Lauren Likes // Birkin, Gall & Hardy

Hello lovelies,

Embarking on Part II of our new feature today - giving you an insight into the things that make us tick on our personalised, 'I Like You' prints.

As Rhi introduced the new feature last week sharing her favourite girl crushes, I thought that it would be a good place to start too. I went for the line, 'Francoise Hardy, France Gall & Jane Birkin' who continue to inspire my wardrobe & provide me with the perfect excuse to perplex my hairdresser by asking for a 1960s style hair-cut... blunt fringe & minimum layers please.

Only in putting this together have I noticed my allurement to the darker side of the Sixties, drawn to the shy and slightly awkward girls of the swinging period. Not entirely sure why, I think I'm just fascinated by anything that Serge Gainsbourg has ever touched...

First up, Francoise... Jagger described her as his ideal woman and she was famously persued by, and subsequently turned down, Bob Dylan - 'I Want You' was said to be written about her. I first fell in love with Francoise upon listening to the hauntingly, beautiful 'Tout les garcons et les filles' in which she laments, "they fall in love without fear of tomorrow, yes but I walk the streets alone, the lost soul'. With the hair of my dreams, impeccable cat eyes and my first window in to the wonders of the ye-ye movement - she'll always be my first girl-crush love.

We've spoke about our love for the sweet France Gall before in one of our After Dinner Dance Parties, her 1965 eurovision entry, 'Poupee de cire, Poupee de Son' is one of my favourite songs and her slightly off-key vocals are just utterly charming. For me, with her quiet elegance & innocent demeanor Gall is such a sweetheart!










Ahh, Jane Birkin, probably the biggest influence on my wardrobe! She always looked incredible, swapping the bee-hives and off-beat attire that were popular in the sixties for a more subtle, effortless and even masculine style that I just adore. Those that have known me long enough will be well acquainted with my love affair with knee-high socks and Birkin always pulled it off so perfectly!



Much love,
L xx




Ps. Our giveaway closes on Thurs, get involved for your chance to win a stunning 'Seeing Stars' necklace courtesy of Eclectic Eccentricity... take a look here. Good luck darlings!

Rhianna Likes // Singing through the streets of Paris

As Lola shared her tales of Berlin last week while I was away, it's only fitting that I tell you all about my love of France & Paris this week!

I have been over to France a fair few times... The first a camping trip with the family in the beautiful Vendee on the Coast when I was 13, with just a day trip to Paris - I fell in love with the city in that instant. A few months later I went to Paris again with school and the enchanting Mont St Micheal (a dreamy little village out on an island off of the coast of Normandy, that spirals up around the hill towards a magnificent monastry)... A few years later I returned to a little village in Brittany to complete work experience in a primary school, teaching some very sweet little ones English. The fourth trip was my last holiday with my Mum and Sister before I moved to London, we spent a very glamorous week in Paris, visiting the sites, drinking champagne and shopping in Prada... for socks.

My favourite visit was not long after that trip. I returned with my friends Alix and Rose to stay with Alix's family - as a true Parisian Alix showed us all the parts of the city you miss as a tourist, a true insight into Paris life, we went to cool bars and clubs, shopped in secret vintage treasure troves, rode on the back of scooters (the scariest and most exhilerating moment of my life in equal measures) - and sang through the streets of Paris at 3am, at the top of our lungs (I'd love to tell you we were singing something incredibly cool, but we were singing Kate Nash's Foundations... "You said I must eat so many lemons...") - we only saw the Eiffel Tower once in the rear window of a taxi on the way to a party... The best way to see Paris.

My latest visit - away with the family again was to the little rural town of Vic-Sur-Aisne, it really was beautiful - there was a certain charm to the way everything seemed delapidated, the buildings around town had broken shutters, peeling paint, signs of aging yet nearly every window was adorned with boxes overspilling with beautiful flowers... It was all very authentic and completely unspoiled by tourism.

We spent the holiday meandering around the nearest towns and cities. Visiting Cathedrals (in Soissons and Reims, I'm a sucker for gothic architecture, stained glass and religious art!) and Castles (Pierrefonds the stunning castle - were BBC's Merlin is filmed, surrounded by the most picturesque town I've ever seen, with old fashioned ice-cream parlours, antique stuffed junk shops and broken down old fairground rides...) - a tour round the Tattinger Champagne cellars (build on the grounds of an abbey destroyed in the french revolution... they keep their 'best vintage' in the ruins of an underground chapel.) - oh and a very breif visit to Paris... I also stocked up on some treats and goodies for Twee Towers (that you might have seenhere)

Just a few holiday snaps for you:

Much love.

Rhi x

After Dinner Dance Party // Le Francais Edition!

The French Edition!

Not that we need an excuse to listen to any of these songs, tonight we're having an extra special After Dinner Dance Party to celebrate Rhi's return from France! It was really hard to narrow it down to our absolute faves - there's a few that didn't make this cut but we'll find a way to get them up soon!

Hope you enjoy...

One of the standout tracks from 'La Belle Epoque: EMI's French Girls 1965-1968', an album we always have spinning in Twee Towers, is Christie Laume's 'Rouge Rouge!' Dubbed Christie Laume by her sister-in-law Edith Piaf, her ever so slightly off-key vocals sit endearingly over the song's garagey, fuzz guitar sound. Cannot. Stop. Dancing.

Not only is she the first lady of France and a former model but she also has Jagger on her list of ex-lovers (swoon)...Carla Bruni's 'Quelqu'un m'a dit' (translated as 'Somebody Told Me') is a heartbreaking tale of life's loves and losses. Slightly melancholy but enchanting all the same. Oh Carla... you melt our hearts.

Would you think any less of us if we told of our guilty love for Eurovision? If only today's artists were still as dreamy as France Gall performing 'Poupée de Cire, Poupée de Son' in 1965.

A popular singer in the French yé-yé movement, many of France Gall's hits were penned by none other than the incredible Mr Serge Gainsbourg, who in his notorious lothario style, deliberately toyed with notions of promiscuity and double entendres in his lyrics, to which Gall was naively unaware - such was the innocence of the yé-yé girls! The lyrics are incredibly dark referencing how Gall was simply a puppet for Gainsbourg's return to charts..."I'm just a lonely singing doll."

This song is genuinely amazing... well it was the first Eurovision song to win that was not a ballad! (We know this was the Luxembourg entry but she sings in French so it still counts!)

Speaking of the (divine) devil, next up on the playlist is Serge Gainsbourg with the mind-blowing 'Initials BB' - dedicated to Brigitte Bardot after their brief romance. The intensifying crescendos, created by the stunning, classically-influenced orchestral build-up never fails to excite... even after 100,000 listens. Love, love, love... Can you tell we have a slight crush? :)

Laurent Voulzy, 'Rockollection'. No words. This is without a doubt one of the greatest songs we've ever heard. We won't ruin it by delving into any details but just stay with it, it just keeps on getting better! Sincere silliness, reminiscent of Flight of the Conchords - there may be some recognisable elements...
Well we've thoroughly enjoyed tonight's party... happy dancing nos amis!
Much love, L&R xx