A Chic Paris Holiday Season – Day 7 – What IS My Chic Christmas Style These Days?
December 9, 2020
In Chapter 1 of A Chic and Simple Christmas, author Fiona Ferris has a topic heading titled “Christmas style versus your personal style.” In this area, Fiona writes about how what she likes to view in a magazine photoshoot may be quite different from what she would actually enjoy living with in her own space. The trailing greenery decorated stair railing, the entry hall packed with giant nutcrackers statues and a Christmas tree in every room may look merry and bright in someone else’s house but Fiona finds that, in her own space, she feels uncomfortable with too many things crowding her. She feels festive and happy with candles and a few carefully chosen ornaments. Her recommendation for a better-feeling holiday is to contemplate what feels most comfortable to us as a “holiday look” (our list of holiday words can help guide us) and use that look for our own living space.
My holiday words right now are elegant, calm and cozy. The word “cozy” came from the children a few days ago on a chilly, drizzly grey day. We had all been outside for a variety of reasons (playing ping-pong, window-shopping, and picking up the day’s groceries on the market street). Slipping out of my damp coat and into a soft, thick wool cardigan and warm shearling pantouffles (house slippers) seemed like a perfect example of “cozy.” Today was colder and greyer – temperatures stayed in the upper-30’s (F)/3-5 (C) for most of the day. It was delightful to come back from running some errands, put away my coat, pull on warm pantouffles and cardi, and settle down on the couch across from the sparkling Christmas tree.
As I mentioned in my last post, the only holiday decoration that we have is a 6-foot (180-cm) tall, rather plump Christmas tree festooned with gently sparking lights and red and gold ball ornaments. I might really enjoy just having this one “statement” holiday object. It definitely gives a sense of festivity to the apartment … without imparting that exhausting foreshadowing of hours of work to take down and put away.
In the past, I have embraced more “stuff” as holiday decorations: wreaths on outside doors and windows, a 2-ft (60-cm) Pere Noel on a table, a Nativity scene, a large fabric tree skirt, electric candles in the front windows… I’m not saying that I wouldn’t enjoy them now if I had all my usual holiday things. I am finding, however, that three days into the holiday season, I am enjoying the “calm space” of my apartment with only the softly sparkling, red and gold tree.
I would like to add two stockings to hang (somehow) on the mantel by the tree. If it were non-CoVid times, I would either have the two beautiful stockings that my sister made for the children when they were small or I would have the two folk stockings we bought years ago at a Paris Christmas market on the Champs Elysees. If I didn’t have those 2 sets of Christmas stockings, I could go happily wander Paris’s many charming Christmas markets until I found two that seemed “right”. But it is 2020 and not many Christmas markets are open. Maybe some other idea may pop up if I give it time.
