Seine, sun and a free festival!

As festival fever gets even hotter and the line of long summer weekends filled with music, sun, cider and friends continue, we thank our friends over in Cali-for-ni-a for kick starting the season with Coachella, and then head back across the pond to Glastonbury, Global Gathering, IOW, Secret Garden Party, V, Reading...the list is endless. Having already missed out on some of the UK's best festivals and without the opportunity to bask in the *cough* British summer sun this year... when a lovely French friend of mine shot me a text to meet her at Hotel de Ville for Festival fnac live, I was there in a flash.

As the 30+ degree sunshine shone down onto the Parisian boulevards we soaked up the chilled out festival atmosphere, beer in hand, music in full swing. A different experience per se... in the middle of a busy city, no tents, no mud, no wellies; instead, a four night event with a scenic back drop {Hotel de Ville, the Notre Dame and the Seine}, free of charge and just a short walk back to my comfy bed post party. Ideal.

Festival Fnac Live

18th-21st July 2013

Loving the line up:

Including but not exclusively: Miles Kane, Villagers, Lily Wood & The Prick, Concrete Knives, Christine and The Queens, Natas Loves You...

Hotel de Ville, comfy Converse and a chilling Grolsch to get us in the swing

Who'd have thought you were in Paris?
Peace. Love. Music.

Saturday's headline act Lily Wood & The Prick

E x

All things floral...

One of my favourite and most beautiful places in Paris, Jardin des Plantes...

I'm sorry, I got a bit over obsessed with floral-photo-taking... they're just so pretty I couldn't resist!

Located on the Rive-Gauche, towards the east of Paris, these gorgeous gardens surround the Natural History Museum. {Closest metro's Quai de la Rappé and Gare d'Austerlitz - although walk, run or vélib is my suggestion!} 

Not only do I adore wondering around the gardens, smelling the sweet scent of summer, only a ten minute run from chez moi, the gardens are a wonder to run laps around. A serene and tranquil environment for any mood. Take a book and park yourself on a bench or take friends, fromage et vin and picnic into the evening. You'll never know who or what you'll come accross, buzzing bees, and nature in all it's forms, including a party of Parisians who chose to take a step back in time {penultimate photo}.

If you're ever in Paris, please go, I promise you you'll be in jardin paradis.

E x

She's smiling like the Cheshire cat!

Vote Miss Eleanor Diaries for the Best Newcomer award!

Oh Em Gee! Whoopiee!

I literally cannot believe it... what started out as a blog about my year abroad, keeping my family and friends up to date on my French whereabouts has got where it has! After entering on a whim, for the fun of it, and not expecting to hear anything or get anywhere, 43,000 entrants and fourteen categories later my blog has been short-listed for the Cosmopolitan Blog awards 2013 in the Best Newcomer category!

THANK YOU to everyone who nominated for me to be short-listed and for everyone who has read and supported me and my blog! If I could just ask for a teeny two more minutes of your time...

Click here to vote

The judging process is based 50% on a panel of judges and the other 50% on votes so each and every one of your (and your friends and family's) votes count! I'd really really appreciate it, if you think my blog is worth it and enjoy reading it, if you could click here and vote for Miss Eleanor Diaries in the category Best Newcomer!

Voting closes 30th August 2013 so plenty of time to spread the word! Just don't leave it too late and forget ;)

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! 

Lots of Parisian love, kisses and bisous 

E 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Pretentious or practical?

Get the designer look for less.

As much as many people turn their noses up at luxury designers and fashion week catwalks, deeming them to be pretentious and far too overly price, in some respects I totally agree. However I don't think people quite realise how much of an influence top designers such as Dolce & Gabbana, Kenzo, Stella McCartney {and the list could go on}, have on the clothes we choose to wear day-in day-out. Having worked for a high-end fashion company {be it children's or not} for the last year I've worked through three seasons worth of trends: Autumn/Winter '12, Spring/Summer '13 and now Autumn/Winter '13 and have come to realise just how much influence top designers have on the shelves of high-street brands. I now walk into shops and see people on the street and can easily recognise certain prints, some of their brand origin and influences, and which designers introduced which trends to the market. 

Take Kenzo for example, the current it brand featuring the infamous Kenzo tiger print this season, which I have seen mini-me's trickle down through to the children's market with stocks flying off the shelf! Below highlights the influence the designer's famous print had on the runway to Zara's design team. Okay so the print isn't an exact replica but the idea and basic outline resembles that of Kenzo.

The original Kenzo tiger motif jumpers at 195€.

Zara's influence for these jumpers probably came from the best selling Kenzo runway pieces, currently in the sale both selling at 16.99€.  See here and here.

Spot the difference:

One of these pairs of blue spotted trousers, first walked on the British fashion designer, Stella McCartney runway, costs a dear 475€ whilst the other is currently sitting at £12 in the H&M summer sale, but which one's which?

Shop the H&M pair here and Stella McCartney here.

Dolce & Gabbana may just be another pretentious luxury brand, that only celebrities or people with stupid amounts of money can afford, but this season their range of catwalk trends have been seen influencing even Primark's collection! Their Two coloured stripe dress which began life at £1,420 and now sits in the sale at a comfortable {I joke!} £994 has been replicated on shop floors all over the place: Topshop, Oasis, Primark...

But can you tell the difference? Which one is the real £994 D&G dress, which one is the £35 Oasis dress and which one the £12 Primark dress?

...and following on from another big catwalk hit by Dolce & Gabbana and their SS13 Sicilian theme...Oasis took to recreating the trending print.

Oasis' Toby Sicilian Skater Dress is only £50 while the original concept D&G Sicilian Cart Print Sun Dress sells for £462.

I know it's difficult to comprehend spending ludicrous amounts of money on clothing {I totally agree} but without top designers and their creative innovations, creating runway trends, we wouldn't have such interesting rails to peruse through on shopping trips down Oxford Circus, Rue de Rivoli, or even your local high-street, so here's just an insight into where our own wardrobes might have started their lives...

E x