The Story of Isabella Blow

In the spirit of the Alexander McQueen Show at the Met I just finished reading "Blow By Blow." This is the story of Isabella Blow, McQueen's mentor and muse. Blow by Blow written by Tom Sykes and Isabella's husband Detmar who tells the interesting and tragic story of the fashion icon.

Isabella Blow was no stranger to the fashion world and was best friends with Alexander McQueen for years before business differences got in the way. She was also friends with Philip Treacy and was famous for wearing many of his outrageous hats. She was an assistant to Vogue's Anna Wintour and Andre Leon Talley before becoming Fashion Director at Tatler. Pictured below is Isabella with Alexander McQueen from a shoot for Vanity Fair. Also pictured is Isabella in one of Pilip Treacy's hats named "Arrows of Love."

Such an interesting person, I wish I could have met Isabella! I definitely recommend reading "Blow by Blow" to get an inside view of what it was like for Isabella in the world of fashion. Tragically Isabella suffered from depression and ended her life in 2007.

Famous Graves at Le Père Lachaise

Le Père Lachaise is the largest cemetery in Paris and is the final resting place for many famous people, therefore making it a bit of a tourist attraction. A couple of weeks ago, some friends and I set out to visit the cemetery. We bought a map at the entrance to be able to find the famous graves among the 105 acres of land. Once inside, we made our way over to perhaps the most visited grave, Jim Morrison. I had been to see it once before, and this time was just the same. The site was full of flowers, graffiti, candles and other items that fans have left behind.

There was a tree in front of the grave which was covered in writing from fans leaving their mark for Jim.

As we continued through the cemetery, we came across the grave of Oscar Wilde. The large grave stone was covered in graffiti with words for the late writer and poet.

Edith Piaf was one site that I had wanted to see. Edith's songs are just so "Parisian" to me that I remember playing "La Vie en Rose" as I was thinking of moving to France a few years ago.

Chopin's grave was also surrounded by tourists bringing flowers and taking pictures.

Other than the graves, Le Père Lachaise also offers a large park, beautiful gardens and lots of architecture. It was a nice outing on a sunny day with good friends!