- A stack of glossy unread fashion magazines. If they're spring or autumn issues, even better!
- Eyeshadow
- Sunny days
- Sleeping in
- Vegetarian hot and sour soup
- Paris, London, and NYC--I hope to return someday!
Photo by Stuck in Customs
Speaking of Paris, I've been reading Paris Fashion: A Cultural History by Valerie Steele. The book explores how Paris came to be a global fashion capital and discusses the social and cultural developments that contributed to Paris's prestige today. Steele's chapter about Baudelaire and dandyism is full of wry observations; she quotes a 19th-century man criticizing dandyism at the very end. It's a paragraph that describes today's hipsters very accurately, isn't it?
"[The dandy is] the Black Prince of elegance, the demi-god of ennui, looking at the world with a glassy eye...Indifferent to the horse that he mounts, to the woman that he greets, to the man that he approaches and at whom he stares for a moment before acknowledging him, and wearing written on his forehead--in English--this insolent inscription: What is there in common between you and me?"
Well, maybe not the horse part.
To my regular readers, and to those new to my blog via my post on Independent Fashion Bloggers, apologies for a lame post full of odds and ends. I'm usually much more interesting, I promise! (Just click here, here, or here for proof.) I spent the weekend filing income tax returns for my brother and me, and all I want to do right now is curl up with my March issues of Vogue and Elle and forget the world.
Hah! That quote DOES describe the modern hipster. Well spotted.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I could be the demi-god of ennui, but I would like to apply to be ennui's personal assistant or, perhaps, dogwalker.
ReplyDeleteI would loved to be tagged!
ReplyDeletehaha i love sleeping in too! X) why is it only the start of the week... NYC/London/Paris... me wants to go too!
ReplyDeleteand hellooo you are one of the most interesing bloggers out there! i like how there's always original and interesting posts to read on a variety of topics on your blog. do share more from this book! i think it's really interesting to find out how paris became the fashion capital it is now. ;) and where parisians picked up that inimitable style from.
have a great week ahead!
I must read that book!
ReplyDeletexoxo,
La C.
mmm I love Paris - I can't wait to go back.
ReplyDeleteHehe I love that quote! Too bad it's not shorter so you could rework it into an insult next time you meet a pretentious hipster.
ReplyDeleteYay for numbers 1 & 6 in particular! Thanks for the link love, darling! And I'm glad you like the interview :)
ReplyDeletexoxox,
CC
P.S. Wendy B is hysterical, isn't she?
CC, she is! If ennui has a horse he's indifferent to, he's probably got a neglected dog lurking around the house too. WendyB, you should apply.
ReplyDelete#1!!! That definitely makes so happy- curling up with a stack of glossies. Oh and I love reading about flaneurs...thanks for the book recommendation!
ReplyDeleteHmm, this book looks interesting--I'm going to try and check it out!
ReplyDeleteLove that photo :-)
You're making me want to go to Paris so bad!
ReplyDeleteyour 2 and 3 make very happy too :)
ReplyDeleteWow I have to agree with all of your things =)
ReplyDeleteI've got to get that book by Valerie Steele. She writes great books. Very fashion-smart woman.
ReplyDeleteMmm...there is nothing better than a stack of glossy unread fashion magazines ( preferably french or british issue! hehe)
ReplyDeleteRandom posts are just as fun! No worries :)
xoxo
Mimi
i have an obsession w/eyeshadow, too.
ReplyDeleteThe book sounds absolutely fantastic, I shall definitely be checking it out. And ahh the joy of a unread fashion magazines, even if I don't have the time to read them I can just look at the photographs and be inspired.
ReplyDelete