White Week-end I

I told you a few days ago that I was really excited because I was headed to the seaside for the White Week-end in Mamaia. Untill now everything was really great - Thursday evening Vozianov fashion show and yesterday private Paula Seling jazz concert... Tonight I'm going to skip the closing dinner of the week-end in favour of a more entertaining option: a Mika concert on the beach. I can't say I'm a great fan, but hey... it's free and it's on the beach!

At the fashion show I took pictures with another camera and I forgot my card reader at home, so you'll have to wait for that until Monday or Tuesday when my vacation is over ;) so for now you'll be hearing about the concert.

For those of you who don't know who Paula Seling is, she is a Romanian singer and songwriter, as well as a DJ. She released so far 13 pop music albums and won several trophies in Romania. What brought her into the international limelight was her participation at this year's Eurovision Song Contest representing Romania, where came in 3rd. She has a smooth voice and yesterday's concert was in a very intimate jazzy atmosphere. There were only about 20 people attending the concert which was really cool, I don't know what the other guests of the hotel were doing in the meantime...

Dont forget about the story behind the Vozianov fashion show in a few days! Have a great week-end!

Dress to impress fair @ Villa Rodizio

I'm on my way to the seaside for the White Week-end in Mamaia. I'm so excited to leave the city, but also a bit sad to miss an important event - the vintage, handmade and designer fair at Villa Rodizio in Bucharest this Saturday and Sunday.

The last fair was really interesting and it also featured a fashion show, so for those of you who read my blog from time to time, you already know how cool it is. The location is great within a XIXth century villa in the centre of Bucharest near Gradina Icoanei, the perfect atmosphere for this kind of event. Apparently this time there will be even more treats for the visitors - a Macarons tasting from Madame Lucie. If you happen to pass by, tell me how good they are!

Enjoy the fair!

Style Profile: Carine Roitfeld

Carine Roitfeld has been editor-in-chief of French Vogue since 2001. If that doesn't say it all, maybe the nomination amongst Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world in 2008 or her being featured in Vanity Fair's Top 10 best dressed women that same year will. She is the very definition of Parisian chic, having been brought up in a "very bourgeois" atmosphere in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, as she says. She has very interesting origins - her father was a Russian film director and her mother "a classical Parisian woman".

Defining traits: straight falling hair, heavy eyebrows and smoky eyes; style-wise: she adores black, she always wears high heels and almost never a bag, she doesn't like bags. Browsing through the next pictures you will see she isn't snobbish about what she wears, she finds new ways of mixing her clothes and giving them a new flair. You will also see that she apparently has a favourite pair of Louboutin shoes that she wears on many occasions... Who wouldn't? Hahaha.

She is a former model and consultant for some big fashion houses like Tom Ford, Gucci or Yves Saint Laurent. She wrote a column for Elle magazine before being appointed to editor-in-chief for the French Vogue that she completely restyled. Either in a busy city between shoots and interviews or at a hip party, she is always stylish.

Either a fur addict or very subtle she is always on the best-dressed list of any important event. She isn't a bag fan and hates the idea of displaying wealth through logos. The next photo-mix shows what I thought was one of the subtlest and most refined touches of personality I ever saw: at this year's Menswear Paris Fashion Week she wore a small Chanel bag with her initials embroidered on it. (Photo of the embroidery: Garance Doré)

She is very upfront. She rarely wears a watch or a bag. She has a daughter and a son and has been in love with the same man, Christian Restoin, for more than 30 years. She looks great. And she's 55. Could the world be more perfect?

Seaside serenity

Channel at low tide. Deauville.

Deauville is a small town on the northern coast of France in Normandy. At first glance it may seem too bourgeois, but that's what I like about it - it has that je ne sais quoi that translates into class and subtlety and the serenity of a vacation at the seaside without the luring tourists around you.

Renowned for its very rich visitors in the past, Deauville has a Casino and many imposing hotels and mansions on the waterfront. But that's not what makes its beauty, it would all be in vain without the never ending beach and the lighthouse. In fact, you already caught a glimpse of this marvelous beach and of its lighthouse a few weeks ago, in Hot weather... The beach is huge, but treacherous - the tide can be very quick and take off with... let's say your shoes (that's what happened to me!) or other belongings you might hold dear! The weather is generally not very hot and neither is the water, but just imagine waking up early in the morning to go for a walk on the golden sand, wind fluttering in your ears and not a soul around you for miles.

Beach. Deauville.

Waterfront mansions. Deauville.

The food is great, there are some typical dishes you may want to try, but the fresh fish and seafood are the real treat. The locals are very open and friendly and you will have a great time in one of the small restaurants.

My favourite part of Deauville other than the beach? The channel you have to cross in order to get from the train station to the Casino and the beach. In the morning you just cross it by foot, but in the afternoon you might have a problem with that - a boat would be a better option, unless you're the swimming type ;)

Channel at low tide. Deauville.

Channel at high tide. Deauville.