When I said this was going to be a Paris-inspired week, I defintiely meant it. Garance Dore – need I say more? She’s the perfect blend of chic and effortless that everyone else, including me, aspires to. I don’t understand how you can be so relaxed but so put together at the same time. I think it’s because she’s comfortable in her own skin, and not just in her own clothes. She gives due time to classics like a pressed white shirt or beautifully made fedora, but at the same time, manages to incorporate the of-the-moment in a way that would be way beyond me. I can do the classic pieces but that’s about it. But she’s not coated in layers of make-up, or oodles of recognizable outfits from catalogs – she’s just got her own thing going and it fits her. Even if she’s shooting, I love that there are heels and a legit handbag peeking out, and none of that takes away from her talent. Why is it assumed that photographers have to be drab and shabby? Mais, non.
Here’s the thing though, I wonder if she feels as Parisian as we make her out to be. She’s not Parisian per se, she’s from Corsica, she has an American boyfriend and she’s constantly on the go. They sound like small things, at least, they do to me or to a typical American, but I’ve been in Paris long enough to know that these are pretty big breaks from the norm. The city can be, um, shall we say, “rigid”? Especially when it comes to doing things a little differently. I first used to think it’s me, but I realize that it’s mostly just them. Case in point: this trip we went out for a nightcap, my French-living-in-Paris-for-5-years friend and I and a group. She and I ordered champagne, she asks for a raspberry in hers. The waiter looks confused. She asks again. The waiter says “why?”. She replies because and he deadpans “but they aren’t even in season!”. Typical. Paris can get you down like that. But one look at the Eiffel Tower and you can get past it pretty quickly. And I bet Garance orders her champagne confidently any way that she wants it.
I like that she has a sense of humor about herself. Fashion stops being fun when it's stressful and she doesn't seem to let it get to her. I really like her, too!