Ask Carine Roitfeld

Olivier Zahm is editing a book about Carine Roitfeld tentatively titled Album of a Woman of Fashion and he needs your help... Originally slated to release this October, Rizzoli pushed the publication date to next autumn and has invited questions from Carine's fans that she may answer in Zahm's forthcoming book. See Rizzoli's invitation here (and note that I have verified the request is genuine). If you have a personal question that you would like Carine to answer, send it to inquire@purple.fr and you may be one of the lucky few that receives a response from La Roitfeld herself. If you do send in a question, I would love to hear about it. Bonne chance, mes chéris !

Carine Roitfeld and Olivier Zahm photograph courtesy of fashionista.com.

Review: Classy By Derek Blasberg

My friend Kate Ringo Suzuki from the blog Everyday Glamour has kindly agreed to serve as the first guest columnist for I Want To Be A Roitfeld and we are thrilled to welcome her witty words of wisdom to these pages. Kate has reviewed Derek Blasberg's new book Classy: Exceptional Advice for the Extremely Modern Lady for all of us to enjoy. Merci mille fois, Kate!

Everyday Glamour Book Review: Classy
By Kate Ringo Suzuki

Etiquette books are for sissiphants who wear twin sets and sensible shoes and sit around crocheting pot holders. Or so I thought. Enter small town Midwestern boy turned Big Apple fashion journalist, Derek Blasberg, author of Classy: Exceptional Advice for the Extremely Modern Lady. Mr. Blasberg has a bone to pick with all you fabulous young ladies out there who have trouble differentiating between what’s sexy and what’s skanky. Oh yeah. You see, he’s a sensible guy, (coming from Missouri and all), who has had the lucky opportunity to not only travel the globe but also attend some pretty amazing parties in the New York fashion, art, and social scenes.

Mr. Blasberg has seen some class acts and he’s also seen some trampy vamps. It truly annoys him that the tramps have been getting the spotlight lately. I mean, hello! Britney Spears, I’m talking to you, put on some panties and learn how to exit a car properly! With role models like sweet Britney (and more) how can an Everyday Glamour Chick (E.G.C.) be expected to know how to have appeal without resorting to exposing her nether regions?

Look no further, E.G.C.s! Classy is a user-friendly style and etiquette book that can turn any skank into a sophisticated, alluring, well-rounded, and classy young lady. Chapters are set up like magazine articles, replete with charts, illustrations, snazzy quotes, and best of all, before and after pictures. After pictures get the “Yes: That’s Classy!” seal of approval, while the before pictures get the “No! Tramp Stamp.” badge. And it also doesn’t hurt that the book itself fits neatly into most handbags — for easy reading wherever you go!

So remember, E.G.C.s, being nice and polite doesn’t mean you’re a stick in the mud, dressing like a blow-up doll isn’t the only way to get attention, using your “inside voice” can be more powerful than a dozen screaming skanks, and being well-rounded has nothing to do with your proportions! Classy, by Derek Blasberg, gets the Everyday Glamour stamp of approval!

Everyday Glamour Book Review: Classy © 2010 Kate Ringo Suzuki. All Rights Reserved.
Classy images courtesy of brunchatbarneys.blogspot.com.

Cool Carine

Special thanks to momentum mode for the kind permission to share this amazing illustration of Carine Roitfeld with you. Be sure to check out all the little "personnages" when you visit the site, including Sacré Karl, Sequin Dello Russo, Super Marc, Belle Emmanuelle, and of course, Cool Carine, c'est très drôle. Other cool things: momentum mode was one of the creative people featured in the new book The Selby Is In Your Place and it looks like this fabulous pad may even boast a... Picasso?! Mon dieu, quelle chance !

Carine Roitfeld as Cool Carine illustration © 2010 momentum mode. All Rights Reserved.

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld's Library

Muito obrigada to my friend Sil for when I visited her blog Li em Algum Lugar, or in English "I read somewhere," I remembered that we have yet to explore the library of Julia Restoin-Roitfeld. As you can see in the photographs of her apartment taken by Todd Selby last year, Julia has an admirable collection of books but an aversion to shelves. Instead she stacks her books neatly against one wall of her living room, ever so chic and minimalist.

Clearly her brother Vladimir is not the only one in the family with a taste for photography and art, along with film these topics are the focus in most of the volumes seen here with chronologically archived issues of Vogue Paris comprising the remainder. Following is a list of les livres de Julia Restoin-Roitfeld. A few of the titles are out of print but I have linked to more information about the books if available. What are your thoughts on Mademoiselle Restoin-Roitfeld's library?

Portraits Richard Avedon

Small Wars An-My Lê

Woman in the Mirror: 1945-2004 Richard Avedon

Nudes Thomas Ruff

Tempo, Tempo! The Bauhaus Photomontages of Marianne Brandt Elizabeth Otto

Chanel

Collection Privée Benno Graziani

Let Me In! Mario Testino

Self Service Spring/Summer 2008

Basic Forms of Industrial Buildings

Field Trips Robert Smithson/Bernd & Hilla Becher

Saul Leiter: Early Color

Peter Beard, Volumes I and II

Brigitte Bardot

Marilyn: A Biography Norman Mailer

The Rolling Stones: The First Twenty Years David Dalton

Diane Arbus: An Aperture Monograph

Christian Dior

Close Up Martin Schoeller

The Polaroid Book

Photographs of Julia Restoin-Roitfeld and her library © 2009 Todd Selby. All Rights Reserved.

Roitfelds At Classy Release Party

Though Julia Restoin-Roitfeld prefers the word "elegant" to "classy" in describing her friends, she and brother Vladimir were on hand regardless to help celebrate the publication of the book Classy by Derek Blasberg. "All my friends are pretty classy, I guess. No, I don't want to say classy. All my friends are pretty elegant with good manners," Julia clarified. She is pictured here in the Prps flak jacket posing with Dasha Zhukova, editor of Pop and one of three hostesses for the event. Chloë Sevigny and Lauren Santo Domingo also shared in this honor. Others gracing the soirée at Barneys on Madison Avenue included Giovanna Battaglia, Zac Posen, Jessica Stam, Lazaro Hernandez, Jack McCollough, Lily Aldridge, Leigh Lezark, Byrdie Bell, Jen Brill, Simon Doonan, Anna Cleveland, and Nate Berkus. For more photos visit Paper Mag, Just Jared, or Harper's Bazaar.

Derek Blasberg and friend photograph © 2010 Just Jared. All Rights Reserved.
Julia Restoin-Roitfeld and Dasha Zhukova photograph © 2010 Patrick McMullan. All Rights Reserved.
Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld photograph © 2010 Paper Publishing Company. All Rights Reserved.

Update on vendredi 9 avril 2010 by kellina

Here is a darling photo of Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld and Giovanna Battaglia celebrating Classy.

Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld and Giovanna Battaglia photograph courtesy of style.com