I was so excited when my friends told me all about their love for fashion blogger and illustrator Garance Doré last month! I'm a bit slow... To think that I started decor8 a million years ago (so embarrassed, sorry guys!) yet know so little about fashion bloggers, well all I can say is that I definitely need to work a little less and read more fashion blogs!

Honestly (why do I say honestly, it's not like I'm about to lie about this!), but anyway... Honestly, outside of The Sartorialist and his two lovely books, I don't know much about fashion bloggers... I think it's because that world (fashion in general, not blogging) always felt so elitist and off limits to me. I think films like The September Issue made me feel even more frightened, not to mention what a head job shows like The City do to my view of the fashion world - s c a r y. In a way, it's almost how interior design felt ten years ago, well before we design bloggers came along and started to rip down the massive walls and say, "Hey guys, stop being so arrogant - it's just a sofa!".  Now we have Garance saying, "It's JUST Chanel you guys!", in her very cute accent, and suddenly I'm less intimidated by it all.

From her gorgeous blog to her stunning photos, warm and enthusiastic writing style, fun videos and yummy fashion illos (I!know!lots!of!adjectives!and!excitement!over!Garance!) I feel I've been swept away from sofas and floor plans for a moment to mingle in this very chic world that I knew little about outside of the pages of Vogue. Through her web show, Pardon My French, Garance takes you behind-the-scenes into her life as a blogger/fashion photographer so you get to check out fab places, meet cool people (Jenna Lyons! Eep!) and sit in the front row as Garance reports from catwalks around the world in her videos. (The closest I ever got to Jenna Lyons was when her assistant told me that she would have loved to have been in my book but her home wasn't finished yet and that she knew and loved my blog, I nearly died. In fact, had I died I would have died very happy!) I digress...

What I love about Garance is that she comes across super likeable and normal - like she could be my best friend - there isn't this pretentiousness hovering around that the fashion world (haute couture at least) is known for. Her consistent point-of-view shines through both in her writing and when she's chatting away in the back seat of her car interviewing friends between shows. She is definitely very inspirational. I'm going to have to turn her into a case study for my next blogging workshop and who knows, maybe when I'm in New York for my next book tour, I'll see if I can arrange to interview her for decor8 - a girl can dream!

Through her blog, I also found out about another amazing woman, Amanda de Cadenet, who is a photographer from London living in LA who is host to the most lovely web show called The Conversation. (I love this photo that she took of Rumer Willis.) I watched every single Conversation epi over the past few weeks and I'm hooked - Amanda is my new girl crush along with Garance. Swoon!

Oh and did you see the above prints and posters? Aren't they just soooo nice? These are available for purchase online in the Garance Doré Boutique. My friend, Samantha Hahn, is one of my favorite fashion illustrators in the world (she does work for Daily Candy and even for humble little me) but Garance is definitely up there now in my top 5. I may not know fashion (as in catwalks and big labels and fashion bloggers) but I consider myself pretty with it when it comes to fashion illustrators as I've written about a ton of them throughout the years. There I feel a little better (peacock feathers spreading) because I'm not a total fashion loser.

And look you guys - I am even cooler now - I just purchased Belle De Jour for my home - lovely pony and such a sweet portrait! Woot!

SO! There you have it - you have been officially introduced to Garance Doré if you've never heard of her before and have been living under a rock for years. Enjoy! I'm off now for the day to finish up some interviews and for my 4 hour film theory class so wish me luck because I need lots of it. It's hard but I like a good challenge...

Tell me, are you a Garance fan?

(images: Garance Doré Boutique)