All the Girls are crazy.......for Paris

I already miss this lovely view. I arrived home last night from my 18 days in France, went directly to bed and I will just give over to whatever my body tells me today. I am hoping it tells me to ignore those 3 unpacked suitcases and just lay about and blog, hopefully staying awake. As many of you already know, it was a three-part trip this go around. A 2 week Paris apartment rental with my husband and some family the first week, Vicki Archer of French Essence joining me the second week, and then I was whisked away by Vicki to her home and haven in Provence where we settled in to a relaxed and restful mood. After the wonderful crazy of Paris, it was a most magical ending.

Parisian blogger Garance Dore Idiom bangle for Kate Spade

Toutes les filles sont folles  (All the girls are crazy)

I got to thinking about how women are so crazy for Paris on the flight home. I know men seem to enjoy it too but to the same degree as women do? I wonder because it appears that women just adore it............and I think this is what really makes men enjoy it for the most part. That women just respond in a more feminine way to the charm of visiting Paris. We add another bracelet, a brighter shade of lipstick, suddenly start adding a dab of gloss, fuss a bit more with our hair, wear something with more sparkle or softness, shoes with more height, we are feeling the Paris effect and truthfully I think men will travel anywhere to see it.

Besides, or in addition to the fact we seem to gain confidence to turn on our own charm in Paris, it becomes crazy fun to meet up with other women in Paris (I will tell you about some of these most creative women over the next few weeks). The drinks, the dinners, the chats, yes, even the walking introduces a healthy dose of girl time to balance my male-dominated home. But what really made us girl-silly is our shopping, the finds we find together that I bring home, the chic styling that reminds me of Paris. Above, our best shopping find, the stylish man's Oxford. I bought brown, Vicki the black, then she talked me into going back and buying the black as well. Both will go with the brown leather jacket from a few year's past.

My fantastic Zara buy, the most lovely ivory silk blouse to wear over skinny black pants. If I follow the stylist advice of the fabulously chic Vicki Archer (and who wouldn't?) the pants will be just short enough to show a bit of ankle and then a beautiful pair of solid black booties that I already have in my closet. I am still working out how to tie the long tails but you get the idea and that will be the fun of changing it's look. One pair of fabulous, sparkly big earrings and I am go to go anywhere.

While I played around one afternoon in the apartment setting with my Paris buys, I added my favorite faux-fur shrug which never seemed to fit with anything else even though I was dying to wear it............and it finally works because I just needed the correct silhouette. Vicki and I talked quite a bit about one's ability to mix high-low fashion so easily in today's market. My Zara blouse which cost 39 Euros will be perfect for adding easy style to many idle things already in my closet.

We also found a few simple ways to alter or enhance this year's stylish Oxford. We noticed that those crazy, young Parisian girls remove the laces altogether but we have a more mature, but chic way of having stylish fun with this masculine trend. I have to find them in those ridiculously over-packed suitcases of mine and will post soon.

Crazy is good...........sometimes.

iphone photos by Sande Chase