Petit Bateau Sails to Manila

French bébés have it good. 

Many of them grow up wearing Petit Bateau, the well-loved clothing brand from Troyes, France that is not only chic, but fun to wear and well made too.

It is easy to look effortlessly stylish when you open up to a closet filled with pieces like these

How well made? Well, they're built to last, long enough to be passed on from sibling to sibling, parent to child in fact. As the brand likes to say, "Petit Bateau, It's forever."

I totally agree. When I was pregnant with Berry, I wore these Petit Bateau striped shirts:

4 months pregnant with Beriray

almost 7 months pregnant with Beriray

And you know what, these shirts look the same as when I first bought them, even after years of washing. Good enough to be passed on to Beriray herself. That is how hard-wearing the quality is.

The thick cotton tank tops I bought for Berry when she was 2, she can pass on to Xavi, except for the pink ones printed with cupcakes, of course. 

 Donya Beriray wearing a white cotton tank top by Petit Bateau and kimono from Seek The Uniq

Should we blessed with another baby, Xavi's thin cotton Petit Bateau crawlers still have a lot of wear to them.

So of course, I am loving it that a smart, young couple, Hans and Mellie Yao, brought Petit Bateau to our shores. Because if you are the type to go for classic clothes that stand for quality over quantity, then Petit Bateau is the way to go. It also helps that the clothes are full of nautical charm. Just the way I love it!

Petit Bateau in Shangri-la

Petit Bateau for adults

Petit Bateau for kids

Petit Bateau for infants

From underwear to swim trunks, crew neck shirts to the classic striped Marinière, shorts, skirts and dresses, cardigans, pea coats and rain coats, Petit Bateau has it all.

 

Last Saturday,  the second Petit Bateau store opened in SM Aura. Chic mommies Donna Cuna-Pita, Ria Prieto, Ria Trillo, Vanessa Ledesma, Marilen Montenegro, Cheska Kramer and my best friend Nina Corpuz-Rodriguez, with their cute kids in tow, walked the runway to show the latest Spring/Summer collection. It was too adorbs! And the clothes? I can't say chic enough. They were, tres chic!

The Yaos with Petit Bateau Asia Pacific Manager Jing Jin, Patricia Hizon, Kylie Tinga, Donna Cuna-Pita, Ria Prieto, Ria Trillo, Vanessa Ledesma, Marilen Montenegro, Nina Corpuz-Rodriguez & Cheska Kramer

For more on Petit Bateau, like Petit Bateau Philippines on Facebook, and follow @petitbateauph on Twitter and Instagram.

Petit Bateau Shangri-la
4th Level East Wing
Shangri-La Plaza Mall
Mandaluyong City

Petit Bateau SM Aura
L3 SM Aura Premier
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig

Outfit Inspirations

Everything here is just so effortless, chic and uncluttered. I need these clothes in my closet!

Pregnancy Peg

Charlotte & Chanel. I have no words.

What is Chic?

In Manila, over the holidays, I was reunited with one of my favorite books of all time: A Guide to Elegance by Genevieve Antoine Dariaux. It was just gathering dust in a bookshelf in my old room, and I thought it was time that we spent time together, as we often did before.

I brought it back with me to Singapore and as I was reading it, I thought I'd share with you the author's thoughts on what is chic. Especially now that the term is being used so loosely these days, I am afraid it may lose its true meaning.

CHIC

The essence of casual refinement, chic is a little less studied than elegance and a little more intellectual. It is an inborn quality of certain individuals, who are sometime unaware that they possess it. Chic is only perceptible to those who have already acquired a certain degree of civilization and culture and who have in addition both the leisure time to devote to improving their appearance and the desire to be part of a particular kind of elite, which might be called the "aristocracy of external appearance". It is a gift of the gods and has no relationship to beauty nor to wealth. One baby in its crib may have chic, while another doesn't.

Perhaps the best way to describe this quality is by giving some examples:

The Kennedy family had chic; but the Truman family didn't.

The late Princess Diana had chic; but Princess Margaret didn't.

Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo had chic; but Rita Hayworh and Elizabeth Taylor, in spite of their beauty, their sumptuous clothes and jewels, did not.

In order to increase your chances of acquiring chic when it is lacking, the first requirement is to be aware that you do not possess it. You can then entrust to experienced specialists the responsibility if changing your silhoutte, coiffure, make-up, gestures, and wardrobe. Know at least your general type: sporty and casual, or doll-like and exquisite. Study all the fashion magazines. Try to find in real life a woman who is a good example of the same type as you, and whose chic is widely recognized; carefully analyze her manner of dress and behavior in order to retain what can be copied. This is perhaps not an infallible formula for acquiring chic, but it is still the best I know.

Besides, if you are aware of your lack of chic, the battle is half won, because the only really hopeless case is the woman who hasn't the faintest idea of what is chic and what is not.