Chanel SS13 and a forest of wind turbines at the Grand Palais

Now would you just look at that bag.

Chanel Spring-Summer ’13 Paris Fashion Week;

This might be yesterday’s news but seeing as today is Halloween and I’ve already painted my face with cupcake icing and dressed up as a Fashion Blogger, I might as well do the dance too. It so happens that a folder full of unedited photos from the Chanel SS13 show has been haunting me for the past month, and this might actually be the only time I can share before we’re onto a whole other season/collection so far from the ‘now’ (which may or may not cause my brain implode). It was such a beautiful show, words (well, mine at least) really can’t describe the grandeur of the setting. No profound ‘eco-friendly’ message as the wind turbines might suggest, but the underlying theme was fresh air, the sense of clean and refreshing breeze cutting through a thick summer day, which was apparently how the collection came to Lagerfeld this summer. Shorter hems, oversized breezy, strapless, and perfect circles (lucite brim boaters and pearls everywhere) – plus I’m hoping the hula-hoops detach from the bag so it completes the playfulness in lego-shaped accessories.

Hope you’re having a fun Hallowe’en, don’t forget to leave a nice drunk comment when you’re home, you know how much I love hearing from you!

Uniqlooks September: One item, three looks – UU Bulky fleece jacket

Look 1: Bulky fleece Jacket – Uniqlo. Purple shirt – Uniqlo. Pants – ASOS White. Shoes – Alexander Wang via Vestiaire Collective. Bag – JHYoo

Look 2: Bulky fleece Jacket – Uniqlo. Silk top – Partimi. Jeans – James Jeans. Shoes – Isabel Marant. Bag – Kurt Geiger . Watch – Casio

Look 3:  Bulky fleece Jacket – Uniqlo. Fleece shirt – Mens’ Uniqlo. Skull-lace skirt – Gmarket. Boots-sies – old season Patrizia Pepe. Clutch – Chanel. Belt – JHYoo

As I was piecing together this month’s Uniqlooks I couldn’t help but notice – 2012 is one year gone with haste – can you believe October is at the doorstep with Winter padding towards the lawn? And here I am, still waiting for that summer to happen (It RSVPed, what was THAT about). I’m going to do the usual description of this month’s Uniqlooks hero item I chose (I purchase these items monthly, just to be clear), and say it’s been my second skin. And this time, believe it or not, the arrow is fluttering closer to ZERO/SOMEWHAT TRUE on the Blogger-Exaggeratometer because ever since LFW ended I’ve been working non-stop and also managed to catch something so basically I’ve lived in this purple fluffy thing while either sipping criminal dose of coffee or later, popping antibiotics like they were skittles. In fact, Look #2 is what I’d choose to wear if I had one out for the rest of my life; too bad I’ve also been near-stationary in a chair for a month eating junk so I will soon out-fat those skinny James Jeans and grow exactly into the shape of the purple jacket. I’m in shape. Round is a shape.

Thank you to hubby & Kit for helping with the various photos.

One piece, Three looks: Uniqlo broadcloth check shirt

Look 1:  Floral jacket, Zara. Checked shirt, Uniqlo. Fluffy skirt, Topshop. Scrunched Navy Pencil Skirt, H&M. Python pumps, Alexandre Birman. Watch, GUESS Rose-gold. Clutch, Chanel

Look 2: Moto-jacket raincoat, H&M Trend. Checked shirt, Uniqlo. Shirt as skirt, vintage via Beyond Retro. Platform Booties, Chloe Sevigny x Opening Ceremony. Bag, Topshop

Look 3: Candy Bag, Furla. Clear pumps, Chloe. Check skirt, Paul & Joe Sister

Yup, it’s that time of the month and I have here for you three dodgy ways to wear a picnic blanket (Uniqlo broadcloth check shirt). In fact it’s so perfectly gingham that if ever we play hide and seek in the park I promise you’ll never know where to find me while all that time I’ll have been right under your nose scrunched up next to the lemonade and sandwiches. What can I say, one of my many talents.

Haro Tokyo!

Alain Ducasse ‘Beige’ at the top of Chanel building in Ginza district

Wearing a DIY Scarf dress made by Kit, second to last photo thanks to Haleigh, community manager of Perrier Jouet & blogger (Making Magique)

So yeaahh, Tokyo’s alright.

The mad lady who usually writes here is now sitting in a corner with a cone hat for putting ‘alright’ in a sentence with Tokyo. Hear me out though, practically everything in this blog is categorized into either ‘box of kittens with rainbow tails’ or ‘bag of steaming camel poop’, but you and I both know Tokyo doesn’t fall into either or even that curt space in between, so I believe we’re in desperate need of a new adjective. ‘Alright’ will have to do for now – plus, I’ve booked in six hours of Redbull-fused intranet trawling in hopes of finding something that might trump a litter of kittens (let’s give pugs and pandas a chance) but I’m also open to suggestions. Let me help by saying how fantastic it is to be here. To me, this is the source of my childhood – Dragonball Z, Sailor Moon, One Piece, Detective Conan, Azumanga Daioh… and oh my goodness, POKÉMON. Actually, if we include Pokémon then it’s the source of most of my adult life as well. I also believe I had a successful primary-school education thanks to some genius at the TV station who thought it was a good idea to play Dragonball Z at 7:30 in the morning which meant my brother and I got up like clockwork and didn’t stage morning coups with the alarm (aka mother). Nowadays I don’t even get up for the damn fire alarm. It’s not just that, but growing up a foreigner in Poland meant I permanently carried this silent heart longing for a ‘home town’ and so many things in Tokyo reminded me of the frequent dreams I’d have of Seoul as a kid. The journey was 17 hours with a layover in Dubai, but by the time we were out of the airport parking my half wilting body didn’t seem to remember, or mind, as I craned forward determined not to miss a single thing.

A massive thank you to Perrier-Jouët for the most generous invitation; much more to come, keep your eyes peeled!

Chanel Fall 2012 show, Grand Palais, Paris

The clear glass sand crunch under my feet and my head jolts down to see I’ve passed through the gates (of fashion security, that is) and stepped into the legendary show venue of Chanel. My eyes are drawn up to marvel at the majestic copper-green cage of the Grand Palais, then slide down along the watery purple gradient walls. At the floor a maze of mineral stalagmites create an ambience of hidden power and cryptic weakness; even the white-painted seats look like crystalline overgrowth. Fortress of Solitude? Perhaps, but the fervid show-goer traffic outside seems to disagree, surely Superman would’ve ensured it better hidden.  The stage slowly drains of organic writhing as the audience settle in their hand-labelled seats, and just before the music there is an eerie moment of calm.
The collection trickles out, jewel-encrusted eyebrows and slick ponytails bobbing atop rocky textures – bouclé and heavy wool coats, layered in the most ‘un-Chanel’ like manner (if such manner even exist anymore, as Karl systematically breaks all boundaries each season) one that rewrites Paris street fashion when it involves bare legs. Crystal encrusted sleeves finish a scratchy graphite bouclé jacket,  layered on petrol-slick gathered chiffon… and little boy bags, some painted to resemble guts of agate stones. The shoes too are super-natural, half boot-half mary janes, with transparent stalagmites for heels. Chanel is magic, that has been an undeniable fact since Coco herself sat at the mirrored steps on 31 Rue Cambon and orchestrated her collections, but to be present at a show has truly been a taste of the sorcery behind the designs and philosophy.

Thank you Sarah for being so accommodating even at such late notice.