Temple City Fall Festival Street Faire 2009

This year's Fall Festival in Temple City is promising to be the best ever! As in years past, Branché Boutique has used the Fall Festival to launch new products and this year will be no different.

After much success with the French Market Sale in August, Branché Boutique has been working hard to unveil the winter collection for the Fall Festival.

Please see the location below. For questions or details, please post a comment and I will respond. We hope to see you there!

FALL FESTIVAL

Branché Boutique

Saturday, October 17, 2009

10:00am to 4:00pm

9701 East Las Tunas Drive

Temple City, California 91780

(Near Pasadena and Arcadia)

The Return of the Parisians, "Le rentree"

King Louis XVI once declared "Is it a revolt"? No! It is "Le rentree"! Everyone knows that Europeans and specifically Parisians go on holiday for several weeks if not the entire summer. When the Parisians return from their holiday in September there is a new bustle in the air. With the enthusiasm of children returning to school and the reopening of open air markets, the gusto of Parisian life fills the air.

The return or “Le rentree” adds much to the general excitement of the life in Paris. It is an opportunity to have a fresh start and enjoy the sights, sounds and aromas of everyday life as the Parisians know it . Click on the link and indulge your senses as you take pleasure in the sounds of Paris during “Le rentree”. The article is hosted by Eleanor Beardsley and entitled “France Marks Return From Vacation In 'Rentree'”. Vous êtes juilletistes ou aoûtien?

European Style Fashion Contest

It is here! The first ever Living Euro Style Fashion Contest. It’s just like paper dolls except that you can dress yourself, your friends and share your sense of European style. In your favorite fashion magazine there are always great pages filled with dresses, skirts, belts, bags, shoes, etc. and they all look so beautiful put together like a work of art. Now you can create your own! The website for creating the montage is Polyvore.com. It is incredibly addicting as you search for the perfect skirt to go with the perfect hat and ultra trendy bag! Oh yes, don't forget the scarf! Have fun and be creative.

Creating a montage takes from 15-20 minutes. Please see the rules below and start shopping and pasting! The deadline for submission is October 15, 2009. Please send an email with any questions. You may view my fashion montage on my homepage under “How To Dress Like A European Woman”. Americans learning to dress like Europeans is just another day in my European Style Life.

Contest Rules:
1. Winner will be chosen at the discretion of the author of this website on the merits of the most unique, stylish and European inspired.
2. Participant agrees to have fashion montage posted on my website and to be used any way deemed appropriate.
3. Entries will be received from September 9, 2009 to October 15, 2009. Entry submissions must be submitted by email to parleneparis@sbcglobal.net and must include full name, mailing address and email address.
4. Entries should include at least one listing from my personal website, Branché Boutique by Parlene. It need not be a wearable item. This may require uploading photos. (Click on the link for instructions.) If you have a difficult time uploading photos, you may submit an entry without using an item from my Etsy site. It's all in good fun!
5. Entries must be created using Polyvore format.
6. One Starbucks gift card valued at $20 will be awarded to the winner within 2 weeks of the announced winner. The winner will be notified by email. The prize will be mailed via USPS. Participant may not request a monetary value of the prize. The monetary value of the prize is less than one cent.

The Bank Dance and 500 Days of Summer

Still can't get enough of 500 Days of Summer and those swanky frocks? Well, neither can I! I am as hooked on this movie and soundtrack as I was when I saw Marie Antoinette with Kirsten Dunst. Ah, but I bet you didn't know there was a "Bank Dance". Well, only us who are down with 80's music and skinny ties know about this one...Enjoy. Simply click the play button.

The Bank Dance from "500 Days of Summer"

Retro Chic and The Perfect Dress

It happens every once in a long while, you buy a dress that you absolutely fall in love with. This is no everyday occurrence. In fact, it probably is not an annual occurrence either. It usually happens on an unexpected shopping day. It might be a bright sunny day or a perfectly dowdy day.

In my case, it was neither. It was a smokey day in Los Angeles due to all the fires. I decided to pop my head into my favorite shop, Anthropologie and “just look around”. With one deep breath I walked into my happy place. A shop filled with beautiful clothes and who always burns the same scented candle which I have at home.

There it was hanging in all its glory, a beautiful silk dress in my favorite classic color, navy blue. I quickly searched to see if they had carried it in my size. Voila! They had my size. I was promptly asked if I would like a dressing room to be started. Mais bien sur! (Click on the photos to find out where to buy these clothes.)

What attracted me to this dress was that it reminded me of a dress that I once owned when I was 19 years old. It was a silk navy blue dress with little cream flowers that had a little belt around the waist (just as this one does). My new dress is not truly similar in style, but it took me back to the time that I wore my little navy blue dress on my first date with the man who I am married to.

I remember so clearly as if it were last week. I got ready for our first date one night in February 1996 and slipped into my navy silk dress which I had bought on sale at Banana Republic. We went to listen to big band music at a restaurant in Long Beach, California. I am not even sure if the restaurant is still there. As I tried on this pictured dress in the dressing room it took me back to that lovely night; how I felt, how he smelled, and the thrill of holding hands for the first time. And even then, just as he does now, he wore a Pollo shirt with Docker pants. I remember feeling so feminine as he led me to the dance floor in my vintage styled navy dress that I paired with black Mary Janes. What a great night it was.

Trying on the new dress, I stayed in the dressing room for 30 minutes admiring the dress that was soon to be mine. And I thought of the comment my hubby made to me recently after watching the movie “500 Days of Summer”. My hubby told me that her style reminds him of my style and that the clothes she wears in the movie he can picture me wearing. Retro Chic is the name of this fashion style that I adore. It is not easy to find this type of clothing, but when I do, it is one of those days where shopping meets bliss. Finding a dress that is worthy of love is just another day in my European Style Life.