Let them eat cake at the beach!

As a self confessed fashion pervert I look forward to many a thing fashion related, especially fashion shows. Now there are many, many designers that I adore, respect and wish I could trolley dash their work rooms and never fail to look forward to their shows. But (yes massive but) there are two collections that never fail to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up... Chanel Metiers d'Arts and Chanel Cruise. Now, don't get me wrong Couture and RTW are mean feats of fashion magic but personally I always feel completely enamoured by what Karl does in these two shows.

This week saw the presentation of the Chanel Spring/Summer 13 Cruise collection... As you can imagine I was muchly excited as unlike some designers Karl & Co put on a show for their cruise collection. The beauty of these collections is they are here solely for fun, the collections rarely reflect the upcoming spring/summer trends and are usually a nice sneak peek of what may or may not come next season, but are for rich folk to update their walk-in wardrobes. I was overjoyed when these photos tumbled before my eyes... In the gardens of the Palais de Versailles was a stunning coterie of looks inspired by the original wonderkind Marie antoinette, France's youngest and most scandal-ridden queen. Karl referred to the collection as "Versailles in a Socialist France" and hats off to the Kaiser it certainly was. You see Marie Antoinette and her courtiers were transpored to a futuristic, renaissance inspired trip to the beach. Eighteenth century details such as corsetry, panniers and fichus met with twentieth century delights such as Chambray, plastic and techno denim. Chanel showed off the talent of their various ateliers with boullion stitching, embroidery and sheer technical beauty, there was gold lame, intricate bead work in the shape of coral and to top it all off... little bobbed wigs in an array of ice cream pastels. Even the swimwear fitted in with the theme and didn't seem out of place among the britches and bustles. There were quilted leather bags fashioned in the shape of watering cans and brogue flatform shoes. If any of you darlings have seen the visual feast that is Marie Antoinette by Sofia Coppola, it was like a frilly, fancy fashion show scene straight from the film. Azaelia Banks and M.I.A were the soundtrack, and show DJ extraordinaire Michel Gaubert coined the term 'ghetto royale' to sum up the audio proceedings. I never thought anything could top some of the magical things Karl has done in the past at the Chanel shows but this managed to, it was a little frivolity and fantasy in these tough economic and political times, and I for one enjoyed being swept up in it all while I perused over the photos. Oh to have been there...