Alright, it’s time to get personal!
Actually, I am doing research and I need your help, please… It is important that I get real answers from real lives -- so be honest! I will send a small Soyelle gift to anyone who takes the time to respond to this Lingerie Secrets Questionnaire. (*)
1. What is your favourite brand?
2. What are you wearing RIGHT now?
3. Are you dépareillé (meaning mismatched bra & brief)
4. If you are déparéillé – do you care?
5. When was the last time you bought a new bra?
6. Which country do you live in?
Merci beaucoup and I look forward to hearing from you!
(*) Send me an email at madamesoyelle@soyelle.com identifiying which post is yours along with your mailing address.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Stendhal, Love and Lingerie
While I was pondering Valentine’s Day – hardly a date to ignore in the lingerie business – I was reminded of Stendhal. Not because great French 19th century writers pop into my head when I’m blogging, but because I recall the passion, talent and poetic undertones of a lingerie project that was designed two years ago by a young fashion student, Miss Line Frederickson.Stendhal’s view of nascent love and its crystallization, as he described it in De l’amour (On Love), was beautifully reflected in Miss Frederiksen’s lingerie entry for Le Prix Soyelle (*) in 2006. Stendhal had been intrigued by salt crystallization at a salt mine near Salzburg, particularly by the beauty of a single branch after the salt water dried and left it cloaked in shiny crystal deposits. For Stendhal, this crystallization, this illusion of diamonds, was the perfect metaphor for the stages of love. For mutual love to occur there must be a second crystallization, or the love will remain unrequited … as was Stendhal’s experience, unfortunately.
Miss Frederiksen’s interpretation of Stendhal’s words— I call ‘crystallization’ that action of the mind that discovers fresh perfections in its beloved at every turn of events— resulted in a lingerie bra and panty ensemble composed of a silver and winter-white tone-on-tone patchwork of leather, lace and silk, with shimmering crystal accents to illustrate the transformation of the ordinary into glittering perfection as one falls deeply in love.
While Stendhal’s words continue to inspire, his determination to understand the heart is the perfect inspiration for today’s celebration of love.
(*) Over the years, Le Prix Soyelle has been an invitation for students of Esmod, the International Fashion and Design School, to design a lingerie ensemble with l’Amour, Love as the theme. A jury of journalists, buyers and designers judge the design, creativity and technical aspects, and the top ten finalists are featured in a Lingerie Exposition at Printemp’s flagship store on Boulevard Haussmann in Paris.
The 2008 selection is underway; I look forward to introducing several of the finalists in the near future.
Photo courtesy of Intima Magazine
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Beauty
”Ah, Madame Soyelle – I was in another aisle and smelled the delicate fragrance of your scented petals,” announced Madame Huget, as she approached our stand at le Salon de la Lingerie. “I knew you couldn’t be far way – the scent is deliciously unmistakable. And then I heard your voice – or rather, your accent – also deliciously unmistakable. Comment vas- tu?”
Madame Huget was one of my favorite clients and I couldn’t resist giving her special treatment – she deserved it. She had earned the top honors and distinction more than 15 years ago when she ordered 6 bottles of lingerie wash and officially launched Soyelle by becoming my first customer.
“I’m fine, thank you,” I answered reaching behind me for the small tray of rasberry and chocolate macarons that we kept for our most endearing customers. “How is the boutique? How is your mother?” Madame Huget’s mother was a formidable woman – or rather, Madame Evelyne, as she preferred to be addressed. An elderly woman, probably in her early eighties by now, Madame Evelyne was a quiet and dignified figure in the boutique and was always immaculately groomed with her white hair graciously pulled back in a chignon and dressed in a beautifully cut tailleur, jacket and skirt. Madame Evelyne believed that clothes should fit – properly. It was a question of aesthetics and she began helping out in the boutique doing simple alterations to ensure that a bra fit perfectly. A nip, a tuck, or half an inch more or less made all the difference and clients quickly began to appreciate the difference. Madame Evelyne was fond of saying that a good fit was simply good taste – in yourself.
As her reputation as a skilled seamstress spread, Madame Evelyne also took on other tailoring needs. When I dropped by the store a couple of weeks ago, she was busy at work on a wedding dress that an anxious and fraught soon-to-be bride had brought in requiring last minute attention. Half an hour later, a radiant and confident young woman left with her dress and insisted that Madame Evelyne join them for the ceremony in a couple of hours.
“I have some very sad news” said Madame Huget, her smile evaporating. “Maman passed away in her sleep last Tuesday.”
I reached for her hands and we clutched each other, forgetting our pre-defined roles of supplier and customer, and stood motionless in the wasteland of the convention center. While the rest of the world continued to swirl around us, we remembered and honored the intrinsic and rare beauty – both inside and out – of an extraordinary woman.
Madame Huget was one of my favorite clients and I couldn’t resist giving her special treatment – she deserved it. She had earned the top honors and distinction more than 15 years ago when she ordered 6 bottles of lingerie wash and officially launched Soyelle by becoming my first customer.
“I’m fine, thank you,” I answered reaching behind me for the small tray of rasberry and chocolate macarons that we kept for our most endearing customers. “How is the boutique? How is your mother?” Madame Huget’s mother was a formidable woman – or rather, Madame Evelyne, as she preferred to be addressed. An elderly woman, probably in her early eighties by now, Madame Evelyne was a quiet and dignified figure in the boutique and was always immaculately groomed with her white hair graciously pulled back in a chignon and dressed in a beautifully cut tailleur, jacket and skirt. Madame Evelyne believed that clothes should fit – properly. It was a question of aesthetics and she began helping out in the boutique doing simple alterations to ensure that a bra fit perfectly. A nip, a tuck, or half an inch more or less made all the difference and clients quickly began to appreciate the difference. Madame Evelyne was fond of saying that a good fit was simply good taste – in yourself.
As her reputation as a skilled seamstress spread, Madame Evelyne also took on other tailoring needs. When I dropped by the store a couple of weeks ago, she was busy at work on a wedding dress that an anxious and fraught soon-to-be bride had brought in requiring last minute attention. Half an hour later, a radiant and confident young woman left with her dress and insisted that Madame Evelyne join them for the ceremony in a couple of hours.
“I have some very sad news” said Madame Huget, her smile evaporating. “Maman passed away in her sleep last Tuesday.”
I reached for her hands and we clutched each other, forgetting our pre-defined roles of supplier and customer, and stood motionless in the wasteland of the convention center. While the rest of the world continued to swirl around us, we remembered and honored the intrinsic and rare beauty – both inside and out – of an extraordinary woman.
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