french connection

i've always been intrigued by french culture. i love the way the people seem effortlessly stylish sitting in cafes, smoking and sipping their espresso. maybe i was influenced by my mom, who is also a francophile, but my interest in the french culture has always been prevalent. when it comes to french fashion, chanel always comes to mind...tweed ensembles, pearls, little black dresses, etc. or i see the horizontal striped ballet neck top and ankle length pants with a scarf draped carelessly around the neck. i always like to channel my inner french self and add some sort of free spirit eclectic frenchness to what i wear. i don't do it all the time, but when i do, i can't help but feel sexier and a little bit cooler. ask my friend ashlee. she thinks it's hilarious that i seek out the pamplemousse flavor of la croix...even if it means going to four grocery stores in one day. (why is that flavor so freaking hard to come by these days? ugh.) besides the fact that the flavor is by far the best, i do love that the name of it is pamplemousse. where was i going with this? sidetracked....oh, french eclectic. this past weekend was chock full of 50% off sales, and i had my eye on this shirt on consignment at lela. the shirt doesn't look like anything i would ever wear, but i fell in love. it's vintage and crazily over sequined but once i laid eyes on it, i knew it had to be in my closet. my roommate and my friend mari took one look at it and started laughing. adjectives such as hideous and heinous were tossed at me and said shirt. it didn't phase me in the least...i knew the shirt was cool. so i open my email this morning and get a new shopbop email and what's on the front? this...

this is the exact cut and design as my vintage shirt. my shirt is black and gold, but it looks just like this. my shirt was $24 which i had in my lela consignment account. this shirt is $415. BAM. i win. i'm ahead of the game here. i knew my shirt was awesome and i got the steal of the century. i honestly don't know when i'll wear this shirt, but i know regardless of my friends finding it heinous, i'll feel eclecticly french and cool when i do. so, that has me on my french kick again. i want more things that give out that vibe.

i don't know if i could i pull off a cape. probably not. but i love the look of that one. these elbow length fingerless lace gloves seem borderline french. or maybe i'm getting that confused with 80s madonna, but i think with the right outfit, could be really cool.

this neckace kills me. it's called the "froggy" necklace which is hilarious in itself. and the size of it is also laughable. maybe i associate this with the french esthetic because of the frog legs at bastille days here, but i think the necklace could be worn by a risk taking fashion forward chick.

any one of those dresses would be perfect for bastille days...not that that's the only place to wear them, but all this has me wishing it was summer and i was enjoying my beignet and crepe and cafe au lait and champagne and cigarettes...focus danielle. french fashion is inspiring to me. i always tell customers to find inspiration in whatever they love and put it into what clothes they buy and how they wear them. works for me, so give it a shot.