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Years ago if you came across ladies dressed like this…

October 25, 2012 Posted by admin

Years ago if you came across ladies dressed like this in Paris on the Rue De Temple in they would be after your money and you would run.

Photo by ED BAYNARD

Today they will get your money and more as this is the latest Paris fashion look, Neon Gypsy, and the Rue de Temple in the Marais is now the chicest shopping paradise for the French. “Plus ca Change, plus ca reste le meme.”

This clothing from Nepal is the universal gypsy style, very hippy, as the sixties are back in fashion ! The good news is that the multicolored slashed clothing from Nepal is now sold all over America, Woodstock, Aspen and online and the prices are lower than Chinese clothing and very” Contemporary Art”.

Walking from the Rue de Rivoli, (where the BHV department store is a days worth of shopping alone), winding uphill until the Place de la Republique, is The Rue de Temple,  one of the oldest streets in Paris. Built in 1300, an architectural gem from the middle ages, the Rue de Temple is named for the Knights Templar (of the Da Vinci  Code fame). Close you eyes and you can feel the cobblestones under your feet as you imagine the Knights Templar spears in hand racing up the winding road on their white horses. Nothing has changed.

Half way up Rue de Temple is the Museum of Art and History of Judaism in what was once the palace home of the Le duc de Saint-Aignan, which would never have existed in the middle ages or the nineteen thirties. Only the bronze plaque has changed names.

Photo by ED BAYNARD

 

I started my fashion tour at the Pick Clop Cafe, on the Rue de Roi de Siècle, the lunch and cocktail hangout of today’s beautiful people who work in the Marais.

Photo by ED BAYNARD

 

The Rue de Temple neighborhood welcomes the gay male shopper, rock stars, and fashionistas searching for the latest trends, including bondage fashion. It is also one of the most fashionable addresses with 16 foot ceilings in the 12th century apartments.

These men’s colored underwear is a male must-have-item of the year. They come in multi neon colors and are meant to be worn matching the color of a man’s tie. Just imagine Anderson Cooper with his solid pink or lavender ties worn with white shirts and dark suits wearing these underneath. His mom Gloria Vanderbilt was a fashion designer and she must be proud of her trend setting son as even the politicos are now copying Anderson’s bright pink and purple tie look. I wonder if fashionable men are all wearing the hot colored underpants as well?

There are the worlds greatest beads from Africa, India, and Asia, all under one roof at La Boutique des Perles. No need to buy the modern art -African necklace on a safari when you can make your own with these beads and string and stay in Paris and eat
delicious French food.

After years of only selling wholesale now on the Rue de Temple you can walk into most  shops and say,”Je vous paye en ESPECE .” It really works. Buy three of something and give them to your friends.  Prices are ten percent of their cost on Madison Avenue and Rodeo Drive.

“Hermes -style” handbag in color block to wear with any solid color or printed clothing. The fashion mood now is the more the merrier, which means next summer will be the classics, sad plain grey tweed.

Photo by ED BAYNARD

 

There is hip modern furniture for sale on Rue de Temple. Bring a truck or call UPS and ship it to decorate your home like the cover of Elle Decor.

After a day of shopping I recommend a walk down the Rue de Rivoli  to Angelina’s for tea and the world famous Mont Blanc creme pastry, which is my choice for my last meal on Earth. You can also walk across the Seine to La Duree for their Mont -Blanc.

I will never forget my first Mt Blanc dessert in Rome. I was with Elizabeth Taylor. We were staying at the Grand Hotel. The bistro downstairs had small thin crust pizzas and the owner served us each a Mt Blanc as the surprise dessert. We had never eaten this before and the look on her face, the shock and joy of this combination of hazelnut paste and whipped cream, and her famous violet eyes almost popped out of her head!
Vicky Tiel began designing clothes forty years ago in Paris and still owns a boutique there. See Vicky and her NEW Collection on HSN this Friday, November 2nd, at 9 AM and 7 PM (EST).  Her couture is available at Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus, and her perfumes are carried in Perfumania. Her memoir, “It’s All About the Dress: What I Learned in 40 Years About Men, Women, Sex, and Fashion” was published by St. Martin’s Press in August 2011.