The Vanity Fair photoshoot

Didn't Carla look just fantastic in the Vanity Fair issue? I have always loved the pictures by Annie Leibovitz.

More on Carla in Spain

Needless to say, Carla dominated the Spanish media these days. The Spanish loved every minute of her stay in Madrid and the newspapers were filled up on news on her. Apparently such interest also came as a surprise to her, who mentioned that she was overwhelmed by how well the Spanish press was treating her. She said before arriving that she loved Spain and wanted to arrive.

According to the press, Bruni wanted to meet privately with Princess Letizia. However, the King denied such meeting as the equal to Carla is the Queen and therefore that's who she met and visited the Reina Sofia with. It is unknown why Carla wanted to meet Letizia, but maybe she felt more comfortable with her as they are both around the same age.

An unfortunate incident happened while she was in Spain: some intimate photos of her romance period with Raphael Enthoven were stolen from his brother's flat. It was estimated that they can be worth thousands. No information on the contents was mentioned but it was said that Carla knew about the incident while in Spain. Perhaps that was the reason why we didn't see her after the first two days and she decided to stay in the hotel as a sign of discomfort. We shall see how the story ends...

Spain doesn't stop talking about Mrs Bruni

Carla and Nicolas visit to Spain is in the air in Spain. Everyone is talking about the elegance and beauty of the lovely French First Lady and how she stole the show from her husband.

An agenda of the visit can be found here (although unfortunately Carla's events don't all appear there.

Carla arrived in Madrid's Barajas Airport in an Azzedine Alaïa ensemble. Video: Arrival Much more informal than the one she wore to meet the Queen of England this time. She later changed to meet the King, Queen and Princes of Asturias at an official reception lunch to a Dior purple dress with Louboutin kitten heels, a Roger Vivier clutch and Chaumet jewelery. Princess Letizia met Bruni then and the press just couldn't stop comparing them.

The couple, at the airport

The itinerary then continued to a visit to the Prado Museum. The couple saw the Meninas and other Velazquez paintings. Sarkozy and Carla wore the miniatures of the Order of Carlos III, which they were awarded some days ago.

Carla dazzled at the gala dinner with the royals together with Princess Letizia and the Queen. The royals wore the Legion d'Honneur (King, Prince and Queen) and the Ordre national du mérite (Letizia). Carla wore a simple velvet Prussian blue gown by Dior again (and demonstrated that less is more!). Check the video of the gala here. The First Lady seemed enchanted with the decorations at the Royal Palace. Check more pictures of the gala.

Carla and Letizia at the gala

Today, the visit has been packed with activities again:
- Carla visited the Parliament with Nicolas
- She went to visit the Reina Sofia Museum with the Queen
- She had lunch with Sonsoles Espinosa, Spanish First Lady
- She visited the French Embassy

Carla was given the Grand Cross of the Order of Carlos III

It was yesterday announced that the French First Lady was condecorated (together with Nicolas) with the second highest order in Spain, the Order of Carlos III. The condecoration comes just some days before the start of the couple´s visit to Spain.

You can read more at Publico.es, El Economista and 20 minutos.

Carla style watch #2

This article summarized a nice article with those designers lucky enough to dress the First Lady. The author reports (as we didn't know!) how she loves Dior, Chanel and Hermes (their creative directors praised her). Other well-known professionals of the fashion world (Pierre Bergé, Olivier Monteil, Giorgio Armani, Gianbattista Valli) also remark Carla's elegance.

They also reveal that her suit for the photoshoot of the cover of her last album, Comme si de rien n'etait, was by Dior and designed by Kris Van Assche.

MAKE UP: they mention how near the Elysee there's two well-known beauty centres, which Carla regularly visits, the Carita Institute and the Lancôme one.

ACCESORIES: Appart from the usuals (Dior, Hermès and Chanel), Carla also uses shoes from Tod's (the Degas model) and Roger Vivier, designed by Bruno Frissoni.

JEWELS: Victoire de Castellane for Dior and Chaumet are the two jewellers preferred by Bruni.

State visit to Spain

More details are now known about the visit that the President and his wife will start on the 27th April to the Kingdom of Spain. The webpage of the Royal House of Spain reveals some of the agenda for the visit:

On the 27th...

- Lunch with the King, Queen, Prince and Princess of Asturias
- Visit to the Prado Museum with the King and Queen
- Gala dinner with the King, Queen, Prince and Princess of Asturias

On the 28th...

- Carla and the Queen will visit the Museum Reina Sofia

It is expected that the couple will engage in other activities as well, but these are just those involving royals. Carla reported that she was very much looking forward to going to Spain. It is suspected that the visit will be Carla's opportunity to launch her charity, the Carla Sarkozy Foundation.

Nicolas and Carla to visit Spain in April 2009

The date of the French official visit to Spain has been announced to be the next 27th April. No further details have been announced but the visit is likely to incorporate a reception and gala dinner with the Spanish Royal Family.

Carla at the Virginio Bruni-Tedeschi Tournament

Carla attended the Virginio Bruni-Tedeschi Tournament, in honour of her brother who passed away in 2006 because of AIDS, with President Sarkozy. Carla looked in tone with spring in a casual outfit at the Port of Cavaliere.

Check the pictures at elmundo.es
More pictures at Hola!

Carla style watch #1

Carla remains loyal to French designers in this grey Christian Dior coat.

Carla wore a little black dress by Paris-based designer from Rouens, Alexis Mabille, at a gala dinner recently for the Casip-Cojasor Foundation.

We are also delighted with the story about Carla using a fair trade bag given to her in South Africa. The bag became a best seller at high end French store Colette and helps Township Patterns, which assists the women with marketing, product design and administration.

Carla acts as host to the Obama's

While the Obama's visited Europe to attend the G20 meeting in London or the NATO Summit in France and Germany, Nicolas and Carla had the opportunity to the be their hosts. While Barack and Nicolas were in meetings, the two ladies embarked in some diplomatic activities and cultural visits around Strasbourg and Baden Baden.

They welcomed their US counterparts at the NATO summit arrival ceremony at the the Palais Rohan on April 3, 2009 in Strasbourg. Carla wore a lovely grey coat by Christian Dior with her usual flats, while Michelle opted for a more loaded style in a flowery coat. Both ladies seem to have coincided in their choices for tied bow coats. Afterwards, the two ladies discussed issues at a private meeting, revealing a purple dress by Thakoon of Michelle and a classic cut grey dress by the lovely Mrs Bruni. At the dinner at the Kurhaus on April 3, 2009 in Baden Baden, both ladies also chose a little black dress. Carla combined hers with a perfect purple clutch. We loved the ruffles in her dress. The next day, Carla engaged as host and took Michelle and the other First Ladies to the Cathedral of Starsbourg on April 4, 2009 in Strasbourg. She wore a refreshing purple and black combination and added the detail of a colourful belt.

It was mentioned that Michelle presented Carla with a Gibson guitar. Certainly a different kind of diplomatic present (no less was the Ipod given by the Obama's to Her Majesty the Queen of England!). At the end of the day Carla and Michelle agreed they would work together to fight against AIDS. Carla is already involved in AIDS with the UN (UNAIDS).

Gallery at GettyImages

Carla's style reigns over Mexico

The recent visit of Nicolas and Carla to Mexico received all the attention by the Mexican and European media. The couple visited Teotihuacan where they visited the Templo de Quetzalcoatl and Pirámide del Sol. They also performed other cultural and economic activities such a honour reception to French citizens living in Mexico at the French-Mexican Lyceum and a gala dinner given by Calderon and wife in honour of their guests. Carla marvelled all the way through.

Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni stayed in a tourist centre in the between the states of Jalisco and Colima, the Roberto Hernández Ramírez's hotel, El Tamarindo Beach and Golf Resort.

Bruni, in a lovely lilac ensemble and dress in Mexico. Via trendencias.com

A gallery of the whole visit at GettyImages
Watch a complete gallery of pictures of the gala dinner at Purepeople