Style Crush: Anna Karina

Danish actress Anna Karina was the darling of French New Wave cinema, and the muse of one of it's foremost directors Jean-Luc Godard. Karina was 17 when she arrived in Paris, and unable to speak French. Living off the streets she got a break while sitting at the cafe Les Deux Magots. She was approached by a woman from an advertisement agency who asked her to do some photos. She soon became a successful fashion model and Coco Chanel helped her come up with the name Anna Karina.

It was through modelling that Godard first set eyes on her.
She wore quite simple clothes, in a slightly dishevelled way and could look both cute and dangerous simultaneously.

Sun-Drenched Grass Banks

We go on a pilgrimage to the country with baskets of food and blankets and honey wine
to lay out and worship the sun and capture her light in our glasses
grass between our toes and river waterfallen on our legs
temporarily forgetting reality and heartbreak (perhaps)
we are drunk on summer and our skin is toffee-coloured
the sweet and bitter skin of fruits in our teeth, seeds, hands and mouths stained by berries
fumbling hands that wander further over and under
broderie anglaise glimpses unseen skin
we are blinded by white light and each other
spilling amber liquid on clavicles and ankles by accident so that it bubbles and froths and cools
we stay in the forest clearing by the waterfall until the shadows stretch over us and the heat fades and brings goose pimples and shivers (of lust or of cold?)
then everything is packed away and shoved into the car, including us
as we crank up the stereo of lazy voices and guitars and silently reflect on our lives

Betty

People thought she was achingly cool; the way she looked like a model (only shorter), dressed like a rock star and the way she writhed and sang sweetly as she poured drinks for customers at the bar. Plus she had a sexy French accent and pronounced 'beach' like 'bitch'.
Nobody really knew her, but they came to hang out at the bar in the hope of getting to know her. Guys came to gaze at her perfect feline face and her long legs. Girls came to see what she was wearing or how she wore her hair.
At lunchtimes she sat cross-legged on the sofa, her boots scuffed, tights ripped. She ate sushi slowly, and wore her cat-eye glasses to read literature or poetry. Big headphones covered her delicate ears and she nodded to music that only she could hear.
People grilled the equally cool guys she worked with; they wore skinny jeans and their hair in pompadours. They’d just shrug, they didn’t really know either. Occasionally the staff all went out together and Betty would come too and get tipsy on rum and coke, and dance crazy like no one was watching. She looked beautiful and ethereal. When a guy chatted her up she’d smile sadly and just say ‘I can’t, sorry’.
Every night Betty went home to a small flat in north London. Her cats would meow and run up and rub on her legs, entwining around her calves. She’d feed them and strip down to knickers and an old rock t-shirt, and she’d lean on the window sill wishing the London sky wasn’t so polluted with light so that she could see the stars and constellations. Tears would stream down her face and her heart would rattle.

I Heart...

This Week I've Been Mostly...

 Wishing I had a fragrant flower filled garden so I could have barbecues, picnics, and make sheet fortresses

 Needing to watch 'Stealing Beauty' again because it is the perfect summer movie

 Channeling Bardot with my fashion

 Eating chocolate and strawberries. Nom nom.

Counting down the days until I go on holiday, but at least the weather in London is gorgeous at the moment  and it's been a bank holiday weekend with another on the way!

Room Envy

Really loving white walls at the moment - perfect for sunshine filled rooms.

Coming Soon

I've been scribbling away writing some modern fairy tales and I'm going to start uploading them here this week! Look out for forests, mermaids, magic and the odd sprinkle of fairy dust for good measure.