Why We're Suddenly Lusting After Sex Novels

Remember the novel The Bride Stripped Bare? It was Nikki Gemmell' literary tour de force, originally published under the nom de plume 'Anonymous' because its chapters were too scandalous for the author to admit to.

Bride was a huge bestseller. Huge. Women read it under their duvet covers. Men read it on commuter trains, where they hid it behind a big hard Hemingway hardback. Even grandmothers were seen sneaking into libraries and borrowing it out with their copies of Danielle Steel. It was dubbed as "an intelligent and accomplished exploration of female sexuality". Exploration was right. There was a scene with taxi drivers that was so revelatory, it made me question what cabbies do when they're not, er, picking up rides.

Basically, the plot is about a lonely housewife with a desultory sex life. The new hubbie is lovely, but boring. And his bed skills are less than satisfactory. That's the thing when you marry Boy-Next-Door types. You sacrifice the erotic for the safe; the dangerous risk-taker for the trustworthy do-gooder. Anyhow, The Housewife grows bored with vanilla sex and sets out to find something pulsier. That's when she meets The Spanish Guy Who's Still A Virgin. (There's an oxymoron right there). From then on, she proceeds to educate him  in – you guessed it – the art of pleasure. To use a ladylike word. There are hotel rooms, orgies, taxi drivers and what one critic described as "erotic, Houellebecqean-style encounters". (I'm not sure what that means but I think I'll have some if they're on special, thanks.)

Now I have to confess that I liked the book. I did. It was entertaining. Fresh. And clever. (Although I still can't look taxi drivers in the eye.)

Basically the novel was a watered-down Catherine Millet. Sex for respectable readers, if you like. And because of it, the book sold hundreds of thousands of copies. It also spawned a whole new genre. Whose name I won't reveal here. (Just think of the nickname for knee-high boots and then insert 'books' where the word 'boots' should go.)

Unbelievably, it's been 9 years since Bride was published, and even more curiously, it's been a while since a good, old-fashioned sex novel hit the bookshelves. So it was only a matter of time before one was thrust into the bestseller lists. So to speak.

Enter Fifty Shades of Grey. Written by E.L. James,  this book is everywhere at the moment. EVERYWHERE. If you haven't seen it advertised, you've perhaps been hiding under that 1000-thread-count sheet too long. Tantilized by the marketing I bought a copy on the weekend. I read 252 pages in one evening. The prose was so dense though, that at 2AM I had to put it down and go find a Nurofen.

The writing isn't on a level with F.Scott Fitzgerald – it's probably not even on a par with Playboy. In fact, some of the sentences are so breathy and overwrought, it made me feel 16 years old again. Also, if you're going to write a book about sex – an adult books about sex – for goodness sakes use some proper words. Using the word 'sex' for a woman's private parts is about as amateurish as you can get.  I mean, we're no longer eight years old. I think we can handle a dirty word or two.

In saying this, it's interesting that this book has caused such a storm. Like Bride, it's hit a nerve with women everywhere. Female readers are devouring it, and only coming up for air when they've turned the last page. It says a lot for the sad state of our collective sex lives that we have to get our kicks from literature rather than real life!

The thing is, I like a good debate. And I love it when literature prompts it. I'm particularly excited that the current debate is over sex, and how much it really does mean to women. But what I don't get excited about, so to speak, is a book where the main female protagonist is forced to be submissive. I know it's a fantasy of many, but this book takes it a whole new level. And it's not one I care to go down to.

I finished the book dear readers, but only just. And then I had to go and have a cold shower. Not to calm the palpitating heart, but to feel clean and 'normal' again. Fifty Shades of Grey is certainly grey. In fact, it's as grubby as a dirty, thumb-stained girlie magazine in the communal toilets of an all-boys' boarding school.

There are apparently two more books in the Grey series. But I think I'll pass thanks. If you've read it, do drop me a line to let me know what you thought. I'd be interested to hear!


{Images of brides stripping bare by by Renam Christofoletti for Vogue Brazil Brides}

Are Books Dead?

I apologise. Yesterday I did a funny little Style Icons post about two of our leading political ladies, Julia Gillard and Carla Bruni, and what they do and don't have in common. (Both favour form-fitting suits. Both eschew sartorial fussiness. And Carla is reportedly a big proponent of the power of pelvic exercises. However, I can't say for sure whether our Jules is. Only her partner Tim and possibly her sexy personal bodyguard know that secret.) Anyhow, after downloading a particularly intriguing image of our Jules, strange things started happing on my laptop. Files disappeared. Entire paragraphs flashed like lights on Times Square. Terrified of the dreaded 'V' word (and passing it onto you lovely readers), I immediately deleted the post. It was too late. The laptop is now in the Apple hospital having a triple heart bypass, and I am using an old MacBook and an archaic Safari browser. Which doesn't support Blogger.

But I'm persevering because I want to tell you about the significance of this week. March 1st  is World Book Day. It's the biggest literary celebration of its kind, and is designated by UNESCO as a world-wide celebration of books, reading and stories of all forms. More than 100 countries mark the date. I'm very proud of those countries. More should do it.

I grew up in a house full of books. Because my brother and I read so fast my frugal parents (who were both teachers) thought it a waste to buy books for us and told us to go and get a library card. We duly did what we were told. It was the start of a love affair with books, bookshops and libraries that has lasted 30 years. Last night I told my partner that if a bushfire came up the mountain, I would leave everything except my beloved books. Books are the one thing you should always save.

I spent most of last year lamenting the slow death of books in this, the iPad-and-Kindle age. Judging by the number of Google hits on the phrase "Are books dead?" (11 million and counting), many others did too. During a moment of literary lamentation, a wise and famous writer challenged me by asking "Well, what is a book anyway? Is it its body? Or its soul?"Well, I'm old-fashioned girl and I think books need a body. Just as humans need their spines to live and move, so, too, do books. An e-book can still be a great read (and like many I love the convenience of iPads), but a book with a jacket and pages and that papery smell of promise... now that is a beautiful thing. That, my dear friends, is a book. A soul without a body is a mere ghost of its former self.

Curiously, many people seem to think the same way. Last Christmas, many bookshops had their best sales season ever. My favourite bookshop, Avenue in Albert Park, sold more copies of my books than at any other time. I was as puzzled as you are. What does it possibly all mean? Well, I think it means that many of us are trying to save books from being endangered. From sinking into oblivion. We are stock-piling our stories – just like Carlos Ruiz Zafon's celebrated library in The Shadow of the Wind.

Sadly I fear it's too little, too late. The end of the book might be nearer than we think. One newspaper believes there will be no books left at all by 2020. None. And I admit that it's easy to see how e-books will win the reading war. 

And so I say this to you all. Read. Read. Read. Or as my Italian teacher used to say "Leggi! Leggi! Leggi!" Buy books. Download the e version if you have to, but don't discount the paper versions either. Embrace books. Remember how wonderful they are. For I am afraid there will come a time when most of us will stop reading them completely. When we will be distracted by other things. Such as Twitter. And gossip sites. And the Oscars. And life. Left for dead, books will disappear. And some of the world's greatest stories will then be lost forever.

"The art of reading is slowly dying. Great readers are becoming more scarce by the day..." 

– Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Shadow of the Wind.

There is a wonderful game lots of people are now playing called Page 61. You pick up a book, flick to page 61 and read the fifth sentence down. I loved reading some of the discoveries, such as:

"Great elephants!" said Gandalf. "You are not yourself this morning! You have not dusted the mantelpiece!" (From The Annotated Hobbit)

and

In later life, Dottie had a dog called Woodrow Wilson." (From The Uncollected Dorothy Parker)

I was quietly thrilled to see one of my books mentioned on a Page 61 website. The Page 61/Fifth Line was: "And, perhaps, also for their souls". It made me quiet for a moment or two. But then when I picked up my nearest book a few minutes ago – an old, much-loved dictionary that I still refer to – and saw what the fifth line on page 61 was – 

bibliophile   n. book lover 

I was moved beyond words.

"To add a library to a house is to give that house a soul" – Cicero

I agree Cicero. I agree.

The above images are from one of my favourite libraries, a private library on the island of Nantucket in the US. Designed by my favourite book-loving architect Hugh Newell Jacobsen, the entire house is white – and I mean everything is white, from the stairs to the living room. The blank canvas was an intentional design move. Jacobsen and the owner felt that the books were the most important things in the house, and as such they were given first priority. The minimalist, all-white backdrop offered a kind of gallery for their literary beauty. Now, the only colours in the house are the bright tones of all the spines. Truly lovely, don't you think? 

How To Get A Book Deal

I would like to sincerely apologise for the short notice of an interruption in scheduling, but this will be my last post for a week or two. Unfortunately, there are two books that need to be written, and they're not, because someone is p-r-o-c-r-a-s-t-i-n-a-t-i-n-g. (Who said that?) I would offer the argument that I'm renovating. But there's no excuses for tardiness, so off I march to the literary coal mine again.

But while I'm away, knee-deep in archives and cross-checking quotes, I'd like to leave you all with a little inspiration. Namely, the idea that you, too, can get a book deal. Truly. It's not as difficult as you think. I've had 18 published. And I'm far from being Alain de Botton. At the recent ALT summit, Design Sponge's Grace Bonney, Chronicle Books editor Kate Woodrow and several others spoke on a packed-out session called From Blog To Book. If you're interested, Chronicle Books has posted some info in its Storify blog – storify.com/chroniclebooks. Many of the pointers were fairly imperative – such as doing your research into the competition; making sure your book has a point of difference; researching publishers' list to find the right publisher for your project; pitching it in 10 words or less, and so on. These are valuable tips. But I thought it might be helpful if I showed you how I got a heel in the door.

So here, for those who are interested, are some of the things that helped me. And of course if you have any questions, please just email me. I'm always, always happy to help.

10 STEPS TO BECOMING A PUBLISHED AUTHOR 
(GOOD OR BAD)

{Image of Osa watching NYC mayor Fiorello LaGuardia sign a giant mock-up of her 1940 book I Married Adventure via NYT Pictures}

1. NEVER, EVER, EVER GIVE UP. Ben Slbermann, the creator of Pinterest recently said: “People succeed because they don’t stop". He could have been paraphrasing Churchill. Never give up. If you really want a book deal, you WILL make it happen.

Case in point. Years ago, I had an idea for a book on country houses, but nobody wanted to publish it. Finally, one publisher agreed to see me. Problem was, she was in Sydney. And she was about to go on her first holiday in 10 years. "You have 15 minutes," she said. So I took the day off work, flew to Sydney and got a taxi to the North Shore. I didn't realise it but the driver dropped me off a kilometre short of the location. So I hailed a hatchback, thrust $20 in the young driver's face and pleaded for him to take me up the road. He did. I walked in, made the pitch in a somewhat breathless voice, and told the story of the taxi as an ice-breaker. She laughed. I walked out with a two-book deal ten minutes later. The lovely guy was still waiting in the car park. I gave him $40. And flew back to Melbourne two hours later, still shaking from nerves. That was my harrowing start to this new career. My advice: Do whatever you have to do to get the deal done.

2. FIND A REALLY, REALLY GOOD IDEA. Don't copy what others are doing. The publishers will have already seen 100 proposals like it. Remember when Tuscany memoirs were all the trend? (Under The Tuscan Sun) And then tart-noir novels? (Adventures of a London Call Girl.) And then 'list' books with elegantly simple covers? (Schott's) And schnovels? (Self-help books disguised as novels.) Not to mention Expat Memoirs. (Eat Pray Love) And books about maps. And Darwin. And now Diana Vreeland... Step ahead of the curve. Study bestseller lists, but try to think up something different. Something innovative. Something that's never been done before. (I predict that books showing garden designs and plans will be coming back in. But maybe that's just wishful thinking...)

GREAT BOOK CONCEPTS (AND BOOK TITLES / JACKETS / THE WHOLE BIT):

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Beautiful book, with a beautiful name.  The Architecture of Happiness. Always love Alain de Botton's book titles. 

The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet. Ingenious. 

The Chemistry of Tears. Peter Carey's latest.

Etcetera. Sibella Court's springboard to a great publishing/design career. I Married Adventure. No wonder it sold 500,000 copies in the first year.

3. TRY NOT TO USE THE 'MEET PITCH'.  As in: "XXX book is The Da Vinci Code meets The Sex Diaries". Really. Try to think of 20 other words to describe your story. 20. You should be able to do that.

4. PREPARE YOUR PROPOSAL WITH THE SAME METICULOUS ATTENTION TO DETAIL THAT YOU'D DO IF YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE ABOUT TO WIN AN OSCAR. See that one-page synopsis you've done? Now elaborate. I usually do a short synopsis and a two-page one. Plus a rationale (why it will sell), a description of market competition and why this book is different, a description of potential readership, marketing ideas, a bio (add quirky things – they'll give the pitch personality), a full table of contents, a completed first chapter (sometimes three chapters) and any ideas for design/style. 


5. WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW. Writing is difficult enough. Don't make it harder by tackling a strange subject. Write about what you love. It will make your writing life easier.

My first book idea was a novel set in the world of magazines. But then Bridget Jones came out. And (much later) The Devil Wears Prada. I couldn't compete, nor did I want to. So I shelved it. And decided to write about something I really knew: London and Paris. Over 3 months I wrote an outline of a memoir. I pitched it to Kay Scarlett at Murdoch Books. Amazingly, she accepted. It sold out in the first 3 weeks. No one was more surprised than I was. But it just showed: Write what you know.

6. DON'T ALWAYS TARGET THE BIG PUBLISHERS. India Hicks got her publishing start with a small-ish London company, Pavillion. I don't know how many times this book has now been reprinted.

7. OFFER IDEAS FOR DESIGN, AND EVEN JACKETS, WITH YOUR PITCH. If you're creative, do some mock ups. If not, find a friend who can. Anything that shows the commissioning editor or Acquisitions Committee what your idea will look like will help.{Image via Book City Jackets and littlecommas.wordpress.com: aren't these jacket beautiful?} 

8. MOCK UP AS MUCH AS YOU CAN TO ILLUSTRATE THE IDEA. Here are two pages from a book I pitched to a publisher several years ago. You don't even need to use final text. Just throw some jabberwocky copy in. It's the 'look' they're interested in. I use InDesign, but you can use any medium.

9. FIND SOMEONE TO SEND YOUR PROPOSAL TO. Don't just send it into the receptionist. Find  an editor. One tip is to look at books you like and see who published/edited them.

10. DON'T WORRY ABOUT AN AGENT UNLESS YOU'RE OFFERED A MOTZA ADVANCE. I've never had an agent. I would have made more money if I had but then they would have taken 20 per cent. Use a lawyer who specialises in contracts. They'll charge you $600+ or so, but it's still cheaper than an agent. In saying this, lots of authors like having an agent to do all the work.


PS Apologies to those followers who have been getting these posts emailed to them twice. It's a glitch and I'm trying to rectify it now. I do hope you'll bear with me.

The Importance of a 'Blog Spot'

A writer friend of mine can work anywhere. In her garden. In her bed. In her living room, with the laptop perched on a copy of Christian Liaigre while Downton Abbey plays in the background. Even in a shack in the wilds of Wales. I don't know how she does it. She could probably write her books with a burlap bag over her head.

I'm not that talented. I can write in unfamiliar places if I'm forced to, and on deadline. (For example, at JFK airport in NY, with the laptop perched my lap and my legs perched, in turn, on the luggage: not recommended for more than four hours if you want to be able to walk again.) But I prefer to be in the hyggelig quiet of my office, with books on tap, piles of notepads and lists within reach, inspiration all around, and natural light flooding in on two sides.

This, dear readers, is my writing spot. It's also my blog spot. And my thinking spot. (And occasionally a dreaming spot!) It's a place to write, create, contemplate, conceptualise ideas and generally consider life. Virginia Woolf was so very right. Everybody needs a nook or cranny to call their own. It's so important to create your own private hideaway, whether it's a potting shed, an alcove under the stairs or simply a desk in a sunny corner of the bedroom. Without a place to retreat from the world, it can be difficult to think, let alone find the imagination to create.

Find your nook. Because if you don't, I can't tell you how difficult your writing life will be. For the last few months I've been working out of our downstairs library. But I was miserable. It was cold. Dark. Windowless. And uninspiring. I felt like I was in Guantanamo Bay. My productivity slowed to 10%. Over the past few days, I've been moving everything to a room upstairs. With light. Warmth. Views of trees. And doors out to a sunny terrace. I tell you, I feel as though I've escaped Guantanamo and gone to the Turks & Caicos Islands!

Now it doesn't take a lot of money to create a writing nook. Mine was cobbled together with a black  trestle table ($60), black-and-white striped fabric from Ikea ($6/m), two old chests of drawers that we painted black (free) and 'Do Not Disturb' signs from some of my favourite hotels tossed in a cheap black frame. The most expensive thing was my beloved Italian lamp. If you love books, put them in your sight line. desk. If you like photos, hang them around you in a kind of Happiness Gallery. And if you like to see the sun, the leaves and the changing light as it crosses the sky from morning to twilight, move your desk to a window.

I promise you. It will do you – and your writing – the world of good!

Here are some other inspiring work places. Hopefully you'll also be motivated to break out of Guantanamo and find/redecorate your own perfect writing space.

Danish designer Marlene Birger's desk at her home in Copenhagen. {Via Marlene Birger's book Life & Work}

And another lovely space from Marlene Birger...

Architect Robin Standefer's office, where he dreams up his magnificent interiors for the clients of his firm Roman & Williams. {Via Roman & Williams} 

India Hicks' study in her house on Harbour Island, in the Bahamas. This room was originally painted in David Hicks-inspired red, but when India's daughter came along she repainted it in shell pink, which also reflected the colour of nearby Pink Sands Beach. I love this writing room. {Via Garden & Gun}

Another gorgeous work space that shows how glamorous pink can be. {I've mislaid the credit for this so do let me know if you have it.}

This was an incredible workroom. Featured in Matchbook magazine, it was the office of a 'paper artist' who creates the most magical art from pages and books and other whimsical paper-based things. Truly enchanting. {Via Matchbook}

Thank You Desire to Inspire!

Just dropping in to say a big heartfelt thank you to the lovely Jo and Kim at Desire to Inspire for listing The Library of Design as one of their "100 Blogs of 2011", alongside great blogs such as Vogue Living and one of my favourites, Field Notes – Your Guide to the Great Indoors.

Many of you may be familiar with Desire to Inspire, which is one of the world's top design blogs. I've loved it for years. Its design insights, ideas, profiles and stories are some of the best in the online world. I don't for one second think that this little blog is up there with DtoI or even Vogue Living, but it is nice to be recognised for the effort that goes into posting, even if it's only a tiny mention in a list of 100 blogs.

While we're on the topic of new blogs, and even great old ones, I'd like to list some of my favs, both here and in my "Kindred Spirits" Reading List to the left. I think it's nice to support other bloggers, especially newbies, and these are all full of great inspiration and conversations.

I'm looking forward to returning to The Library in a few days, and hope you'll like the line-up of posts for early January, including:

• Traditional Shelter Magazines vs Online Blogs (a different take on the topic, being that I'm a former magazine editor!)
• An Architecture Tour of Miami and the Keys
• Secrets of London
• Extraordinary Homes of 2011
• Linen Rooms, Luggage Rooms, Serveries and Other Curious Spaces
• City v Country Life, Part 3

Until then, have a lovely New Year's Eve!
Janelle


A FEW GREAT BLOGS (AND GREAT BLOG NAMES!)

Bourbon and Pearls – bourbonandpearls.blogspot.com
Sweet Paul – sweetpaul.typepad.com
Spoon Fork Bacon – spoonforkbacon.com
Zucchini and Chocolate – chocolateandzucchini.com
The New Victorian Ruralist – finderskeepersmarketinc.blogspot.com
Busy Being Fabulous – www.busybeingfabulous.typepad.com or www.busybeingfabulous.com

And this hysterical blog – unhappyhipsters.com 

"Trapped by the tawny palette, he struggled through yet another brown knit scarf..."

"Everyone always leaves..."

The Art of French Style

As some of you lovely readers will know, I've spent the last few months writing, photographing and illustrating a book about Chanel and the art of French style called How To Live A Beautiful Life: Chanel and The Art of French Style. The book is still in production, and I'm actually rewriting it/refining it now, during the holiday period. I'll provide more details of the book, including pub dates, in late January. But for now, here's a little sneak preview...

HOW TO LIVE A BEAUTIFUL LIFE: 

CHANEL AND THE ART OF FRENCH STYLE

"She arrived. It was summer. She had on a little white quilted satin tailleur – a skirt, below the knee but short – a gardenia in her hair, and a white lace shirt. I have never seen anyone look at delectable, as adorable. What age was she then? What difference did it make?" 

– Diana Vreeland, speaking of Coco Chanel in DV

"Live with rigour and vigor!"

Coco Chanel, to Diana Vreeland

Early one morning in July 1962, during what was an oppressively warm summer in Paris, a dignified, gracefully dressed, model-slender grande mademoiselle (a highly respected woman of a certain age) walked up the now famous Rue Cambon; a thin ribbon of a street that begins at Rue de Rivoli and unfurls north of the rear of The Ritz Hotel Paris. She wore a cream skirt that fell to just below the knees (she claimed the knees were the most unattractive part of a woman's body), and a well-cut jacket made with quilted lining and a gold-chain hem to ‘weight’ the suit, so it sat neatly, in the way that she liked. She also wore a cream hat with a black ribbon (she was never seen without a hat, even in her atelier), a small black handbag carried lightly over her left arm in the French manner, a glamorous pearl necklace, and dark sunglasses. And although she was in her late 70s she wore heels. Black ones. With a sole that made a rhythmical click-click-click on the Parisian street. She also possessed cheekbones that could have been cut with one of her own silver-plated dressmaking scissors, thin, perfectly arched eyebrows that were as carefully designed as the necklines on all her dresses, and a meticulously maintained bob that pre-dated Anna Wintour’s famously disciplined coiffeur by four decades. In fact, she was the Anna Wintour of her time.

Fast-forward half a century from that warm day in July 1962. It is now almost 50 years since Chanel strode down the Rue Cambon on that steamy summer’s morning and I am standing opposite the entrance to the same Chanel store, having followed in her footsteps. Unlike in 1962, it is spring in Paris and one of the city’s famous spring rain clouds has settled over the streets. It’s not quite rain but rather a haze of fine scented spring mist, as if someone is spraying an enormous Chanel No. 5 bottle over Paris at uneven intervals. Everywhere I look, Parisians are darting for cover, opening up umbrellas decorated in Pantonesque shades and tightening belts on chic trench coats, that classic French fashion staple.
It’s difficult to know what the weather has planned for the day, since the sky shifts constantly in both hue and mood. Some days it is a pale blue; like the blue of porcelain plates, or one of Marie Antoinette’s Petit Trianon rooms at Versailles; other times it’s like a faded military trenchcoat in Paris during the last days of the German invasion. And yet other days it clears entirely, so that the horizon is shiny and bright with the promise of gilded sun. The French, of course, are accustomed to this springtime spectacle and come prepared, with their natty little trenchcoats, pretty umbrellas, lovely leather gloves, bright scarves and flattering hats (boy, can these people accessorise). Even when it rains, the French still look glamorous. I feel like I’ve walked into a scene from The Umbrellas Of Cherboug.

A sense of style is an odd thing, really. It’s difficult to acquire. Like money. Or a good husband. You can think you’re stylish–you can dress in a lovely pair of pants or a gorgeous new frock and you can even splash out on a beautifully fitting Giorgio Armani jacket, but you can somehow still look unstylish. That’s the thing about style. It’s elusive. Chanel knew this. She knew that some people had style, and others didn’t–and that those who didn’t would be prepared to pay for it. She also knew that she had it. There is nothing quite so empowering as knowing that you have a secret that every other woman would rip the clothes off your back for. 

‘It is the unseen, unforgettable, ultimate accessory of fashion that heralds your arrival and prolongs your departure,’ she once said of clothes, and she was right. This was, after all, a woman who knew how to capture style, and how to create sophistication. It was her strength, her talent. It was the key to her success.

Of course, she also had a head start. She was French, after all.

A FEW OF MY FAVOURITE PLACES IN THE WORLD WHERE YOU CAN FIND DISCOUNTED CHANEL 

Catherine B. 1 & 3 Rue Guisarde, St Germain des Près, 75006, Paris.

Didier Ludot. 24 Galerie Montpensier, Palais Royal, 75001, Paris.

Gabrielle Geppert. 31 & 34 Galerie Montpensier, Palais Royal, 75001, Paris.

Pandora’s Dress Agency. 16-22 Cheval Place, London SW7.

"I want to make things that are classic. Imagine inventing the Chanel suit or blazer…"

–Tom Ford

THE PRINCIPLES OF FRENCH STYLE
Sit up straight. Don’t slouch. Walk tall. Elongate your body. 
Walk everywhere. Especially up stairs. The incidental exercise will help keep your legs in shape.
Dress with restraint. Before you walk out the door, take one thing off.
Go easy on accessories. Ensure they’re the best quality you can afford. 
Watch your silhouette. Keep the lines clean and in proportion. For example, a long scarf or wrap looks best with long, vertical lines–slim pants and a neat sweater, a narrow pants-suit or a long skinny dress. A short scarf, meanwhile, looks better with a short jacket, or a short dress.
Wear white near the face, particularly if you’re wearing a black suit. It brightens the complexion. Always try and buy white shirts with a strong collar and French cuffs. Cuffs add instant elegance to a suit.
Don’t be tempted to wear black all the time. Life is not a funeral. Try navy, chocolate or charcoal grey. If you want to wear black, think of a young Sophia Loren and go for a sexy dress. Accessorise with killer shoes, big dark sunglasses and a cute Italian. Wear a coloured scarf or carry a red handbag. Anything to avoid looking like a Sicilian widow.
If you find something that suits you, wear it often. Chanel only needed two or three of her well-made suits to survive her working week. 
Most of all, wear what makes you happy. Clothes are made for pleasure. Be happy wearing them.

Here’s what I think. I think that French women love being a little unpredictable, but since they find it so difficult to be radical in fashion, because the pressure to conform to the traditional ladylike aesthetic is so strong, they release their rebellious nature in other ways. They smoke. They buy sexy, vertiginous shoes, with heels that sit just the PC side of S&M. They often slip on an expensive, slightly titillating bra-and-knicker sets beneath their subdued little suits. They even have affairs. With a little Secretary-style hanky-panky-spanky to spice life up a bit. And yes, some of them even get paid for it. Think of Chanel deliberately underpaying her fitting models because she assumed that they could put their bodies and faces to better use during the evening for ‘extracurricular’ income. French women may look like the epitome of Mad Men-style chic, but they are far from being 1950s and 60s secretaries and housewives. Don’t let the Dioresque façade fool you. French women are as naughty as any of their Buenos Aires or Rio cousins. 

[CHANEL'S STYLE TIP: ALWAYS DRESS AS IF YOU MIGHT RUN INTO YOUR EX.]

Illustrating Chanel

For the past five months I have been working away in my library writing and illustrating two books. One of them is a book that looks at the real story behind the novel Picnic at Hanging Rock (and believe me, there is a real story, and a scandalous one too!). The other is an illustrated guide to Chanel, entitled How To Live A Beautiful Life. While the first book was both an eye-opener and a sentimental literary trip down Picnic lane, it was the second one that really captured my heart. 

Chanel has become Big Business in publishing circles. Everyone wants to write books about her, film movies about her, or simply idolise the iconic black and white logo and the gorgeous collections produced from the prestigious French fashion house each year. As such,  there are already  a couple of beautiful Chanel books out there, including Justine Picardie's impressive biography. However, I wanted to do a book that was like Chanel's own diary or fashion notebook. The idea came from a Chanel press release I received many years ago; a press release that was so extravagant it took my breath away. Chanel produces these extraordinary designs on August 19 every year in celebrating of Miss Coco's birthday. Each year the Chanel team comes up with ever-more fanciful ideas for press releases and each year beauty editors ooh and aaah over the stunning results. Quite frankly, I don't know how these release can become any more gorgeous. Unless they sent a couture Chanel gown out with them. 

Anyhow, the 2005 press release (which was so beautiful it was featured in Vogue, above) inspired me to do this book. And so for the past few months I've been trying to think of ways to illustrate it. Without using the name, the interlocking Cs, or any photographic images of the collections, all of which would be illegal. Somehow, I found a way to illustrated it, mostly via the marvellous medium of college. The art materials and manuscript have now gone off to an editor I know, for her to mull over them and offer her professional thoughts. In the meantime, here are some of the discarded "off cuts" from the creative process!