According to what I've seen while traversing the European continent, particularly during my recent trip to Paris, some certain Mississippians who constantly receive grief for never retiring the Hollister and Abercrombie expensively and strategically ripped and cologne-scented clothes seem to be in the height of fashion. Yes folks, if Paris is the indicator of what all the trends are going to be, then we all might as well go pull out our best super low-rise ripped jeans, cargo shorts, and Abercrombie & Fitch t-shirts because the craze that went through the US about 10 years ago and which was so criticized by well-dressed Europeans is now hitting Europe. I only wish I was kidding. Every where I go, especially now that it has warmed up, I feel almost like I'm at home in Mississippi - boys in tight-fitting t-shirts with inappropriate/suggestive things written on them and ripped cargo shorts that fall below the knee.. Thankfully the super low-rise jeans haven't yet been discovered by European girls. But A&F hoodies have now become a staple. Yesterday in Paris, I watched an Abercrombied-out couple (think cargo shorts, necklaces, lots of rips and tears) walking out of CHANEL - with CHANEL bags! That is what prompted me to write this post -- even those who shop real haute couture are getting into the European Abercrombie craze. This brings me to my question that relates to the title of the post: Who is the real trendsetter here? Am I really going to go pull out my old, now practically "vintage" Abercrombie in another year or so even if I've sworn it off forever because it will be the new style AGAIN just because it's cool in France/Europe? Or *gasp* are redneck Mississippians the new trendsetters and the Parisians are just now catching on??????
Here are a few other trends that I've noticed that I'm equally not excited about:
Doc Martens
Plaid Flannel shirts
90's Grunge in general
Mom pants - aka pleated pants that are large on top and get smaller as they go down
Shoulder pads
What is going on with the world? These trends all went out for a reason! Doc Martens cause back problems because they are so heavy, 90's Grunge was, well, grungy, and WHO looks good in mom pants? I'm yet to see anyone truly pull them off without looking pear shaped. And shoulder pads.. need i say more.
Someone please save us from these frightening zombie trends!
thanks to katy braden's comment i will admit that yes, i have succumbed to the shoulder pads trend and bought a dress with shoulder pads. everyone be jealous, it's pretty darn cute. and not at all 80's mom easter dress style.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
being told you look tired 100% beats getting mugged..
So on a normal day, being told I look tired would make me angry. Not today..
So a few of my British assistant friends are leaving forever at the end of this week, so we decided to have a "last hurrah" in Metz this afternoon (since we were off school today). This "last hurrah" included café hopping. I was about an hour late, thanks to buses (or lack thereof) on school holidays (another post, another time), so I missed our time at the first café. But I arrived at the second café, "Cherie," just in time to have dessert, which for me turned out to be mousse au chocolat, my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE French dessert. Once we finished, we decided that since just about everything in Metz was closed except the cafés at Place St Jacques, we would just move to my personal favorite, "White." At "White," you can get 4 cups of gourmet Mariages Frères tea for 3,10 euros in a cute little kettle, so three of us partook. We sat there and enjoyed the sun and judged the outfits of all the people walking by -- good times. So once we finished at "White," I suggested that we try a new wine bar that I had discovered a few weeks back, which is a bit of a walk away from where we were. So we set off. I walk fast (as anyone who has ever walked anywhere with me know.. I think it's something about having such short legs and having to "keep up," but that's neither here nor there..), and so does another guy friend, so we were a bit ahead of everyone else, and we were deeply in conversation about politics or something. I have walked alone down the street we were walking on multiple times and always felt safe, there are a few shops and restaurants and even a "place," which is where the wine bar is located. Anyhow, as we were walking, we passed two guys who were walking on the opposing sidewalk, but I was so deeply engrossed in our conversation that I didn't pay them any attention. Before I know it, one of them, a rather large man of African descent, starts talking to us. It took me a second to get my head switched into French gear from English, but the first thing I understood was "Je prends ca," (I'm taking that) pointing at our BAGS (I was carrying a purse and my friend was carrying a messenger bag). At this point my heart drops to my stomach and everything just goes into slow motion. The man kept saying stuff, but it was kind of jumbled and he wasn't finishing sentences, but he approached us nonetheless. I was waiting on him to pull out a knife or gun or something, but that never happened, so I was (insanely) thinking, "he's not taking my bag unless he has a weapon," and so I was planning my escape in my head. When he finally got to our side of the street, he asked if we smoked. I was so frozen that I couldn't even remember if I smoked or not (I don't), so I just stood there and looked at him, flabbergasted, because nothing like this has ever happened to me. My friend, thank goodness, does, and so he slowly unzipped his bag and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, opened them, and offered the entire thing to the man. The man just kind of looked at them, and then muttered something about his hands being too big to pull one out. So my friend pulled one out and gave it to him, and somehow, by the grace of God himself, this completely and utterly satisfied the big man, at least momentarily. Then, the man looked over at me, laughed, and said "La petite semble fatiguée, la pauvre" (the little one looks tired, poor thing) and said we should get some rest. By this time, the rest of the group had caught up and the man bid us adieu and we took off. The others were curious, but not until we had reached a more public place did we first take a deep breath/sigh of relief and then fill them in on what had happened. Oh yeah, and the wine bar was closed.
So I've been lost in the Medina of Marrakech at night, I've walked around an economically depressed former communist city after dark, and I've regularly passed through the bad area of Metz on the night bus at late hours of night ALONE, but yet I was almost mugged in BROAD DAYLIGHT, in a relatively NICE part of town, the day after EASTER, in METZ..?
Good thing there is also good French wine at the train station café to calm one down after such an experience.
So a few of my British assistant friends are leaving forever at the end of this week, so we decided to have a "last hurrah" in Metz this afternoon (since we were off school today). This "last hurrah" included café hopping. I was about an hour late, thanks to buses (or lack thereof) on school holidays (another post, another time), so I missed our time at the first café. But I arrived at the second café, "Cherie," just in time to have dessert, which for me turned out to be mousse au chocolat, my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE French dessert. Once we finished, we decided that since just about everything in Metz was closed except the cafés at Place St Jacques, we would just move to my personal favorite, "White." At "White," you can get 4 cups of gourmet Mariages Frères tea for 3,10 euros in a cute little kettle, so three of us partook. We sat there and enjoyed the sun and judged the outfits of all the people walking by -- good times. So once we finished at "White," I suggested that we try a new wine bar that I had discovered a few weeks back, which is a bit of a walk away from where we were. So we set off. I walk fast (as anyone who has ever walked anywhere with me know.. I think it's something about having such short legs and having to "keep up," but that's neither here nor there..), and so does another guy friend, so we were a bit ahead of everyone else, and we were deeply in conversation about politics or something. I have walked alone down the street we were walking on multiple times and always felt safe, there are a few shops and restaurants and even a "place," which is where the wine bar is located. Anyhow, as we were walking, we passed two guys who were walking on the opposing sidewalk, but I was so deeply engrossed in our conversation that I didn't pay them any attention. Before I know it, one of them, a rather large man of African descent, starts talking to us. It took me a second to get my head switched into French gear from English, but the first thing I understood was "Je prends ca," (I'm taking that) pointing at our BAGS (I was carrying a purse and my friend was carrying a messenger bag). At this point my heart drops to my stomach and everything just goes into slow motion. The man kept saying stuff, but it was kind of jumbled and he wasn't finishing sentences, but he approached us nonetheless. I was waiting on him to pull out a knife or gun or something, but that never happened, so I was (insanely) thinking, "he's not taking my bag unless he has a weapon," and so I was planning my escape in my head. When he finally got to our side of the street, he asked if we smoked. I was so frozen that I couldn't even remember if I smoked or not (I don't), so I just stood there and looked at him, flabbergasted, because nothing like this has ever happened to me. My friend, thank goodness, does, and so he slowly unzipped his bag and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, opened them, and offered the entire thing to the man. The man just kind of looked at them, and then muttered something about his hands being too big to pull one out. So my friend pulled one out and gave it to him, and somehow, by the grace of God himself, this completely and utterly satisfied the big man, at least momentarily. Then, the man looked over at me, laughed, and said "La petite semble fatiguée, la pauvre" (the little one looks tired, poor thing) and said we should get some rest. By this time, the rest of the group had caught up and the man bid us adieu and we took off. The others were curious, but not until we had reached a more public place did we first take a deep breath/sigh of relief and then fill them in on what had happened. Oh yeah, and the wine bar was closed.
So I've been lost in the Medina of Marrakech at night, I've walked around an economically depressed former communist city after dark, and I've regularly passed through the bad area of Metz on the night bus at late hours of night ALONE, but yet I was almost mugged in BROAD DAYLIGHT, in a relatively NICE part of town, the day after EASTER, in METZ..?
Good thing there is also good French wine at the train station café to calm one down after such an experience.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
3 countries.. in 1 day.. sans passport..
Who would have ever thought it was possible to travel to 3 countries and not have your passport checked once?? Well, until January, it was easy to do in Europe, but not now. However, I got lucky yesterday and for some reason or other, never got checked. Three friends and I decided to take advantage of our four day weekend (and yes, I am going on a two week vacation starting this friday, how am I EVER going to readjust to life in the US??) and go see a nearby town in Germany called Trier, which is the oldest city in Germany and dates back to 16 BC. And it happens to be located about 2 hours by changing trains a couple of times from Metz. I still can't get over the ancient-ness of everything that surrounds me here, I live in an especially old part of Europe that was settled by the Germans. So we got up early, met at the train station, and took a train to Luxembourg. I must give kudos to the girl who got this all together, somehow she stumbled upon a ticked that would include all four of us and each of us would only pay 12,50 euros for the entire round trip -- not bad for travelling through three countries during one day. We arrived in Trier at about 11 am. It was pretty chilly and threatening rain, but we set out to see the sights. Unfortunately, I forgot to charge my camera, so I have no pictures at all whatsoever, but some may be tagged on facebook by some of my friends... We saw the old Roman gate, which is over 2000 years old and looks like it could have been built last year.. those Romans really knew how to build stuff! Then we walked around the old part and found a place to have lunch. We all tried to choose very typically German fare, I had potato pancakes with salmon and "cottage cheese," which actually turned out to be more like mustard with some dill added. The others got wienerschnitzel, some sort of meatloaf, and potatoes au gratin with broccoli and chicken. It was a great lunch -- and it warmed us up. Then, we went walking some more, and found the old city wall, which is about 1000 years old, and a beautiful pink castle. We saw the baths from a distance, but none of us wanted to pay to get in, at this point ruined baths are ruined baths and we've all seen a lot of them. But we were able to stand beside it and peer in. We also went into the Cathedral of Trier, where, apparently, the robe Jesus wore when he was crucified is housed as a relic. Naturally we couldn't see the real thing, just a picture of it. Pretty cool, I will say. The cathedral was beautiful -- I wished we could have been there to see a service today (Easter Sunday). By this time, it was towards the end of the afternoon and we headed back towards the city center to get some ice cream -- naturally I had raspberry sorbet and it was DELICIOUS. Then, we got back on the train and headed back to Metz. And thank goodness we were not stopped once for passports (two of us had forgotteno ours). I won't lie though, those visions of being forever stuck on the train between France and Luxembourg recurred intermittently until I was safely off the train and back in Metz. I better not forget my passport next week!!
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