Lanvin & Other Windows (Paris, France)

No other boutique captures whimsical fun as much as Lanvin does when it comes to store windows. Which is one of the many reasons I keep posting them on a monthly basis (to view previous windows click here). So imagine my surprise when the recent displays didn't feature the usual cute and flamboyant mannequins but instead shoppers were greeted by what resembled a high-end strip club (albeit one where most participants were fully clad - in expensive clothes no less). A few days later, when the FW10 looks were finally revealed, it made more sense, seeing how the mannequins were sporting the same Cleopatra wigs as the runway models. Nevertheless I'm still not quite sure why Alber Elbaz chose to use the same styling for SS10 windows, but in any case, these definitely got some attention, especially as the dolls looked quite real in an almost creepy way. As I took most images during the day, I've borrowed the night shots from the fabulous Journal des Vitrines. As usual, larger versions of the photos can be viewed by clicking on them.

Lanvin Homme

A very 80s looking model on a rotating stripper pole platform...

Sorry for the awful reflection on the left, but hopefully you get the idea... a half-naked mannequin dancing around yet another pole.

The two side-windows featuring more acrobatic guys on a rotating platform.

Lanvin Femme

Main window: sultry women... just hanging out I guess? (above the night shot to give an idea of the red light).

Side Window Number 1.

More sexy poses. If the girls wore less clothes, Lanvin could actually charge for this....

The remaining windows (shot during the day). These mannequins looked remarkably lifelike in person.

And for anyone who's still missing the more playful windows, here a short selection of other note-worthy displays in Paris this month:

Louis Vuitton

A small selection of the main windows of the primary flagship. I'm guessing most LV boutiques will have a similar display, but I loved the idea of the floating mannequin in the top right picture.

Below a very short video clip of the floating mannequin:

(video courtesy of Journal des Vitrines).

Joseph

The British retailer usually has some of the cutest windows. Here an adorable safari scene (note the curious giraffe, top left).

Printemps

A little spring fever thanks to Printemps.

Finally, I'd like to thank the following wonderful bloggers for giving me these lovely blog awards:

Meraldia and The Trendy Fashionista for the Sunshine Award

Miss J from Being High Maintenance, Not Bitchy for the Over the Top Award (which comes with a tag I've already completed here)

Pearl Westwood from Fashion Pearls of Wisdom for the Beautiful Blogger Award

And last but not least, Anya from Couture Millinery Atelier for the very chic Hats So Much Award which she created herself

I'd like to pass these awards to all my readers as there isn't just one person I'd like to thank but I'm grateful to all who find the time to stop by my blog. Wishing everyone a lovely new week!

Lanvin February Windows (Paris, France) & Awards

Lanvin's theme for February revolved around love - perhaps fitting for the month that includes Valentine's Day. But that was probably more of a coincidence, as the fashion house has been busy promoting it's 'Blanche' range in various department stores the past few weeks. And what better way to show off the beautiful white dresses than to give window shoppers a cute and whimsical wedding display, complete with speech bubbles and dramatic poses. What makes these windows even more charming, is the collaboration with Vespa, who provided scooters and a mini van. Considering it takes some girls up to two years to plan their nuptials (I've never understood this), I think Lanvin did pretty well organizing a mannequin wedding within two working days...

For anyone who's missed previous Lanvin windows - you can check them out here.

Lanvin Homme

Not sure why he's calling the other guy 'Mary'...

Helmets come courtesy of Vespa as well and all scooters are adorned with 'Just Married'.

Speech bubble: 'Oh Lanvin!'.

The two mannequins were located on a rotating disc on top of the illustrated cake.

Lanvin Femme

Main window, incl. a few detail shots. A wind machine was on, to allow the veil (left image) to flutter in the breeze.

I first thought this was a full mannequin, but only found a pair of legs dressed in a skirt...

So much cooler than being driven in a limo...

Not exactly a wedding or engagement ring, but I'd take it as well!

In the spirit of love and all things nice, I received a few awards in the past few months, which I keep forgetting to post. Apologies it took so long, but better late than never!

Starting off, I received a Glamorous Blog Award from the ever so stylish Hanh from Life In Travel:

The lovely Nina from Ballerina's Closet Obsession gave me the One Lovely Blog Award:

And this Kreativ Blogger Award came from the wonderful F from The Very Subjective:

I'd like to share these three awards with all my readers and fellow bloggers, as I do find it hard to pick just a few glamorous, creative and lovely blogs, considering all of you fit this criteria. Thank you to all for these awards!

Last but not least, the fabulous Trendy Fashionista handed me the Happy 101 award, which comes with a tag. Again, thank you for this award!

The tag requires me to make a list of 10 things that make me happy, so here we go:

1. Sunny warm weather. Spring/Summer I miss you. Please come now.
2. Freshly brewed coffee.
   
3. The scent of jasmine.
4. Scarves - anything from silk to cashmere.
5. My laptop - (a Mac of course). The most well behaved machinery I own.
   
6. When there are no lines at the supermarket cash desks.
   
7. Chocolate, caramel and anything sweet (fruit doesn't count).
8. Leisurely walks through the city or country side.
9. Shoes (you knew this was coming).
10. Finding an item I've coveted at a huge discount.
    

I'd like to pass on this award + tag to the following fantastic blogs (in no particular order):

• Inspiration in Italy
• Couture Millinery Atelier
• Fashion Pearls of Wisdom
• Susu Paris Chic
• Draffin Bears
• Thirty Something Style
• Insights
• MissLikey
• Psynopsis
• Tom Tuttle from Tacoma

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

Lanvin November Windows (Paris, France) & Awards

Anyone who's familiar with this blog, knows about my unhealthy passionate obsession with all that is Lanvin, and if there's one thing they do better than most flagships, it's their window displays. In some cases their windows display art, in others they provide a social commentary, but usually they're just lots of fun and showcase products in the most whimsical and adorable way possible. Like these windows, which were put up a few weeks ago and possibly capture what Alber Elbaz associates with November. Either that, or he really likes scarecrows and black crows (the bird, not the band). In any case, the mannequins seem to be doing a miserable job keeping the feathered creatures away, but then again - if I were a crow, it would take more than a few life-sized mannequins to scare me away from Lanvin...

By the way, if you missed out on previous Lanvin windows and want to catch up, click here.

Lanvin Homme

I think these were the only scarecrows that kept the birds away...

I love how pi**ed off the one on the right looks. Not sure if it's because of the crow on his head, or if his buddy stole his seat...

The most well-dressed scarecrows EVER. The three crows on his arm probably agree.

A crow trying to nab a messenger bag.

Apparently this scarecrow just did some Lanvin shopping. They seem to have better lives than the average human...

Lanvin Femme

Scarecrows decked out in fur and silk... while the crows fight over a brooch.

The chicest scarecrow in town...

... aside from this one. Gorgeous coat.

Not sure what happened to this lady...

Crows behaving like magpies, pecking at jewels.

If the hand weren't holding the lovely clutch, this would almost be creepy (crow is trying to get the ring).

The only scarecrow without legs, but at least she has shoes...

Again, I'm somewhat behind on a couple of awards I received, so I'd like to take the opportunity to post these and pass them along to some lovely bloggers out there.

First up, the beautiful Niki B. from A Haute Mess not only gave me an award, but she created it herself, so I'm honored to have received 'The Haute Mess Award'. Thank you Niki!

I've scaled it down a bit, but I hope you can still see the awesomeness that includes Karl Lagerfeld and Anna Wintour. Anyway, I'm supposed to pass this on to three blogs, which are:

• Couture Carrie
• Falling Under the Clouds
• Janetteria

I also received the Lovely Lemonade award from the fabulous Pearl Westwood of Fashion Pearls of Wisdom and the 5 Diamonds award from the stylish Inspiration in Italy. Thank you both! Each award should be passed on to 10 bloggers, but I'll be bad and cheat, because I don't think I could list 20 blogs at the moment...

I'd like to pass this award to:

• FabBlab
• La Rue Neuve
• Poisoned Armour
• Take Me Out To The Runway
• Trishikoh

And I'd like the following bloggers to receive this award:

• Dumbwit Tellher
• Meraldia
• Pretty Portobello
• Style Sophisticate
• The Panty Drawer

Finally I also received the Kreativ Blogger Award from the lovely Draffin Bears and the wonderful Thirty Something Style:

The award comes with a tag where I'm supposed to list 7 random/interesting facts about me. I've received this award and done the tag before here, but because I've referred to the same post about three times now, I'll be good and present you with... "5 random facts, the Christmas edition"! Yes, my favorite season deserves its own tag, so here we go:

1. Last year, two weeks before Christmas, I somehow managed to get the chickenpox, even though I was convinced I had been vaccinated against this as a child. Needless to say it ruined some fun Christmas shopping, because I was quarantined for over a week. The kind French doctor who first examined me, also made the mistake of telling me I had 'smallpox', which totally freaked me out.
2. One of our annual family traditions is a Christmas Day buffet where we get to stuff ourselves with goodies. One year, one of the goodies wasn't all that good, because I got food poisoning the next day (I suspect it was an oyster), which involved me spending the entire Boxing Day in the bathroom hugging a toilet. Fun times.
3. One year, my friends and I made the mistake of straying from the usual mulled wine at a Christmas market in Germany and chose an "Eierpunsch" (egg-punch) instead, which was very very strong and not that great. We drank it on an empty stomach... around noon. And ended up attending a lecture slightly wasted (my head actually slammed on the table at one point).
4. During another Christmas market incident, I had my wallet stolen. It was the first (and hopefully last) time this ever happened.
5. The most bizarre pre-holiday experience was the time I lived in Amsterdam. The Dutch believe in Saint Nicholas ('Sinterklaas'), who according to folklore arrives on a steamboat from Spain and is greeted by a large parade of children and adults every year. What's disturbing is that he has a few dark-skinned helpers named 'Zwarte Piet' ('black Pete'), so you don't just get memorabilia and pastry adorned with his face, but have half the country dressing up as this character... which also involves donning blackface make-up (click on the wiki-link or see pic below). Needless to say most expats don't really find this to be politically correct. My most surreal experience was sitting in a restaurant with the hubby, when our usual 6' tall blonde waitress suddenly appeared as Zwarte Piet and served us pancakes. Another one was looking out my office window to see 10 kids dressed as Zwarte Piet playing football/soccer in the park.

I would like to pass this award & tag to all my lovely readers and if like me, you've done this tag before, please feel free to share a holiday version as well... I'd love to read it!

Left: Christmas market in Frankfurt, Germany. Right: a lady dressed up as Zwarte Piet (source: wikimedia) and a traditional Eierpunsch.