Spring?
Posted on May 7, 2012
Having grown up alone with an older father, and married two men who were twenty years older than I (who often had friends even older than they), I have often spent my life with considerably older people, and discovered (to my dismay when I was very young) that older people have 3 favorite subjects of conversation: how well they slept the night before, how well their digestive systems are working, and the weather. I always found all 3 topics incredibly boring, but maybe I’m slipping over the edge now too. I’ve never had trouble sleeping and sleep very little (I don’t need more than 4 or 5 hours a night), my digestive system has always worked fine and I pay no attention to it (and find it an appalling topic of conversation), which leaves the weather. And I find that lately, I’m getting obsessed with that. I left Paris more than » read more »
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May Day in Paris
Posted on April 30, 2012
As I’ve mentioned before, May Day (the first of May) is a big deal in France, and it is to me as well, for several reasons. It’s the French equivalent of Labor Day, and often the French get to do what they call ‘make a bridge’, like this year the 1st of May falls on Tuesday, so everything will be closed all week end, Monday (the bridge), and Tuesday (the actual holiday). It’s a particularly nice holiday, because everyone gives everyone else ‘lily of the valley’ for good luck. they are sold in little pots, bouquets, or just a sprig, and there are vendors on nearly every street corner selling them, with the delicate scent of lily of the valley fragrant in the air. » read more »
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Spring Cleaning
Posted on April 23, 2012
Hi Everyone,
Here I am—-doing closets again!!! Spring Cleaning!!! I always question why I do them (other than the fact that closets get messy), and I think there are two reasons why I take such pleasure in cleaning out and reorganizing closets. For one thing, it’s something you can control. None of us can fully control our lives, people come and go, things happen, the unexpected and unpredictable turns our lives upside down (romances that go awry, children who worry us, bumps in our careers, lost clients, lost jobs, and all the things that stress us everyday), but when you tidy up your closets, you feel like you’re the master of the situation, you get to make choices, decide where you want to put things, and what you want in your life and what you don’t. You can dispose of every outfit you feel fat or ugly in, the fashion mistakes, the things you bought on a bad day, look at later and wonder what you were thinking. » read more »
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Springtime in Paris
Posted on April 16, 2012
Spring was still officially six days away as I wrote this: The weather has been so gorgeous in Paris for the last few days, that everyone is hoping Spring is really here. Branches are blossoming with tiny flowers, the sun is out and the weather is warm, and it made me think today that there is nothing prettier than Spring in Paris (or anywhere for that matter, but it’s hard to beat here). And after cold gray days of winter, this is just heavenly. It will probably get cold again, but this is sooooooo nice. » read more »
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Good Morning America
Posted on April 9, 2012
Hi Everyone,
As some of you may have seen, I was on Good Morning America recently, and even after all these years of ‘fame’, it still amazes me to be on those shows. I flew to New York from Paris, and had a really lovely weekend with two of my daughters (one of them is getting married, and we’re planning the wedding, so there is lots to talk about. But even without the wedding, I love seeing my daughters, and a weekend together is a real gift). And after a nice weekend, I had the show to do on Monday morning. And the show may seem early—-but that’s nothing compared to what you have to do in order to be on it. » read more »
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Resurrection
Posted on April 2, 2012
As you know, I don’t like intruding on anyone’s thoughts about religion, as it’s a very private thing. But certain words resonate for all of us, whatever our beliefs, and as much as I like the whimsical side of Easter (my family and I wear bunny ears every year at Easter brunch, and I can never resist chocolate covered marshmallow bunnies and eggs!!!)—-but in spite of that less serious note, the concept of ‘resurrection’ resonates deeply for me every year. » read more »
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Shoes!!!
Posted on March 26, 2012
With apologies to my male readers, this is admittedly a girly subject. Although some men like shoes too.
A few years ago, a disgruntled shoe designer (whose shoes my daughters and I don’t often buy any more, new designers emerge, and fashion moves on), anyway he announced in an interview, in a fit of pique, I assume—that I have 6,000 pairs of his shoes. His comment hit the internet, and I haven’t heard the end of it since. I wish people talked as much about my books, as about the story of those 6,000 pairs of shoes. It continues to surface, and at every dinner party I go to, someone leans over and says in hushed tones “Do you really have 6,000 pairs of shoes?”. No, I don’t, of his shoes, nor any other designer’s. And the originator of that comment wrote me a very nice apology many months later, but the deed was done. So now I will be talked about forever as the woman with 6,000 pairs of shoes. But having said that, yes, I do love shoes!!! (Not 6,000 pairs of them, but a lot). » read more »
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Paris Fashion Week…..More
Posted on March 12, 2012
As I write this, Paris fashion week is just winding to a close, after a frenzied week of fashion shows all day long, and people in fashion from all over the world in Paris to see the shows. I have to admit, I picked the cream of the crop, and peeked at the other shows online. There were some beautiful clothes shown in Paris in the last week. One of my favorites, Celine, didn’t have a show, just a presentation, so I looked at that one online. » read more »
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Paris Fashion Week…Again
Posted on March 5, 2012
Hi, Everyone!!
It’s that time of year again!!! (Ready to Wear) Fashion Week in Paris. As I’ve told you before, the Haute Couture shows used to be the Big Event in French fashion, with presidents’ wives, major movie stars, and famous socialites at every show, making it a really big deal. Now with most of the big Couture designers gone, the only two big Haute Couture shows left are Dior and Chanel. Givenchy does Haute Couture and no longer does a fashion show, although they make beautiful clothes. But nowadays, there are few familiar faces at those shows although I saw Cameron Diaz at the recent Chanel Haute Couture show, and she looked absolutely gorgeous, just as pretty as in the movies!! » read more »
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Chanel Haute Couture Show
Posted on February 27, 2012
Hi Everyone,
It’s that time of year again, time for the ‘Haute Couture’ fashion shows in Paris. It still always amazes me that not so many years ago (maybe 10??) it was an all week affair, running from one fashion show to the next, sometimes in some very unusual locations (swimming pools, a train station, the polo field in the park). Before that, the very serious Haute Couture shows were held in hotels, with the models going down the runway in elegant ballrooms. And now, instead of seven days of many shows a day, there are only two of the long established fashion houses left that still do Haute Couture: Christian Dior and Chanel. (Givenchy still does haute couture as well, but fewer pieces, and they are shown in a showroom, and there is no runway show).And now haute couture fashion week is only two days long (with many unknown designers who will never achieve the stature of the famous designers of the old Haute Couture, like Balenciaga, Balmain, Mme Gres, Yves St. Laurent).
Haute Couture is almost a lost art, with each garment made entirely by hand. There can’t be a single machine stitch anywhere on an Haute Couture garment. The people who work on the clothing, and make the gorgeous creations by hand, have to do a twelve year apprenticeship before they are considered full-fledged seamstresses and tailors. It is truly a dying art. And the clothes in Haute Couture often/usually include amazing details, like intricate embroidery and beading. The clothing itself is staggeringly expensive. An Haute Couture wedding gown (usually for royals, Arab princess, or the brides of mega billionaires) starts at $500,000. Hard to imagine!! And there is always a wedding gown as the grand finale of any runway show.
There are very, very, very few buyers left for Haute Couture clothes. Mostly, the shows are put on as important publicity for the house, so even though the number of buyers is dwindling, these last two remaining shows are still put on twice a year. In January, to show summer clothes, and in July to show winter clothes. And it takes three or four months to complete a garment for an order, which includes many, many, many hours of intricate, minute work, all by hand.
Typically, there are about 60 to 70 outfits in a show, and somewhere between 40 and 50 models (the most famous supermodels at any given time), and some of them change outfits during the show. And even if you’d never consider buying an Haute Couture dress in your wildest dreams, it is still an incredible art form and worth seeing. The French consider it an art, and take it very seriously. And it’s a thrill to see the shows. The decor and setting is always amazing, and there is palpable tension as people wait for the show to begin. There is music playing. The people who come to see the show are seated in the audience at hotels around Paris, or at a beautiful antique glass building called the Grand Palais. The shows are by invitation only, and invitations are hard to come by and considered a prize. The fashion press is there, editors of important magazines, like Vogue, movie stars (Cameron Diaz was at the Chanel show and looked absolutely gorgeous, and just like she does in the movies!!), and potential clients, who attend the shows beautifully dressed, perfectly made up, and often wearing jewels. It’s exciting to see!!!
The first outfits on the runway are usually more sporty and casual, pantsuits, suits with skirts, simple daytime dresses. Everything is put together as an outfit: the dress, shoes, sometimes a jacket or coat, jewelry. Makeup is sometimes wild and hair extreme, or the reverse: very sleek and simple. This time at Chanel, most of the models had hair teased straight up sky high, kind of like Bride of Frankenstein. And sometimes shoes are almost impossible for the models to walk in, the heels are so high. This time there were very pretty high heeled mostly sparkly pointed shoes with ankle straps. (And I have to say the models were terrifyingly thin, and often are, too much so. Normal humans just don’t look like that, and it’s a tough example to set for young women, and not a healthy one for their self-image. As the mother of five daughters, it worries me to see models that thin!!).
After the more casual outfits come short cocktail dresses, then long evening gowns, and finally THE wedding gown which is the finale. And after the wedding gown, there is a pause, and then the designer comes out, walks down the runway to the audience’s applause. In the case of Chanel, it is Karl Lagerfeld, who is German, 80 years old, and an unbelievably talented, legendary, energetic designer. He not only designs Chanel’s ready-to-wear and couture, but also for his own label, and another line of clothing as well, and he’s an active and talented photographer. His hair is snow white, he wears it in a ponytail, wears high collars, interesting clothes, often tail coats, and gloves without finger tips. He is surely a legend and one of the most talented designers today. Truly a remarkable person!!!
In this case, the setting for the show was fantastic!!! It was at the top of the Grand Palais, and an entire set had been built that looked like an airplane, with the audience sitting in rows, with video screens of clouds passing by the portholes and above. It was amazing!! And carts were rolled down the main ‘aisle’, which then became the runway, offering mango juice or champagne. It put everyone in a festive mood instantly!!!
The clothes themselves were very lovely as always, with some very simple, beautiful daytime clothes, some striking evening gowns, and lots of razzle dazzle in the audience, and some beautifully dressed women. (You can see the show and the clothes on Style.com)
Chanel is the only show I go to now. I used to go to many of the shows, when there were many, and always to Dior. But although I respect John Galliano’s talent, when he began designing for Dior, the clothes were too dramatic and not really what I like, and I eventually stopped going to the Dior Shows. Mr. Galliano is no longer designing for Dior, and they haven’t yet hired a new designer, so the clothes were designed by their design studio this year, which interested me less as there is no real ‘signature statement’ by a great designer, with no big designer creating their clothes. So I didn’t go to their show. There has been much speculation in the last year as to who will take Mr. Galliano’s place (there was talk of Ricardo Tisci at Givenchy going to Dior, but he didn’t. Marc Jacobs, Phoebe Phylo (of Celine), and Alexander Wang. But no one has accepted the job yet, and the guessing continues).
So it was an exciting day. There was a press show at 10 am, and another one for clients, celebs, and ‘important people’ at noon, and I was invited to that one. It is always an honor and a treat to be there. I sat in front of the previous First Lady of France (Bernadette Chirac, and she’s a lovely woman I’ve met before), and also Daphne Guinness, fashion icon from London, in towering platform shoes, black and gold lame leggings, with jet black and platinum hair teased and swept up, and a ring on every finger. It’s almost as exciting to watch the audience as it is to watch the show!!
And no matter how remote haute couture seems from our daily lives, and even if one never owns a piece of haute couture clothing, it is a fantastic experience just being there, seeing it, and being part of it for a moment. The show takes about an hour, and I was back on the street (like Cinderella after the ball, but in this case with both shoes on) at one o’clock, having experienced the magic of it yet again. It is always exciting to me, it never fails to thrill me, whether I like a particular collection or not. For all of my childhood and adolescence I wanted to be a fashion designer (and went to design school, but got into writing instead), and I feel like an excited kid again when I see it. It’s an amazing experience and a thrill every time!!! Afterwards, I went about my life, did some errands, bought shampoo, and did some work at home. Back to real life…..but for one extraordinary hour, I was transported by the world of Haute Couture again. There is nothing like it!!!!
Love, Danielle
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