September 7th & 8th in Paris

September 7th, 2006: Today's most notable activities involved secondhand designer stores. I saw two, and both times my jaw dropped. For the first time in my life I saw designer things that I could blatantly afford, even though my budget might be blown post-purchase. The problem is, I am going to H&M, Collette, Printemps and Galeries Lafayette, all epicentres of French shopping. So I started to weigh options. Why do I want this? For some status brand name? What do I want status for? But the one piece will last my entire life! But I want more clothes than less! But I already have lots of clothes and no designer things (minus an Yves St. Laurent belt)! *sigh* I hate fighting with myself. No side ever wins because the arguments are always too powerful...

September 8th, 2006: Mon Dieu, what a day! May this date go down in (personal) history as the day that Isabel took Paris! In the morning, I was feeling distressed after last night's conscience argument and had no idea where my money would lead to. I was thrifty at H&M, buying only a cute necklace and a cream coloured headband with a bow on it. Zara was right next door so I decided to pop in for a look and ended up leaving with a simple black dress and emerald cardigan and sparkly peep-toe flats, bearing a frightening resemblance to Manoush. After Zara was a bigger, better H&M where I regret not buying a brown sweater with cats on it (sounds silly, maybe that decision was for the best). I don't regret not purchasing the Madonna tracksuit. That thing is u-g-l-y. Porr Madonna, having a momentary lapse in consciousness by allowing herself to promote such a chavvy rag. On to Galeries Lafayette, a 7 floor designer department store. Though no specific piece caught my eye, at least I got to touch Vivienne Westwood clothes. Now for Colette, apparently the trendiest store in Paris. I was expecting a store with that reputation to be much bigger, but clearly they value quality over quantity. Here I bought two books on street fashion. One was that Japanese magazine "Fruits" and the other is called "Identity". Ironically close to Colette was one of the secondhand designer stores! I still had Euros burning a hole in my pocket so I really had no choice but to adopt a darling Gucci wallet. It really just leaped into my hands through the glass cage in was being contained in. Here is a personal thankyou to Tom Ford for making me very happy. Or maybe I should be thanking Frida Giannini because she used to be a bag designer? I'll let them fight it out and whoever doesn't die can be the sole receiver of that compliment. So ends my day in true Paris form. I didn't buy too much, I didn't buy too little and I bought something that will last the test of time. Plus, with some leftover money, I treated my aunt, uncle and their French friend Martine all to gelato. It has been a tres bien trip. Abientot! (Okay, I'm not sure of the alt coldes for the correct accents to put on the letters.)


Note: the picture of the Gucci wallet is not actually mine. I'll post various pictures from the trip at a later date. Namely when school isn't revoltingly busy.