Reader's style challenge ~ how to wear a roll neck sweater with a scarf

A while ago, dear adesigna was asking about how to combine a roll neck sweater with a scarf. Today it's cold and miserable, in short a perfect day to tackle the challenge! The only downside is the bad photo quality, but there was not much natural light to speak off.

For extra warmth and comfort, opting for a cowboy knot, and dipping into winter capsule wardrobe pieces. A pair of jeans and a black roll neck are probably one of the most standard winter 'uniforms', and can be easily be dressed up or down with boots, loafers or heels.

Many thanks, dearest adesigna for this fab challenge! xx

Capsule pieces: jeans, black roll neck sweater
Shoes: ankle boots
Accessories: Cent Plis des Miao 90 Carré, black clic and blue indiennes clic-clac bracelet, black Birkin
Scarf tying method: Cowboy knot, ends secured with a black Moyenne MT scarf ring

Wishing everyone a great week ahead x

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Yesterday in Paris...

it was a cold, but beautiful day. I had a busy morning, and went for a visit to FSH in the late afternoon. As usual, I approached from the rue Boissy d'Anglas, rather than going along the rue Faubourg St Honoré, as I love walking past the bay tree planters along the Hôtel de Crillon, which look like a guard of honour, leading the way to H. The flowers and greens that make the ground cover are constantly renewed and changed, and checking on the current look is almost as much of a treat as trying to recognise which scarves the horseman on the rooftop of FSH (La légende du Poisson Corail) is holding this time.

Last week, all windows (except of the big corner window, which still showed the beautiful autumn forest) were covered, and I was hoping to see new displays this time. No such luck though, they all had lowered blinds, only that the main window's one didn't quite reach the floor..as I got closer, I could see an array of spring flowers through the gap.

Spring flowers around Christmas time! At first I thought they must be placeholders, but when inside FSH, I noticed the door that gives access to the corner window was open, and saw a huge array of more pastel flowers waiting to be arranged and brought in. The walls were covered with a pale mint colored fabric..looking very much forward to seeing the wonders that will evolve..

Inbetween the bag and saddle department, this beautiful camel reminds visitors of the 'Petit h' event (Nov 4th to Dec 13th) which takes place on the first floor. 'Petit h' is a temporary gallery/shop, filled with amazing items that have been made out of discarded or scrap pieces of the ateliers, or out of items with small faults. It's a beautiful concept of recycling, and as every piece is handcrafted to perfection, 'up-cycling' might be a better word!

Leather swatches were turned into postcards or place mats, scarves with minor defects into shopping nets, evening bags or lamp shades, and broken crystal glasses into chandeliers. All pieces are for sale, and one off.

These 'drainpipe' type of necklaces were great statement pieces, light as a feather and made of pleated scarves (I recognized Boutons De Vénerie, Ex Libris Camouflage, Cent Plis Des Miao and La Charmande Aux Animaux), and below some equaly amazing braided leather colliers (in Rouge H Box, and black Swift)

On leaving FSH, I crossed through the small and picturesque 'Le Village', which is always stunningly decorated at Christmas time. I took the left pic when already half way through, and the right one on leaving.. the time inbetween was spent in one of the villages' shops, sucessfully finding a new ski suit. Really happy about it, as in the last few years I only ever remembered just before the skiing holidays, at which time of course there were none left in the shops.

It has been a great day, not just because of the fun at FSH and shopping, but I had a very good meeting in the morning, checking on the final stages of my (soon to be launched) new generation of scarf fur collars, made in the city of lights.

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Capsule wardrobe #23 - Reader's style challenge

Today's reader's style challenge comes from Lilian, who told me that she is fatigued by the formal jackets that have been her business attire for years. Instead, she would rather incorporate cardigans into her work outfits, as she prefers their softer, natural and more feminine feel. The question was, how to accessorise a cardie to make it a work appropriate look, avoiding a too casual appearance.

Wonderfully enough, the question could be combined with a capsule wardrobe post, I am always happy if the two series conincide! A crisp white shirt is a good starting point to give structure to the soft shape of a cardigan, and a neutral, almost stark, colour palette (black/grey/white) emphasising the point further. Instead of a soft scarf and flamboyant knot, a small Gavroche worn in the basic slide knot gives an organised look, while a few accents of jewellery and a belt buckle add interest without being too playful.

Capsule pieces: black trousers, white shirt, charcoal cardigan
Shoes: low heels
Accessories: 'Vif Argent' Gavroche, Muse belt buckle with black box belt strap, black clic-clac bracelet, Farandole necklace
Scarf tying method: Basic slide
Scarf ring: Moyenne black, MT Collection

Double Gavroche twist knot

Over the last couple of days, I had fun trying out gracekelly's double Gavroche trick, and playing with various combinations. My favourite so far is a black/blue and cassis/orange Ex-Libris, tied in a Twist knot.

To honour a few requests for a detailed how-to, here is a photo step-by-step. Fold each Gavroche in the basic bias fold, and then tie them together at one end with a scarf ring or a small double knot.







Place the resulting long stripe on your neck, with the ends hanging down your front. From there, you can try a variety of knots, with or without scarf rings.

For a necklace type of look, proceed with the Twist knot. Cross both ends, bring them back behind your neck, and then feed them simply through the scarf ring to secure (or make another small double knot)







Today it's cold and grey outside, and it has not stopped raining all day. We are having friends over for a casual Sunday lunch and will spend the rest of the afternoon by the cosy fire. Wearing my Gavroche Twist knot and a soft and big cardie. Have a wonderful rest of the weekend everyone!


Here is a pic from some time ago, trying the same principle with two 70 Carrés, only bringing the ends back to the front and then securing them with a double knot.

Maximizing on Gavroches, by guest author gracekelly

A couple of weeks ago, I received an email by my friend gracekelly, with a fabulous idea on how to maximize the use of Gavroches, to be shared with the readers of this blog. I thought this would be a wonderful opportunity to introduce her as my first guest author, and graciously she accepted the invitation:

Dearest MaiTai,

Thanks so much for giving me the inspiration to play with my scarves, in particular, the pochette/gavroche. I have always like them to hang on my handbag, and now with your small scarf ring, and the fur collars, they have found a new occupation! It occurred to me that I could extend their usefulness even more by combining them. I had two in the same pattern, Brazil, and that was my start. I then tried matching colorways and those two were...... Another combo was just picking out a color from one and trying it with another pattern. Trial and error all the way.

[All pictures © by gracekelly]

'La tour Eiffel s'envole' and 'La pluie d'etincelles'

'Crayons' and 'Tohu Bohu'

'Bolduc' and 'La tour Eiffel s'envole'


Added by MaiTai:
Thank you so much, my dear gracekelly, I love this idea and am honored that you agreed to be my first guest author. It is truly amazing how much mileage this method gives to Gavroches, and I admire how harmoniously you have combined the different designs and colors. The outcome is fabulous! Mille merci xx

How-to: Fold two Gavroches in the basic bias fold, and tie them together at one end with a small knot or scarf ring. From there, experiment with different knots and ways to tie.


Place the resulting long stripe on your neck, with the ends hanging down your front. From there, you can try a variety of knots, with or without scarf rings.

Jumping boots ~ and how they age

in black box leather - 1 year old

in mocca box leather - new
 
side by side

Yesterday in Paris...

it has been sunny and fresh, and I had a busy day. Some of the fun, fabulous and beautiful things I saw on my way made me stop and get my camera out, like these Chihuahuas in St Germain, wearing coats to keep warm on their promenade (not quite as distinguished looking as Louise's Arnie and Siggi in their H finery)

waiting for the lights to turn....


...C'est parti !!

... lined up spools while sourcing ribbon

... a shop dedicated to Champagne ('mai tai'pe of place, lol)
Cave St. Sulpice
3, rue St. Sulpice
75006 Paris
Tel: +33 (1) 53 100 100

the golden city lights and evening sky I saw on my way to FSH
 .. and the limited edtion 'Photos-souvenirs au carré' Carrés displayed at FSH, a result of Hermes' collaboration with french artist Daniel Buren. The scarves are ink-jet instead of screen printed, allowing a most realistic reproduction of Buren's 'photo souvenirs' art works.

wall hanging displays and Buren's 'photo souvenirs' book

To find out more about H's artist collaboration with Daniel Buren, click on the link below

Wallpaper article

Ending the day with a glass of champagne at the Train Bleu, while waiting for the train back home, wearing 'La Femme aux Semelles de Vent' in the basic bias fold, held in place by a black MT scarf fur collar.


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Updated capsule wardrobe Autumn/Winter

Much like bringing out winter clothes and shoes at the beginning of autumn, and storing away dresses, summery tops and trousers, the capsule wardrobe needed a seasonal update too. I replaced the beige blazer with a navy one, the white jeans with a pair of black denim, sleeveless tops with sweaters etc. Many pieces work all year round, such as the white and black shirts, blue jeans, black blazer and a few more. Looking forward to include the winter staples into our 'kaleidoscope' game, and bring them to life with accessories!

New additions to the list are marked in orange, all year round staples in black

First row:
Charcoal cardie and navy blazer
Second row
black and white shirts
Third row
chocolate leather jacket and black blazer
Fourth row:
black jeans, blue jeans, camel corduroy jeans
Fifth row:
khaki cotton, grey pencil and checked wool trousers
Sixth row:
black viscose/acetat and grey wool trousers
Seventh row:
sleeveless black top with collar, sleeveless camel knitted top, black roll neck sweater
Eigth row:
black, purple and chocolate sweater
Ninth row:
black knitted waistcoat, taupe sweater and black pinstripe waistcoat

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Capsule wardrobe #22 - Reader's style challenge

Today's post combining another capsule episode with a reader's style challenge, submitted by C.

"Here is another wardrobe challenge.
Wearing leather separates, such as a jacket, pants, or dress, with Hermes."

I chose the same basic outfit (jacket and jeans) I've been wearing for a walk in the countryside a couple of posts ago, as I thought it would be fun to see how much the overall look changes just by teaming it up with different accessories. And since it's been mild and sunny in the last couple of days, it was nice to dip into lighter colors again, and give the 'Modulation' scarf it's first outing.

Capsule pieces: jeans, chocolate tank top
Additional wardrobe piece: chocolate leather jacket
Shoes: chocolate loafers
Accessories: Modulation 70 Carré, Capitales enamel, Garden Party Toile H
Scarf ring: MT Collection Moyenne bone
Scarf tying method: Criss-cross knot. For a how-to video, please click here



Many thanks for the lovely comments on my previous post, and the warm welcome to the additons of my scarf ring collection. Will come back to you ladies shortly (when finished sending scarf ring babies to their new homes across the globe)



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