garance doré

Leather, it’s the best thing you can find to add some provocation to a little dress.

Let your leather get a tad worn, toss in some bare legs, some studs, any and all other biker elements that you can find, the smile of an angel just to show you’re still a sensitive woman, and you’re the fashion top-of-the-pops rock team heaven of the cool way up top way up high in the stars with Kate Moss, Eric Wasson, and… hmm… Vanessa Traina, yep, even her.

Oh man, said like that, I’m getting some inspiration!  I’m heading out, I’m going to rev up the engine on my bicycle.

Big hugs, Bonne journée!

Translation : Tim Sullivan

So why don’t I have any tattoos?

It’s not that I don’t like them. Nope, I love ‘em. I’ve always loved ‘em.  I think they’re romantic, unreasonable, thoughtless and eternal all at the same time. Therefore, I love them.

It’s just that with tattoos, I treat them like pricey jewelry. If I ever get a desire to get one, I say to myself okay, take a year to think about it and if you still want it next year, go ahead and get it. One year, that’s short for something that will last a lifetime.

I’ve been thinking getting one since I was 18, and not one tattoo passed the one-year test.  Every time, at the end of the year, I end up saying, “Ohhhhh thank god you didn’t get that!!!”

A fairy (at 18). The name of my boy (at 20). A ship anchor (at 23). A rose (at 25). A famous painting (I mean c’mon on now, what?) (at 26). The name of a different guy (at 28)(okay, maybe just his initial)(Just the initial? He didn’t take that so well.)(Well, what?  G.  That’s a good initial, am I right?).

You get why I’m saying Ohhhhhhh thank god ?

So I’m not a tattoo kind of girl, voilà. Voilà!!! Simple as that.

Continuer »

Wait a minute there, what’s this I see?

Could it be the first signs of the hunting, fishing, nature and tradition trend* highlighted by the wonderful Miuccia Prada for this winter?

You all have your hats? You got your Barbour coat?  Your tweed?  Your khakis, your russets, your camels?

Everyone have their thigh high fishing waders?

No?

Well then what are you going to sink your teeth into this winter?

Translation : Tim Sullivan

*Translator’s note : Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Tradition (French : Chasse, Pêche, Nature, Tradition) is a political party in France (CPNT) that aims to defend the traditional values of rural France. If they were über fashionable, they’d look like these two up above.

I see more and more girls letting their hair go naturally curly.

Aaaah. I love it.

Continuer »

So, obviously, the photo above here isn’t me, nor is it my bike. But just to show you the coolitude of biking in Amsterdam, you needed to see at least one real Dutch girl on a real Dutch bike.

Because you’re constantly passing cool girls on bikes in Amsterdam. It’s simple, I asked around. It’s that no one knows anyone who doesn’t have a bike. Whoa, that’s a tough one. I’ll try again: everyone has a bike.

“It’s so great. You all have rock hard thighs,” I said. I’m so perceptive.
“It’s not that,” Ramona said. “Our legs don’t get anything from biking now. They’re too used to it.”

Aha. It’s still not fair.

Ramona was my guardian angel during these few wonderful days in Amsterdam. She was the one who glued me to my bike for the first half hour. She was also the one that taught me these :

- When you park your bike in the middle of the 350 other bikes all clustered together in each spot, if you knock them all over, IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT. It’s the owners’ fault who poorly parked them. “Even if you make ALL of them fall, Ramona?” “Yes, Garance. As long as yours is standing tall, you can leave with your head up. No one will say a thing.” Duly noted. And more than once.

- You can do everything on your bike… Talk on the phone, Google a restaurant, eat a sandwich, hold an umbrella in the rain (EVERYONE does that. It’s impressive.), CHANGE YOUR SHOES WHILE PEDDLING, TAKE A NAP. You can even do some streetstyle on them. The proof is right above with Elza. When we found her, we were riding our bikes. We followed her for a bit, like true crazies on bikes.

- You have to give a name to your bike. It’s essential and that’s just how it is. When I asked what Ramona had named hers, she couldn’t tell me. But I really wanted to believe this whole name thing… like really… Check out this photo below and you’ll see, see what I’m saying?

There he was, lost in a sea of others. When I saw him, I knew he was mine. My bike, my ally, my companion. I couldn’t not give him a name.

Chuck Bass. Yep. What better name could define the mix of purebred elegance and risqué style? Because I’m telling you, with Chuck Bass, I promise you that no matter where you go, you’ll never go unnoticed. Aaaah, yep, it’s gotta be the stretch limo.

Yours truly looking ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS with my little red and white sign that said, “Hey there, I’m a tourist. So whenever you feel like cutting me off and being all pissy and irritated, go right ahead my dear ladies and gentlemen of Amsterdam.”

Oh who cares? It’s Chuck Bass and me, and I love him. And then this morning, looking at him for one last time before taking my train, I felt a little tear drop down my cheek. He didn’t even move.

These bikes, they’re such bastards.

Translation : Tim Sullivan

I don’t know which I like better, spending my time riding a bike or spending it at a table outside a café watching the people pass by. But life is so sweet during the summer in Amsterdam that I could almost forget why I’m here…

To work!  Merde!!! It’s six p.m. and I have a rendez-vous in a half hour!!!

That’s exactly what happened to me yesterday. I was on the jury for Lichting, the runway show for the recent graduates of the seven Dutch fashion schools. I knew that I would be up there with my dear Suzie Bubble, Wendy Dagworthy and Lucas Ossedrijver, the wonderful men’s designer for Lanvin.

But what I didn’t know was that I would have to speak in front of 700 people.

Yeah, okay, so I do love speaking, but even I had a couple minutes where I thought about trying to escape. 700 people. And then on top of that, I was in my day outfit for taking photos and riding around on my bike, and I didn’t have a second to change and so I felt rather power woman, if you know what I mean.

Continuer »