A Week(ish) of Outfits in France

Where there was the ocean breeze and snow to our knees

Hi, Hadley here.

Spring in mountain towns invokes images of plodding through mud, nostalgia over the last resort laps, and confusion over what to wear. Here in Chamonix, it feels like spring comes by February. The valley tends to rid itself of snow-giving us an early mud season by March. By April it’s often pretty darn green, floral, and sunny. But like every other mountain town, we also get the random April snowstorm, and this year’s was no joke. I live in a village lower down from the main town of Chamonix. Normally we stop getting snowfall this low in January-so you can imagine my surprise when we had what looked like 2 feet of snow in our yard…

In reaction to the spring, my thoughts drifted to the south of France. The south of France is to the French that Moab is to the American Westeners. A relatively easy spring escape to warmer weather and non-winter activities. Cassis/Marseille has become a yearly pilgrimage for me here in France. It’s the perfect time to go climb above the sea and eat the best strawberries on earth.

Marseille Baby!

It took little convincing for Pierre and my friends, both new and old, to plan a last minute southern trip. The two new friends, Harry and Jerry, were coming to Chamonix to snowboard. While they’re used to wintry trips and long bouts in tents, they quickly acclimatized to slow mornings, meandering quaint villages, taste testing different strawberries from the farmers, and drinking cappuccinos amongst locals-all in the blissful sun and far away from snow and snowboards. This is my new strategy for getting friends to move to France and I think it’s working.

Cassis/Marsielle and the sweet sight of blue

We decided on Tuesday to leave on Thursday, which gave me enough time to rummage through the storage unit and reunite with most of my closet. While I made do this winter with most of my clothes in storage, I learned I am not a capsule, minimal wardrober (wardrobest?). I love my clothes…it was pure bliss to have so many more options to play with.

Here is a selection looks and books worn and read from the week (the timeline isn’t pure, but you get the idea!)

Monday-computer

Doing: Working from home

Wearing: My mom’s vintage blouse, Mother jeans (a gift from my mother), my mom’s vintage watch, house slippers (because ya know it’s still work from home)

Reading: The fine print of doing both French and American taxes…

Thanks Mom!

I’ve been working this year on a big copy writing project for The North Face. I’ll be moving into a real office in June (yay!), but for now I’m working from home. Like 100,000 people before me have said, it helps if I get out of my pajamas and into an outfit for better productivity.

I now realize that almost all of this outfit comes from my mom. The blouse is part of her vintage skirt set. Red is a go-to color for me.

I couldn’t find much info on the designer-Christyne Forti, but based on these images she made clothes for strong women! There’s some Forti gems out there on ebay-here and here. The quality is incredible-the way the shirt drapes and pleats feels like nothing I’ve seen on the internet in a long time.

Tuesday

Doing: Working from home

Wearing: Old Zara khakis, Everlane Tshirt and V-Neck Sweater, Dad’s bolo, vintage belt, thrifted Officine Creative Derby shoes.

Reading: Dad’s copy of John McPhee’s-The Control of Nature.