PetiteBrigitte

Did you happen to see the dashing men driving around in the pimped out Rolls Royce convertible this week? I did. For a second I thought the gay pride parade had started a few months early, but then I realized it was Jean Paul Gaultier up to his promotional antics.

Gaultier is launching a new men’s perfume called Fleur du Male, a witty play on Baudelaire’s collection of poems, Les Fleurs du Mal. And the perfume is just as decadent and erotic as the poetry.

I am generally opposed to men’s perfume (possibly because many men are ignorant of proper dosages), but was pleasantly surprised when I sampled this refreshing fragrance. In fact, I actually spritzed it on my wrist and wore it for the rest of the day!

Fleur du Male is geared towards the same urbane and sophisticated male as Burburry London and Paul Smith Story, but provides something more unanticipated and sensual with notes of petitgrain, lavendar, orange blossom, and coumarin.

Available exclusively au Printemps.

Queen for the day.

I am officially endorsing the ‘guest designer’ trend for major retailers. Some would say that it devalues the luxury pret-a-porter industry, or that it reflects negatively on the designer, but I disagree. Granted, some guest designers are better than others. Look at Madonna‘s miserable collection at H&M, which is still sitting on the shelves weeks after the debut. Terrible! But then again Madonna never had much style sense outside of the 1980′s. Surprisingly disappointing is Milla Jonovich‘s new collection for Mango: a schizophrenic trip into the forgettable 70′s.

April 25 was the debut for Lolita Lempicka’s collection for Etam. It is everything this genre of retailing should be: above-average quality, a reflection of the designer’s trademark style, thematically linked, and desirable yet fresh. I was quite taken with the amazing cuts and intricate detailing. Several easy-to-wear dresses, in whites and light blues. One with a darling rosette motif and sexy criss-cross back. Lots of button detailing, from the dresses to the white sailor shorts. Everything flows together nicely, and is priced at a bargain– nothing over 70 euros!

Lempicka’s is one of the best guest collections I’ve seen (note: this may be overidden when I get to London next week to see Kate Moss for Topshop!). Get to Etam FAST— the collection is very limited and going quickly. I would recommend the big one near Chatelet, the one in the Bastille was low on a lot of sizes.