I think I got lost there for a while. A month of finding my way. Discovering this city. Looking for a job. Hunting for a new direction… I’m only just starting to find it, but I know I’m not even close. Paris is a big city. It’s easy to get lost when you’re not quite sure what your goal is anymore. I always thought I knew what I wanted, but now I’m not so sure. So I set smaller, closer, reachable destinations. In this case: finding a job so that I can continue to live in this spectacular, thriving, but expensive city. Which ultimately explains my absence this past month. Because apparently looking for a job is a full-time job in itself. And when I wasn’t busy sending out CVs, running from one boutique to another, or translating my life from English into French; I was discovering Paris.
You can tell when it’s Fashion Week in Paris. Even as a newcomer, non-show-goer; you can tell. This city is always the center of fashion, but it accentuates to a heightened level during this particular week of September. You begin to notice things.
Paris
I am currently packing my bags. But this kind of packing is harder, because it’s not just for a few days, or a few weeks even… I’m packing these bags to move to Paris.
On Monday I’ll be leaving my home city Madrid, and fly a little further north, just to see if I can withstand some cold and rain for a few months. Well, no, actually I am going to see if I can learn French and find a job, but it probably won’t hurt to get used to weather other than eternal sunshine. It’s hard to believe that while for the past few weeks, the only thing that’s been on my mind is Paris; in 48 hours it’ll no longer be on my mind, but rather it’ll be all around me.
There was an explosion of color, prints, phones, invites, clutches, and ostentatious mixtures in New York City these past few days. Although the S/S 2013 collections were the cause of this explosion, there’s no denying that there was just as much creativity off the runway as on it. A few trends to note?
Original, charming, giant treasure chests with beautiful things waiting to be discovered… These are the characteristics you want from a store, and yet, these are the types of stores that are now becoming rare. Sure, you can find pretty much anything and everything online now, and fast-fashion chains no longer limit themselves to capital cities. But don’t you miss flicking through racks where every single item is completely different? Isn’t it nice to get the boutique owner’s advice and chat about new designers or trends? What if I told you that now boutiques have wheels and can come to you?
I’m not a self-prescribed beauty connoisseur by any means, but I do read stuff other than fashion blogs and have friends who keep me on my toes when it comes to the best creams, potions, and lotions to try. Here are a few items currently on my wish-list, which I can actually feel good about buying as they’re good for your skin AND the planet (well, almost all of them anyway).
I caved to another vintage purchase… This time a sleeveless blouse in all the right kind of floral. And with vintage Levi’s to match, it was a perfect ensemble to beat Madrid’s heat.
I’ll admit that buying vintage has become a relatively recent consumption pattern for me; but it’s one that is quickly becoming more fun than the trend-seeking and fast fashion shopping the majority of us partake in.
We’re all superwoman at one point or another. We’re the world’s best jugglers. With the ability to fulfill several different roles and to do 100 things at once, we should really get more credit where it’s due. We’re the heroines of every day life, and more powerful than what meets the eye.