Tais Elyse Designer. Stylist. Shopper

Things like built in butts you can just put on....viola! Instant Bubblicious. 

"No more muffin top" hosiery. 

I'm not reallly mad at all that....spend $60-80 to look  good under those $5 and $10 clothes from Marshalls or H&M. Right?

In Paris I had the pleasure of being accompanied by Djibi (dee-bee) Diagana (designer) on a shopping trip just outside of Paris. We had a great conversation about the differences between US, Paris and British fashion. Very interesting.

He was saying that in the US you have plenty of creative people and those who love their independent freedom to express what they will. But they don't seem to express it as clothing on their body.  Of course there are those exceptions right?...especially in San Francisco, New York, LA, etc People tend to look for catalogs to guide them what to wear....of course this is a general observation right?

In Paris they love fashion - it tends to follow them and like magic adhere to them right? ...Always wearing the right accessory, the right man bag, the right pair of glasses.....
In general our thought was that Parisians wear what they wear because its a culture (like Americans wear baseball caps). Its romanticized and in every store they go into, fashion runway stuff hits their eyes first - the cheap and the expensive. In certain aspects, they all look the same too.

In London - you have a greater percentage of people really express themselves the way they want - not letting a store or a fashion frenzy dictate. There is a lot more indie views on fashion and more cultures expressing themselves in the way they wear trends.

What do you think? You've been to Europe....what about Italy? or Germany?

Street Fashion in London - summertime in the city...

I went to the Madame Gres exhibit in Paris and let me just tell you - IMMACULATE. J'adore Madame Gres! You can certainly see where she inspired so many.....and in London too!

Take a look at some pictures I posted on facebook: Museums and Vintage Shopping. Among the Chanel, Hermes and Prada....I Love the humor of the license plates and funny t-shirts.

Did I forget that london can be....well, a very INTErESTING place? Take a look at some general pics. Some things you'll find strange but others are curious. The differences in culture are..well...memorable. I will be here for a couple weeks shopping and taking in the sites and shops of the independent fashion forward. 

Mostly I miss it already! What to do though? Lots of the world left to see. So....I bid farewell for now Paris! See whats left from the sale here.

I had all kinds of ideas about why Europeans seem to have more style than Americans. Things like....they are forced to wear these things because only "fashionable" things are in the stores. OR....they are born with style LOL... We'll just as certain things in the US are cultural like the hip hop slouch evolving into mainstream fashion or scarfs draped on everyone in the Mission, Europeans have cultural experiences and not afraid to express who they are. Now don't get me wrong, we don't all have to have the same expression. But...the idea is to actually do some sort of expressing. That's style - its to know who you are and not be afraid to show it.

What do you think? Here are some pics of fashion and folks on the streets.

I decided to write for this blog partially because I was fascinated by how perspective on men’s fashion can be so small and limited at times. The saying goes that there are no rules when it comes to fashion. But most men (and by “most men” I mean men outside of the fashion industry) are intolerant of many styles or trends, especially anything that could possibly be perceived as extravagant and/or effeminate. Examples?

Jewelry is still a questionable accessory that spawns obsessive “how to wear” tutorials or debates in men’s magazines.  The term murse is still met with derision laced with a bit of anxiety, as if a man in need of a handsome bag for his papers, iPad, or other miscellanies normally jammed into pockets is a preposterous notion. Open toe platform shoes, even from a designer known for “re-inventing the wardrobe for men without scaring them,” have yet to gain traction in men’s fashion. The list could go on and on. And if you listened to such a list, you might also start wondering if American mainstream men’s fashion will ever depart from the dominant, safe utilitarian aesthetic and move towards a more open, experimental state.  

So for my last post on this blog, I wanted to address this issue of the lack of boldness in many men’s wardrobes. It has been a challenge to think of ways to style men that achieved a balance between anomalous and acceptable because many men are hesitant to venture into unfamiliar sartorial territory, whether due to personal tastes or external agents pressuring them to dress a certain way. But if it is the latter that is forcing you to second guess your choice to wear a floral shirt, a necklace, or simply a tie to your lackadaisically-dressed office, then your response should be a flip off. Because even for men, there really are no rules in fashion. Sure, my previous blog posts are riddled with rules on how to wear something:  the sleeves of a short-sleeve shirt should be fitted; or you should be wearing slim fit anything all the time. But I am not saying that you absolutely should not wear baggy clothes. If you are going for the slouchy look, then by all means wear slouchy clothes. Instead of rules, there should be an awareness of what you want your clothes to say about you or at least, what your clothes are saying about you.