> Scarf styles!

I wanted to name this post "Scarf Face" 
but Lea & Joe were going to kill me ;-DDDD

So why do my friends call me Madame Foulard? Because it's an essential in my wardrobe... Scarves can be tied in 101 ways and change your outfit from top to bottom. Watch the video to discover scarves... seen by maya ;-D

> Al Musiqa at the Paris Philharmonie

Music has always been at the heart of my life since the very beginning: as a toddler dancing with my dad to the sound of his vinyls, as a teenager fascinated by indie rock & new wave, and then as an inspiration for photo shoots, slogans, captions... I truly believe Music has saved the planet from going totally mad...till now ;-)
Let's celebrate it together with my review of the wonderful exhibition currently held at the Philharmonie de Paris.
Watch for more!

> Why Titanium SIA sang only 1 hour in BYBLOS

SIA is a millennial artist: being an introvert, she still managed to reach massive stardom at 40, hidden behind her wigs! And contrary to most of you might think, yesterday's show was not a concert or a simple live gig! SIA's show was a LIVE ART PERFORMANCE with sensational actors and dancers on stage moving their EVERY MUSCLE, FACIAL EXPRESSION and EMOTION!

SIA was telling us, throughout this #NostalgicForThePresent one hour show, the universal story of our anxious generation, paranoid about our puppet masters, with our fear of rejection and our fear of commitment.. And when we finally find the one, how our relationships morph into monstrous connections.

 

Now the answer to your question: Because SIA knows how much we the viewers value our live streaming, our addiction to video and everything visual, instead of simply putting live cams to transmit what was happening on stage to the LED screens left and right, SHE ACTUALLY FILMED THE WHOLE SHOW PRIOR to the real one. This way, you can have many cameras, traveling smoothly, showing you every bit of Ryan Heffington's choreography, every move, every tear, so you DO NOT MISS anything. 
Now can you imagine how difficult it is to synchronize a one hour video art with everything happening on stage, right up to the nano second?
It is practically almost impossible for more than a few minutes. Artists do it in 3-4 minute chunks like Pet Shop Boys or Stromae at Byblos before, but what SIA, the amazing 14 years old Maddie Ziegler and their fellow artists have done here is PURE ART my friends, the kind that should be in Museums...


Last but not least, I think that SIA might have had prepared an "encore", but because we the Lebanese audience are so lazy, she did not understand that we really appreciate her... For God's sake, what happened to APPLAUDING? This is how you show your respect in a concert! Is it too much physical trouble? The nanny is not here to do it for you? Ok shouting is cool too, but applause is contagious and it should be, like SIA, UNSTOPPABLE!


 

> New ZARA F/W 2016 campaign directly inspired by painter J W Waterhouse

Browsing through my fav blogs, I started discovering images of the new ZARA lookbook for the coming fall:

Photographer Mario Sorrenti & Stylist Francesca Burns named it the "Disco Forest", but it seems to me this is much more a Victorian Forest coming right out of the paintings of John William Waterhouse (1849-1917), from the Pre-Raphaelite movement:

Here, look again:

Same palette, same poses, same mood...

Don't get me wrong, I love being inspired by paintings or literature for my work, just like Hockney, Warhol or Wilde,
in fact sometimes I am afraid the art direction is stronger than the collections I am displaying. But what puzzled me in this particular story is that they did not mention their inspiration anywhere, not in press releases, not in articles.. unless i did not find them?

I am aware that sometimes I go far in my settings, but I do love real inspiration and story telling that invites my viewers to go the extra mile, whether they actually do it or not.

My two favorite JW Waterhouse paintings: Boreas, Lamia & the Soldier

What about you? Were you ever confronted by the importance of package v/s content? Art direction v/s fashion collection? 

> Old is the New Gold!

Some things simmer quietly here and there, with no particular connection, until one day they perfectly merge together into a blog post that says: write me now, write me now!! Have you ever had that feeling?
Allow me to tell you more:
A few days ago, Rana,  my designer friend, delighted me with beautiful collector gifts from the Iris Apfel x Le Bon Marché exhibition in Paris. 

Iris Apfel is a 94 years old fashionista, who refurbished the White House for 5 different presidents, and wandered around the planet for eclectic deco items and glorious personal accessories. She has a unique sense of style and a unique sense of humor. She calls herself the "Geriatric Starlet" and says that she'd rather be happy than well dressed...

Second simmering story: I am really eager for Season 2 of my favorite Netflix show to start: Grace and Frankie.
Jane Fonda & Lily Tomlin are in their sixties when they find out both their husbands are sleeping together, and have been doing so for years... They have to reinvent their life at 60! Show is hilarious, actors are amazing, and writing is exceptional: Highly recommended!

Third simmering story:
Yesterday, I was lounging and browsing, enjoying my last vacay day, and I stumbled upon a post by my stylish elder friend Rebi, showing these pictures:

 

After some digging, I discovered they were from a blog and book named "Advanced Style" by Ari Seth Cohen, an ode to the confidence and beauty of fashionable ladies and gents who are enjoying their later years with grace and panache...

And coincidence of coincidences, Ari just published (Saturday!) his new book: "Older & Wiser", and is currently on the launching tour.

Connecting these dots together, it seems that 70 is definitely the new 40! And according to this article in my fourth casserole, we are all gonna live more than a hundred years: so if you're going to flaunt it, do it with style, or many different styles.

I leave you with this thought from Iris again: "More is More and Less is a Bore" which is the direct antithesis of my last campaign ;-D but it only applies to the over 60 !!

> Downton Abbey Fashion 2015

Last time we talked about this it was 2012 as you can see right here, but since we reached the #LastDaysofDownton, I thought we should have a recap of the fashion outfits of Season 6.

Will you look at that smart mix of burgundy, grey tweed, and browns?

Night Blue bag and gloves with soft greige, Bravo Lady Mary!

The art direction was very interesting a few years back, but now, each scene, each sequence is a delight, and the quotes funnier time after time...

As all good things must come to an end, I wanted to immortalize these few snapshots.

#FashionFriday: Caroline Issa, an Iconic Style Muse "with a Lebanese Twist"

Don't you just love the expression "Lebanese Twist", used, re-used and re-reused to sell you sweets, mezze, crafts, businessmen & politicians?.. Well today I simply want to express my fandom!
Take a look at this beauty:

Caroline Issa, founder of Because London & editor of Tank magazine, grew up in Montreal with a Chinese mother and Lebanese-Persian father. I know, far fetched, but hey... I'm proud!! And I love this cosmopolitan mix that many Lebanese have, Beirut-London-Paris-Montreal-NYC... French-English-Arabic-Italian... It's the mixture that enriches. 

There are many influencers of Lebanese descent in fashion, but what Caroline represents is this fresh self confidence to pull up any color-texture-shape combination and still look dazzling, because she is so at ease with who she is, or at least that's what she conveys.

She has been a Londoner for more than 10 years, and that doesn't surprise me: London is such a versatile city, combining both history (like Paris) and dynamism (Like New York) which makes it the perfect capital for Tank & Because London.

Caroline is a daily source of inspiration for fashionistas around the globe, simply check google, tumblr & pinterest; but also for women entrepreneurs & pioneers of the fashion industry, as you can read here , here & here...

In conclusion? *sings* Tu es l'As de Trefle qui Pique mon fashion sense, Caro-line...

photos via the sartorialist & candice lake