen combinations that captivates me. On the surface, it's a contradiction - how can something be both so simple and yet so nuanced? And yet it’s precisely by putting in the planning - understanding the items and colourways, what shapes go together etc - that French women can achieve that throw-on-and-go effect.
It appeals to me for so many reasons. It’s utterly timeless and never looks ‘too much’. It’s polished but not overly groomed. And as someone with very limited time, the appeal of a small, tightly-edited selection of well-chosen basics is strong.
So recently, I’ve resolved to ‘be more French’ in my approach.
This doesn’t come naturally to me. For a start, I’m a bit of a magpie, drawn to different styles in a way that is sometimes less than considered. I’m also a bit too try-hard by French girl standards - I love a good contour and I don’t leave the house without eyelash extensions, which is way over the top for this style. But it’s something to aspire to and aim for, and as I get older I find it easier to stick to one tried-and-tested thing.
I adore French style icons - especially Jeanne Damas, Camille Charriere, Monica de La Villardiere and Sabina Socol. Plus, my family are French on my mother’s side, so I’m going to claim that and milk it for all it's worth.
Years of following these French style influencers has helped me understand the building blocks of ‘French style’, if such a thing can be claimed. So what are the key pieces to pulling together the look?
I can't really remember the last time I went into a physical shop other than a supermarket, which is crazy. But recently, the office I worked at shut down for good (I'm now officially permanently home-based, at least until they lease a new premises!) and I went in to clear out my desk.
As I was in the city centre, I decided to pop into Primark. I was on the hunt for some of their lash cluster sets, and I also like to look for basics and trend led pieces if I ever go there. There's nowhere quite like it, after all. No item was over £15.00, and the choice on offer was amazing.
So here's what caught my eye this time….
- Coco Chanel
As style icons go, Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel is pretty much the one to beat.
With her revolutionary aesthetic, she single handedly made restrained elegance the last word in fashion, and the impact of her vision has reverberated down the ages.
I've been thinking about her style a lot lately, because I've been reading 'Chanel' s Riviera: Life, Love and The Struggle for Survival on the Cote D'Azur 1930-1944' by Anne De Courcy recently.
That time and place always draw me in, and I loved finding out more about this interesting period in the life of such an iconic woman.
Black and white, or monochrome dressing was something Chanel championed, and like many other themes in her work, it's design roots came from her own austere childhood in a religious orphanage, where the strict black and white of the uniforms and nun's habits had a simple elegance.
All black everything is definitely a favourite of mine, because it's so timeless and just fits in anywhere.
