MAISON & OBJET : THE DREAM DECORATING TRADE SHOW

Beautiful colours and shapes by Sentou Paris, Photography by Naro Photo

Amazing Recycled chair here for Children by Emotional Objects , Photography Unknown 

Amazing Clay goods by Dominique Poulet Clay, Photography Fillioux Christophe

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF : MAISON ET OBJET'S INSTAGRAM HERE , Corresponding Photographers are credited, Unknown shops / photographers are labeled as so 

It's just finished up but there's literally no place on earth I wanted to be more at than Paris for this incredible homewares and furniture trade show called the Maison et Objet ( their website here ). I follow their instagram account and let me tell you, the style and the taste of all the vendors are superb. When I say the best things are always in Europe, this show really proves testament to that ( OK, so there's great stuff to be found everywhere but you really can't beat Europe when it comes to amazing and beautiful things )

So here's the breakdown...
The Maison et Objet event is held twice yearly. The latest show went from January 19th to the 23rd and the second exhibition will be held in September from the 7th to the 11th. 

The exhibition is split up into three sections. Maison is dedicated to furniture and interior decoration, Objet is the space for promoting and showcasing retail and the third section, Influences explores luxury, design and architecture. They have also opened up two new spaces covering textiles which excites me a lot.

I am curious about how many design and interior decorating bloggers go to these trade shows because they're almost always reserved strictly for shop owners or professional decorators and designers. The exclusivity makes it an even bigger treasure trove.

Loving the colour palette here by Cinna France, Photography Francisa Miand

Vendor Unknown, Photography Munna Design

There's something about pleated leather that is SO refined and delicate, this beauty is by Pauloantunesfurniture, Photography Elodie Dupuis

Love these 70's vibes Lighting by TALA, Photography unknown 

Had to include my pop of gold in here by FUORILUGO, photography Christophe Fillioux

Vendor Unknown, Photography Naro Photo

Photography and Vendor unknown

A projection in Hall 8 at the trade show, Photography unknown

Danish ease by MATEMO, photography Elodie Dupuis

Vendor unknown, Photography, Elodie Dupuis

It must be Missoni Home, Photography Unknown 

Vendor Unknown, Photography by Curiosity Paris

Vendor Unknown, Photography by David Del Greco

RUKAY armchair by Brabbu, Photography Unknown 

Velveteen goodness by JUDECO, Photography by Elodie Dupuis

MY FAVOURITE THINGS

I'm the biggest shirts person you'll ever meet. The first section I always go to in almost all shops is the shirts section. I love all kinds of shirts but they must have long sleeves and preferably be in a good print or in plain white. From left to right : My favourite floral shirt from Soeur Paris which I got last year at Printemps ( take me back! ), Natural White Cotton shirt by United Bamboo purchased at Dagmar Rousset and a legit vintage Chinese printed jacket from an aunt in my family 

I feel like because Chanel is so expensive that everybody has a 'story' about where and how they got their first ( unless they're candy for you and you just get them whenever! ) My flats I purchased at Saks in New York City when I visited New york by myself in '14. The bag was a gift from my mother in '14 as well because I was having a hard year that year. I never use the bag because as much as I love it and will never sell it, it's just too in your face. I love owning it because they are iconic and timeless but it's more like an ornament that I enjoy having rather than something I use all the time 

I had the best time compiling these flat lays. I think a whole assortment ( or even just a few ) things placed prettily and intentionally ( lol ) just looks good and gives us that aesthetics 'hit' that we all love to get. I love a flat lay whether that be on a blog or on instagram and I wanted to create some of my own starting with things that I really like and which really informs my style. Looking at these flat lays, I was surprised that I was learning more about my taste and what kinds of things I like. It's slightly homely and vintagey but also new. British Vogue is my favourite Vogue and I feel like in a weird way, you can tell just by looking at the things which I own. 

From top across going left : Avene Spring water, 3 Concept Eyes lipstick in ' Smoked Rose ', Clean Up Vitamin U Hyrdating Serum and Kiehl's Creme de Corps 

My skincare / make up routine is beyond simple. It's gotten a lot more complicated recently since my skin has had more breakouts than its ever had so I've had to combat that by buying more and paying more attention to it, but really there's nothing more outside of these products. I'm one of those big time 'natural' advocate people. I think there's nothing more fantastic than being fresh faced and healthy. I like a bold lip every now and then but most days I just use lip balm or some lip tint.

I didn't include the Nars tinted moisturiser because I've used it in another spread, but you know that's totally part of my arsenal. My beauty values really starts from the inside out. Eating right, drinking lots of water and having a routine you stick to. I also don't like the idea of using too many products. I just feel like that leads to your skin freaking out and not knowing how to process all these creams, lotions and serums coming at it. I've also realised that by cutting out dairy, bread and only eating meat once a week has helped my complexion a lot. 

I love, love, love painting. Ever since I started P.F.F though, I haven't had the energy to do it as much as I want to. Painting is my hobby but I treat it seriously as a way of strengthening my brain. It teaches you to see the world in a new way and also uncovers the stark fact that we don't really know or understand what we're seeing. I've had to re-train the way I visually interpret the world in order to improve my painting skills. I now know that everything is made up of usually more than three colours and that painting things wrong is also usually a good way of getting it 'right'.

When I paint, I usually pop on some music and just get lost in the music and my head. I think I get lost in my head a little too much and painting doesn't really help that 'losing it' journey 😸 😸 😸. It's the best feeling pushing and brushing on colour on a canvas though. The last time I painted I was listening to The Marble Index by Nico, Space is only Noise by Nicolas Jaar and a hodge podge of different artists on my Soundcloud account which you can have a listen to here : https://soundcloud.com/yalei-wang

Had to include this pack of special edition Yayoi Kusama post cards which you could only buy at the Tokyo exibition in The National Art Center in Tokyo. This was a gift from Sakae-san, one of my favourite students at my work. I went to Yayoi Kusama's exhibition just prior to leaving Tokyo last year and was beyond impressed with the stock in the gift shop. But upon seeing the queue for the check out, I promptly put back everything I was about to buy. I was so excited when she gifted this to me on our last lesson together. I didn't have to brave the long line and managed to have something to take back with me. Thank you forever Sakae san xx MISS YOU! 

I love Tarot Cards. Like I'm very into them. I do them whenever I feel lost, scared or sad in life. As a ritual, I do them at the beginning of every new year. I don't know whether it's just me thinking it real or something else cosmically happening, but they are seldom wrong. The things they say happen, happen. I started off like every skeptic, dismissing all the weird coincidences as simply coincidences. But the last three years have been insanely formative and the cards are never wrong. Sometimes they are vague, sometimes they aren't. But one things for sure and that's that the moments I catch myself being like " Wait a minute, the cards said this " has been numerous. 

One of my goals for this year is to have longer nails and to stop biting them. I manage to grow them to a length that I like but almost always they end up being chewed down again. It's pretty gross, I'll admit and I definitely need to keep working on it because they're pretty darn short right now. When they're a presentable length though, these are my favourites to use. I love the Chanel polish in Noir Rouge because of its warmth and depth, however I have one bone to pick with it and that's the fact that the brush is so thin that it ends up being super streaky looking on your nails. The Dior polishes were gifts given to me by a student in Japan and the Glitter is an oldie from American Apparel. 

My earrings addiction is fully fledged. Every time I go out and see a jewellery shop, I always pop in to see if they have any good earrings. I've never bought expensive jewellery because I've never come across anything that I've HAD to have. I'm more than happy with cheap jewellery because you can change and update often without feeling guilty.

The horse shoe shaped ones are from Lovisa and the round silver ones and the eyes I got in China. They are real silver so they're really comfortable to wear. I don't know if I'll ever have the balls to wear the eyes ones out in public but I had to buy them anyway because they are just so cool. I love a bold earring because you can wear something really simple and it just elevates the entire outfit.

So that's my wrap up of my favourite things. There's not that many, but I guess you can't have a million favourite things and for that to be realistic. The most dear items to us are few and far between, but their value lasts a life time!

What are your favourite things? Tell me in the comments below 

SHOP VISIT : TESSUTI FABRICS

So you all are probably sick to death of me gushing on about Liberty but here are the ones that I saw at Tessuti. They're SO good, I wish I had a good hand in sewing so I could whip up some shirts with these beautiful prints 

I've been having lots of good luck with shops and being able to photograph them for PFF. Whenever I go out, it's always my number one concern that shop owners don't want their wares to be photographed or to be put on social media. But to be honest, we're living in a world where it's basically impossible to not be on it somehow, so perhaps this is why I'm having so much good luck.

I've never been good at sewing, let me just say that up front. I couldn't even make a pair of shorts in sewing class in high school and failed quite dismally at all other projects following in that department but that hasn't stopped me from developing a strong interest in Fabrics. Tessuti is one of the best fabric shops in all of Melbourne not only for their quality but also for their excellent selection in them. Their taste is on point, especially in the prints department. 

I spoke with shop assistant Trish at the Flinders lane store a little about textiles and sewing. Tessuti originally opened up in Sydney and have been in the biz for about ten to twenty years now. The owners go to Italy once or twice a year for buying trips which of course would lead to doors and doors of inspiration for them. They also receive a lot of end rolls from Labels which means some of the fabrics come directly from the labels themselves.

Linen was the biggest seller at Tessuti. Trish said that it was easy to work with, versatile and perfect for summer because it was breathable. I love linen clothing but find it hard to look after because of the creasing but wasn't surprised that it was a best seller there. I feel like Melbourne is a very linen city. But what gets my heart going is prints and lots of them as you can see here. I've never been one to shy away from colour and prints. In fact, I'm always on the search for a good printed shirt. It's harder than you think to strike the balance between busy and printed without looking too overly retro. I own one shirt from the Parisian label Soeur ( they're really good, check them out ) that totally manages to get floral right without it looking overly nana or sentimental ( You'll see it this Wednesday in my favourite things entry! ) 

Seeing the sheer abundance of stunning fabrics here makes me want to get into sewing. But I know that in order to make the clothing that I want to make, like shirts and pants, I'll have to bear the brunt of the beginning. That means failing a lot at making simple things like coin purses and pouches which I don't particularly want to make. This is the thing about skills, you gotta fail a hundred times before you can succeed once. Wouldn't it just be more practical to just buy something made in a liberty fabric from their E-shop?  The thing is, there's more good prints out there in the world than good clothing made in those good prints. If you can sew, you're not limited to the stock of shops. As someone who's always hungry for new clothes ( haha ) this sounds terrific to me.

Another reason why I love fabrics so much is because I'm a very tactile person. I like to experience things by touching them and so when I go to fabric stores, I can't resist touching and feeling all the different textures available to me right then and there. On top of that, I'm visual too, so going there really is a whole visual and tactile experience. 

I don't know for sure but I'm pretty certain this is the ' wedding ' section of the shop 😂

Being amongst so many prints inspires me in terms of painting too. I get new colour combinations and shapes I hadn't even thought of. It sparks neurons in all sorts of directions. I feel like fabric stores are almost galleries in a way ( as corny as that sounds ) with more paintings and painting colours than a real gallery could ever have. 

An overview of the front entry of the shop  

My favourite section, the bargain bin 

The next thing on my wish list is a paisley scarf for the autumn that's slowly but surely coming. I think paisley is actually a really gorgeous print that can be done well when chosen in the right colours, namely light green, navy and light red. Should I get some of that Paisley fabric there and try to turn it into a scarf? 

More delicious prints 

You'd need a mad skill set to be able to create something this amazing. Trish told me that she can whip up a simple long sleeved t-shirt in as little as an hour, which I was really impressed by. I guess the more you do something, the less of a deal it is. Sewing seems really difficult to me because of its allegiance with numbers. I've never ever been good with numbers and being able to be precise. I get very lax on myself.

They had a table with several fashion books and pattern magazines which I graciously devoured when I was there. I love poring over fashion magazines. Aren't these details so terrific? I love the sequin jacket just below and the beautiful colours of the knitted top just above as well. Sorry I didn't take note of the designers! 

This jacket is gorgeous. The amount of time and effort to go into that would have been tremendous.

Although these aren't fabrics per se, seeing these eye popping candy colours really pushes me to get out my paints and start playing around again. The thing I love about magazines is that they 'museum-ify' the beauty of things which mightn't be possible or look as good in reality. I feel like such lively creations can almost only live and survive within the pages. Another reason why I gush over them so hungrily. Who would actually wear these creations in real life unless they were a celebrity going to some party or gala event? More power to those people who do wear such bright designs every day though. They keep the beauty and vibrant nature of things alive by making it part of their lives. 

Simply stunning. 

Beautiful and restrained details. I love the big belt over the trench coat. I did a similar thing when it was winter in Japan last year 

Whether you're a sewer or just into textiles for their beauty and tactile qualities, you should definitely drop in and mention that PFF sent you there ;-)

Cute and fun mural that was outside. I used to be a huge fan of holographic. I still love it when used in small details to be perfectly honest though. Sparkle will never die 💕💕

Post Tessuti splurge. Afterwards I went for a wander around the city. I tried on some pants at Zara and Cos to no avail 😔. But I did pick up something at Mecca ( The Nars tinted moistruizer i've been gabbling on about )

141 Flinders Lane, Melbourne 3000 

I'd love to hear your experiences with sewing, especially if you started out feeling intimidated by it but now have gained confidence and finesse in your skills. I want to start but it isn't cheap buying fabrics and I also don't even have a sewing machine! What have your experiences been? What have you made?