Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Paris Fashion Week Pre-Show Show Off
Here is a video by fashiontv who went on the hunt for socialites and well dressed people who were heading into the fashion shows. I like this video because you can see the outfits on real people, not models and their perspective of wearing the clothes. Then, the video leads into the fashion shows themselves. The camera angles get right up in the models face and you can see the theatrics. This video may be one of my favorites I have ever seen from YoutTube. Get prepared because the clothes you are about to see are glamourous!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
English words are not welcome here
According to a French newspaper France24, the French government is awarding students who eliminate American catch phrases out of their daily vocabulary.
Fact: the French language is the 14th most widely spoken language, English being the 3rd.
Words replaced:
Chat- “eblabla” and “tchatche”
Tuning, as in tuning cars-“bolidage”
Newsletter-“infolettre”
Talk- “débat”
learn more at this site
"In an attempt to rekindle love for the French language among the youth, France’s junior minister for cooperation and Francophonie awarded six students on Tuesday for their entries to ‘Francomot’, an online students-only competition to find the ideal replacements for popular English words in everyday French.
Alain Joyandet launched the competition in January to try and find a way of getting young French people to give up their penchant for tainting ‘the language of Molière’ with words like “buzz”, “chat”, “talk”, “tuning” and “newsletter". Too many Anglicisms have entered our everyday life in France,” bemoaned Joyandet in his prize-giving speech on Tuesday."
Fact: the French language is the 14th most widely spoken language, English being the 3rd.
Words replaced:
Chat- “eblabla” and “tchatche”
Tuning, as in tuning cars-“bolidage”
Newsletter-“infolettre”
Talk- “débat”
learn more at this site
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
My new French friend
My mind is blown with French information; I don’t really know where to start. Having a two and a half hour interview with two extremely talkative people who both love their countries and love each others made for a great conversation but too much to write down.
Let’s start with the basics:
Alexandre Victor was born from an American mother and French father in Paris, France. He is 20 years old and is a junior majoring in Business with a minor in Psychology. He grew up in Paris but came to the United States many times to visit his mother’s side of the family. He speaks French, English, Spanish and Italian. He has visited a large portion of Europe but wants to see every country. He graduates next year and plans to go to New York City but to also travel all over the world.
Our conversation starts off by me admitting that I facebook stalked him just to learn more about him. A little creeped out, Alex laughed and told me that he didn’t have a facebook till he started college, but now all of his friends in France have one. I rolled with the communication topic and asked how he talks to his parents on the phone since he had an iphone. “Isn’t it really expensive?” I asked. “No my mom has a phone that she can talk to anyone globally so I call her and she calls me back and we talk for free.” This sparked a homesick look across his face, seeing as he hasn’t been home in over two years.
“You picked the right person to talk to about France, I love to talk and I love France so much,” said Victor. He describes France with such a romantic tone and assists it with googling pictures of where he lives, parks, streets and maps. “Community is such a large part of life there. There are unwritten rules in France but they are mostly about gallantry and respect. In the U.S. everything has to be written down, concrete. Yet you still see guys not holding a door open for a girl, which really makes me mad.”
We were looking at a map of Paris and Victor told me that he had never driven until he came to St. Augustine. Shocked, I asked how he got around since Paris was so large.
“Uh, the metro, man I miss the metro so much,” said Victor. “ People walk everywhere, it is beautiful in Paris, why would you not want to walk. I try to take the bus when I can but if not, than I go underground and take the metro.” How does that compare to this town, I asked. He laughed and told me a story about how a guy told him that he had a hard time that morning finding a parking spot. “The guy lives in Lincolnville and drove to school, that is ridiculous!”
“Ok lets talk food,” I said.
There are three different ways of eating: café’s (restaurant), bakery/eatery (sandwich shop) and cooking at home. “Everyone gets up in the morning and gets food to prepare for the day. My mom always woke me up at 7am on Sunday’s to go with her to the market, St. Augustine doesn’t offer anything like that. Publix and grocery stores are foreign to me, getting food should be a satisfying experience that takes three hours, not something that is so in and out for food that will just sit in your fridge,” said Victor.
He told me to watch the movie Julie and Julia and that will tell me a lot about French cooking. “You can never have enough butter, and whole milk, that is France’s catch phrase,” said Victor.
Gross. I’m all for light beer, skim milk and spray butter.
“Oh so you like food with no flavor or excitement,” said Victor. In the end, we couldn’t agree on this topic.
When asked for a tip on American’s traveling to France Victor said, “make an effort to adapt to the culture. Don’t wear comfy, Ralph Lauren clothes, or big white shoes, or bright colors and flip-flops. Speak French and do not ask me where the closest McDonalds is.”
Since fashion is my first love, I asked him to explain more about France’s “look”. “Just caring for yourself, how you look and present yourself is important. Boots. Heels. Take pride in how you go out of the house, effort.”
“Do you smoke?”
“Yes, a lot.”
“But you like to eat healthy? That is an oxymoron.”
“Not for me.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“You do a lot of things that don’t make sense in the United States, like Fahrenheit and inches, miles, etc.”
“It is what it is Alex."
“Mm, ok.”
Victor described France as very open minded, and accepting to new ideas and ways of life. The golden rule of treating people how you would want to be treated is the law of the land. “There are many differences between our two countries but it all goes back to our early history,” said Victor.
“There is a lot of pressure on my shoulders here, I represent France. You look at me and I have millions of French people standing behind me, but I also have American’s behind me too. I’m unique,” said Victor.
“I really wish we could end this interview with a drink of wine, but I’m 20 and can’t drink here. That idea I don’t get at all.”
Let’s start with the basics:
Alexandre Victor was born from an American mother and French father in Paris, France. He is 20 years old and is a junior majoring in Business with a minor in Psychology. He grew up in Paris but came to the United States many times to visit his mother’s side of the family. He speaks French, English, Spanish and Italian. He has visited a large portion of Europe but wants to see every country. He graduates next year and plans to go to New York City but to also travel all over the world.
Our conversation starts off by me admitting that I facebook stalked him just to learn more about him. A little creeped out, Alex laughed and told me that he didn’t have a facebook till he started college, but now all of his friends in France have one. I rolled with the communication topic and asked how he talks to his parents on the phone since he had an iphone. “Isn’t it really expensive?” I asked. “No my mom has a phone that she can talk to anyone globally so I call her and she calls me back and we talk for free.” This sparked a homesick look across his face, seeing as he hasn’t been home in over two years.
“You picked the right person to talk to about France, I love to talk and I love France so much,” said Victor. He describes France with such a romantic tone and assists it with googling pictures of where he lives, parks, streets and maps. “Community is such a large part of life there. There are unwritten rules in France but they are mostly about gallantry and respect. In the U.S. everything has to be written down, concrete. Yet you still see guys not holding a door open for a girl, which really makes me mad.”
We were looking at a map of Paris and Victor told me that he had never driven until he came to St. Augustine. Shocked, I asked how he got around since Paris was so large.
“Uh, the metro, man I miss the metro so much,” said Victor. “ People walk everywhere, it is beautiful in Paris, why would you not want to walk. I try to take the bus when I can but if not, than I go underground and take the metro.” How does that compare to this town, I asked. He laughed and told me a story about how a guy told him that he had a hard time that morning finding a parking spot. “The guy lives in Lincolnville and drove to school, that is ridiculous!”
“Ok lets talk food,” I said.
There are three different ways of eating: café’s (restaurant), bakery/eatery (sandwich shop) and cooking at home. “Everyone gets up in the morning and gets food to prepare for the day. My mom always woke me up at 7am on Sunday’s to go with her to the market, St. Augustine doesn’t offer anything like that. Publix and grocery stores are foreign to me, getting food should be a satisfying experience that takes three hours, not something that is so in and out for food that will just sit in your fridge,” said Victor.
He told me to watch the movie Julie and Julia and that will tell me a lot about French cooking. “You can never have enough butter, and whole milk, that is France’s catch phrase,” said Victor.
Gross. I’m all for light beer, skim milk and spray butter.
“Oh so you like food with no flavor or excitement,” said Victor. In the end, we couldn’t agree on this topic.
When asked for a tip on American’s traveling to France Victor said, “make an effort to adapt to the culture. Don’t wear comfy, Ralph Lauren clothes, or big white shoes, or bright colors and flip-flops. Speak French and do not ask me where the closest McDonalds is.”
Since fashion is my first love, I asked him to explain more about France’s “look”. “Just caring for yourself, how you look and present yourself is important. Boots. Heels. Take pride in how you go out of the house, effort.”
“Do you smoke?”
“Yes, a lot.”
“But you like to eat healthy? That is an oxymoron.”
“Not for me.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“You do a lot of things that don’t make sense in the United States, like Fahrenheit and inches, miles, etc.”
“It is what it is Alex."
“Mm, ok.”
Victor described France as very open minded, and accepting to new ideas and ways of life. The golden rule of treating people how you would want to be treated is the law of the land. “There are many differences between our two countries but it all goes back to our early history,” said Victor.
“There is a lot of pressure on my shoulders here, I represent France. You look at me and I have millions of French people standing behind me, but I also have American’s behind me too. I’m unique,” said Victor.
“I really wish we could end this interview with a drink of wine, but I’m 20 and can’t drink here. That idea I don’t get at all.”
Monday, March 8, 2010
Maybe
Maybe it is those long semi full skirts with draping qualities that oozed that french je ne sais quoi
http://streetpeeper.com/fashion/anja-rubik-long-dress-paris-ss-2010
http://streetpeeper.com/fashion/anja-rubik-long-dress-paris-ss-2010
International fashion is at it again for Target
As of March 7th Target is now holding another french desginer, John Paul Gaultier. His look is much more edgy than Rodarte's but still has that french romantic feel. Below are images from the lookbook. The great thing about Rodarte's and John Paul Gaultier's outfits is that all of the clothes are affordable for Americans. Nothing is more than $50.
Photos are from: Nitrolicious
French fashion has made its way to U.S.
Target is a United States company that has teamed up with french designer Rodarte to provide Americans with great looks.
You can really see how international communication comes into play here.
Below are the images from Rodarte for Target's lookbook:
You can really see how international communication comes into play here.
Below are the images from Rodarte for Target's lookbook:
All images are from: NY Mag
Thursday, February 25, 2010
The beginning of French Fashion
I am not much of a history buff, but looking at the fashions of France from the 1800s to the 1930s is interesting to me. They went through such a dramatic transformation from decade to decade. Always keeping it fresh and different is something that I feel, they still do to this day.
From 1800-1837 was called the Georgian Era, because of King George. This time period was all about the empire waist, and fur lined coats.
From 1800-1837 was called the Georgian Era, because of King George. This time period was all about the empire waist, and fur lined coats.
Photos by: Fashion-Era.com
The next era was the Victorian Era, which lasted for quite a while. This time is the ballgown, tons of bustle, and fancy look.
Photo by: Fashion-Era.com
After the Victorian Era, was the early 20th Century. This period of time was all about the jewels. Women adorned themselves with them and had their hair back in those puffy buns. Here is an example:
Photos: Fashion-Era.com and French-American.tv
Flappers! Flappers! This was the first time in fashion history in France, that all could afford to have this look. Up until then, the poor could not afford the decadence of the fur and jewels. So with everyone accessible to this flapper look, it took off in popularity and uniqueness.
Photo by: Flapper history
ENJOY!
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