another night another dance floor

(Cobrasnake photo cred)

Sometime it seems like no matter where you start all roads lead to one place. For me that place is my nighttime location of choice,
Le Baron. Check your inhibitions and dignity at the door, this place is not for the faint of heart. Run by nightlife aficionados La Clique, Baron is the perfect place to let loose and hit the floor until 6am. Artists employed as DJs spin tracks that keep the bodies moving until the crack of dawn. The music is so fantastic that people actually dance instead of perching pretentiously behind bottle service - what a novel concept. If your stiletto clad feet need a break you can always squeeze your way into one of the many banquettes that line the dance floor. That is, if you can squeeze past the bouncer first; the door is tight.

Drink of choice: le baron, alright so the name won't win any awards for originality but this concoction filled with champagne and vodka is delishhh!
If I could take it intravenously, I WOULD.

Notable resident: Boris the bartender always gives service with a smile.

red planet

Photographed by Chris Colls.

Sweet bodysuit, green bow shoes, and bronze Prada dress.

Public transportation is clearly overrated

It's 4:30 in the morning and as is so often the case in France, there are no cabs to be found. What to do? Well if you're like most Parisians you either get on a velib and bike home, or if you're not a fan of the drunken Tour de France, then you wait until 5:30 when the metro opens. The Parisian metro simply encourages bad behavior by stopping from 2:00 to 5:30am. That's a guaranteed extra 3 1/2 hours of unintentional lechery. Of course then you figure, I'm out until 5:30 anyway, what's the harm in few extra hours? And so I often find myself heading home around sunrise, heels in hand, just in time to greet the morning shopkeepers on St. Honore. I'm convinced that the sales accociate at Lanvin thinks I'm a women of loose morals.
Bad bad bad behavior.

POP

Giambattista Valli Spring/Summer 2010

Coral is such a hard colour to do well.

And those shoooooes.

So says Earnest and so says I

(Colin P. holds down the fort at the Hemingway)

Paris is home to many things, great music, fantastic art, superior fashion; it is not, however home to the classic cocktail. Trying to find a decent martini in this city is like searching for meaning in a Will Ferrell movie - a confusing, impossible, and ultimately fruitless endeavor. One of the sole exceptions is my local joint at Place Vendôme: the Hemingway Bar, located in the Ritz hotel, which represents all that is great about old school Paris. Dark wood paneling, leather club chairs, cucumber water and warm nuts....life could be worse.

Pretentious? Yes. Amazing? You bet!

Earnest Hemingway certainly thought so. He was a loyal patron to the bar that was eventually renamed in his honor. Rumour has it that Hemingway was so eager to announce the end of the German occupation that he fired a shotgun into the ceiling of the Ritz bar to celebrate - but not before ordering a cocktail first. Such a character.

Grab some close friends, and spend an evening talking politics in a place without thumping techno music. Reservations are not allowed but neither are jeans or T-shirts. Keep it clean and classy, this place has a semi-formal dress code.

Drink of choice: Classic dry martini. I prefer mine with vodka, chilled to exactly -18.3 degrees celcius, 3 olives please. (One of the few places in Paris they'll have the common decency not to drown you in Vermouth).

Notable resident: Colin P, is largely reported to be the best bartender in the world. I'll back that.

weekend warrior

*asleep at 4
*fashion exam at 8
*leisurely stroll
*vintage rummaging in the marais
*books held hostage at pompedou, damn strikers
*lunch with bunny
*champagne and punk rock by beaubourg, thanks irish.
*yoga can wait
*italian dins with my two favorite girls
*buffalo mozza on everything
*limoncello parting gift
*drinks with two frenchies
*rue cler sleepover, as per usual
*ladurée monthly fix.
*catch up drinks at amour, it's been too long
*baron baron baron
*early saturday night/sunday morning
*flea market finds
*brrr it's cold
*studyage?
*let's not and say we did

Move over Armadillos

Definitely inspired by Margiela, Brazilian shoe designer Andrei Chaves is causing a sensation with her unorthodox footwear.

("invisible shoe": made out of flexible glass)

("form and texture shoe": made out of wood cubes)

("twirled shoe": made out of PVC and metal)

I'm normally not such a huge fan of footwear that is this avant-garde but I'm really feeling this collection.

Invisible shoes are hot.