J'aime Mon Carre

I have always absolutely loved anything from Hermes because of there boldly beautiful colors and an eye-catching patterns. There style is timeless. The same scarves they produced 100 years ago are just as stylish as the ones they design today. I am absolutely, positively infatuated with their new addition on their website which is dedicated to their infamous scarves, "j'aime mon carre" (translating to "i love my scarf").  Hermes showcases the girls of London, NYC, Paris and Tokyo and the endless ways you can rock your Hermes scarf...I could easily spend all day on this site.

Liberty of London--Home of the Original Floral Prints

I have been itching to do a blog post on Liberty of London, one of the world's oldest and most distinguished department stores. In the last year Liberty has teamed up with Target, Hermes, Mac and J.Crew--all household favorites, ranging from affordable to elite price tags. If you haven't been to the actual deptartment store, it is located behind Regent Street in an old English tudor-style mansion and can not be missed--it is ginormous! If you are coming through Soho and onto Carnaby Street, you will be hit with their famous bright pink floral print wallpaper facade (so clever!). Inside, the actual store is a breathtaking combination of high fashion mixed in within the ornate arts and crafts style interior. Liberty houses the most beautiful scarves, handbags, fashion lines, furniture and even their own signature fabrics. When entering Liberty you must walk through the flower shop which is located right at the entry way and is filled with beautiful, fresh flowers. Everything about this store is magical, especially the cascading light fixtures that falls through the center of the store. The tea room and cafe also look like a great place for an afternoon nibble, especially if you spend a whole day shopping away! I loved just strolling throughout the store casually making my way to the top. Unfortunately I wasn't able to take my own pictures, so I had to find some online to help illustrate my experience. It was neat to see what an impact one store has on fashion throughout the world. I was at Target this weekend and was able to see some of their pieces and ended up getting a candle to help me relive this magical place. It was nice to see that London is slowly falling me back to the States...I have also been inspired to pick up painting this summer and I think one of my first projects will be too do one of the liberty prints on a large canvas. I feel like you can't go too wrong with a large floral pattern, bright colors and big brush strokes :)

Flower shop near Entrance

Carnaby Street Wallpapered Facade

Interior

Hermes Pour Liberty

Liberty for MAC

J.Crew Liberty Print Dress

My blank canvas inspirations...I feel like these would look nice as a set in my apartment at school...

All Images Courtesy of Liberty, J.Crew, MAC, Hermes, Google

Hermes Window Shopping

Image: courtesy of cyana.tv

I just got back from Paris on Sunday where I met my family for the weekend and now I am taking them around my "hometown" of London this week. I am so happy having them here, it has been so nice seeing them and taking them around to my favorite areas as well as doing the typical "touristy" things.

I thought I would share really quickly my highlight of Paris which was in fact a brand new exhibit, The Orient Hermes. Usually when I think of Hermes I picture the signature bag or their colourful scarves, so I was intrigued to see what this exhibit was going to be about. It had that just opened at the beautifully modern Arab Institute only just a few weeks ago. The building itself is quite beautiful and incredibly modern, when I walked through parts of it are still under construction which goes to show how new it is to Paris. It's one of the few modern buildings I have seen off of the Seine River. (Each square is the height of one floor to put the building into perspective--it's quite large)

Image: Courtesy of archinspire.com

Images: Courtesy of flickr.com

The exhibit is stunning collection of different themed Hermes window displays were full of bags, accessories, plates and even authentic saddles. Each window was a specific theme yet still carefully placed throughout the set. Each window of bags, accessories, plates that went along with the inspiring location of the collection.

The whole exhibition was not too large but such a fun and refreshing one to visit especially after seeing the Louvre and the Muse D'Orsay which is a tad overwhelming...Here are a few of the window displays courtesy of the Arab Institute.

Nautical Parisian Collection

Indian Festival Collection

Indian Terrace Collection

While I was at I just googled Hermes window exhibits just to get a taste of some their previous windows--all of which I loved! Not to mention their beautiful place settings--timeless. It's safe to say I have a crush on everything about Hermes, but for now I'm going to have to just look from a distance :)

Images: Courtesy of nitrolicious.com

Images: google.com

Image: apartmenttherapy.com

Image: Domino

If only I had designer plates to hang on my wall...what a life!