Sunday Music Corner

Saw this for the first time this week, and it cracked me up! Ricky Gervais can actually sing too.
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Foulard de la semaine

Navy and green!

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Bag designed by....You!

If you've ever seen a beautiful bag and thought, "oh it would be perfect if it only had gold hardware/ was available in a different color/ had a messenger strap/ had different tassels" or if you are just tired of designer logos or seeing *your* bag coming and going, then you should check out Belen Echandia's BE Couture, where you can create your very own bespoke bag.

Start with one of over 30 basic bag designs, customize with different strap and tassel options, choose from dozens of leather textures and colors (including python), gold or silver hardware, lining color and fabric and "extras" such as laptop sleeves, additional interior pockets and extra long messenger straps. Your bag will be as unique as you, and at a price much less than most designer bags.

Belen Echandia bags are made in Italy by skilled craftspeople, and the hand-picked leathers are gorgeous. Take note of measurements, as some of the bags are quite generously sized. Often, "midi" or "mini" (smaller) versions of the same design are available. The Belen Echandia bags I've seen up close and owned are beautiful, well-made, have excellent interior organization and bright fuscia linings which are not only gorgeous but make it easy to see inside the bags (and find stuff!). Jackie Cawthra (the Founder and Creative Director) and her associates provide personal and prompt customer service, so don't be afraid to ask for assistance or for more information.

(And if prior posts whetted your appetite for a red bag and you still haven't found the perfect one, check out some of the gorgeous red leathers that Belen Echandia is offering!)


Belen Echandia also has many styles and colors of bags already in stock and ready to ship, including wallets and clutches, which you can see here.
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Une femme recommends...

The September Issue is now out on DVD. I watched it last night and it is one of the most engaging and fascinating films about the fashion industry I've yet seen. I now have a total girlcrush on Grace Coddington. Her vision will blow you away and her strength and humor come through in every scene.

The film moves at a fast clip, but maintains a coherent narrative, and it's visually stunning. I'm going to have to watch it again, scene by scene with my finger on the pause button just to take in all of the incredible clothes.

One thing I found irritating though, was at the very beginning Anna Wintour says something to the effect of "people who don't like fashion are just resentful at not being one of the cool people." Grr. Some people really just don't care about fashion, the same way some don't care about sports, and that's fine. Chacun a son gout and all that. But if you love fashion, or even just have a fleeting interest, I highly recommend The September Issue.
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Emotional Baggage

This is just a reminder that I still have some unworn or gently used bags and clothing for sale at Emotional Baggage. Check it out!

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Enlisting Navy

Join the Navy! by deja pseu featuring J Crew

(Recent posts by LPC at Priviledge here and here inspired the Polyvore and following rumination.)

Une femme and Navy (the color, not the branch of Armed Services) started off on the wrong foot and have mostly been at odds for the last few decades. I'll admit, it's entirely guilt by association, but then the associations were pretty strong.

First, there was my great-grandmother, who in my mind's eye is always wearing navy dresses and orthopedic shoes. Don't get me wrong, she was a lovely lady, but the connection between "navy" and "old" was firmly cemented early on and not easily dislodged.

Then there was the high-school Frenemy, a prissy, sanctimonious type who was fond of crested navy blazers (this in public school in the 70's) and light blue shirts because they brought out her blue eyes (which she never failed to remind anyone within earshot). Her style was total Brooks Brothers before any of us in California knew what Brooks Brothers was. Her hair (blonde, natch!) was always in a perfect flip, her eyelids graced with blue shadow, and she only ate small salads on dates so the guy "wouldn't think [she] was a pig." She was horrified by denim. I learned a few months after we finally fell out that her parents always thought I was a bad influence because my mother was a divorcée, and were not sorry to see me go.

The 1980's brought us "Dress For Success" and skirted navy pinstripe suits with the floppy bow tie blouses. Enough said.

And then there were so many damn *rules* about navy, specifically about all of the other things you couldn't wear with it. No black, no brown, no patent leather, no green, ad infinitum. Navy was Serious and Stodgy and played by all the rules. Sort of like Miss Frenemy, come to think of it. Navy was a demanding boss. Navy was pedestrian. I regarded black and a smattering of browns and greys as my neutrals of choice. I avoided anything navy (or even blue for that matter) like the plague, with the singular exception of jeans. Strangely, I never thought of my denim jeans as "navy" perhaps because of MF's abhorrence of them, and have always had a pair or four rotating through the wardrobe since my teen years.

I surprised myself when I was drawn to a navy Italian wool jacket at Talbot's a few years ago. "I could wear this with jeans," I thought. I tried it on and it fit like a dream. I bought it on the spot and brought it home where it mostly languished in my closet, at least until Karen laid eyes on it. She pointed out how flattering the cut is, and how easily it works with just about everything else I own (including black...take THAT, you outdated rules!). I was finally able to see that it didn't make me look like Thurston Howell III, or even my high-school nemesis. And navy, while providing the same slimming advantages of black, is a much softer color against the skin, and quite a bit easier to coordinate with other colors.

So Navy and I have declared a truce, and are in the process of getting to know each other a little better. I'm not giving up my black, but I've recently purchased a t-shirt in navy, and a cream marinière with navy stripes. While we may never be BFF's, I think this may be the start of a solid friendship.
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Sunday Music Corner

From The Pogues, something rousing to kick those winter doldrums in the teeth.
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Foulard de la semaine

Change in color direction...blues, greys and a touch of yellow.

More blues on the agenda for next week!

Edited to add: here's a picure of the scarf.
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No compendium of red bags would be complete without...

Lady Dior Cannage Tote, $2250.
(Thanks to Aradia for the reminder.)

Marion Cotillard for Dior:

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Une femme recommends...

Having seen this bag up close over the weekend, I can now fully recommend it. The detailing is much nicer in person than it appears in this picture, the leather is great and the red a bit more subdued than some of the other selections posted last week. Talbots, $159.

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And the winner is....

Maureen! (tippchic) Congratulations!

Maureen, please send me an e-mail with your mailing address and I'll send your "Chris & Tell" off right away.

Thanks to everyone who participated!

(Thanks also to Couture Allure Vintage who helped me figure out how to post the image from the Random Number Generator.)
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N'oubliez pas!

If you'd like to win a tube of Lancome's "Chris & Tell" lipstick (shown above on yours truly) please leave a comment in the "February Giveaway!" post if you have not already done so before midnight PST tonight. One entry per person and no anonymous entries, s'il vous plait.

I'll be drawing and announcing the winner first thing in the morning.
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Sunday Music Corner

On a warm summer evening in 1983 or 84, my sister and I interrupted our University Avenue pub crawl to have a coffee on the patio of the Varsity Theater in Palo Alto. This duo was playing. We were blown away and didn't move until they finished their last set. Tuck is an amazing guitarist, and Patti's voice is what clover honey would sound like if it could sing.

They are still (I believe) husband and wife and still performing. I've seen them in concert a couple of times since that summer, though it's been a while, but the love that emanates from them, for each other and for the music and the audience, is something I've not experienced very often at concerts. If you ever get a chance to see them perform, take it.

Here's another of my favorites, their cover of Jimi Hendricks' "Castles of Sand/Little Wing."

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Seeing Red, Encore

Two more rouge beauties:

DKNY, $295.
Valentino, $2150.
That Valentino knows and loves his reds.

Don't forget to enter the drawing for the Lancome "Chris & Tell" lipstick! Deadline is tomorrow, 11:59:59pm Pacific Time.
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Foulard de la semaine

Rather than the expected red or pink for Valentine's Day, I'll be wearing Les Amoureux de Paris, with Wendy B's silver "Diana" heart necklace. This scarf features a map of Paris with silhouettes of famous Parisian lovers.

Picture from Luxury-Scarves.com.

Update on the wisdom teeth: dentist decided to only remove the loose one, so it was indeed "no big deal." Was in and out of the office in 30 minutes, took one Advil after the novocaine wore off to prevent swelling, and haven't taken anything since. No pain, no swelling. I'm one grateful femme!

Happy Valentine's Day!

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Seeing Red

Inspired and triggered by materfamilias recent "Polyvore on the floor" escapades featuring a new pair of spectator "wingtips" (warning: drooling may be a side effect of viewing these) teamed up with a gorgeous red doctor's bag and some great menswear-inspired ensembles, and Karen's description of her new red Lancel "L'Adjani" bag from Paris, une femme has been seeing gorgeous red bags everywhere!

As materfamilias mentions, a red bag can be surprisingly neutral itself, and a great way to add some color to more neutral ensembles. My preference: when the color is this strong and bright, keep the rest of the details simple.
kate spade "westbury dani hobo" now on sale $236.90.

(Simple, classic...what kate spade does best.)

Talbot's Dome bag, $159.
(Love the shape of this and great price point!)Belen Echandia python Clutch Me, $850.

Marc by Marc Jacobs Totally Turnlock Natasha Crossbody Bag, $328.

(I've seen this one up close and it's really cute and functional!)
Another Marc by Marc Jacobs, Classic Q Groovee Satchel, on sale for $329.90.

Prada Saffiano Lux Tote, $1495.

Tod's D-Styling Bauletto Medio, $1445.

(Almost more coral than red, but WOW, what a color!)

Prada Saffiano Lux Bowler, $1390.

(Prada does some outstanding reds, from warm brick reds to cool-but-bright cranberries.)
The Empress of red bags, the Hemès Birkin, $12,783 from Luxury-Shops.com.

Do you have any red bags? Do you find them to be versatile?
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C'est un honneur...

It's Awards Season, and twice in a matter of days une femme was the recipient of blog awards! (Darn, my Red Carpet Gown is at the cleaners again...how do I always manage that?)

First, the fabulous Sher at Fashion After Forty presented the Beautiful Blogger Award!

Then, the gorgeous and vivacious Miss Janey bestowed upon une femme the much sought-after Kreativ Blogger award!
Through some odd turn of fate, both awards require an acceptance speech replete with Seven Assorted Factoids a propos de moi. Rather than bore you all to tears with two lists, I'm going to give you one superfantastic list of 7, The Magnificent Seven as it were.First, I'd like to thank my agent, without whom I'd still be waiting tables at Sizzler.

1. I love to pack and hate to unpack. Some of our ski clothes will probably still be piled in a corner of our bedroom a week from now, waiting to be put back into the storage boxes that live under the bed.

2. I panic if I leave the house without lipgloss and/or hand lotion.

3. I'm getting one, maybe two wisdom teeth pulled tomorrow. Both of my top wt's came in fully over 30 years ago, and now one of them is loose. I never developed any on the bottom. My dentist has promised that this will be "no big deal" as roots on both are smallish.

4. I love to polish shoes. There are few chores that provide the satisfaction of that moment when you start buffing to bring out the shine.

5. My car is rarely clean. We don't have a useable garage, so it's parked outside all of the time. I tend not to bother washing it until people start writing notes in the dust.

6. Mountains or beach? Mountains. With lots of trees.

7. My favorite food is sushi. After that, artichokes.

I'd love to share these honors with some fellow bloggers. You can pick whichever one you feel best suits (Beautiful or Kreativ), link back to your humble presenter ici and give us your Magnificent Seven acceptance speech. I promise not to sic the orchestra on you if you run long.

And the nominees are...

Daffodil Planter, hostess of the humble bungalow, Building a Colorful Life, Queen of my Kingdom, Style Artisan, and Tessa Scoffs.

The envelope, please...
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February Giveaway!

Une femme was able to get hands on a tube of Lancome's "Chris & Tell" limited edition lipstick, which is reportedly sold out already. (Two tubes actually, but I'm keeping one for myself!) It's a pretty, vibrant shade of coral pink, just the thing to counterract those winter blues.

If you'd like an opportunity to win this limited edition lippie, just enter a comment in this thread by midnight, Sunday February 14 (one per person, and use an ID s'il vous plait, anonymous comments will be deleted). I'll use the random number generator to pick a winner, and will announce next Monday.
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No, I didn't...

Even though the sales guys were trying to ply us with tequila shots. This one looks gorgeous on and is very light and very warm. Shearling jacket, $3875.
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Picture Postcards

Snowy day in the village...
(click on pics to enlarge)

Snowboarders dress funny!

A river runs through it... (well, a creek anyway)

If you have to work instead of ski, might as well drive a Zamboni!

One of our very favorite shops, Christopher & Co. They carry a fabulous selection of vintage travel posters.
I *want* this one!

One of my favorite spaces to just hang out and have a cup of "tea," the lobby of the Hyatt.

A snowy day and kid's ski school area.

Today is our last day to ski, then we travel home tomorrow. I'll catch up with all of your lovely comments and blogs over the weekend. A bientot!

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Cat's out of the bag...

So une femme has been hinting around about saving up for something special. Here it is, or at least a preliminary version...


A bit of backstory:

My engagement/wedding set has been through a couple of incarnations. The stones are all inherited from la famille du monsieur and are quite old (100+ years) "mine cut" stones. A bit of family drama delayed the receipt of some stones that le monsieur had been promised upon his engagement, and the eventual handoff of those prompted the first re-fashioning about ten years ago. At that point I had an engagement ring with a 1 ct. center stone and some smaller stones on each side in a channel setting (which are the stones you see in the video above), and a wedding band with some additional small stones in a channel setting to coordinate with the engagement ring.

When I went into the hospital for my hip surgery a little over two years ago, I forgot to remove my rings until they were wheeling me into the operating room. The anesthesiologist insisted I remove them. Le monsieur put them in his pocket, and sometime during the day while waiting for me to come out of surgery, the wedding band was lost. Since then I've worn the engagement ring alone, which has looked incomplete and lonely to me.

Wendy B to the rescue! I'd really loved her Siobhan ring when I saw it during our visit to NY in October 2008. When we began discussing reworking the remaining stones from the engagment ring, I asked if she could do something along those lines. I'm absolutely thrilled with this lovely design. It's clean, classic and unique. I can hardly wait to see the finished ring!
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Colorado's Best

The weather yesterday was gorgeous; sunny and not too cold, not too warm. We had some fabulous runs. With vistas like these we tend to stop and gape periodically.
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Morning in the mountains

This is a real-time "mountain cam" shot of the top of one of my favorite runs. I can hardly wait to get out there!!! I love skiing on the freshly groomed stuff.

Yesterday's skiing was good. There hasn't been much recent snowfall so not much powder, but the packed powder at the top of the mountain is light and soft and very easy to ski. I took it easy on the first day, didn't do as many runs as I could have, but my legs are thanking me for it. (After forking over for lift tickets, one has to constantly remind oneself that the quality of skiing is more important than quantity.)

Off to make breakfast and wake up the "boys." I'll have some of our own pics to share tomorrow.
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Foulard de la semaine

This tie was an experiment on the fly that worked. Fold your large silk square into an oblong (basic Hermès fold), then twist a few times, fold in half and drape around the neck with the loop on one side and the ends on the other. Pass one of the ends through the loop, knot with the other end, et voilà!
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