While the plot of the second season of Emily In Paris may be a bit flimsy, the sense of style most definitely is not.
Returning to Netflix last week, the new series following the trials and mishaps of Emily, played by Lily Collins, Mindy (Ashley Park) and Camille (Camille Razat), has once again dialled up the eccentric fashion.
With looks put together by Marylin Fitoussi, working with the famed stylist Patricia Fields, the talent behind the amazing looks in the Sex and the City series, leading lady Emily and chums sport some seriously eye-catching looks.
Following on from the legacy of Sex and the City, Fitoussi has dressed the stars in both high-end and high street, resulting in a unique mix that, while fanciful, is closer in attitude to how many actually dress. Clad in the likes of Chopard, Elie Saab, Valentino and even vintage Hermes, Emily's wardrobe is bright, bold and decidedly out-there.
Having faced criticism for the rather cliched portrayal of France in the first season, this has been, if anything, pushed further in the second to round out the characters. Emily is now dressed even more colourfully, using her mismatched looks to convey her enthusiasm for being in the country. Mindy, meanwhile, is confident and very sure of who she is, and Camille is the most Parisian in minimal, masculine-inspired pieces.
Giving total freedom to create the characters through fashion, Fitoussi has embraced an eclectic, mismatched approach to dressing Emily, with one scene showing her wearing a spring/summer 2021 Elie Saab green coat, over a high waisted, vintage Thierry Mugler skirt and a striped pink and green top by Versace. Camille, in contrast, is wearing an oversized Balmain jacket and wide-legged black trousers.
Another scene has Emily in a flounced, purple Magali Pascal dress, Miu Miu sunglasses and an orange beaded Carel bag, while Camille dons an oversized Valentino blazer and Roger Vivier loafers. Mindy, meanwhile, sports pink, fringe-edged shirts by MSGM, and carries a Miss Vivier Raffia Strass bag by Roger Vivier.
Elsewhere in the show, Emily sits on a bench wearing a vintage dress and jacket, brought bang up to date with the addition of a yellow Prada bag and fingerless gloves by Seymoure, and finished with a jaunty beret, of course.
The specs: 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk
Price, base: Dh399,999
Engine: Supercharged 6.2-litre V8
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 707hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 875Nm @ 4,800rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 16.8L / 100km (estimate)
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
MATCH INFO
France 3
Umtiti (8'), Griezmann (29' pen), Dembele (63')
Italy 1
Bonucci (36')
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
