Fashion Week Day Four: Jennifer Banash

Fashion Week's second guest is Jennifer Banash, author of the ELITE series. In addition to writing, she's the co-founder of Impetus Press. She confesses her greatest fashion weakness, one which many girls can probably relate to!

Read my review of THE ELITE here and comment to win a copy.



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Everyone who knows me knows I’m a total clothes horse. But as much as I love my wardrobe, I hold a special place in my heart for two things: Bags and shoes. Oh, give me a new pair of stilettos as a present and I’ll probably do your laundry for you and cook you dinner. I’ve been known to take out the trash wearing 4 inch heels, and don’t hesitate to bring out my Donald J. Pliner or Rafe NY bags for a trip to the grocery store to buy fabric softener. As a result I have too many pairs of shoes to count, and some really nice purses!

As some of you may know, I wrote the third ELITE book SIMPLY IRRESISTABLE in Paris, which was a real challenge to my work ethic. Paris is, hands-down, my favorite place in the world, and when I’m lucky enough to be there, all I want to do is indulge the senses. There’s something about the city that demands it: The street markets overflowing with produce so brightly colored that it makes tomatoes seem like rubies, the smell of fresh coffee everywhere, soft, ripe cheeses shining whitely under a gray sky, and the sight of impeccably turned out French women hurrying home with long baguettes underneath one arm makes my heart sing, and, above all can cause me to take very long lunches and ignore my writing for days on end while I people watch at sidewalk cafes, and drink copious amounts of red wine –usually while admiring the new, Parisian acquisitions south of my ankles :)

And on one of those days, I paid a visit to the ultra-modern Marc Jacobs store in the Palais Royal, hoping to get my hands on a bag that I knew had been sold out in my neck of the woods for some time—the Pan Am bag. Usually when I’m in France, I like to shop in little boutiques like Colette, on the Rue Saint-Honore, where I can find designers and styles not readily available in the Midwest, but that day I was on a mission. I walked into the hushed, cool quiet of the store, hoping that it would be there—a simple vinyl bag in blue with Marc Jacobs written in flowing script in white on one side, and the long-defunct Pan Am logo on the other, calling up images of a time when air travel was still a luxury, when it was—dare I say it—still a bit glamorous. I gasped when I saw that not only did they have the blue, but ALSO the white version with black writing! So retro. So chic. And like everything Marc Jacobs does, so hip it almost hurt.

Of course I bought both :) They are the perfect weeked/gym/evetything bags—big enough for your laptop, some books, and a change of clothes, it’s rare that I leave the house these days without carrying on of them over my shoulder. To wear them reminds me of those blissful three weeks in the city I adore, when all I needed to do was write my chapters for the day, then knock off and enjoy a leisurely lunch, a stroll in a gorgeous park, window shopping, or club hopping with my friend Manu, who manages one of the biggest nightclubs in the city where you can dance until dawn, then order up some fabulous breakfast in the club’s adjoining restaurant . . .

So, what accessories do YOU love? Do you have a pair of shoes, a bag, or maybe a piece of jewelry that has special meaning to you?

P.S. I also bought the white Pan Am messenger bag for my boyfriend’s sister. It just seemed like the right thing to do, no? :)

xo
JB

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Don't forget to leave a comment on this guest blog to receive an extra entry to win THE ELITE.