“Fashion changes, but style endures.” – Coco Chanel – The Innocents Abroad, 21st Century Version

27 octobre 2023

I had a long phone call with my college friend Debbie yesterday. She and her family live in Israel where she is managing “one day at a time.” Debbie has been reminded that it is helpful to allow for self care when she can. So, when time permits, Debbie is doing things that she enjoys, making her more effective when she has to be, for her family, her friends, her community, Israel. She is holding a lot together and I am in awe of her strength. Now that’s style in the face of adversity. So today, I post about Paris, capital of style. In spite of things gone terribly wrong in this world, we are all trying to carry on, by living a life of normalcy. So today, I share my life as it relates to style. And where else, but Paris.

But first some background: my career in fashion was cultivated at a very young age. Thank you, Nana Gertie, who started working in the clothing retail at a young age to help support her family through the Depression. Nana worked at Hannah Cantor’s Kiddie Shoppe, dressing the children of Wilkes-Barre, PA until her retirement in 1972. My siblings and I were the beneficiaries of Nana’s good taste and family discount. It was nice to be a growing clothes horse; there was always a need for wardrobe replenishment. And I had the added benefit of getting Barbara’s hand-me-downs. Even George and Matthew started their lives in head-to-toe Kiddie Shoppe attire.

This is a long-winded way of saying that the apparel business was in my genes! During high school, one of my many jobs was at a women’s clothing store called Jeffrey’s and, more significantly, at cousin Sylvia’s boutique in Great Neck. So naturally, this Public Policy major took a job in the John Wanamaker Executive Training program after graduation and then continued on to a great run at Liz Claiborne, during its heyday. I made it from the back-office sales support to Director of Merchandising, where I learned from a great creative design team about color, fabric, texture and aesthetics.

So you would think I would be a big shopper, but not so much. I really delight in window-shopping and still consider it part of my profession as a merchandiser to evaluate what looks good (and what will sell). In fact, because of my size (and now, my age!), I am limited in what is styled for someone like me but I look at the creative side of fashion as art. Another apropos quote from Mme. Chanel, “You can be gorgeous at thirty, charming at forty, and irresistible for the rest of your life.”

The world’s first department store: Le Bon Marché

Le Bon Marché wins the balance of good merchandising and the aesthetics that accompany it. As you may have already read, it is dangerously close to our apartment. The store is historic and beautifully merchandised and there are actually sales associates to assist clients in every department. Le Bon Marché has been around since 1838 — the oldest department store in the world, with a fine reputation to uphold. It’s current owner is LVMH. Connected to and part of Le Bon Marché is La Grande Épicerie de Paris, a gorgeous food hall, let’s call it an over-the-top French Zabars. Among its treasures is La Crèmerie, where one can buy 150 varieties of butter (to bring stateside remember to have your butter vacuum-packed by the Épicerie and hide it in your checked baggage). This gourmet extravaganza is one-stop shopping for tourists as everything is beautifully packaged for you to bring home. Andy doesn’t know this yet but we will visit La Grande Épicerie the evening of November 16 for its hundredth anniversary celebration 😋.