Chloe 60th Anniversary Exhibition

I don’t know about you but personally, I can pinpoint the exact moment, or rather series of moments, I fell in love with fashion. I was twelve years old and on holiday in Rome with my family where my father was producing the TV series ‘Fashion House’. In between visiting the aspiring designers on set (one of whom just-so-happened to be Gareth Pugh) I spent most of my days wandering awe-struck through the boutiques, much to the annoyance of the shop assistants who, understandably, weren’t overly thrilled to help a precocious pre-teen try on their high end collections. There were two dresses in particular that took my breath away, one of which was a stunning cornflower blue silk number by Chloé. The other was a fairly tarty corseted number by an Italian label and I’ll neither mention the brand or say anymore about it.

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Ella Catliff in Fashion 1 Comment

Shop Snooper: Colette Paris

One of the best things about blogging is that you can write about pretty much anything and everything that takes your fancy. The only problem is choosing what to write about. As I’m sure you know all too well, the fashion industry moves as breakneck pace with new designers, collections, stores, websites and magazines launching every single day. Much as I’d love to post about all of it, attempting to do so would not only give me a nervous breakdown but probably be rather confusing for you lot too. So in an attempt to focus on what interests me – and hopefully you – the most, I’ve decided to start a few more regular features, the first of which I’ll introduce right now… Regardless of whether you do it on the internet, the high street or in Selfridges designer galleries, shopping is a wonderful thing. However God did not create all shops equal, and some are quite frankly a lot prettier than others. That my friends, is where La Petite Shop Snooper comes in. Over the past few months I’ve been lucky enough to do a fair bit of blog-related travelling and the fabulous shops I encountered along the way inspired me to continue scouting out the world’s most beautiful boutiques and coolest concept stores. First up, the one and only Colette Paris.

As I mentioned in my latest Paris travel diaries, despite spending a grand total of nine weeks out of the past year and a half in the French fashion capital, until very recently I hadn’t actually visited Colette. Suffice to say, I’ve now realised that for the past twenty years there has been a huge, Colette shaped hole in my life. How I’ve survived so long without having pilgrimaged to the Parisian mecca of stylishness is quite frankly a mystery to me. To those who haven’t been, this might sound a little dramatic, but when you see these shots of Mary Katrantzou sitting alongside Alaia in the stores’ exquisite, minimalist setting you’re guaranteed to change your mind. As with most really impressive shops (and a few distinctly non-impressive ones too), photography is strictly forbidden inside Colette so in order to take these snaps I had to get in touch with their head office and request permission. Not only were the press team extremely helpful and not at all intimidating (as impeccably stylish French people with seriously cool jobs sometimes are), being able to flash my press pass every time a sales assistant tried to confiscate my camera was pretty darned satisfying too.

Never in my life have I encountered anywhere quite so painfully chic as Colette. Think high fashion meets Tokyo pop culture cool with Christopher Kane and Carven in the window and everything from photography books to retro sweets on the ground floor. After a delicious bite in the ultra modern basement restaurant you can simply trot up to level one for a carefully edited selection of the world’s hottest fashion and beauty brands… what more could an English girl in Paris ask for?

I see Tavi, Susie, Bryan and Tommy… Could there be an Ella La Petite cartoon on the cards..?

Colette is located at 213 Rue Saint-Honoré 75001 Paris. If you haven’t been yet then I command you to beg, borrow or steal the funds for your Eurostar ticket asap and if you have, then there’s no harm in visiting again.

Love Ella. X

Posted on April 7, 2012 by Ella Catliff in Fashion Leave a comment

La Petite Anglaise in Paris… Le Mecredi

Sitting here shivering and clutching my venti Starbucks latte, it seems a little surreal to think that just last week I was frolicking bare-legged and fancy free through the streets of Paris. But regardless of my mothers embarassment, not to mention how difficult it is to “frolic” whilst carrying multiple shopping bags and a large camera, that is precisely what I did.

Ella Catliff, La Petite Anglaise, Paris, Street Style, Striped sweater

I wore… Sweater: Marc Jacobs, Skirt: Amerincan Apparel, Shoes: French Sole,
Necklace: Anne Bowes Jewellery

She wore… Skirts & Cardigan: Mango, Boots: Paul Costelloe, Scarf: Dune,
Bag: independant Parisian boutique

Despite the excessive amounts of vin blanc consumed after Florence and The Machine’s gig on Tuesday evening, we were up bright, early and extremely over-excited the following morning. After all, it’s pretty hard to feel hungover when you’ve got a fashion capital to explore and THE hottest style retrospective of the year to visit. As I’m sure you already know (and shame on you if you don’t) this Spring the Musee Des Arts Decoratifs is playing host to a much-anticipated exhibition on the work of Louis Vuitton and the house’s current Creative Director, Marc Jacobs. Partial though I am to spending a few hours mincing in the V&A, I wouldn’t exactly class myself as a culture vulture. However for this particular exhibit I would have happily emptied my handbag fund to get the Eurostar there myself. Luckily we happened to be in Paris to see Florence Welch play anyway, so my Mulberry account remains untouched… Or at least it did until a trip to Bon Marche later but that my friends, is a whole other story.

Enough about me and my shopping addiction and back to the matter at hand, the tale of two men who helped make the fashion industry into what it is today, beautifully told over two floors of fabulousness. From Louis Vuitton’s very first monogrammed trunks to Marc Jacobs collaboration with Takashi Murakami, the Musee des Arts left no archive untouched. First off I discovered that Louis Vuitton himself never actually made clothes, just luxury luggage (possibly embarrassing I didn’t know that already) before continuing on to the visual spectacle of “Marc’s World”, an homage to the designers iconic inspirations featuring everyone from Elizabeth Taylor to Nicki Minaj. Generally speaking I disagree with the old adage that “a picture is worth a thousand words”, but in this case I think it might actually be true. Here are a few of my favourite shots and if you haven’t visited the exhibition yet, I highly recommend you go soon…

Louis Vuitton Marc Jacobs exhibition Paris

Marc’s World

SO wish this was in my bedroom…

Love the Louis Vuitton walls, non?

Louis Vuitton AW11 finale outfit as worn by Kate Moss

Louis Vuitton Takashi Murakami collaboration

Louis Vuitton and Takashi Murakami collaboration

Final exhibit…

By this point we felt we’d more than fulfilled our cultural quota for the week so it was time to indulge in – yep, you guessed it – another afternoon of shopping punctuated by numerous Cafe au laits. About six hours later and considerably poorer we made it back to the hotel for a quick outfit change before heading out for our final (sob) evening in Paris.

I wore… Blouse, Jacket, Short & Bag: Whistles, Pumps: French Sole
Necklace: Anne Bowes Jewellery

She wore… Coat: Massimo Dutti, Top: Joseph, Skirt: Anthropologie,
Pumps: French Sole, Necklace: Anne Bowes Jewellery

Love Ella. X

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Ella Catliff in Fashion 8 Comments

La Petite Anglaise in Paris… Le Mardi

Loyal though I am to my beloved London, there is nowhere quite like Paris in springtime. We’d planned on kicking off day 2 with a spot of culture but after spending most of the morning getting severely lost, we finally arrived at the Pompidou Centre only to discover that every single museum in the city takes Mondays and Tuesdays off. I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t a little pleased about this as when being virtuous isn’t an option what else is a girl to do but shop?

I wore… Jacket: Whistles, Skirt: Urban Outfitters, Jumper: Mango,
Necklace: Anne Bowes Jewellery, Shoes & Sunglasses: Topshop

Anne Catliff, Anne Bowes Jewellery, Paris

She wore… Coat: Massimo Dutti, Trousers: H&M, Pumps: French Sole,
Top: Independent Boutique, Scarf: Dune

Despite having spent nine weeks in Paris over the past two years I’m embarrassed to admit that I somehow never visited Colette. Well having been twice during this particular trip I can say without a shadow of doubt that it is nothing short of magical. Think high fashion meets Tokyo pop culture with white washed walls, kitsch witticisms and fresh-off-the-runway designer confections as far as the eye can see. Whilst I couldn’t afford to buy so much as a (super adorable, bow detailed) flip flop, the fact that Colette stocks everything from Mary Katrantzou to Alaia makes it a cultural destination in itself.

Colette (AKA heaven on earth)

By this point we had worked up a serious appetite (screw Bikram Yoga, shopping is the only way to work out)and decided to grab a spot of lunch in Colette’s ultra chic basement restaurant before making our way back across the river. Next time you’re in Paris I highly recommend you do the same, if only because they have THE coolest toilets in the entire world. One word: heated seats…

Yum:)

After an afternoon spent trying on the entire contents of St Germain des Pres’ many boutiques and indulging in Café au Lait at Les Deux Magot, we finally made it back to the hotel. Naturally we had cut things a little finer than intended and barely had time to don outfit number two before heading out for the trip’s main event. I’m not going to pretend I’m a regular concert goer and I absolutely loathe festivals but seeing Florence and The Machine live was one of the most enjoyable evenings I’ve had in a long time. Ethereally beautiful, sickeningly stylish and in possession of the most intoxicating voice I’ve heard in my life, Florence Welch well and truly brought down the house. My eyes were also opened to the attention drawing qualities of dramatic, floor-length sleeves – a look sported by Florence that I may try to channel myself.

Ella Catliff, La Petite Anglaise, Paris, Red Dress, Sessun, Trench Coat

I wore… Dress: Sessun, Trench Coat: Comptoir des Cottoniers, Socks: H&M,
Loafers: Russel & Bromley, Bag: Whistles, Necklace: Anne Bowes Jewellery

Florence & The Machine in action

By the time the concert was over our white wine levels were in grave need of topping up so we decided to hit the town. One of the things I love most about Paris is that even at midnight on a Tuesday, there’s still so much going on. Everywhere you look there are well-dressed couples dining in brasseries and lively conversations taking place in trendy bars. We settled on a place near the Louvre with an air of modern grandeur and a delectable wine list to match. Unsurprisingly it was several hours and numerous glasses of Pouilly Fume later that we set off on a rather tipsy walk home to drag our aching limbs (and livers) to bed.

Love Ella. X

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Ella Catliff in Fashion 5 Comments

La Petite Anglaise in Paris… Le lundi

As anyone who follows me on twitter, facebook, instagram or tumblr will already know (and probably be thoroughly sick of hearing about), I spent most of last week in Paris. Why this sudden excursion to the city of love, shopping and excellent wine I hear you ask? Officially: to see Florence and The Machine for my Mother’s birthday (Papa La Petite was of course not informed that she also played in London). Unofficially however, the trip was more a case of us pouncing on any excuse to spend a few days in the French style capital eating, drinking, mincing and most importantly, shopping. Given that it was an internship in Paris that prompted me to launch La Petite Anglaise in the first place, I’ve felt duty bound to blog every trip ever since. So naturally I decided to turn our petite vacance into an outfit changing, photo taking style-athon and document our antics in yet another series of Parisian posts.

I wore… Blazer: Whistles, Top: French Connection, Shorts: BDG, Bag: Mulberry
Pumps: French Sole, Necklace: Anne Bowes Jewellery

She wore… Top & Cardigan: Zara, Jeans: Whistles, Scarf: Dune, Bag: Mulberry,
Loafers: Boutique in Paris

We arrived in Paris on Monday afternoon armed with more clothes than anyone could hope to wear in 3 days, but God knows we gave it our best shot. Arriving at our hotel was something of a surprise as what appeared, not to mention claimed, to be chic, simple and modern on the web turned out to be small and scruffy with world’s slowest internet connection (a major disaster for a blogger). But given that said hotel was located in the heart of St Germain des Pres, mere seconds away from Louis Vuitton and Prada, we decided to let it go. After a high speed outfit change we spent the afternoon strolling by the Seine, stopping at Laduree for macaroons and Café au Lait. We also stumbled upon a truly AMAZING boutique that I can’t believe I never found before. Once owned by Elizabeth Taylor, The Space is every bit as elegant as it’s stunning surroundings suggest. Nowadays the shop stocks an eclectic selection of international designers ranging from Zimmerman to Alice Mcall and also boasts an impressive vintage selection.

Seine-side strolling…

Laduree Cafe

The Space, 21 Rue Bonaparte, 75006, Paris

inside The Space…

Several hours and many, many shops later we headed back to the hotel to change into outfit number two before heading out for dinner at my one of my all time favourite restaurants. Now I know that I blogged about La Locanda in my last Paris travel diaries but it’s so damn good I just have to mention it again. Exquisite décor, snappy service, great food and delicious wine, what’s not to love? That question was swiftly answered when the bill arrived and lovely though La Locanda may be, its prices are a little extortionate so I probably wouldn’t go sans parents.