C'est la vie : Fashion

Vintage silk maxi-dress

La Tour d'Aigues, France

Chateau de Tour d'Aigues

A couple of months ago my friend angie made a quick stop in Aix en Provence while she was traveling through Europe. It's quite nice to have friends visit since they bring a little bit of home to where ever you are. And she sure did end up bringing me back , it was so refreshing!

We did a lot of sight-seeing, laughing, eating, drinking wine and of course shopping! For those of you who aren't familiar with me I absolutely love fashion! I love the way you express your personality with color, shapes, and fabric. I especially love the way it evolves with the season as we humans do. Fashion is the outermost expression of who you are, or how you want people to portray you. With fashion you can showcase this on a daily basis.

For me being up to date with the current fads, trends, or designers isn't the most important thing, it's expressing how you feel and who you are, it's your personal style.

With this being said, Angie and I set out to do some souvenir shopping and stumbled upon this really cool second hand store called Blow up in aix en Provence. You can check out an article with multiple pictures of the store HERE. (contact info below)

As we walked in I automatically saw this gorgeous, colorful, one of a kind, vintage 70s silk maxi dress, it was calling my name I swear! It was so perfect and I had to try it on. once I slipped into this dress I didn't want to get out. It fit like a glove, I was transported to a care-free era and trust I didn't want to come back. It was PERFECT! You know how when you find a dress and you feel like it was made for you? Yup, that's the feeling I got!
Angie thought so too, so she decided to gift me the dress, how awesome is she?

Checkout the dress and let me know what you think about it!


Taking advantage of the scenary; cornfields

Absolutely adore the colors

check out the low plunging back

Vineyards

Don't take life too seriously, be silly, let your hair down and dance in the vineyards

Until next time!

-R

Blow up Vintage Store
Contact info:

26, rue Boulegon
Aix en Provence
Facebook Page : https://www.facebook.com/pages/Blow-Up/185778794809916

Store hours
– Tuesday to Saturday 10:30am to 7:30pm
– Monday 2:30pm to 7pm

Checking out the apple orchids that are almost ready to be harvested. Had a taste and man were they good! My outfit for the Baptism White dress from Naf Naf a french clothing store. Check out the site! http://www.nafnaf.com/fr/

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So this weekend we had a couple of events scheduled, the first one was a civil baptism and the second was a 20th Birthday party. Here are some pictures of What I wore... Pretty much white the whole day. Luckily I didn't get myself dirty.

The civil baptism a very odd concept for me. It is a way of officially and legally naming the god parents. Except to my knowledge it was meant to be a religious affaire... well the times have changed. The new thing to do in France for those who don't have a religion or believe in God is to do baptise their children through the city Hall. They have the benefits of offically naming the 'marraine' --> God mother and the 'parraine' --> God father, with out the religous attachment. This may sound appealing to some while there are those who prefer the more traditional route. In any case its a good excuse to have a huge lunch and party!

Saw this beautiful creature on a tree.

Ladybug love.

On our way to the baptism we passed by Pont St. Esprit a cute calm village in the Gare department in France. I had to stop for a quick picture of the bridge which connects the banks of the Rhone river.

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Later on that evening we headed out to a White Party! It was M's best friend's cousin's 20th birthday and she celebrated it BIG! Turning 20 in France is a big deal kind of like our 21st birthday in the US except its a bit more logical. We celebrate it big for our 21st because it's the age when you can drink alchohol legally and go to the night clubs among other things... but let's face it mostly because of alcohol. In France you celebrate your 20th. It has nothing to do with alcohol since at 18 you can legally drink. Honestly even at a younger age, but let's stay politically correct here. In France they do it big for every decade i.e 20yrs old, 30yrs old, 40yrs old etc. This marks points in your life where you're meant to be in a different stage. Maturity, stability..etc. I find that a bit more consistent than being old enough to drink, but that's just my personal opnion.

I find it so interesting to see and compare the cultural differences between the American, Dominican, and French way.
I find it makes me more open-minded.

The 'lavoir' or village wash house. This is pretty much a staple in all small french villages. This was the place where women would go to do laundry and socialize, yes a place many will only read about in the history books. Dress from H&M. Venejan, France

Many years ago these fountaines actually had drinking water disposible for the villagers to take at their disposal. These days you can find some with clean drinking water, but most of all it's used as decoration and a reminder of the past.