Polishing off Your Winter Wardrobe with Chanel

As some of you may have seen, the Chanel Spring 2010 Paris runway show was part hoedown, with splash of Marie Antoinette, and a touch Parisian prostitute with the painted-on pearl garter belts. Head designer and Chanel’s creative director, Karl Lagerfeld, transformed the Grand Palais into a barnyard bonanza.

The childlike models emerged from a barn (yes, a barn, adorned with the iconic Chanel double C’s,) complete with healthily rosy cheeks, wind-swept up-do’s, basket-woven handbags, apron-like skirts, clunky wooden clogs, a performance from Brit pop star and current Chanel muse, Lily Allen, countryside plaids and of course, tweeds, as well as a romping threesome in the hay.

Amongst the frolicking, Lagerfeld unveiled Chanel’s newest nail polish, best sported by baby-faced, Russian top model, Sasha Pivovarova, who flaunted the polish whilst chatting on an iPhone as she stomped down the dirt runway. The shade, named Particulière, a gray hue with an ever-so-slight tint of plum, is in stores now for $23. If Chanel’s Fall 2009 much buzzed about jade green runway nail polish shade is any indication, it’s sure to be a Spring must-have.

The world’s first exposure to Chanel’s version of the precious stone was amidst Chanel’s classic black and white, Parisian chic palette at the Fall 2009 runway show, were splashes of exotic jade in chunky bangles and cocktail rings. However, not all of us are fortunate enough to afford the iconic luxury that is Chanel. Lucky for us, jade was echoed in another unexpected place on the runway—nails. The buzzing mystery shade, originally mixed especially for the Parisian runway show, is now known as the forever “out-of-stock” Le Vernis Nail Colour in Jade, $25. Jade’s companion polish, Jade Rose, was also available in limited quantities exclusively from Chanel boutiques and Chanel.com.

Jade’s fresh green hue will undoubtedly be the final embellishment to any and all fall ensembles, along with your over-the-knee boots and edgy, one-shouldered LBD’s. If you haven’t gotten your hands on the holy grail of nail polish, suit yourself up for an Ebay bidding war where the highly-coveted shade is going for up to $285 a bottle. Not up for the mayhem? Don’t worry, you can rock Jade’s less popular little sister, Essie Nail Polish in Mint Candy Apple, a sugary sweet steal at $8, making your friends wintergreen with envy.

Also, those aforementioned faux tattoos from the show—which were originally painted on the runway models by Chanel beauty creative director Peter Phillips—are rumored to be available for purchase exclusively on Chanel’s website come February 15th. The press-on tattoo set will include 25 tattoos in the form of necklaces, bracelets, garter belts, and Chanel double C’s galore. You can already submit your info on Chanel’s official site to get on the waiting list for these trendy tats. The set will later be available in Chanel boutiques in March. I swear, only kaiser Karl Lagerfeld could make clogs, mushroom-colored polish, and faux ink look that good.

Check out the full Chanel Spring 2010 Collection here.

Photo by Renee Trilivas

About Renee Trilivas

Renee Trilivas (COM '11) is a fashion/film/music writer for the Quad. She also writes a weekly style advice column for College Fashionista. She majors in Magazine Journalism and minors in Italian Language and Culture. Her favorite designers are Rodarte and Chanel. Her favorite bands are The Smiths and Third Eye Blind.

View all posts by Renee Trilivas →

One Comment on “Polishing off Your Winter Wardrobe with Chanel”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *