playing dress up with agnes b

0 CommentsWednesday • October 17, 2012 • by phoebe

A few weeks ago I did a little photoshoot with agnès b which involved me having to wear one of their little black dresses in my own way and prancing and posing in Fitzroy Square. Here’s one of the pics from the shoot… Maya Glaser was the very cool photographer who took the pictures and made me feel like a ‘mawdel’ – no mean feat as I reeeeally don’t like having my picture taken.

Fun comes from the unexpected, subverting and surprising expectations. That’s why I chose to wear this Gallic garment with quintissentially English accessories – my beloved Luella ‘Parker’ bag, battered red suede courts from Asos and a Tatty Devine name necklace.

I like to think of agnès b as the chic, slightly batty grand-mère of the French brands that I love to wear – especially APC and Paul & Joe Sister. What I love about these labels is that even the plainest pieces always have an unexpected twist – a jazzy lining, or some odd buttons – which subverts the notion that the French take fashion oh so seriously.

We tend to see Gallic style as classic, timeless and ever-so-slightly stale in a never-put-a-foot-wrong sort of way and cliche dictates that French girls always look chic because they wear essentially the same clothes as their mothers –  the silk scarf, the navy blazer – while English chicks are a hot mess. While there may be some truth to this, there are so many exceptions that the rule becomes almost redundant – there’s a definite seam of eccentricity running through French fashion, and the English have their own traditional rules of dress too. I guess what I’m trying to say is: Entente Cordiale FTW!

Posted in: STYLE

Tagged with: agnès b, Chic, Maya Glaser, Parisian style