A sunny day in Paris

I escaped to sunny Paris for the day to see the Yves Saint Laurent exhibition at the Petit Palais, the first ever retrospective featuring 40 years of his work. A magnificent journey which takes you through every memorable piece of couture he designed, I found it overwhelming and wished I had been blessed with a photographic memory. What a delight to be so close (I did touch a few times) to his magical creations. My absolute favourite was the wall of Le Smoking, featuring every possible connotation of Le Smoking designed throughout his 40 year reign at the helm at YSL.

Le Smoking

The curation and set designer were sublime, over 300 mannequins were displayed some seated as if they were the audience at a catwalk show and us the visitors, models.

The YSL audience

The exhibition also revealed a few things, a whole room dedicated to the 1971 summer collection inspired by the 1940's which was a complete disaster in the eyes of the World's press. So fabulous that they have embraced the successes and failures in his illustrious career.  My other discovery was the comic strip written and drawn by Yves Saint Laurent in 1967 called La Vilaine Lulu, a cheeky and malevolent child who comes in many guises featuring some famous icons we would all recognise. 

La Vilaine Lulu

The many faces of Lulu

I wish I had more time to see the exhibition over a few days as there was so much to take in, I left with a feeling of era overload, but happy to have seen Yves Saint Laurent's magnificent work from 1958-2002 all under one roof.

Long Live the King!!!!

The man in question is Monsieur Azzedine Alaia. Words cannot express the creativity this man puts into a silhouette he has been working on and re-producing for 20 years. It leaves me breathless and consumed with uncontrollable desire.


I have been coveting this bag he designed for Louis Vuitton's monogram canvas's 100th birthday since 1996.

Azzedine Alaia LV Centenaire Alma bag

My newest crush and carved in stone on my wish list is an Azzedine Alaia A/W '10 pony hair leopard print dress which costs the same price as a secondhand MINI One. I drive a MINI Cooper and have considered selling it and my soul for this dress. At least I'll have spare change to top up my oyster card as I skip home from Dover Street Market with this in my possession grinning from ear to ear. 

Azzedine Alaia pony skin leopard print dress

Oh Alaia!!

What I wish for in the aesthetic world and where I want to be.

The world of Kittyism's

Ideally I would wish to be back in Bali. Ubud to be precise where I spent 8 magical days for my best friend Andrew Glenn and his partner Jonathon Rutherford Best's Civil Union.

I wish I managed to stuff these beauties in my 28kg weight suitcase which was 6kg overweight before I landed in Bali!

This straw boater from my boy Corto Moltedo is reminiscent of my school days except our boaters were burgundy, yuk!

Corto Moltedo straw boater

I would rather be wafting around The Linda Garland Panchoran Bamboo estate in Ubud where we stayed, with this fabulous topper and my Issa Kimono.

Me in my favourite Issa Kimono 

View from my bed

The pool

Corto Moltedo makes the most exquisite bags which manage to be chic, quirky, unique and deadly cool all at the same time. These little babies would have been a perfect accent to the plush greens surrounding us.

Corto Moltedo mini Cassette clutches

My days were spend practising yoga with Dylan Bernstein on the outdoor pavilion surrounded by bamboo trees and the sound of the meandering river which cuts through the estate.  Dylan was an incredible gift, having not practised yoga for a year Dylan had me back into the primary series and doing headstands in no time at all.  A funny coincidence was that he had taught my friend Chomwan (who stayed with me on the estate) in Thailand 2 years ago! Dylan teaches across Asia in the the summer so if your in that part of the world check him out www.stillnessinaction.com.

Eating was a big part of my stay and to quote from Chomwan, many days were spent in a food coma. So mouthwateringly delicious I relished lunch and dinner and wished to eat this everyday.

Yum

We were treated to a personal tour of the Palace by the Prince Tjokorda Raka Kerthyasa of the Ubud Royal family, a wonderfully engaging and eloquent man who explained the religious beliefs of the Balinese people and his role as the head of the Ubud community. The palace was a network of small buildings each an open air pavilion with a room at the back, the epitome of outdoor indoor living.

Prince Tjokorda Raka Kerthyasa

The oldest structure in the Palace compound

Balinese gongs

Me on the Palace steps

We had a full day, after our wonderful morning at the Palace we were guided through the streets of Ubud by Susi Johnston to her fabulous gallery and shop Macan Tidur where we were given a lecture on the origins of Balinese art and textiles and the influences it had from India, China and the West. I wish I had with me these incredibly clever wedge trainers from Isabel Marant on my feet for our tour, they are the hottest trainers this season and so comfortable and stylish.

Isabel Marant trainers

Balinese fabrics

Antique Monkey carving

Next stop was a wonderful journey through the rice paddies and small roads of Ubud littered with temples and beautiful stone carvings to the John Hardy Jewellery Workshop near Ubud in Badung. We were led by the Creative Director Guy Bedarida to the largest bamboo structure in the world and what a magnificent piece of architecture it was.

  The largest bamboo structure in the world

 

Bamboo columns

If I ever have a party in Bali this is where it's going to be, the setting is incredible and the acoustics in this structure are sublime. This shows the companies commitment to conservation, sustainable living and using natural resources. The workshop and buildings are surrounded by working fields which produce rice, vegetables and house livestock which provides the staff of over five hundred people and us with a healthy organic lunch from these fields. John Hardy's commitment to all things Balinese is reflected through his jewellery which uses traditional Balinese jewellery making techniques all done by hand.  

Exterior of the bamboo structure

John Hardy jewellery shop

Back to the reason why we are all in Bali everyone from the 27 different countries around the world, Jonathon actually recited everyone of them but I think the Vodka shots had taken effect on me by then for me to remember. This Louis Vuitton bag would have been the perfect accompaniment to my Giambattista Valli dress and technology overload, Lumix camera, Nokia mobile phone, Blackberry and Flip Mino HD camcorder.

Me and Andrew's Mother Ruby aka "Tinkers"

Pochette Nightbird bag by Louis Vuitton 

The spot where the ceremony took place apparently had 9 channels of energy going through it, which I'm sure radiated throughout the whole estate. 

The setting for the civil union

9 channels of energy

Flower girls

 "Tinkers" in an Issa Goddess dress

The festivities carried long into the next morning to the sounds of DJ Sandra Nerdrum Gutman. The whole wedding party with sore heads and feet congregated again the next day at the Villa Puri Tupai for a farewell lunch with the 2 grooms. There I spotted Jsen Wintle's popping Lomography Fisheye camera which is already etched on my wish list.

Balinese style dining

Jsen Wintle's Lomography Fisheye camera

Jonathon had a large group of friends and family from New Zealand, one of which was Felicity Morgan Rhind who sang a rousing Waiata at the ceremony and wore a different Hei Tiki necklace everyday I loved the red resin one she wore to the farewell lunch.

Felicity Morgan-Rhind's Hei Tiki necklace

Chomwan won the best hat of the day in this elegant Corto Moltedo wide brimmed sun hat, I wonder if he still makes this?

Chomwan's sun hat by Corto Moltedo

Olivia in Marc Jacobs

Our final day in Ubud and the famous market garnered a few gems, especially from this fantastic woman who was bright, so sharp and selling from her stall at the grand old age of 90! Can you believe it?

Me and the 90 year old market seller

We travelled down to the beach in Seminyak and stopped by a few boutiques on the way,  Joy had the prettiest jewellery especially these Buddhist beaded necklaces. I wished I had room in my suitcase for this lamp by Press Ban Cafe which was decorated with plastic childrens toys, mugs etc... 

 Buddhist beaded necklace by Joy

Lamp by Press Ban Cafe
Last stop on our journey was to fill the car with petrol and what a chic way to refill on the roadside with Absolut Vodka bottles filled with petrol.

Roadside petrol stand

Bye, bye Bali you'll live on in my heart, head and psyche for a long time.