Meet Prune Cirelli : "Vintage clothing is often indicative of the history and soul of a country. I find it touching & personal"

Meet Prune Cirelli, illustrator = > article en fran?ais sur le site de MyVestiaire.me here.

Prune is an art illustrator in Paris, sister of the early hours of the Band of Sisters Paris network. We met during the color workshop organized by MyVestiaire x Molli, which she liked a lot as she says it helped to extend the color palette of her wardrobe!

What an honor and pride to know that MyVestiaire can have an impact on a color specialist like Prune!

I met Prune Cirelli at a color workshop organized by MyVestiaire x Molli and for Band of Sisters Paris, the wonderful network of women entrepreneurs. Prune was wearing a lovely liberty cotton dress that evening, her hair up and a nice pair of leather sandals. This outfit reflected perfectly what exudes Prune: a great sweetness, a mixture of fantasy and discretion. Some DMs on Instagram later, appointments was made to deepen the subject of the colors that illuminate Prune’s face and also peek into her wardrobe!

She welcomed me in her perched nest above Paris’ roofs one July morning with her adorable dog named Jacob: I could find there the joy, fantasy and sweetness that I perceived the week before.  There was also a feeling of well-being and grace undoubtedly conveyed by the care and the respect granted to each book and to each object: everything is perfect, without being rigid. We are just fine.

Prune offered me a delicious Italian coffee made in a Moka coffee pot; the kind of coffee that takes some time to prepare and which delicious smell travels in the apartment. That day Prune was wearing a white T-shirt, a midi skirt buttoned front in a fabric she designed for Maison Thévenon, a pair of bright pink Repetto ballerinas matching her computer! She will then go to visit a friend in the country and she wanted a simple, discreet outfit in which she can evolve with ease by feeling herself. Discretion is a real poem with Prune!

Can you share your story in a few words?

PRUNE

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I am an illustrator, married to Laurent, who is half Corsican. We have a 16-year old daughter, a 13-year old son and Jacob, our teckel.. Graduated from the Ber?ot studio, I then worked for almost 15 years in Drouot, a milieu that fascinated me with the mystery, the knowledge, the magic that emerges from it. But after 15 years, I wanted something else and I followed the precept of Jacques Brel who speaks to me particularly,

"It's not talent that counts, it's envy," Jacques Brel

He also adds work. But it's envy, I think. And I wanted to do something that came from me and invent the life that goes with it: I became an illustrator!

Reinventing yourself ... is a process: how did you get into these new illustrator "clothes"

PRUNE

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Laurent, my husband, was highly supportive and I am very determined: when I make a decision, I organize everything and I take action. But I felt like an imposter during the transition period, not knowing how to define myself. The click was when a friend (n.b long live the feminine friendships!), Victoire de Taillac, who one day told me

? Prune, if you do not proudly present yourself as an illustrator, who can believe it?

And then everything started off. I presented to Marie-Hélène de Taillac, creator of the wonderful jewels in gold and semi-precious stones,  a series of little dogs with jewels, she liked the idea, and that was my launching pad. I love drawing animals, dogs, fish, birds. I like colors, I like materials. I choose for my aquarelles a thick German paper and I like to work drawings for beautiful textiles.

How was your way of choosing your clothes?

PRUNE

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My father was an art broker. With my brothers and sisters (we are 4 children), we evolved in a borguese environment, open-minded and aesthetic, where to sharpen one's gaze, to sharpen one's curiosity were very much valued. Later, at the studio Bercot, I learned to look, the eye wide open, without judgment or predefined ideas. I believe that this has developed a form of fantasy and curiosity that nourishes my creativity.

This said to be creative does not mean for me to be the direct object of this creativity. I prefer myself as a spectator and I do not need to display colors! As if erasing my colors allowed me to see better. I was talking about it with other creative friends who said that too: "to be neutral makes it possible to discern the colors of others". I like the idea of always being the same. Like Romain Gary who said "I try to have the same face twice in a row".

Since I work alone, at home, in my own world I love, I wear more things that amuse me and especially my creations for Bompard, or skirts cut in fabrics that I have designed for Thévenon. But I wear them anecdotally. As soon as I go out, I like the discretion with a bit of fantasy: raw jeans, a navy crew neck sweater or a cotton chambray men's shirt, ballerinas and colorful jewels. Since I know Marie-Hélène de Taillac I love the profusion and opulence in jewelry!

You are very athletic, what is your relationship to the body?

PRUNE

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I like a sport to be aesthetic and a discipline. I like sports that are demanding. I love riding and especially the ballet that I practice several times a week. I have a real sense of effort and work, and I am sensitive to the grace that emerges from this work. I like that there is a reward for the effort. The ephemeral aspect of this grace undoubtedly also: one must constantly work, and every day, so that it remains. To return to the garment, I like those who accompany movements. The way to hold, to move participate of the elegance.

I think that what is decisive in elegance is the movement, the gesture, the way one places oneself in space and vis-à-vis others.

What is a good outfit ?

PRUNE

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It's a relatively neutral and not sexy outfit! I'm not very comfortable with the idea that clothing must be sexy: showing too much of one's skin in order to seduce. Once again seduction is more for me an overall idea: that of the mind as much - if not more important - than that of the physical. I like my legs (and my hands!) And I happen to wear miniskirts especially to please myself, not so much with the objective to seduce!

The way I am me is the way I am and no matter!

I still have a recurring sensation of childhood and teen age: I constantly feel like Timothy in "Timothy Goes to School" by Rosemary Wells. This is an adorable children's book where the hero, Timothy, is constantly dressed against the trend! He does not have the same outfit as the others, and he thinks that it is a problem but he ends up understanding that he is not alone and that finally it is good. I have Timothy's syndrome: I often feel off trend but it gets better as I get older: decide that the way I am me is the way I am and it does not matter!

To avoid this syndrome, I have 2 solutions: the navy sweater or the shirt in chambray or jeans, with a skirt or pants. Nothing is better than a men's shirt.

What inspires you ?

PRUNE

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I do not have a  specific muse but I am very influenced by the idea of past or future times. I am rarely in the present: I am either in a nostalgia or in a project. The past as the future inspire me, the projects are a driving force as of course all the paintings and art pieces that I saw, the memory of a perfume, the books that I read!

I am a contemplative. I walk a lot and I look at everything: details anywhere, sometimes in the subway, inspire me. I am sometimes touched by the grace of some unexpected details. This can be the way to fold a wrist sweater, a color, a strand of hair: they participate in a spontaneous elegance that one accidentally sees in someone.

I like the grace of some unexpected details: a way to fold a wrist, to lift a lock of hair. They participate in a spontaneous elegance that one accidentally sees on someone.

To get dressed I am not easily influenced but I am sensitive to positive comments. For example, in the remark "this outfit does not flatter you because it does not show your pretty legs!” I will remember that I have pretty legs but I will still wear the outfit!

You are Breton and Napolitan, how do you see the Parisian?

PRUNE

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I go on vacation to St Malo and we go every summer to Naples, our "home away from home", but I'm Parisian above all! And I see the Parisienne with a big "P" as a sparkling woman, poetic, fast, elegant and discreet.

What’s a good fashion purchase ?

PRUNE

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I never go shopping, I always go to stores with intention. I buy less and less. But what I like to pamper myself more and more are original vintage pieces. As for example the liberty dress you mentioned in the introduction: this purchase triggered something at home: it made me want to attach clothes to places or memories. When I spot something I like, I think about it and draw it! This is a way to establish my "wishlist" as this dress by MOLLI in pleated chevron knit of a sublime cosmo pink !!

Love this idea: clothes that tell a story ...

PRUNE

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There ! We do not have that when we buy fast fashion: their clothes do not belong to a place while this liberty dress is attached to an encounter with a saleswoman in a National Park in the United States, it is linked to a trip and memories. When I buy clothes, I keep them, I love them and I put them a lot. And I take good care of my things. Whenever I give in to a fast fashion favorite, I regret it.

When I buy clothes, I keep them, I love them and I wear them a lot because they are linked to places and memories. They have a story that is dear and personal to me.

Vintage clothing is often indicative of the history and soul of a country. I find it touching.

Let's talk about the dress you wear today ...

PRUNE

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This dress must date back from the 60s / 70s; I got it last Summer in a vintage shop in Denmark. I picked it thanks in part to the color workshop run by MyVestiaire, which I attended at the beginning of July! This dress is in a small loop of a beautiful pink fushia / purple Bougainvillé color. This is a color that I love and that has always intrigued me but that I never allowed myself to wear before! And yet I have painted and placed in many things and drawings before!

Sometimes we meet a garment and we know that it will fit perfectly in our entire wardrobe: I have a beautiful leather skirt from the L/OVERS brand created by my friend Lucille Léorat; this skirt seemed obvious to me, a classic according to my definition. In addition, it responds to an ethical and reasoned reflection on fashion and this is very important to me.

A good purchase is an encounter with a garment that already looks like you!

I also have a black cashmere coat by my friend Rabih Kayrouz: it is wildly pure and chic and I have the impression of having always had it. This is perhaps the definition of a good purchase: a garment that already looks like you! And that implies knowing who you are, in what clothing you feel harmonious.

Indeed introspection to be stylish, it's really important. It's a theme dear to MyVestiaire ... Can you describe your vestiaire?

PRUNE

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The whole of my vestiaire is composed of pieces that I have had in general for a long time. I have a number of basics (my chambray shirts, jeans and sweatshirts), clothes I've always loved that belonged to my mother, and more personal pieces I've created.

My ideal wardrobe is very discreet. And I like fantasy in the details: precious earrings, colored nail polish. Concretely the whole holds in about 1.5 linear meters. My absolute fantasy would be to have a cloakroom reduced to its essentials, 4-5-6 pieces and a lipstick that would do everything!

I can see colors and yet you say you do not wear them much ...

PRUNE

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I like colors: I draw in colors but I wore navy for a very long time. This is related to what I explained earlier: I love them but I did not feel the need to wear them. Finally, I decided 4 or 5 years ago to let my gray hair grow.

This too is a real bias, as much as a garment; accepting yourself with gray hair takes time. Sometimes we do not recognize each other. And it also requires a bit of sophistication and a little more attention to oneself. When I meet fresh and bright women like Amandine Gallienne it comforts me in my choice.

What did you think about the MyVestiaire x Molli color workshop with Band of Sisters Paris? Have you discovered and understood what color palette illuminates your face?

PRUNE

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To come back to the dress I wear, since we met I now allow myself to wear colors I've always loved: MyVestiaire  helped me identify the range of colors that brighten me up, and since then it greatly expanded the palette of my wardrobe!

MyVestiaire has helped me to identify the range of colors that suits me, and since then I have used them and this greatly expands the palette of my wardrobe!

I thought about it a long time, I wanted to be sure! It's funny. For me it was a discovery: I look at some colors differently since then and I understand my spontaneous attraction to certain colors.

I loved the workshop, I found it very fun to discover things about yourself, with the kindness conveyed by this group of girls, sisters! I do not look at myself a lot, I do not have a very complacent relationship with my appearance, I like the idea of finding what "just falls" without looking too much.

How did it change the way you dress and renew your wardrobe?

PRUNE

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It did change it ! Very clearly because it made me want to look more at the color of my clothes! And I have decided that from this Autumn, I am a Prune (ndrl, Prune means Plum), and I will often wear dress and I’ll be very feminine! A new "me" to test!

I am in the process of adding many colorful and vintage dresses to my wardrobe right now! I love them and they fit in with the other clothes in my wardrobe. Those whom I love, whom I care and whom I wear. I also have silver jewels now that I had never worn before our workshop!

ndrl, the palette of Prune is composed of intense, dynamic colors that contain more blue than yellow. Her colorimetry is "winter" => so silver particularly illuminates her face. To discover your palette, book your  appointment here.,

The goal of MyVestiaire is that the clothes in your wardrobe really convey who you are, they tell your story, including your new clothes!

PRUNE

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Yes, and knowing what is going on, leading this introspection is the best way to have a very personal style. It’s important to take some distance to cast a benevolent yet objective eye on ourselves. My eye is now attracted to the colors that are in my palette. A mechanism has kicked off.

Everything is very tidy in your vestiaire and I can see your clothes!  How do you take care of it?

PRUNE

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I like objects that bear a story and most of my clothes have a story. So I like to take care of them to have fun wearing them. This pleasure is increased when there is a kind of staging and enhancement of my vestiaire!

I like to stage & enhance my vestiaire to enjoy wearing my clothes.

I like discretion but I also like being neat. I will not be able to work without lipstick or pajamas!

What do you think about the words of fashion designer Jacques Griffe "elegance is pushing to the end the art of being oneself"?

PRUNE

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In part true but I do not completely agree. Elegance is first and foremost kindness and what you transmit. One way to stand or to be in relation to others: a delicacy, a politeness, an attitude that reveal an outfit and a way of moving. It is not something that one has oneself but rather what one tacitly offers to others.

Elegance is revealed by what is tacitly offered to others

Elegance is fair in fact and is not linked to a social environment but to an intention, a kindness that is insufflated by the person. This has nothing to do with the outfit. But in general it's coherent.

A last tip very practical to share?

PRUNE

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I always have a sticky roll in my suitcase to remove hair (from Jacob ndrl) and other dust. And I discovered the wool razor with pills: extra to give a boost to all my sweaters!

In case of tireness, nice earrings and lipstick! A jewel is truly cosmetic: it can enlighten a whole face.

Thank you Prune for this open and precious discussion!