Rugged up on a rainy day... Paris

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Just chilling....at PFW

I love this shot because amongst all the hustle, bustle and craziness that is paris fashion week this girl was chilling out, not phased by the craziness happening around her. I think she is a model and her name is Charon (but I may be wrong)... 

Happy Paris Fashion Week! I'm in the midst of it, exhausted but excited! More shots to come soon xx 

Before Damir Doma, Paris

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Catherine Baba, Paris

After the Show, Paris

Caroline Issa - London, Paris and Milan

Caroline Issa is hands down one of my favourite people to photograph. But not just because she has an amazing style. Although that of course is one of the reasons. Caroline to me is an ideal subject for a photograph - she has great style without having to compromise comfort and practicality. Think about it... have you ever seen Caroline wear something that made you think: "gee that looks uncomfortable!"? Well my point exactly, when it's cold outside Caroline will wear a coat and if she has a stack of papers to carry around, she will carry a satchel... a great looking satchel but a satchel nonetheless. I love the fact that she is a real looking person with a warm smile and not a Barbie cookie cutter like so many people you see at fashion week. Of course, I can't omit the fact that I also like Caroline for the brains - I have enormous respect for education. Caroline, with an ivy league establishment and years of experience in management consulting behind her, makes me think that a gal can have it all after all! Xx

After the show, Paris

Frances Coombe, Paris

Emmanuelle Alt before John Galliano, Paris

Giovanna Battaglia, Paris

Peony Lim, Paris

Anne Catherine Frey, Paris

Dima Shabalin, Paris

Denni Elias, Paris

Ulyana Sergeenko, outside John Galliano

This was the first season that I photographed Ulyana Sergeenko. I first spotted her at Paris Fashion Week in March last year but I was a little hesitant. Firstly, back then I wasn't sure who she was exactly, she had a cloud of street style photographers surrounding her wherever she appeared and I had suspicions that she might be one of those people who "dress for press". But I kept her on my radar and every time I would go back to Russia for a visit I would look out for her in the fashion magazines. Turns out, she doesnt dress for press, but rather her dress sense is very much an extension of who she is. Ulyana's style is consistently chic with a tinge of nostalgia for the 1950's when women were feminine, fragile and demure. Ulyana is a fashion designer and her label is very much an extension of her distinctive personal style. You can see Ulyana's latest lookbook here.

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The Pursuit of the Perfect Shoe

I'm a street style blogger. This means I spend the entire fashion week in my Converse shoes. It is practically impossible to wear anything else. I mean I've tried the oxfordy looking flats, I've tried tiny heels from Zara but at the end of the day only in Converse can you make it back to the hotel room and be able to do it all over again the next day and for the rest of the fashion month. 

Reality ... (Dvora, me and Nyanzi at Paris Fashion Week)

Having said that, I must confess that I get an extreme case of shoe envy especially when it comes to other bloggers. Obvious example - Hedvig. By the end of the Paris Fashion Week I started suspecting that Hedvig is a superior human being to everyone else as she spend the entire fashion month running around in super high heels. And I'm talking not your 'pretend' chunky heel or kitten heel, I'm talking the real deal, 6 inch and up! I cannot even begin to imagine what her podiatrist bill comes to at the end of that torturous month.

When surrounded by such eye candy, I feel doubly inadequate in my little converse shoes. As a self-confessed shoeaholic, fashion week for me is akin to teetotaling at a bachelor party in Ibiza. 

As a result of the "shoe situation" and me being 5 foot tall (I'm strong believer that ladies who are tall and skinny - basically the model types - can get away with wearing flats and still looking good.. I mean they can get away with pretty much anything!), I gave up the notion of dressing up for fashion week entirely. 

The situation is further complicated by the fact that the quality of my photographs is directly proportional to the level of my physical comfort. If I am cold or my feet hurt or (the greatest evil of all) I am hungry then I am less likely to care about the fashionistas around me and focus my energy on fixing the problem - buying extra socks, overpaying for an umbrella outside the Tuileries, running around the block in Milan trying to find a cafe that 'looks good' (what a travesty!) - you name it, i've done it.

So where does this leave me? This leaves me in jeans, converse shoes, with a warm scarf around my neck and chewing something from the cafe in the closest proximity (crepes, panini, peanut butter sandwich).

I really do hope that one day I will find that perfect shoe that will be beautiful and comfortable and I will be running around taking photos and still looking fabulous! Until then… jeans and converse it is.

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What I wish I was wearing :) (click the arrows to slideshow)

Leather and Denim, Paris

Michelle Harper, Paris

French chic, Grand Palais

Loving this colour scheme...camel, brown and red - it just works. By the way does anyone know the name of this french fashion editor?? xx

Natalia Alaverdian, Jardins des Tuileries

Natalia Alaverdian - Fashion Editor, Harpers Bazaar Russia 

Natalia is always a bit understated in her personal style and rarely wears screaming, attention seeking outfits. However, she is a very bold and talented stylist and has the ability to brilliantly transcribe her vision onto the pages of numerous editorials that she has styled. You can check out her work at www.nataliaalaverdian.com.