Inspired By ... Jane Birkin's Casual Parisian Chic

Can't afford a Birkin bag but still a dying to look like the style icon and renowned Hermès muse? 
Check out this to-die-for ankle-length coat by BB Dakota. With its wide lapels and double row of buttons, this delicious coat is strikingly similar to the one Jane sported on a casual walk with Serge many years ago. 
I love the length of the coat - only a peep of the ankle and a pair of killer shoes will be visible when this is all buttoned up. So much outerwear out there is mid-calf or above, as if designers are afraid to make coats too long. If you wear this jacket, you dare to not bare much skin ... which is a statement all its own these days. To all my Birkin babes out there, this is the piece for you this fall! Button up the coat, pop the collar, slip on your black boots, and grab your wicker basket (and your hot Frenchman!) and stroll the streets in this understated statement-maker! 

The Dedrick Coat by BB Dakota is available at Lulus.com for a stylish $121 (it's also available in camel, if you want to go more of a Ali MacGraw-circa-Love Story route). 

she’s well-acquainted with the touch of the velvet hand like a lizard on a window pane

The troubling thing about writing a retro-themed blog at times is that many of the actors and actresses that I admire are either dead, or even worse, still have that inevitable fate in front of them. For many of us, death comes much too soon; our lives are cut short before we can do all the things we wanted to do. All we can hope for is that we have experienced enough and truly lived enough in our lives to have no regrets when the final bell rings.
Such is the case with Maria Schneider, who passed away in Paris today at the age of 58. The actress is best-known for her role in Bernardo Bertolucci's film Last Tango in Paris.
Cast at the tender age of nineteen, Maria played opposite Marlon Brando as two steamy lovers about to part. The role in Tango brought her a lot of attention, but her acting merits warranted it - she does a terrific job in the film, balancing the emotional extremes of the film's narrative. Schneider struggled with the aftermath of her role in the controversial film, once saying, "I was too young to know better. Marlon later said that he felt manipulated, and he was Marlon Brando, so you can imagine how I felt. People thought I was like the girl in the movie, but that wasn't me."
As she looks down upon all of us this wintry night, I hope Maria doesn't mind my paying tribute to her great life, as the star of Last Tango in Paris.

Title: from "Happiness is a Warm Gun" (The Beatles)