NAUMY Store – all photos Vicky Tiel

When I blog on Paris fashion I always cover two streets, Rue de Roi de Siècle and Rue Fbg St Antoine on the corner of Rue de Charonne. While covering fall fashion last week I sat in my usual cafe on Rue de Charonne and watched women pouring into a new store. I crossed the street and found the brand new NAUMY store.

I looked into the window and saw gorgeous dresses all priced at around 20 to 29 euros. This is unheard of. Even Monoprix cotton dresses are up to 59 euros this year.

Inside NAUMY I find a large two story store that has everything: women and men’s clothing, fragrances, handbags, luggage, lingerie and children’s clothing. They even have wedding gowns and dresses for children to wear to weddings. Almost nothing costs over 40 euros.

Among the women’s selection are these gowns that sell for 30 euros.

A perfect “Chanel” jacket is 52 euros. It is the most expensive item in the store. (Coco would be proud). In most stores it’s at least 250 euros for a nice copy.

I spoke with the manager and salesgirls (all tall beautiful Chinese young women). I was told that NAUMY is a Chinese company and this store opened in Paris in April 2023. She said they have opened 50 stores in France this year! Oh my!

They even have my red draped jersey short gown that sells for 3000 euros…for 37 euros. Having had my VICKY TIEL shop in Paris for 45 years I was in shock. Dresses that resemble my beaded couture gowns, sequin sheaths or diamond studded black jerseys are selling for the price of my rayon linings. How do the Chinese do it? They must use African labor as there were many African prints.

Who is making these dresses for $30 to $50? Well, no matter what, they will have killed the ready-to-wear French fashion industry and maybe 7th Avenue as well, thanks to their gorgeous knockoffs. Women can use their dress savings to buy electric cars and add pools to their backyards.

I left Paris to spend the weekend with my kids in the French village of Arpajon, south of Paris, near the Chateau du Fontainebleau. I told my daughter in law about NAUMY and showed her the photos of the inexpensive dresses and told her there were 50 stores built in France just this year. She looked up NAUMY in her computer and saw one was 10 minutes from her home. She raced there in her car.

The store in the countryside south of Paris is in a new mall three times the size of the Paris store. It is half the mall, in the middle of nowhere! THEY WERE STILL BUILDING IT…BUT IT WAS FULL OF PEOPLE.

What do I think of the Chinese taking over the world of fashion? Except for the few women fashion snobs that need to wear Couture, most women will love these inexpensive fashion styles either from NAUMY or the online NAUMY’S.

High priced stores will go bankrupt and couture will always sell handbags and cosmetics.The windows in Paris couture are now often just handbags, not a dress in sight.

So sad, but we had the great years.

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The post Vicky Tiel’s Paris Journal: NAUMY Is Taking Over! appeared first on lookonline.

All photos and Sketch by Vicky Tiel

Fashion has taken its time, but today in 2023, we have a glorious return to 1964 when Mia Vicky launched in Paris the miniskirt, the bra for a day, and baring skin everywhere. 1960s fashion was about women’s liberation and “look at me.”

Say goodbye to the stretch pant and hello to the extra-extra wide pant. It is worn with a short undershirt showing the waist and the belly button. Show as much waist skin as you can.

It is also worn with a gold, silver, or hot pink sequin beaded top. Sequins for the day are sexy and new and worn as a beaded sequin minidress under a tailored mid-thigh long tailored jacket.

The sixties is now in dresses and skirts, or the accordion pleated skirt to the ankle is worn with the short midriff top and long tailored men’s jacket.

The man-tailored cross-button jacket extra long is worn with shorts or a mini skirt, often in gold leather. The mini look is back.

The Crossbody bag is the point of focus for 2023. It is worn in the center of the outfit, not hanging on the side. It is the focal point of the outfit and should stand out. The handbag is today’s most expensive item and the leading investment in the clothing fashion industry.

Women no longer need to wear expensive clothes if they can own and display a $1000-$3000 handbag. Most couture shops don’t even display dresses, only bags.

Electric colors Barbie pink, grass green, turquoise, and orange, but the number one color is yellow for the summer shoe.

Gold shoes, boots, or gold sandals are the top shoes for summer.

The long slit up the front of the skirt to the top of the hip is worn with the slit under the left bust ( as in many evening gowns) or on the side. The skirt is mini length, not to the ankle, and always black.

The Blue jean fabric has become the hot fashion fabric. For the first time, designers have used the jean material in each collection cut into very high-fashion dresses.

In clothing, art, and home, African print fabrics are used everywhere. The African ART gallery is the most opened in Paris in the last 20 years, with African Mali fang masks selling for millions.

Long hair is it. Worn free down the mid back.

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   FROM: American fashion designer Ralph Rucci: A major home run! How extraordinary this young lady is, and along with her…

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   Marilyn, You look absolutely fabulous! And this Elsa Schiaparelli bag !!!! We have met a few times at different events.…

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   An Explosion of stunning and playful creativity inspired by the Glorious BEAUTY of ORCHIDS!!!

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   What a great talent Ruben is …… in addition to being a thoroughly lovely man. And the legacy of his…

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Jane Birkin wearing che veste shorts by Vicky Tiel, 1971 – Photo by M. McKeown courtesy Vicky Tiel

Jane and I were two princesses of the 60s hanging out all night at Chez Castel on 15 Rue Princess wearing the first hot pants, bras, and jumpsuits. We both had gorgeous men that we lived with for years (we were both unmarried ), and we both danced for hours chez Castel often till dawn, shaking our boobies while we “wiggled down on our men,” giggling and shaking our arms on the dance floor. We created a hot new dance, and the other hot Castel couples soon followed.

Then we invented the pile-up – called BOUM – where after shaking up and down as we fell on top of our men on the floor, and everyone followed until we had a pile of bodies a mile high wiggling in place until the song stopped. Sometimes we were 50 people, bodies filling the entire dance floor.

Chez Castel Nightclub – Photo Vicky Tiel

Chez Castel was THE private club of Europe, and to be a member, you had to be famous, not rich, just renowned. It was a great way to meet the beautiful people Delon, Belmondo, Bardot, Deneuve, and Mick Jagger before a “Bonjour.” The Beatles even performed there in a small private room in 1965, and they stayed up all night doing who knows what.

Partying with Chez Castel got so renowned that I got hired there by producer Dick Sylbert to do the costumes of « What’s New Pussycat « on the dance floor with Jane Birkin and Mia Fonssagrives as we turned all the heads with our bodies and our fashion.

Jane, who lived on 5 Rue de Verneuil, two blocks from our shop, “became one of my first clients in the shop we called MIA VICKY on 21 Rue Bonaparte (now the name of my perfume). A frequent shopper, Jane also bought the first pair of knit mini shorts when we opened in August 1968.

Vicky sketch of Jane from my book 100 WOMEN ( celebs that I dressed)

They were recognized by a rose embroidered on the side and were the first shorts sold in Paris. Jane also was known for wearing our navy velvet cape made to wear in the daytime in the winter over the navy knit shorts we then called hot pants. She turned heads as capes went out in the 1900s.

The biggest claim to fame of the English beauty Jane Birkin was not any movie, but was her song in 1965 with her then lover Serge Gainsbourg who wrote MOI N’EN PLUS …where they make the sounds of having sex and then an orgasm that lasts forever.

The song Serge originally wrote for Brigitte Bardot was definitely better with his English-French girlfriend, Jane, and became one of the greatest French songs in their musical history. It also created a feud between the two fabulous women, and Serge chose Jane, much to the chagrin of Bardot. Serge was no beauty (no Alain Delon), but he must have had something besides a voice.

Serge’s and Jane’s home – Photo Vicky Tiel

The home of Serge and Jane became a national monument where tourists come from all over the world to sign the wall in front of the ground floor residence. Like the Beatles in London, Jane and Serge in France represented the hot sixties.

Today, Jane is most known for her Hermès Birkin bag, but to those of us Parisiennes over 75, Jane is best known for the song JE T’AIME MOI N’ON PLUS.

Last year I saw Jane in the cafe she hung out in near our market, Rue de Buci having breakfast Sunday morning. We were both in our late seventies and looking it (now without hot pants ), and we both nodded and smiled and remembered those great dancing days, chez Castel. At least I did.

She was a true Parisienne icon.

Forever Jane! – By Marilyn Kirschner

Jane Birkin – Photo by Bestimage

Jane had more style in her little finger than most of the Birkin toting women who are clueless about what true style really is. Those who immediately jumped on the Birkin bag connection with posts of their own Birkins, or made comments about owning many Birkins, when news of Jane’s passing was made public, are woefully missing the point.

Jane was not defined by her Birkins. They were, for Jane, durable and practical objects which she personalized and toted around with insouciance, rather than the ultimate status symbol they have become.

Cardi B shows off her massive collection of Birkin Bags – Photo PageSix

Quite frankly, when I think of Hermes Birkin bags, what does not instantly come to mind is the ever chic, slightly bohemian, Jane, who was gifted 4 Birkins (one at a time) and auctioned them off for charity. Rather, I envision celebrities flaunting their wealth with pictures of enormous walk in closets filled with rows and rows of Birkins in every color and exotic fabric imaginable.

“It’s very nice that everyone’s got one or wants one. I keep saying to Hermès to make it out of plastic or, even more fun, make it out of cardboard. Then it wouldn’t be so heavy. But if people want to go for the real thing, fine. If they go for copies, that’s fine too”

Jane Birkin

Cardboard Birkin Bag – Photo Pinterest

In honor of Jane, I went searching for a cardboard Birkin. While I did not find one, I did see that an enterprising individual posted an image of a cardboard Birkin mock up on Pinterest saying he/she was going to make one someday.

Plage Terry Bicolore Tote – Photo zitomer.com

I think Jane would have definitely appreciated the Plage Terry BiColore Totes, priced at $380 and available at Zitomer Pharmacy, 969 Madison avenue, 212 937 5560, zitomer.com.

Jelly Birkin – Photo craftyrebels.com

There’s no question that Jane, an activist who was very involved with women’s and LGBTQ rights, would have approved of Crafty Rebel’s cheeky Jelly Birkin bags priced from $80 – $100. Offered in rainbow stripes and in several solid colors, they are customizable but will always say “Birkin My Ass” if you can’t define a phrase. For more information, go to craftyrebels.com

“Birk Basket”

Of course, Jane was most often associated with a favored $10 Portuguese straw bag which she carried year round and took everywhere (to the beach, out to dinner, shopping, etc.) in the late 60’s and early 70’s. MME. MINK’s LadyJane “Birk Basket,” $445, mmemink.com, is hands down, the most distinctive recreation I’ve seen.

MME.MINK was recently named “The Birkin of Basket” and Jan Haedrich (AKA MME. MINK), has an intimate connection with Jane. The two met while Jan was designing in France and she is forever inspired by Birkin’s love of simplicity. The first basket Jan designed when she launched MME MINK in 2019 was named “LadyJane”, Birkin’s nickname.

Birkin didn’t feel the need to change her bag, or outfits every day. She had nothing to prove to the paparazzi then, and she had nothing to prove to anyone as she got older. There are so many indelible images of Jane as a divine young ingénue, and so much was written about her earlier years, but what really intrigues me is the way Jane aged; “Wabi-Sabi” comes to mind.

In traditional Japanese aesthetics, Wabi-Sabi is the celebration of the passage of time and its sublime damages; the appreciation of beauty that is imperfect and transient. Instead of bowing to societal pressures and striving to hold on to her kittenish youth, Jane aged unselfconsciously with grace and confidence.

She cut her hair, went make up free, eschewed plastic surgery, and embraced a certain tomboyish chic. I love that in 2009, she told WWD, “I’d rather be dressed as a man. As soon as I’m in boys’ things I feel like I’m 12 again. I’ll go on tour in a white shirt and waistcoat.”

The post “Jane Birkin Was My Sixties Dancing Buddy” – by Vicky Tiel appeared first on lookonline.

Paris RTW Fall 2023 fashion week filled the Paris streets with the world’s fashion press showing off their interpretation of what women should wear next on the streets.

It’s all about The SIGNATURE BAG. Never before in my fashion life has owning a NAME handbag been so BIG. But as clothing is selling less and less over the years, the accessory business has taken over, especially for many of the windows of the haute couture shops in Paris.

This year the bags are extraordinary. The top bag to own is the VUITTON POLKA DOT. The colored dots, now the Vuitton signature are even covering two tall buildings in Paris, making for a very happy feeling while walking the streets of Paris during Fashion week.

We all need “HAPPY” with the transport strikes starting at the end of Fashion Week. Watching the women walk the streets with fabulous accessories is indeed, a very happy note.

The long MIDI-ANKLE LENGTH COAT is back, either with a big boxy look or belted as a huge trench. They have been popular for a few years but now they are a CHIC MUST, especially worn with gigantic winter scarves some 6 feet long and 3 feet wide.

BROWN is the New Black. Black is OUT (for now at least and except in leather) and all shades of beige, camel and especially milk chocolate are IT. After the couture handbag, the brown coat is the new big look.

Pink Coats and Snow Leopard Coats in the Winter are beautiful and happy. The world is going through an elongated war, a financial crisis, and climate disasters, and fashion is a way to bring happiness to the world. Just wear pink with a smile and then wear pink with a red scarf red to match your lipstick.

The red patent leather miniskirt à la Courreges is back and was shown in black in the Balmain collection. It was a big trend in the late sixties and will be again, worn under the ankle length long coats for 2023. THE CROPPED TOP, SHOWING 2 inches of MIDRIFF SKIN IS THE LOOK FOR THE YOUNG, EVEN IN FREEZING WINTER.

The oversized tailored blazer jacket (seen at Fall 2023 Saint Laurent show) is the new top, worn over everything from micro miniskirts to very long pleated or full skirts in a contrasting color. The new wide jacket can be anywhere from 3 to 6 inches wider in the shoulder.

IN OTHER NEWS:

NEW COLORS: BORDEAUX, GREIGE, LIME, CITRON, DARK CHOCOLATE

The PUFFY 3/4 SLEEVE is seen in tops, suits and gowns.

NAKED IS THE NEWS. The left side slit continues to be seen on long straight gowns showing the entire leg almost up to the waist, worn with nude pantyhose, no panties.

FOR EVENING, long gowns entirely unlined revealing chic underpants is new and seen IN EVERY COLLECTION. It’s great, except maybe for weddings.

THE FULL BALLGOWN SKIRT a la BALENCIAGA 1950s is in, and also at midi length.

The full BALLGOWN SKIRT is worn with a shorter version of the oversized blazer for day and worn with lacy see thru tops for day, even for work under a brown leather mini blazer. The top can be cropped above the waist of the full skirt to show 3 inches of skin.

Georgia May Jagger and Ciara during Fall Fashion Week in platform shoes. THE OVER-SIZED PLATFORM SHOE AND BOOT IS BACK AS WELL AS THE 3 inch PLATFORM HEEL. This is A NEW LOOK as well as 1 inch platform high boots in shiny fab colors.

In honor of PACO RABANNE, my designer friend since 1968 (he was another Cafe Flore gang member) Julien Dossena’s collection featured Paco’s silver lined holes everywhere: in the clothes, suits, jackets, dresses , and not just in leather but now in wool, jersey and fake fur. PACO FOREVER!

1. 

   FROM: American fashion designer Ralph Rucci: A major home run! How extraordinary this young lady is, and along with her…

2. 

   test comment

3. 

   Marilyn, You look absolutely fabulous! And this Elsa Schiaparelli bag !!!! We have met a few times at different events.…

4. 

   An Explosion of stunning and playful creativity inspired by the Glorious BEAUTY of ORCHIDS!!!

5. 

   What a great talent Ruben is …… in addition to being a thoroughly lovely man. And the legacy of his…

6. 

   Hi, I am looking to relaunch my website, with an interactive plateform. Can you recommend someone with the creative and…

7. 

   This is all very sad considering what Klein and Schwartz built and what Costa did to advance the history of…

8. 

   A collection of Random Disasters that disgraces what was Calvin Klein !

9. 

   as always, Marilyn is right on time ….. terrific piece ….. and thank you for the inspiring photos of deRibes,…

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Paris Fashion Week Couture Spring 2023 just ended. The nineties are back — as never before. The collections are wearable, colorful and perfect for customers who spent years of anxiety, illness, change of jobs and lifestyles. It’s time to live it up again.

The Trends
THE MICRO MINI
OVERSIZED FUN ARTISTIC COATS OFTEN TO THE FLOOR
SLITS GALORE FOR THE EXPOSED BARE LEG
SKINTIGHT JUMPSUITS IN NEW SLINKY FABRICS
THIGH HIGH PLATFORM BOOTS , FENDI GALORE
AND BARE MIDRIFFS WITH SEE THRU TOPS

What a time to capture a new man, acquire a new job and find a new attitude. The colors for 2023 are HAPPY COLORS:

GORGEOUS GREEN
DUSTY SKY BLUE
PEACHY PINK
CLEMENTINE ORANGE
SILVER AND BLACK AND LOTS OF SEQUINS

Latest Comments:

1. 

   FROM: American fashion designer Ralph Rucci: A major home run! How extraordinary this young lady is, and along with her…

2. 

   test comment

3. 

   Marilyn, You look absolutely fabulous! And this Elsa Schiaparelli bag !!!! We have met a few times at different events.…

4. 

   An Explosion of stunning and playful creativity inspired by the Glorious BEAUTY of ORCHIDS!!!

5. 

   What a great talent Ruben is …… in addition to being a thoroughly lovely man. And the legacy of his…

6. 

   Hi, I am looking to relaunch my website, with an interactive plateform. Can you recommend someone with the creative and…

7. 

   This is all very sad considering what Klein and Schwartz built and what Costa did to advance the history of…

8. 

   A collection of Random Disasters that disgraces what was Calvin Klein !

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In 1978 Jean Rosenberg of Henri Bendel walked into my Paris shop at 21 Rue Bonaparte and promised to create a floor of European dress designers on the 2nd floor of Henri Bendel’s. I was invited to join. I said yes.

My dream as a Parson’s student had been to copy Coco Chanel, how she worked selling dresses, and how she had custom-fitted all her clients (of course, they had to pay her $1000 first!)

I flew to America, began designing for Bendel’s, and stopped designing for movies. In 1982 Dawn Mello walked into our Bendel’s shop, a space I shared with Jean Muir. Dawn offered me my own boutique (more than a wall) on the 2nd floor of Bergdorf Goodman. I was given a “store” by a French salesman, Serge de Vatedski, and off I moved across the street.

My shop opened with a cocktail party by Martha Stewart (her first in Manhattan). Mr. Goodman and his blond wife came to the cocktail opening, and she wore my dress.

Bergdorf was considered an old lady’s store (except for Halston hats), but Dawn, with the backing of the “boss,” Bert Tansky, was determined to make it the most fabulous store on Planet Earth.

I soon moved to the 4th floor, which they called the Designer floor. Every top designer in Europe eventually had a “store” stocked with clothes, and I was given a big room called the Couture department where women could walk in and get gowns made of their fabric choice and with their ideas.

I would fly to America from Paris each month, meet the top fashion ladies, sketch their dream dresses, measure them, and they would choose their dress fabrics from my vintage embroidered suitcase of French fabrics.

Each dress was unique for them. It was a huge hit. I had my own dressing room, and my sales went from $20,000 a month in 1982 to $330,000 a month in 2008 (before the 2008 recession).

The dresses all started at $500, and after 30 years, I eventually sold a dress for $28,000 to a woman in Washington who owned pharmacies. In 2010 after the recession, my sales dropped to $80,000 a month, and I decided to go to HSN and sell thousands of $100 dresses. Bye-Bye, BG, with a tear. Hello TV.

For 30 years, BG had created a home for the world’s wealthiest women to meet and greet in the tres chic top floor dining room, or they could shop with devoted personal shoppers and have food served in the poshest dressing room where Dom Perignon champagne was served in crystal glasses, and caviar could be enjoyed as major jewels and handbags were brought up to sell from the ground floor.

All that was missing was a bed. I was one of the only designers (not an assistant) who met these famous women in the “secret movie star dressing room” of personal shoppers. Unlike most designers, I ate in the employee cafeteria (often with Mr. Tansky), a secret I learned from Elizabeth Taylor — “always eat near the power.”

Dressing the naked crème de la crème of the world, you need to know how to give advice:
“My husband and his new wife will be at our daughter’s wedding. Ignore her or be lovely? And what shall I wear.”
“Do I need to lose weight? How?” I taught the 5-7 red, blue and purple fruits, and vegetables a day diet of Dr. George Wong plus French Carte Noir coffee, black and green tea.
“My boyfriend is 15 years younger; what should I wear to meet his friends?” My husband was 15 years younger, so I knew.

Our salesgirls had seen everything. Two very different beautiful women with the same man’s credit card came in. They were the wife and the mistress in the couture department at the same time — both got my dresses. We all celebrated.

The wildest moment was when a client who didn’t like her gown, attacked her much older, very elegant salesgirl knocking her to the floor trying to strangle her, and three of us had to pull her off. The police took her away.

The worst moment was when another female designer was having a show on the fourth floor and heard I was there too. She demanded that I be thrown out, or she would leave her show as I was hiding in the movie star dressing room measuring a top society lady who just had a fitting. I ran around the dressing room to a back staircase to exit.

The sweetest moment was when a customer told me she had saved all her life to buy a Vicky Tiel “Mother-of-the-Bride” gown.

I had begun my couture career in my Paris shop when one of my first customers was Brigitte Bardot, who never wore underwear, something I learned well. Measuring her was a memorable moment, so I had my first crazy customer experience in 1969.

But my favorite story was when a simple middle-aged woman in very casual sportswear with no jewels, no hairdo, or any big makeup comes into couture, and no one will run to help her.

She had entered Bergdorf couture with two very badly dressed oversized men. Having made 16 movies, I recognized bodyguards. I ran up to the very simple woman and asked if I could help dress her. I then made a $10,000 dress for the wife of one of the world’s wealthiest men to wear to one of his new gambling casino openings. I think he was in the top 10 in money in the USA.

To sell directly in a posh store with no assistant, designers must have nerves of steel and live to help women. It’s not about them; it’s all about HER. I started selling at 12 years old, and I just sold two dresses last week at the age of 79 from my office on my farm.

Selling dresses for 67 years is a long time helping women, advising them not to drink soda pop and not to eat steak as it adds to the bottom of the hip (where the beef is injected in the US, but not in France).

If you are a dress designer reading this and you do what I did at BG, be sure your best friend is a therapist, and they teach you woman’s therapy. I was even once asked, “My son hasn’t spoken to me for six months, but I’m paying for his wedding. What color gown should I wear, Mrs. Tiel?” and I replied, “BABY PINK.”

After becoming the leading department store in the world (along with HARRODS in London and LE BON MARCHÉ in Paris), Bergdorf took the most incredible window dresser we ever had, Linda Fargo, and made her the brain of the store. Today, she created a magical palace to match the magical dressing room where it all started in the secret spot on the fourth floor.

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   FROM: American fashion designer Ralph Rucci: A major home run! How extraordinary this young lady is, and along with her…

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   test comment

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   Marilyn, You look absolutely fabulous! And this Elsa Schiaparelli bag !!!! We have met a few times at different events.…

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   An Explosion of stunning and playful creativity inspired by the Glorious BEAUTY of ORCHIDS!!!

5. 

   What a great talent Ruben is …… in addition to being a thoroughly lovely man. And the legacy of his…

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Remembering when we arrived in Paris for the first time in 1963 with my Parson’s summer school class led by professor Stanley Burrows. Our chartered bus dropped all 25 of us, future designers, off at Cafe Flore. How right was Mr. Burrows…! It was and still is the heart of Paris Fashion.

I bought a shop with my best friend and fashion partner, Mia Fonssagrives, just down the street in 1968, and the Cafe Flore became our after-work hangout to meet many other fabulous people in our industry. The Cafe Flore has been the hangout for French fashion designers for over 60 years.

Each of us designers had their corner. Karl Lagerfeld was just inside the center with his vast entourage; Sonia Rykiel alone ruled in a corner upstairs on the first floor. Paco Rabanne, Azzedine, Kenzo Issey Miyake, and even YSL with “boyfriend Boy” were there from time to time, at least once a week, generally on Fridays, to celebrate another brutal couture week ending.

Emmanuelle and Quasar Khanh had their crazy glass box car parked out front, and Fashion Week fans met there with all the models and the model’s hunky boyfriends all parading in front of the Cafe Flore, showing off the following year’s “ boy toy” look.

Shop owners fought for seats. American department store buyers sat in the outdoor chairs even in winter. I was lucky to sit inside to the left of the front door and take notes with journalist Mary Russell, the only American who loved hanging out at the Flore. ( Only Mary and Paco are still alive)…..and me!

In September, the fit models returned from holidays still wearing summer, but by Oct 4, they had chosen the look for the following year after the fashion shows ended. The prêt à porter designers came with sketch pads to ensure every new detail.

On Sundays, everyone had breakfast with their sweethearts at the Cafe Buci, the corner of the Rue de Buci and Rue de Seine. At this magical spot for Sunday cafes and croissants, the models and movie stars showed off the exciting daywear look for the following year.

Heads could not stop turning as Belmondo had a new woman, Ursula Andress, in unzipped jumpsuits, or Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg, who all lived in St Germain, needed to see the latest look for their press photos. Sometimes even Salvador Dali crossed the river from his hotel on the Rive Droit with Amanda Lear to sit and watch the fashion show on the Buci. Amazingly the world has changed but not the Cafe Flore or Cae Buci.

This is the look for 2023. It’s called “The Mix.” The ’60s are back. The mini Mia Vicky launched on Johnny Carson in 1964 is in every window..identical in shiny patent leather, and the newest mini is the Azzedine Alaia skirt, which is fabulous, fresh, and not at all from the 60s. It’s often mixed today with something quite the opposite.

The tiny Mini skirt in black patent leather is often worn with black hose, clunky black shoes, and a wild print top.

The Azzedine Alaia mini is brand new, beautiful, and worn with all black.

The maxi dress launched in 1968 by YSL is back in knits and with a 60’s fringe.

Three little black ’60s maxi dresses are the look after a hot pink electric summer.

The sexy black look in “The Street Bra” is on the models and movie stars at awards. Today women will wear bras under a see thru knit top and maxi skirt with a large chic blazer as a coverup.

The black maxi skirt is my design. Lucie will wear a black and white plaid blazer with the Doc Martins, which are still hot.

Mila Kunis launched the diamond collar on a plaid shirt, The diamond beaded collar, and now it’s gone fashion viral.

The beaded collar on a plaid shirt today mixes country and glamour.

The Chunky black shoe at Gucci.

Black Loafer with oversized green sole at Armani. Chunky walking shoes are replacing the white tennis shoes in the chicest Italian couture and are now on the streets.

The oversized classic English blazers are the coverup of bare fashion for Fall. Bras, bare midriffs, and ripped tops are covered by tres chic-tres cher classic blazers.

Mixing old and New, Mixing 60’s and Today, Mixing Country Plaid and Diamonds, Mixing Chic and Bohemian is the trend of Paris Fall Fashion. THE MIX IS IT.

I am buying a $10 Wal-Mart jersey dress and beading French haute couture at the neckline. It’s my New Look, THE MIX.

Latest Comments:

1. 

   FROM: American fashion designer Ralph Rucci: A major home run! How extraordinary this young lady is, and along with her…

2. 

   test comment

3. 

   Marilyn, You look absolutely fabulous! And this Elsa Schiaparelli bag !!!! We have met a few times at different events.…

4. 

   An Explosion of stunning and playful creativity inspired by the Glorious BEAUTY of ORCHIDS!!!

5. 

   What a great talent Ruben is …… in addition to being a thoroughly lovely man. And the legacy of his…

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I remember seeing Frida Kahlo’s work for the first time in Paris in 1968 when I opened my shop on Rue Bonaparte, walked past the Beaux Arts College, and turned right on Rue de Beaux Arts. My eyes popped out.

I was in total shock. At a gallery across the street, there was a giant portrait of a lady in the most exotic dress and makeup with an extraordinary bouquet of flowers on top of her head and a hand hanging from her ear. She was Mexican from a Polish Jewish father, who died in 1954.

Frida Kahlo’s first Paris show and self-portrait were in the surrealist style of the time, but she was better than anyone else ( for me). Her painting was more creative and more beautiful to hang on a wall. My mother was an American artist who painted unusual self-portraits, but her clothes on canvas were nothing to notice.

Frieda Kahlo’s portrait shook me as a fashion designer to my roots. Her dress and jewelry were different than other clothing I had ever seen. I had to own the painting and ran into the shop asking how much. The amount the Galerie wanted was 1300 francs, maybe $5000 then. I didn’t buy it, which I will always regret. Today her latest work went for 34 million dollars.

The Galleria museum, our fashion museum in Paris, had a FRIDA KAHLO vernissage Tuesday night. It explained the influence of Frieda in Fashion, with many Valentinos and other couture designers showing designs inspired by it by Frida. The place was packed, many women themselves wearing Frida-style clothing.

Frida was one of the first women in the arts who insisted on making it on her own (despite marrying a top Mexican artist …). Frieda was a tough cookie. She had a tragic accident, a tram crash after a childhood of polio that wrecked her leg and back but she still worked and even traveled to Paris and America for her shows because art ruled over pain.

She had to express herself. She grew a light beard and had a unibrow to show the world she was almost a man and equal to her famous husband, artist Diego Riviera. Born in 1907 and dying young at 53, Frieda lived every moment, coming to Paris to show in 1956 and becoming a world-famous artist just before her death, perhaps a suicide. Her last quote said, “I hope to have a happy end of life, and I hope never to return.”

Frida was also a fashion designer; her unusual dress style stood out worldwide. She introduced electric Mexican orange to fashion, mixing many clashing prints with a touch of other shockers such as teal, chartreuse, and fuchsia.

She wore Mexican hanging beads and pecay zig zags for trims on cotton that started a 50s trend. She wore a dress with a large ball gown skirt as her every day, even when COCO brought the skinny-fitted minidress to the world in the 20s.

Frida said I might be a cripple but LOOK AT ME. I’m sure her confidence made Diego Riviera love her. He was a rascal with many women and children and never married until he married crippled Frieda. He respected her strength and loved her paintings just like I do….Hmmm, $34 million?

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I am compelled to write and explain what is happening to our fashion industry. It’s an industry I’ve loved and been involved with for 60 years since 1961, first as a New York Parson’s fashion student and then since 1964 as a Parisien designer. I may have one of the longest careers designing and selling dresses as I made my first sale in 1955 at 12 in my wealthy Chevy Chase, Md community, where I sewed my first A-line mini dresses that I sold to my very posh classmates and I still wear today.

I started designing with my partner Mia Fonssagrives in Paris by launching the thigh-high minidress, jumpsuits, hot pants, pantyhose, and leather miniskirts with fringed beaded vests, all wearable, all selling out immediately. 60’s designers changed the fashion industry to a younger, sexier but wearable fashion that women loved so much they threw away their corsets, boxy suits, and grandma-style floral print dresses with fitted waists and full skirts with 3 tulle crinolines to the calf.

Our styles, especially the minidress, were soft and new, but they were meant to SELL. They were meant for a woman to look hip and modern and leave their mother’s uptight look behind. The 60’s male designers in Paris, YSL, Cardîn, and Courreges hopped onto the bandwagon with the hip English designers, Mary Quant, Biba, Zandra Rhodes, Thea Porter, and we all had 25 years of selling exciting, beautiful, soft modern, yet wearable clothes.

These designers could all draw, drape, sew and measure their customers, and each had a style and identity. You could close your eyes and see a YSL, a Zandra, a Cardin, and a Chanel. It was Coco who indeed invented “Timeless Fashion.

I was taught in Paris in the 60s that in my fashion shows, I must have 2-3 dresses just for the press that no one would buy, but the press would get excited and write about. Mia Vicky made dresses with nude drawings embroidered on the front, diamond bras and miniskirts, and topless bridal dresses that could make a great photo in the French press. But 95% of my work had to sell as my Bendel, Bergdorf, and Neiman clients would give me thousands for a dress that they could wear to a ball and look hipper, sexier, and younger.

The stores would not spend a penny for a publicity dress. Clothes that are made just for publicity might be borrowed or used for a holiday window but they do not sell. 95% of designer clothes in a collection were meant to be ordered and sold.

Today, this math is the opposite. Shows are more and more for publicity and are not meant to sell. Students must learn to design promotional pieces that will not sell but would still give them long careers and buckets of money. C’est Impossible! Can you produce a publicity design that can also sell and sell? YES, some people can: Coco, Courreges, Azzedine Alaia, Thea Porter — but not many.

Designers today have found a way to get publicity by overdoing styles as sexy tarts, strippers, and cartoons but not as sexy real-life ladies. These designs are worn on the red carpets or at the Met Balls, but these designs DID NOT SELL. How do the companies make money? Again, I was taught to SELL. There you make money.

It meant I must create work to SELL — forever. “Timeless Fashion” became my goal, so I had to own my business. While Elizabeth Taylor became an investor for a lifetime of free dresses and not for publicity, I was lucky to never work for anybody. I was always my own boss using my own money. I recommend this strategy when I lecture young students today.

In the 1970s and 80s, Fred Heyman (Giorgio’s), gave me an opportunity to dress top movie stars. I flew from Paris to L.A., took measurements of these actresses like Goldie Hawn, Barbra Streisand, and Farrah Fawcett. They selected their Oscar gowns from my collection and they paid for the dresses.

One day Sharon Stone demanded a free Oscar dress after her tremendous success in “Basic Instinct,” and Fred gave it to her as a gift. After that, top actresses all wanted free dresses like Sharon, and they eventually had to be designed wild and unsalable but crazy photographable. It ruined our celebrity gown business.

Blame it all on Sharon Stone!

Publicity is good if you also have products that sell. In the last 10 years, great designers sold their brands as they passed. The companies who bought their names hired young new designer after designer, each with different looks, each grabbing publicity for a season or two, and each eventually getting replaced.

So today, most designers have lost touch with personal power as they don’t own their companies, and the fashion companies are hiring designers accordingly. Their names are used, and other young designers are hired to replace them almost yearly. Goodbye to long careers. Goodbye to closing your eyes and seeing a particular style that each couture house represents.

YSL and Cardin started as dressmakers. They could draw and drape, do it all. Jimmy Galanos appeared in stores with me, measuring customers. Rudi Gernreich and Norman Norell taught draping at Parsons. They knew a woman’s body. Today designers have assistants and they have no understanding of today’s woman’s body. Because men have no idea what it’s like to have a bust, their bust cups are often one size too small for the rest of the pattern. The body in a computer becomes the object, not a living person.

Fashion designs are often designed for the computer body, not the natural body. The internet created a whole new world of online shopping. 60% of online shopping is clothing, and the designs must be wearable by all body sizes. They have nothing to do with the fashions in designer collections that have only photo appeal and not sale appeal.

Eveningwear has significantly changed as most designs leave a bad taste with cheap stripper-looking dresses done in good fabrics for the press. Few designers today can draw, drape or sew, let alone fit a customer in a store. Their assistant does this demanding job. The assistant travels to the stores, not the designers who are somewhat caged in the atelier, not selling in stores, meeting their clients and listening to what they want to wear as I did for 60 years, as did Coco, Cardin, Balenciaga.

Today the fashion industry is totally different. The internet allows clients to order inexpensive sportswear that stretches with no need for fitting rooms and no need to go shopping in stores and malls that are rapidly closing. Hundreds of fashion and fragrance companies are closing their famous stores or bankrupting their brand like my neighbor Sonia Rykiel on Blvd St Germain, who opened her first store 55 years ago. Yes, the pandemic is partially responsible for the closings, but many fashion bankruptcies were in 2017 due to internet shopping.

Gym stretch fashion has now become the leading fashion biz. It was 20% before all sales, and now it’s 90% of all sales. Gym fashion is easy. It can be made anywhere, with high markup on famous names in cheap fabrics. It’s the most profitable business today and stretches into the future.

In this asexual world, a lady is an object on your computer, not a woman in reality. An image of yourself in a mini robot will appear onscreen, and you will dress her by shopping online, and the outfit will arrive at your home by a drop air post.

“Femme Power” is equality, But we are not equal as women still need men to get excited, marry, make babies, and continue this planet. So, how to stay equal and still find a mate? Before, it was with clothing and looking appealing. Not today, as women all look like they are at a gym or about to take off on a spaceship.

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   Marilyn, You look absolutely fabulous! And this Elsa Schiaparelli bag !!!! We have met a few times at different events.…

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   What a great talent Ruben is …… in addition to being a thoroughly lovely man. And the legacy of his…

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Parisiennes love fashion, and for the last two years, the top restaurants where tres chic women could make their high fashion entrances were often closed. The Louvre lost 40 million euros as tourists failed to come, but Spring 2022 is full of promise and joy as all the top restaurants, galleries, and luxury shops have reopened.

The fashion tourists have jumped onto the planes, and the hot dress shops are READY. The top ten things to buy for ÉTÉ are indicated below, and they are in every shop as artist-designers were locked out of making an entrance at La Société for way too long.

TEN THINGS

1. The 1960s Are Back Sexier Than Ever
2. Bare Anything
3. Your Tennis Shoes Are Your Art Collection
4. Scarves Are It, Draped As You Like
5. Express Yourself On Your T-shirt
6. Electric Colors
7. Older Women Wearing A Vintage Mix
8. Showing Off At Your Paris Hangout…Le Flandrin, L’Atlas, Flore or Deux Magots
9. You Are Your Coat
10. Be A Movie Star In Ruffles Galor
    

1. THE SIXTIES ARE BACK SEXIER THAN EVER

Having my fashion start in Paris in the Sixties, I know the Sixties well. It was an “Anything Goes” time. Our Mothers could hardly say that as they were all bound up in girdles and suffocating hard cotton bras. The Paris Fashion Sixties had the soft bra designed by my Parsons teacher Rudi Gernweich highlighted by showing off as many body parts, knees, necklines, shoulders, and derrières.

I remember dressing Brigitte Bardot when my Paris shop on Rue Bonaparte opened in 1968 and finding her in my dressing room not wearing any underwear. My design life never recovered as well as my personal life. Brigitte was wearing over nothing that day, a babydoll dress with ruffles galore, in a sweetie pie baby blue gingham check, a dress designed by Louis Feraud (my design partner Mia’s French husband).

Our shop, Mia Vicky, then decided to do our naked shopping bags in 1969, which was a big hit, and Yves St Laurent followed with a giant framed nude portrait of himself at the entrance of his shop.

Today the nude sixties are back. The bare midriff 1969 black leather mini over sexy pantyhose with a hot pink maxi taffeta coat and a T-shirt that says ROCK ME UP would be perfect to wear to the Cafe Flore to excite fashion journalists. The best time to see new fashion is tea time/ champagne time at the Cafe Flore.

2. BARE ANYTHING

Justin’s wife, Hailey Bieber, has risen to the top as a fashion influencer by baring it all. Her figure and waistline have sent all my US young friends for the stomach operation.

3. YOUR TENNIS SHOES ARE YOUR ART COLLECTION

Wearing Art on your Toes is Brand New, and the latest Designer Tennis Shoes have replaced 1000$ Vuitton gold heels. Having the most unusual shoe design is a challenge, but not in Paris, where arty shoes win hands down. Wear them with white pants all summer with an electric-colored top with a significant saying across your bust describing your day as “The Look.”

4. SCARVES ARE IT, DRAPED AS YOU LIKE

The big scarf look started in the Spring with windy days and the French draping their scarves to express themselves. French women collect scarves of all sizes, especially Hermès ( if you are tres chic, you own 12 Hermès Scarves, one for each month.)

5. EXPRESS YOURSELF ON YOUR T-SHIRT

The T-shirt with your “who I am” mood drawn in a circle on your bust has been the “it look” during the pandemic, and now it continues in electric colors for summer. It is topped with a great maxi coat, and a “fashion is fun” summer hat. The world has been in a dreary mood as fashion tries to lift up our spirits and sell us some happiness.

6. ELECTRIC COLORS

Electric colors continue for Spring and summer as beige, brown, and English greige posh trench coats have seen their day. Au Revoir to sad colors.

7. OLDER WOMEN WEARING A VINTAGE MIX

Older French Women have gone Fashion Brave as they lived through the worst time of their lives, only to find their favorite restaurant closed for months and no pink champagne or grey babies caviar at Le Flandrine.

8. SHOWING OFF AT YOUR PARIS HANGOUT WITH AN ENTRANCE COAT

9. YOU ARE YOUR COAT

The Coat will continue to be the Fashion Statement, from coats that look like you are a Queen with a beaded mini underneath to a coat that says it all. If you buy only one thing for Spring/Summer, have it be another Grand Coat to wear when you make your grand entrance at the Flore or La Société. It’s who you are. MY COAT IS ME. I’m electric. You just should not wear boring colors.

10. BE A MOVIE STAR IN RUFFLES GALORE

Ruffles Galore, Paris windows can’t get enough of them. Ruffles signify HAPPY DAYS ARE AHEAD. Women dressing like teenagers would be my take on Paris fashion and using Fashion To Help Simulate Happiness?

Happiness is the key to Fashion This Summer.

Latest comments:

1. 

   FROM: American fashion designer Ralph Rucci: A major home run! How extraordinary this young lady is, and along with her…

2. 

   test comment

3. 

   Marilyn, You look absolutely fabulous! And this Elsa Schiaparelli bag !!!! We have met a few times at different events.…

4. 

   An Explosion of stunning and playful creativity inspired by the Glorious BEAUTY of ORCHIDS!!!

5. 

   What a great talent Ruben is …… in addition to being a thoroughly lovely man. And the legacy of his…

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