France politics
fromwww.thelocal.fr
19 hours agoInside France: French elegance, flying bells and Swedish snuff fury
French church bells are said to fly to Rome on Good Friday, returning with chocolate eggs for children on Easter Sunday.
Participating in London Fashion Week is not a luxury but a necessity for any emerging brand aiming to go global. It's your ticket to the world of international fashion. - Katie England, Creative Director of Topshop and curator of the New Generation program
There's Portugal, Brittany, Vendée, Egypt, and Damascus. He also has a place in Los Angeles. And there's Vermelho Melides, the boutique hotel in Portugal, that he designed and opened in 2023, and its new beachside mate, scheduled to be ready this summer.
At the 98th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, celebrities showed up with nails that were just as attention-grabbing as a perfectly executed red lip or Old Hollywood hairstyle. Some stars went all out with statement manicures to match their black-tie ensembles.
It's long had a reputation as the city of romance, but now the French capital is supporting a growing number of businesses that will arrange an extravagant marriage proposal in a landmark setting - for a hefty fee, of course. The luxury marriage proposal business is booming in Paris with agencies charging international clients thousands of euros to pop the question in a 'romantic' setting in the City of Love.
Olivia Rodrigo showed off a vintage Anna Sui look from the designer's Spring 1994 collection, proving her prowess at selecting archival pieces that still look fresh today. She wore a long-sleeved black babydoll dress with a white lapel collar, matching tuxedo-like cuffs, and buttons leading to a poofy, high-waisted miniskirt.
In 1994, when the grunge aesthetic gripped the nation (chokers, combat boots), the make-up artist Heidi Morawetz created Le Vernis Rouge Noir. There and then, backstage at Chanel's Autumn/Winter ready to wear show, she mixed black and reds until the shade emerged - a perfect blend of rebellion and conformity; not too black, not too red, not too bold, and not too boring.
When you think of glam, your mind likely automatically goes to masterful makeup looks and gorgeous hairstyles - but a beautiful manicure is just as important to a look. At the 2026 Golden Globes on Jan. 11, the stars proved exactly that. Classics, like a French manicure or a shimmer polish, are timeless for a reason. But other on-trend mani looks, like cat eye, vampy colors, jewel-toned hues, or soap nails, are also go-tos for A-listers.
Though it's merely a line, a stripe instantly takes a plain manicure into something more playful and experimental. On TikTok, a search for "striped nails" brings up thousands of colorful results, proving that even a simple design makes a big impact. Whether due to their graphic appeal or ability to make your fingertips pop without feeling overdone, the trend has won the hearts of countless nail art aficionados. Creator @sofia_linaresss showed off a set of horizontal lines and joked that she had a " bad case of the stripes," while @madysenclarke revealed a chic set of line-adorned French tips that sparked a flood of compliments in her comments section.
As a travel writer who refuses to check a bag, I've had to distill my travel wardrobe down to 10 versatile staples that can easily mix and match to create over a dozen outfits. Whether I'm wine-bar hopping in the trendy 11th arrondissement, playing tourist by the Eiffel Tower, or splurging on a fancy dinner in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, I need pieces that can be dressed up or down-and crucially, that will keep me warm.
While the fun-loving girls of the internet are still up in arms about Pantone's selection of cloud dancer - a subtle shade of white - as the color of the year, Pinterest is taking things in a much bolder direction. The platform's annual color trend forecast predicts five vibrant hues for 2026, including one that's impossible to ignore: wasabi. This yellow-leaning green is joyful, punchy, and totally in-your-face.
The earliest jewellery ever discovered wasn't gold or gemstone at all, but fish bones. In prehistoric times, hunters wore bones, teeth and claws from their kills as talismans of luck and prowess. For Italian shoe maestro Giuseppe Zanotti - famous for his sculptural, jewel-encrusted heels - this idea of turning humble scraps into ornamentation has long been second nature; during a seaside dinner in 2004, Zanotti sketched a fish skeleton on a tablecloth.
The 2026 Grammys red carpet was a sight to behold. Musicians stepped out in dazzling sequined gowns, naked dresses, custom suits, and cut-out designs, with each 'fit more jaw-dropping than the next. Stars' beauty looks were just as fun - everything from mermaid waves to vampy glam, intricate updos, and 2016-era makeup was on full display, proving the "clean girl" aesthetic has officially been kicked to the dust.
Embroidery is a historic mainstay of traditional clothing in Asia or the Middle East, as well as Western Haute Couture, but it is increasingly present in Paris, Milan or New York on modern men's shirts, bomber jackets or blazers. Designers at Dior, Dolce Gabbana, Kenzo or Gucci have adopted it in recent runway shows, while Louis Vuitton's celebrity rapper-designer Pharell Williams dedicated his entire June collection to India after visiting the country.
The end of the show did not mark the end of the trip. Back at the Le Grand Bellevue the group divided between fireside hot chocolates and the hotel's spa. The hotel's Le Grand Spa is over 3,000 square metres and has eight different types of saunas, several ice showers, foot baths and an outdoor bubble pool (named thus as it's bigger than your standard jacuzzi).