It is my experience that, when you live in a city, you sometimes “skip” seeing it from a tourist’s point of view. I’ve been living in London for the past 6 months, & visited so many times before moving here…yet there are so many things I’ve missed out on.

I have decided I want to get to know this city properly, & I’m going to take one day/afternoon every month to see something new. 

My friend Barbara (whom I’ve known since I was 16 years old) has been in town for the past couple of days. On Friday we met up in front of Buckingham Palace to watch Changing the Guard at 11am. 

One hour later, we walked across Green Park and up to The Ritz Hotel for famous Afternoon Tea (it was actually our brunch). It had been recommended to me a few times- & because we had a year’s worth of stories to catch up on- Barbara and I decided to give it a try. We had a scrumptious tray of sandwiches, scones & cakes that came with our pots of tea (Green). It was delicious, & loads of fun. I recommend it to anybody planning a London trip- or wanting to get to know their hometown a little bit better (& also recommend that you book in advance). 

Lx

by Laura Hayden

05.03.13

Paris

30 Avenue Montaigne

Last Monday I had breakfast at Dior’s Paris HQ to view their Autumn-Winter 2013 collection.

It was fun to gain insight into Raf Simons’ world, concept & ideas for next Fall. He has rescued Dior’s signature houndstooth (the fabric is very present throughout the entire collection & accessories)- & mixed it with his own surrealist mood. 

I loved the cut of the dresses & skirts, specially the mini dresses. Simons has also rescued old sketches from Dior’s sketchbooks & printed them on shopping bags & clutches.

After tea & fresh pastries were served, guests had the chance to pick out their favourite outfit and style it with accessories, creating their favourite Dior look for next AW. The outfit pictured in the last photo was mine :)

I hope that you are having a good start to the week,

Lx

05.03.13

Grand Palais, Paris.

Paris > London > Madrid in the past 24hrs.

I’m currently sat in a Starbucks in central Madrid (long live free wifi). I’ve been ill since Monday, up since 4am, and at a photo shoot since I landed this morning at 10am. I haven’t had time to remove crazy hair & make-up, I just wanted to sit down with a green tea & breathe.

Paris is always hectic, surreal & romantic (in a “Midnight in Paris” kind of way). Chanel has been the highlight of my Paris Fashion Week (RTW) experiences for the past 4 seasons, & this season was no exception (although I did go to Disneyland on Saturday and that was rather amazing).

A massive globe filled the Grand Palais, & models orbited around it in Karl’s Autumn-Winter 2013 creation. A collection with black as its main color; grungy boots & chains; oversized & comfy-looking coats; casual tweeds; tons of leather details; and lovely little black dresses. All I can say is YES PLEASE. I also loved the song choices for the show (you can hear the tracks in the video bellow). 

After almost a week of cold & rainy weather, it was nice to enjoy a bit of Parisian sunshine. I had breakfast with Bip, & then we went to the show together. I also got to meet Jessica Chastain, whose work I’ve followed (and loved) since I saw her in The Help. It was a wonderful way of spending my last day in Paris.

Here is a video I managed to film at the show. Click here to see what I wore. 

Time to go home & get some rest. London tomorrow, and back to work on FARO EP :)

Lx

Lx