accessories Archives - Page 33 of 33

Accessories for the French Chic wardrobe

One of my dear friends asked how I would accessorize the French Chic wardrobe. While this is far from definitive, I think it's an interesting start.

I learn more and more every day as I build these vignettes for our shared pleasure: you should be ABSOLUTELY FANATICALLY DEMANDING when you purchase anything. There is a world of merchandise out there, and the perfect item exists, if you have the patience and the focus to find it. Settle for NOTHING LESS THAN PERFECTION. You deserve it. And if you fully intend to own many of your accessories for the rest of your life, you can easily justify buying the very best item being made today - support geniuses and craftspersons, and beautify the ... View the Post

A photograph you must take THIS WEEKEND

On Saint Patrick's Day, 1999, I came home from work about 5:30 p.m. to find a four-inch hole in my apartment door where my lock used to be. Now, knowing the ineptness of my management company and their maintenance people, my first assumption was that the lock was being replaced, and they were doing a really LOUSY job...

But you guessed it - I'd been robbed. Various sundry small electrics, my college diploma (seriously - not my high school, not my graduate school, just my college diploma!) and of course EVERY piece of jewelry except what I was wearing that day.

I'm still a bit bitter about this, because they also got a really cool black leather jewelry case that looked like an old-fashioned train case. ... View the Post

Decoding the mysterious “weave knot”

This scarf knot has been receiving a lot of attention in the blog world recently; I saw a NINE step instruction diagram/hieroglyphic on how to tie it! Rest assured, it's not at all complicated - it's really just a clove-hitch knot, which any self-respecting boy scout could tie blindfolded. So in the interest of beautifying the scarf world, I'm going to tell you how to tie this knot, in five steps, in less than one minute, without a mirror.1. Arrange the scarf with the two ends hanging down in the front - the left side reaching to about your waist, and the right end (now fondly called the long end) to your right.

2. Cross the long end under the short end across your chest. You are now finished with the ... View the Post

Paris shopping: Diwali

Of course everybody in Paris wears scarves almost all the time! (seriously, it's true, at least in cooler weather) But these aren't the square, Hermes style silk scarves nearly as often as it's the more relaxed rectangular "echarpes" loosely looped around the neck. And where do these millions of scarves come from?

Diwali - yes, the same word as the Indian festival of lights. There are at least three or four of these stores scattered around Paris - I know of one on the Rue Mouffetard, and also on on the Rue Soufflot just down the hill from the Pantheon. These stores are the absolute mother lode of scarves in any color and any fabric you can imagine! You have to go in with some sort of a plan or clue ... View the Post