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Showing posts with label Chanel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chanel. Show all posts

Saturday, 9 June 2012

Blighty in Paris

Dahlings, I've just had a mini break  in Paris with Mr B and the boys.

Here's a list of things our trip did not involve:
Hermes
Chanel
Cartier
Louis Vuitton
Rue Cambon
Place Vendome

Here are some of the things it did offer us:
cranes
grumpy waiters
graveyards
strictly regulated grass
some famous painting or other
cakes
architecture

Cimetiere de Montparnasse


Louvre with cranes

Spot of rain in Montmartre




Jardins de Luxembourg - pelouse interdite

Jardins de Luxembourg - pelouse autorisee



Pompy Poo Centre (as referred to by Boys 1 and 2)

Mrs B carries out impromptu nit check at top of L'Arc de Triomphe

Mr B goes all arty with the camera



It was great fun, we had a lot of laughs - some at my expense after I dragged everyone to the Telegraphe metro station as I had read on the internet there were great views from there.  We arrive - yes, we are high up, views no, as we are surrounded by buildings.  I imagine some geeks from MIT caught us on their net cam  - "yay, Eric, we got some more losers who fell for the old Telegraph Metro joke.."

And the whole trip was not in vain either from an educational point of view - once we got home, Boy 2 modestly ventured that he could actually speak some French - and rattled off,
"Peux-je aller aux toilettes, s'il vous plait Madame?"
My bosom swelleth, as they say.

Wednesday, 28 July 2010

Sweet Charity (Shop), Sweet Love


Hello dahlings, hope you are all well!
As a style icon and fashion guru (ouch, just hurt myself laughing) I felt it was time for another outfit post. This outfit is inspired by My Life In Travel, a very attractive lady (also, incredibly mother to two small children) who has a real passion for fashion. http://life-in-travel.blogspot.com/
The other day she posted a pic of a new bracelet arrangement which I found very avantgarde.
So I thought I would have a go. The problem is, though, my very short paws. So it seems to have turned into a handcuff type set up. Which might give the wrong message. But look, I am wearing creamy/camel colour, Vogue tells me camel is THE colour for autumn.



Photo from Life in Travel

Photo from Life in Travel


Close up of Blighty's cutting edge jewellery and elephant belt; any likeness to napkins rings is purely coincidental

In other exciting fashion news, I visited a charity shop recently in the affluent commuter town of Gerrards Cross (Dr Barnados). Below is a Chanel number, priced at £200. Cor!

And a dress still with the tag on (Karen Millen) and a pink wool coat, Georges Rech, Synonyme.

Ooh, and a top from Dolce and Gabbana
Someone had just left a lot of stuff outside the door of the shop. Quite often it gets stolen before the shop opens, the charity shop lady told me.
Below, here's me trying on a Margaret Howell navy blue linen dress. I was trying to be all chic and MaiTai - the other day on her blog MaiTai posted a picture of herself in the most chic shift dress.
Sadly this dress did not fit me well and I did not want to pay more to get it altered. Also my lifestyle is not suited to dry clean only fabrics! From a practical point of view, I should spend my days in overalls or a shellsuit. But let's not depress ourselves!
Look what came home with me, ssssssh, don't tell Mr B, he is already suspicious : the evening of this unapproved purchase he came home to find me frantically cleaning the bath, loos, sinks etc, a dead giveaway of a Blighty guilty conscience.
But I have convinced myself this will look v jolly in the winter and can be worn with jeans for a casual look!

Meanwhile I seem to be stockpiling books from the library like a deranged librarian; soon more books will be in Blighty Mansions than the library and I will get raided by a SWAT team of highly trained combat librarians. NEVER MESS WITH A LIBRARIAN!

Below, this book sounds a bit like 84 Charing Cross Road, as it features letters from an English lady living in post war Britain to an elderly American gentleman. She used the letters as an escape from her everyday life, so perhaps the forerunner of blogging!

Below, all about one of the Kenyan Happy Valley set (a very louche lot), Alice de Janze. The book considers whether it was she who shot the Earl of Erroll. I am sure you have all seen the film "White Mischief".

My mother recommended the book below. The house Madresfield is not far from where she lives in The Cotswolds. Evelyn Waugh had an intense friendship with Hugh Lygon at Oxford and often stayed at the house, and Brideshead is based on the house and family. The Lygon family bought an inn in Broadway in the Cotswolds and re-named it The Lygon Arms; the Lygon is still there today, it's where we had our wedding reception. Mother is determined to visit the house, although it is not open to the public!


In other news, my inspiring quotes are not going down too well with the boys. They can spot an educational ploy a mile off. They are also expert in subverting reward systems, star charts and such like.
I heard this quoted on the radio. Zig Ziglar is some sort of motivational guru. But what I really want to know is: is that his real name? It's just too good!
Oh and here is random photo of Mavala nail polish, displayed in a small independent chemist shop in Gerrards Cross. I love this shop as it is an Aladdin's cave of all sorts of stuff. The guy that owns it used to manage the big chemist shop in Wigmore Street, London, one of those traditional chemist stores and again a real emporium of all things health and beauty related.
Mavala is about £3 a bottle, not expensive. Does anyone know if it is any good?

To prove my point about dry clean only fabrics being No Good for my Lifestyle, look what happens if you leave Boy 1 alone with toast and a jar of Nutella. Gudge City.
But I am not against chocolate, quite the opposite, I love it. The other day I bought this, I love ginger too.
But ever since, Mr Blighty has been in hiding, can't think why!
"Mr B, yoo hoo, I'm having some chocolate, do you fancy a bit?"
No, no sign of him, can't think where he has got to.


Saturday, 24 July 2010

Shameless name dropping, scary bras and Quote of the Day

Hello there! Have just cleaned out the inside of the Blightymobile, so am feeling virtuous and entitled to a reward in the form of a nice sit down in front of the 'puter. (Have been putting off said cleaning for a while, justifying it on the grounds that if we were ever trapped anywhere in the car, we could survive for days on the biscuit and crisps fragments which coat the inside. But when even Boys "We don't need to wash our hands we did it yesterday" 1 and 2 are commenting on the unsavoury state of the backseats...)

Below August editions of mags scored from our local library. Hurrah for the library, hurrah for local government funding my magazine reading! If ever we get a written constitution I will be campaigning for the right to read Vogue to be enshrined as one of my basic human rights.

I looked through hoping to spot some nonsensical fashion words, as I feel it is unfair that Faux Fuchsia should shoulder the burden of doing so unaided, it is such an onerous responsibility. Unfortunately I am not sufficiently skilled to spot them, my fashion radar is faulty! I did however learn that for autumn there are New Trousers which fit at the small of the back and make your legs Go On For Ever. Hurrah for that, much better than trousers where half your bum falls out and your legs look like stumps! Tatler carries an article on Elle McWhatsit looking unfeasibly young and lithe. Her sons attended the posh school Boy 1 went to in London. Had we stayed in London, Boy 2 would have been in the same class as Claudia Schiffer's son...and then there was Liz Hurley's son ... Elle, Claudia, Liz; not who you want to see at 8am when wearing your pjs under your anorak, although it did encourage fathers to do the school run! The Tatler also has a pic of one of the mums from the posh school rigged out in tiara and ballgown at some Caledonian ball thing. How come I never get in Tatler - "Mrs B doing weekly shop at Tescos" or "Mrs B wrestling Boy 1 to ground to apply suntan lotion" ?

Below, photo taken some time ago during my Barbara Pym phase. Her books are deceptive, not much appears to be happening but they are quietly funny. I think I also wanted to show that OPI Tropical Punch matches the cover of Jane and Prudence. Useful to know that.

Below, I am still trundling on with Elizabeth Bowen and "Love's Civil War". The problem is that it is very lopsided - her letters to her lover Charles survived but not her diaries; his letters to her did not survive but his diary entries did. Her letters are of the "Darling you are my whole life" variety, without his replies it all seems a bit obsessive....



Here are some more books I am planning to read. Bedford had an interesting life, and her life intersects a bit with that of Gerald and Sara Murphy, a gilded American couple who lived on the French Riviera and knew Hemingway, Scott Fitzgerald, Picasso, among others. They are supposed to be the couple on whom Fitzgerald based the Divers, of "Tender is the Night". Gerald Murphy had a sister who had an affair with Bedford. According to the Murphy book, the sister was a serious bedwetter. Gerald's wife had to put a rubber sheet on the bed when she came to stay. Useful to know that too.



You can see I get almost all my books from the library, it started in our tiny London flat as a space saving ruse and also as an austerity measure. I usually write down what I have read so I can look back and remember, and I have also discovered Library Thing where you can build a virtual library, another fun way to waste time! http://www.librarything.com/

Enough with the books, on with the bras. Look at these beauties, the photo really does not do justice to the hugeness of the one on the far left. I was looking for a junior training bra for my under developed chest and took a wrong turn and found myself in the DD department.


A while ago I also saw these strange creations in H&M, on sale for £1. I briefly considered whether Mr B would like to play the coach and the cheerleader but felt this might frighten the poor man to death.







Here are some pics of perfumes I saw in the shops recently.
This looked like a shrine to Chanel, I resisted the urge to light a candle.


At the same shop I went into action with my handy dandy polish colour chart. Although I didn't need a chart to tell me that I hadn't got the blue already. I thought it might be a Tiffany's blue. Or more likely a horrible mistake.







Next, the lovely Janet of http://thegardenerscottage.blogspot.com/ posted a picture of her blackboard where she writes her menus each day. This inspired me to rub off the "Don't forget your sandwiches" reminder which has been on my blackboard for almost a year. Instead I have decided to do a different quote every day or so, in an attempt to be amusing yet educational, and see if anyone notices. So far only Boy 2 noticed and thought the "so" was "50". Note to self - watch handwriting!


Finally, there are signs that my intensive schedule of summer holiday activities for Boy 1 is paying off.

Saturday, 29 May 2010

Glamour at All Times


It is so important to make an effort to look glam, even when hard at work at your computer keyboard. This is a little outfit I just pulled together, I love the way the orange gives that "pop" of colour against the turquoise of my necklace.
Some people have commented that they don't think I really look like this. Well spotted! I admit I am wearing coloured contact lenses, my eyes are not really this Daniel Craigesque shade of blue.
Do you see what I have on my paws? Yes, the oh so hard to find Chanel Particuliere, and ever one to overdo things, I have also applied it to my face. Fab!
I think I'll go hang round TopShop Oxford Street now in the hope I'll get photographed by The Sartorialist. Just as soon as someone brings me a stepladder to get down from this chair.