money well spent

I bought an issue of Vogue Paris today, because I've been meaning to since the price of a copy here in Singapore went down from a ludicrous S$30 or so to a very reasonable S$14.95, because from time to time I seek to improve my rapidly degenerating schoolgirl French (reading Garance Dore's blog posts in French takes me AGES now and the English translation tab is so so handy), and finally, because the cover and its contents for February proved quite appealing.

I am a sucker for covers set outdoors, rather than studio shots, and the colours are so beautiful, very seventies neutrals, the kind of colours I feel like wearing now.

There was only one full editorial, which was rather long, but beautifully done. It was a good mix of provocative (veiled women, Arab stereotypes) impeccable styling, and lovely photography. (This is a bit hard to describe without showing pictures from the editorial itself.) I liked that if they had to do an editorial featuring head-to-toe looks from one designer, they at least created an interesting story around it.

I haven't liked their "Une fille un style" section for a while, but this month it featured Tavi, who I have to say, is managing the mini-brouhaha around her with the savvy of a truly wired generation, and with the grace of an truly intelligent mind. Expression on the Internet sometimes sounds like either mindless gush, or shocking vitriol, and it's always nice to come across voices of reason and civility.

And with heroic effort, I also managed to finish the Tom Ford interview, and most of the culture reviews. I like Tom Ford; I love his specific vision, and how he managed to make a staggering success out of that. I'm still wondering if I can pull off a velvet tux jacket, thanks to him.

So that was a good dose of fashion, style, culture, plus good language practice. S$14.95 well spent.