When I think of Kaftan the first image that comes to my mind is the image of Lee Radziwill sitting in her ottoman-inspired drawing room in London, way before I was born, where she seemed to be wearing an elaborate embroidery Kaftan. I can’t emphasize enough how much I prefer to stay away from heavy fabrics such as denim because they’re cold in the Winter and hot in the Summer. There is nothing I love more than loose clothes that will make me feel comfortable in the summer, and Kaftan always do it for me. Did you know that Kaftan was originally created as a men’s outfit worn by the Ottoman sultans?

I love this image. It’s so 70’s. It reminds me of the Jill Sander Spring 2011 striped maxi dress

Now, this is a fabulous Pucci kaftan worn by Simone D’aillencourt. I can imagine myself wearing something like this while sitting by a swimming pool, sipping a martini and enjoying the refreshing breeze. This is a much affordable version. Antik Batik makes really beautiful ones too and Issa has this really chic one, love the fabric.

The way Coco Chanel used to wear jewelry is still inspiring today. She wore jewelry with the same approach she designed her clothing: classic, feminine and innovative. Chanel started to create costume jewelry using colored glass stones and semi-precious gemstones. As everything else she created she did it in her own artistic way. In her studio she would play with flexible modeling plastic shaping them into jewelry, incrusting real and fake gemstones and real and fake pearls until she created the effect she wanted. Also under her supervision, many talented artists designed jewelry for her line. According to Jean Leymarie’s book, she never wore any of her exquisite pieces of jewelry she received from the Duke of Westminster in public, instead she would wear her own creations.  She mostly wore Coco Chanel Jewelries.  A very smart business woman. I think many others would be more than anxious to show them off in society. She would wear her expensive jewelry inside the privacy of her home. Notice the picture above where she is playing the accordion while wearing a spectacular necklace made of square-cut emeralds surrounded by round-cut diamonds. Isn’t that a stunning image of Chanel’s fantastic lifestyle?
It’s funny to imagine Chanel being a little bit superstitious since she would never go out without two pieces of jewelry; a topaz ring given to her as a good-luck talisman when she was sixteen by an old lady, and a pearl necklace she received from Boy Capel as a token of his love. I personally find this last very powerful and sweet.

Chanel’s astrological sign was the lion head, which she seemed to favor as much as the cross and used them a lot to embellish her jewelries. Picture above is a vermeil necklace made of 121 lion heads with a carved rock crystal cross at the center.