#049: Paris Diary Days 1 & 2
Baby's first Paris Fashion Week. An outfit round up and travel guide.
Well, I’m here!
I got on the plane to Paris and was thinking "Wait, so why am I going to Paris again?” which is a brutally honest question I keep asking myself as I embark on a new chapter to elevate myself as a full-time content creator. I wrote about this in my last issue, which you can read here:
My friend Lily and I are doing Paris Fashion Week for the first time ever and I am so grateful to have a friend with me who is also experiencing it for the first time. While I do not have many shows booked (these invites, I’m learning, are very scarce and hot commodity), I feel grateful to be even be here. I’m equally grateful to be invited to the showrooms, presentations and events that go on around the shows, which are of importance as well. If baby steps are a thing I need to be familiar with, baby steps it is.
I thought I’d document my outfits and the places I’m visiting as we go along the week because you guys so love these round ups. A mini travel diary!
Day 1: Monday
We checked into our Airbnb, which is located in the 3rd, arguably the coolest and most convenient arrondissement in Paris. After a red-eye that was not long enough to get a full 6+ hours of sleep (I always forget but love how close Paris is to New York), we wanted to take it easy. I put my hair in a bun and more or less wore my plane outfit to explore our perfect neighborhood.
Pho is always my ideal first meal I get when I land in Paris. Song Heng was a recommendation from a friend who declares herself a pho expert of Paris (thank you Steph, if you’re reading this) and was just a 15-minute walk from our Airbnb. My body has been in a cold shock since getting to Paris so the broth was so deeply satisfying and much needed. Don’t be alarmed by the line — it moves super fast. Expect sharing a tight space with other customers, which is fine because the meal is a pretty solitary experience. Diagonal from my communal table was the designer Sid Neigum, who recognized me from IG! He sent me a piece last summer and it really felt like the world is a peanut because how did we end up at the same Vietnamese restaurant at the same odd time of 4pm? The world is a peanut for those in the know.
It started pouring by the time we finished eating so we made some stops along the way back home. First, coffee at I/O and then a browse at everyone’s favorite bookstore OFR. I then thrifted an Italian-made mesh tank top from Bobby, a vintage store close by. A piece that will be my default “going out top” this fall, I’m sure.
I also wanted to get this gorgeous wrap top by Anne Fontaine. I loved the richness of the color and the fabric is something akin to those Herve Leger body con dresses we all loved back in the day. Unfortunately, it was about three sizes too big and a cut like this would be hard to tailor. Paris has some of the best vintage shopping in the world so walking away from this top wasn’t all that hard. Another one will come around.
Jean Paul Gaultier threw a celebration at their maison to celebrate their newest fragrance Divine, which has the most beautiful hourglass bodice bottle I’ve seen — an iconic emblem of the house. 10/10 would double as a great object in your home. I loved seeing everyone in JPG pieces throughout the night, reminding me that it’s possible to look both raunchy and feminine at the same time, which is really what the brand is all about.
Went to bed at 2am and slept a shocking nine hours. I think I won’t be too jet lagged, after all.