So I took a photo of this tshirt last week; originally as it's one of my favourites and is a pretty good summing up of my feelings for Colette (the author and the shop). But the thing gained a rather more significance as it ended the day covered with blood from me managing to whack a hole in my chin and get 4 stitches. I'm not going to go into details (they're on twitter if you're really THAT interested in my stupidity), but this tshirt - now freshly-laundered and haemoglobin-free - has become even more of a Staple. I bought it in Liberty a good while ago, and it's a Special Edition from 2K by Gingham for Colette's 10th birthday. It's one of my favourite stores in Paris, always with fresh ideas and unusual collaborations; it was the first place I ever found a copy of Fantastic Man, and where one of the lovely (and gorgeous) sales assistants put me on to the genius of Italodisco. Shop aside, Colette is also one of my favourite authors, and as we slide into summer afternoons of reading in the park/on the beach, I urge you to go to your nearest charity shop (or indie bookstore) and find a copy of any of her work. She wrote sexy, beautiful prose about the French urban bourgeouisie dealing with crises only the bourgeouis would encounter. It's so sharply-observed that it's still massively funny today (and relevant; it's oddly surprising how much the East London trendscene resembles Parision salons at the turn of the century) and Colette's obsession with fashion is something any reader of fashion blogs would appreciate. Such was her prominence in French society, she was given a state funeral when she died in 1954. There's so much to go at and it's such fun to read that her writing's guaranteed to keep you amused all Summer. An absolute Staple. Other Staples this week:
Colette (in all forms)
Spending the weekend in Regent's Park - Siam & Ellie are picnic essentials
Plain white oversized tshirts
Blagging your way into a house party
Opening Ceremony IKBlue Shoes
BBQ'd fresh prawns and halloumi
The nobel Mr Ben Mortimer for his Friday night assistance
1 comment:
Colette was surprisingly small for me. But the well-edited selection was exquisite. And the staff, well, fashionably insouciant.
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