Today is World Book Day, and to celebrate I thought I’d share with you my favourite fashion book. Its basically my Bible; its beautiful, funny and also has some really tip top fashion advice. This wonderful book is of course ‘How to be Parisian, Wherever You Are’, written jointly by Sophie Mas, Audrey Diwan, Ann Berest, and the ultimate contemporary Parisian style icon, Caroline de Maigret (if you haven’t heard of her, check out her Instagram, she’s super cool). All four women have glittering CV’s in fashion, and its safe to say that this collaborative venture makes them the ultimate friend goals. Looking tres chic ladies.
Whilst London’s fashion has those cool Brit girl vibes, and in New York the emphasis seems to be on modernity, for me, Parisian style is the ultimate. Its simple, its chic, its enduring. Hard to go wrong right? Just throw on a striped breton top and some red lipstick and you’ll definitely look like a native… Wrong.
So often I would find myself dressed and think, thats just not right. And maybe that was because I was projecting the wrong image of ‘Parisian.’ This book taught me that true Parisian doesn’t mean having your hair in a chignon with perfectly painted red lips a la Audrey Hepburn. Nor does it mean thick cat eye eyeliner- this isn’t the sixties, and although that could be seen as a Golden Age of fashion, it’s not wearable today. True Parisian in this book is not only about clothes, make up and hair, but also about attitude, deportment and lifestyle.
In fact, fashion is perhaps the smallest part of the book, with basic issues such as faux pas’s, texting, dating, and party etiquette covered. There are some fashion books around which, quite frankly, I don’t think are worth owning. They give blindly obvious advice like ‘own some occasion heels’, and ‘have some good jeans.’ This book has substance, and it’s great to read straight through, or to dip in and out of as you please when you are in need of a few words of wisdom.
I don’t want to spoil the book for you by telling you now ‘this is how to be Parisian!’ But I will say that if you are looking for a lifestyle overhaul, or even if you just want to tidy up your wardrobe, you should definitely get a copy of this nice shiny white book! This book has everything; as well as containing some good advice and being funny, it is also, I think, written beautifully.
Here’s one of my favourite extracts:
“A Kind of Blue – She’s sitting alone in a restaurant. She’s not waiting for anyone, her book on the table as she gazes so far off into the distance that her surroundings are a blur and she doesn’t even hear the laughter around her.”
A fashion book with a bit of depth – whats not to love? Grab yourself a copy now.