FASHION Magazine

Dashing off to Paris for the weekend to get your hair done not an option? Don’t fret—we just discovered something that will make you feel like you’re at a salon in le Marais. Cut by Fred is a beauty blog by French hairstylist Frédéric Birault, who made a career styling hair on fashion shoots, film sets, and for chanteuses like Vanessa Paradis. The blog is home to dozens of dreamy Instagram-ish video tutorials of Birault styling the hair of friends and clients, with him murmuring directions as pop songs play in the background. We don’t speak French fluently, but imagine the narrative goes something like this: “Now, I caress my hand up the back of your neck and whisper ‘I love you’ in your ear, and place a bobby pin there. And another. And another. It’s so simple. Here, take my hand…”

Word: Franglais

Meaning: An interlanguage, a mash-up of French and English, commonly spoken by Americans in Paris or Canadian fashion writers trying to sound fancy. Sorry.

Usage: “Sometimes a bit of Franglais works wonders,” he says. “If you say ‘pommes au choix’ it sounds a lot better than steamed potatoes.” — Rankin, in a Toby Young review of Bellamy‘s in London

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Paying homage to her French roots, Montreal’s Marie St Pierre transformed the studio at LG Fashion Week into a tea party of French delights, complete with macarons and tunes from Paul Martin and Serge Gainsbourg to show her Spring 2012 collection. The installation layout had a podium in lieu of a runway and models stood statuesque, sharing a podium with six mannequins. St Pierre’s collection of mostly dresses was relaxed but refined, with long hemlines and exaggerated folds of sheer jersey. Leather rope hung from collars and hemlines, giving sheer black dresses a cool-girl edge. Since black and white took reign in many of the looks, our eyes popped when a red trapeze dress and emerald draped frock were thrown into the mix. We’re sure St Pierre’s easy, elegant dresses (minus the gold bathing caps the models were wearing) are guaranteed to show up on ladies at many a fete this spring.

If you’ve always dreamed of bike rides along the Seine, wearing Breton stripes, but meanwhile find yourself locked in your room with Vivre sa Vie and Serge Gainsbourg on repeat (is that just us?), you’re probably wary of books claiming to be guides to the Parisian lifestyle. Leave it to the ultimate Parisian It girl, Inès de la Fressange, to pen a guide to French style that is not only quite readable but useful too! Former muse to Karl Lagerfeld, de la Fressange has long been an icon in our eyes… and here are our 10 favourites from her many pearls of wisdom:

Yé-yé girls take note: There’s a whole blog devoted to drawings of Serge Gainsbourg. [HintMag]

Confirmed: Maybelline is the new cosmetics sponsor of New York Fashion Week. More interesting is what will happen with M.A.C’s reported shadow shows at Milk Studios. [WWD]

Crocs is on the brink. The company has until September to pay the millions they owe their creditors. What will my 3-year-old niece wear on her feet? Won’t someone think of the children?! [WaPo, via The Cut]