Gisèle Bündchen stars in Chanel N°5 latest commercial

After all the teasing and taunting the new commercial for Chanel N°5 has been released.

Starring Brazilian supermodel (such a cliché) and directed by Australian Baz Luhrmann, it is without doubt an advertising "masterpiece" (which means it captures your attention, if only for its extravagance), running to over three minutes at its longest version and featuring all the glamour and style you would expect.

Gisèle Bündchen (screenshot from Chanel N°5: "The One That I Want - The Film"

But does the self-proclaimed "world's most desirable fragrance" need to spend the spondoolicks on a campaign (and a launch party) for a product which already projects an image of unobtainable luxury.

Bündchen alone was reportedly paid $4 million for her role (admittedly less than the $7 million Brad Pitt apparently received for his yawn-along part in a previous commercial) - and that launch party in New York?

Gisèle Bündchen (screenshot from Chanel N°5: "The One That I Want - The Film

Well, as usual, Chanel is keeping mum about the figures. But the marketing people must know what they're doing - n'est ce pas?

Opinions are divided over the new commercial. "Wonderful" for some, "average" for others.

Perhaps the most captivating element as, in the words of the New York Times review, Bündchen "an overtaxed modern gal" struggles with the complexities of every day life (as if) such as "surfing in the Hamptons, sending her daughter off in the care of a nanny, getting in a quick photo shoot and reuniting with her man for a canoodle at a jazz club" is the background track.

It's an almost soporofic but at the same time hypnotic remake by US singer-songwriter Matthew Hemerlein - better known (apparently) under his stage name Lo-Fang - of the appropriately entitled (for the purposes of the commercial) "You're the won that I want" from the 1978 film version of the musical "Grease"

Conclusion - beautifully shot, definitely bewitching on first viewing (it holds your attention) but as triumphant as previous campaigns - the jury's out.

And whether, as Luhrmann insists, Bündchen "is the perfect modern No.5 woman" - well the answer is a resounding "no."

That accolade belongs - and this is going to appear entirely contradictory to many probably - to the woman, who when asked what she wore in bed, famously said "Chanel No. 5, of course".


Marilyn Monroe surely remains as modern today as she did back in April 1960 - a fact Chanel recognised in a 2012 retro (in fashion you just have to wait a bit for the "old" to become "new" again) campaign.

Marilyn Monroe (screenshot from "Marilyn and N°5 - Inside Chanel")

Marilyn Monroe (screenshot from "Marilyn and N°5 - Inside Chanel")

Anyway, here's Bündchen in Luhrmann's "mini-film" commercial.

You judge for yourselves.

Ségolène Royal - a French fashion icon!

Is that the gnashing of teeth that can be heard at the Elysée palace?

No not from the French president, François Hollande, over the admission by former budget minister Jérôme Cahuzac on his blog - of all things - that he had lied about having squirrelled money away in a foreign bank account (and a tidy little sum it was too - €600,000).

http://www.jerome-cahuzac.com/

That would be far too a serious political issue upon which to focus.

Besides it has been covered extensively elsewhere.

As has the fact that Cahuzac apparently informed Hollande of his decision to come clean by SMS (how very 21st century) and speculation over the repercussions for a party seemingly as clueless about a high-ranking member's financial shenanigans as it was when it came to the "trysts" of a certain DSK.

Rather the chopper grinding is probably being emitted from the other half of the first couple, Valérie Trierweiler (who incidentally is still exorcising - sic -  her chosen profession as a "journalist" over at the pages of the weekly (cough, cough) "news"  magazine Paris Match).

What exactly might be "sticking in her craw" (just to go full pelt, idiomatically speaking) you might be wondering.

Well of course it all has to be the latest news from her predecessor as Hollande's Better Half.

You see, that well-informed and cutting edge daily The Guardian has just released a totally objective and thoroughly-researched "Top 50 of the best-dressed over 50s".

And guess who makes it in at number 29...

Ségolène Royal!

"Shoulder-length hair that is youthful, not helmet-like. A jacket and dress in contrast colours. A white shirt with a silk scarf. How do the French make this style look so easy?" is how a svelte Seggers is described to readers of the UK national daily.

All right so Royal might not be up there with the likes of Helen Mirren ("numéro un" or rather "une" apparently) but she's only one of three French women to rank: the former editor-in-chief of Vogue Paris, Carine Roitfeld (who might not appreciate being described as "The only woman on Earth who looks a bit like Iggy Pop, but in a good way") is at number three, Catherine Deneuve at number 12, and Emmanuelle Riva at number 14.

But there she is in all her not-so batty Socialist glory ranking alongside He of the big lips and wiggly hips, Mick Jagger.

Way to go Seggers.

Thank goodness the editors didn't see her in her heyday 2008 One Woman Bercy show perhaps. Not her greatest fashion success.


Ségolène Royal au Zénith : Extraits par segolene-royal-videos

Given her newly-acquired trend-setting fashion status, perhaps Royal could help out a floundering government when Hollande decides to have a proper reshuffle.

She could maybe start with a few tips on appropriate hair colouration tips.

After all that excitement, how about some music.

Here's Maroon 5 ft Christina Aguilera with "Moves like Jagger".



Or Key of Awesome's parody.

France gets (David) Beckham's briefs

It might be solace of some sort for French football fans after the rumours that the British player, David Beckham, was about to sign for Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain, came to nowt.

David Beckham (screenshot from H&M commercial)

Because now they can, in a manner of speaking, at least get their hands on a part of one of the world's most famous players after the line of underwear bearing his name was launched in France this week.

All right so it comes a week after the Swedish retail company H&M started selling the "Bodywear collection" in London and that "Beckham in his pants" moment during last Sunday's Super Bowl in the United States when the entire promotional video of the 36-year-old "stretching and arching an eyebrow" clad only in the vestimentary bare essentials was shown during a commercial break.

But retailing at anything from €9.95 to €14.95 the range of underwear, tee-shirts and pajamas are an affordable gift - aren't they?

Hey there are even long johns in the collection to keep both the vitals and the legs warm during this cold winter snap.

The only downside - well there are a couple really - is that donning "Bodywear" won't give you the same sort of figure as the Posh Spice's Other Half and you won't suddenly become an overnight sensation on the pitch.

Never mind, you can always dream.

And maybe someone will dip into their long pockets to offer you a Valentine's gift.

Karl Lagerfeld, newspaper editor, on the Queen, Barack Obama, Greece and Adele - and lots more

You know how some celebs seem almost to be caricatures of themselves?

They're talented, successful and very influential in whichever field they're working.

But somehow, somewhere, they begin saying whatever comes into their minds, and their soundbites are the stuff of great swathes of the media.

One such person surely has to be German fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld.

Karl Lagerfeld (screenshot from Reuters report)

The 78-year-old scores on all three criteria, talent, success and influence.

There's no questioning his gift for creating posh frocks and the like, he heads a major fashion house, Chanel, and he can make a model's catwalk career take off, just as he did with Baptiste Giabiconi.

Sadly he's also given to pontificating on just about anything that strikes his fancy.

So when the free daily newspaper Metro made him guest editor for Tuesday's edition, Lagerfeld was given a platform not only to determine the design and contents for one day, but also to come up with some real corkers as he was asked questions on a range of issues during an interview.

Barack Obama deserves to be re-elected as far as Lagerfeld is concerned, but mainly because of his wife, Michelle, who has a "magical face" and without whom "he (Obama) would not be there."

Ah yes finger on the political pulse time from a man who admits he has never voted in his life.

There's more...of course.

The Greek economic crisis is - surprise, surprise - "a big problem as (Greeks) have a reputation of being corrupt," says Lagerfeld.

Ah that thought has never been expressed before. But wait for it, he has more.

"Greece needs to work on a cleaner image."

And more.

"Nobody wants Greece to disappear (???- not sure what he meant by that. Maybe Lagerfeld knows something the rest of us don't) but they have really disgusting habits – Italy as well.

Yep - you tell 'em Karl.

On the French presidential election; "It's not inspiring at the moment" (see video).

Well some would probably agree with him.



As far as popular music is concerned, British singer Adele has "a beautiful face and divine voice" but for Lagerfeld she's also "a little too fat."

As if the latter had anything to do with the former.

Finally - just for now (you can read the whole interview and/or watch the video if you feel so inclined) there's Queen Elizabeth II who has just marked the 60th anniversary of her accession to the throne.

Lagerfeld seems to think she's improving with age and, as far as her dress sense is concerned (and that's after all an area in which you would expect him to be able to make an informed comment) she's coming "into herself a little bit more - whatever that means."

Quite. What exactly does that mean?

Vanity Fair's best-dressed woman - Carla Bruni-Sarkozy

So that arbiter of taste and supplier of news on pop culture, fashion and current affairs, the monthly magazine Vanity Fair, has released its 72nd annual best dressed list.

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy (screenshot from trailer for Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris")

And as far as the women are concerned the winner is...the former top model-cum singer/actress and France's current first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.

Yes she of the finely chiselled features, raspy voice and elegantly increasing girth in expectation of a happy event has managed to beat out stiff competition from Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned (the second of the three wives of Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar) and the recently-wed Duchess of Cambridge, aka to many still as Kate Middleton.

Perhaps not surprisingly the French media was fawningly quick off the mark to revel in the news.

"French chic - you've heard of it?" trumpeted the weekly glossy Voici.

"Well just to make matters easy, it can be defined in three words, 'Carla Bruni-Sarkozy'," it continued (un)imaginatively.

For fellow celebrity gossip magazine Gala it came as little surprise that Bruni-Sarkozy had made it as Vanity Fair's best dressed women as she had been among the "sartorially superior" for the past four years.

And let's face it, she's not exactly a stranger to the world of high fashion and GLAMOUR.

"She's known for having that refined distinction inherited from being from the upper middle class," it wrote.

"And she has been the flawless hostess at the l’Elysée (palace) with assured taste and a figure allowing her to show off to perfection clothes from some of the greatest fashion designers."

The magazine also delighted in the timing, remarking that while the "Mother-to-be might recently have given up on her Dior dresses and Louboutin shoes, she had also managed to dazzle through her natural beauty at the G8 summit in June where she appeared in her her simple Rogier Verdier-designed wardrobe."

And so it continued with the emphasis being put on Bruni-Sarkozy's "simplicity and elegance" (TF1) or "Vanity Fair having succumbed to Bruni-Sarkozy's charm" (Le Parisien)


But as much of the French media was equally at pains to point out, Bruni-Sarkozy was not the only woman on the list to "embody French style".

Because there at number six was the recently-appointed head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde.

You can see the full list - of best-dressed women and men - as well as what Paris Match calls "Vanity Fair's 'ovation' to a certain Kate Middleton'," over on the magazine's site and check out the comments.

They just about say it all.

Mood's Smiley bracelets tipped to become fashion hit for French children

They've only been available since June, but already the buzz in France is that Mood's bracelets are set to become THE fashion accessory for the younger generation in particular this autumn.

Mood's bracelets (screenshot from website)

The bracelets, as described on the company's website, are brightly-coloured silicone bracelets, currently available in 10 smiley emoticons corresponding to different moods and available individually or in a pack.

As the free daily 20 minutes reports they're a "cheap, easy and fun way to express what mood you're in" and much to the surprise of their creators - two French entrepreneurs - they're already proving to be a hit.

And not just with teenagers as Florence Bougault, one those who came up with the concept explains.

"The idea came to Stanislas Henriot and me when we were thinking about all those emoticons that are being used in text messages and chat rooms and which we're very fond of ourselves," she said.

"They're aimed primarily at teenagers, but to our surprise we've seen a lot of mothers buying and wearing them or swapping them with their children."

Smiley (from Wikipedia)

Hardly surprising perhaps as the bracelets have had a healthy dollop of free promotion.

It has come in the form of this year's Secret Story - a French version of the TV reality show Big Brother, only different but by no means better - in which the candidates can (if you're watching closely) be seen wearing them.

And as the show, broadcast throughout the summer, has a daily audience of around 2.4 million viewers for its early evening slot, that's pretty nifty bit of product placement.

As if to emphasise that Mood's is a trend not just in the making, but fast gathering momentum, the French news website Melty.fr is also calling them the 2011 summer must-have among teenagers

And it should know what it's talking about as it's a site specifically aimed at teenagers and young adults.

In fact Google "Mood's bracelets" here in France and you'll soon come up with several sites and blogs talking about how they've already become the fashion accessory for summer and are expected to become all the rage as new ranges are introduced for the autumn.

Next up - coloured elastic bands as glorified fashion statements?

Whoops - they've already been and gone in the form of Sillybandz.

And France's best-dressed male politician is...?

Oh come on. You know you're interested. After all isn't it the most compelling part of politics...the fluffy celebrity side of things?

Read on, and you'll find out (eventually) who the French think is their best-dressed male politician, which you have to admit makes a change from those endless polls ranking political figures by their popularity.

Actually that in itself seems to be something of a national pastime in France. At least the media would seem to have us believe it matters, with polls coming thick and fast on a monthly basis.

Mind you, it has been fairly quiet on that front recently - probably something to do with much of the country having been on holiday for the month of August.

For sure those polls have been published as frequently as ever, but they haven't really made the headlines lately apart from the odd mention that the former president, Jacques Chirac, is the nation's favourite political figure with a 76 per cent approval rating ahead of the ever-popular foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner (70 per cent) and his former underling, Rama Yade (67 per cent) who was junior minister for human rights until the position was scrapped in June's reshuffle and now finds herself "elevated" (heavy on the irony) to sport.

For his part the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has dropped a point to 47 per cent, but has nonetheless managed to climb a place in the overall listings from July to 27th place.

Anyway back to that "style" survey conducted for the monthly men's magazine Optimum by l’institut Isama and the results of which are prefaced with proof that clothes maketh the man.

"The image of the politicians depends first of all on their position, what they have to say and what they do," runs the introduction helpfully.

"But it's also based on indirect elements or factors that have little to to with politics such as the individual's appeal, way of expressing himself (yes we're talking just male politicians here) or what he wears. In other words 'style'."

There you go, confirmation if you will, that appearances do matter.

And the winner is - (drum roll please) - none other than Dominique de Villepin.

Does the name ring a bell? It should do. He was a foreign minister and then prime minister under Chirac and his is the name on everybody's lips here in France at the moment as he's one of the key players embroiled in the so-called "Clearstream affair".

In a nutshell, de Villepin is a defendant in a trial that has just got underway, and is charged with "plotting to discredit" Sarkozy when the two were ministers under Chirac.

It's a complicated case that has taken up more than a few column inches in newspapers and is pretty much the story coming out of France at the moment.

There's masses of stuff about it out on the Net and to go into detail about it here would rather spoil the flippant tone of this piece, so without further ado let's take a look at who else figures on the list behind the dashing de Villepin.

In second place is the former (Socialist) culture minister, Jack Lang with the name once again of Kouchner (another Socialist - of sorts) popping up in third. They're followed by the prime minister, François Fillon, the (Socialist) mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë and a former (Socialist) finance minister and wannabe president, Dominique Strauss-Kahn who is currently head honcho at the International Monetary Fund.

With four of the first six coming from the ranks of the Socialist party, you could perhaps be forgiven for thinking that if looks really counted for anything supporters of the party would choose one of them as the next presidential candidate in 2012 - even though two of them (Lang and Kouchner) currently at 70 years of age might be considered a bit long in the tooth by then.

So with de Villepin getting the thumbs up for style, what of the plaintiff in that Clearstream affair (sorry to have to return to that) and the man who would least likely be described as his best friend...Sarkozy?

After all the 54-year-old, all action French president is a keep fit fan (we see pictures of him jogging regularly) and he's married to a former clothes horse.

In fact some commentators have remarked on how sharp his dress sense has become since he and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy tied the knot.

Well Sarkozy scrapes into the top 10 - even though he surely won't be pleased once more to find himself behind his prime minister - with a rating of 5,32 and Isama pointing out in its summary that his style appeals to all age groups apart from the 18-24-year-olds, who rank him just 32nd.

There's a message there somewhere isn't there?

So that's the men done and dusted.

We now await with bated breath a similar poll for France's female politicians.