One of the perks of being on the road is lucking into popup stores or roving exhibits. At the Printemps department store in Paris there was one such fun and, if I may say so, wacky show for the collaboration between Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama and Louis Vuitton. It was right up my alley…full of polka dots, bright colors, and tactile patterns. Everything I love in my mind’s eye but nothing I could pull off in terms of actually wearing.
SL and I stood in the popup store, debating the merits of the Neverfull bag as seen in the first photo (only the yellow version was available at this location), and with the huge Chanel hatbox in hand, I could not fathom lugging yet another large box back on the train. So I passed, but secretly I was still thinking about tracking down the white and black version of this bag somehow, somewhere.
A few days later I thought I had finally found the white bag, but by the time I arrived at the boutique it was too late. They only had the wallet for me to see in the white colorway. Alas…not meant to be. But something else was meant to be…more on that in the next post!
Sayonara, Kusama…maybe I’ll find you back home in the States (do you see a peek of the white/black bag behind the Kusama doll?).
Tags: Louis Vuitton, Neverfull, Paris, Printemps, Yayoi Kusama
Good news is that work is going pretty great on this European trip. Bad news is that it involves a lot of work, evil eating, and little time for anything else. And ya, I’m that annoying person who whips out her digicam in the restaurants! So…what have been my more memorable dishes?
These shrimps were sooo succulent, subtly grilled and flavored with a lime dressing:
And the first time I learned that cabillaud means cod in French (cabillaud à la basque with chives)…
Not my first time with tuna tartare, but this Thai flavoring was quite delicious…
But working from a suitcase and laptop comes a lot of stress, so surely yours truly has to indulge in a bit of on-the-road retail therapy, non?
Yes, last Friday afternoon I did pop into the shops on a day the US dollar actually had a pulse and got some pressies at Louis Vuitton. Managed to escape Hermès without succumbing to a stunning sterling silver Collier de Chien bracelet (though I had a dream about it on Saturday!) and even walked out of Chanel empty-handed. See what stress has done to my shopping brain! But let’s see what I scored as gifts…
Love this Origami wallet:
But did you see the French comic books in the above picture? My Belgian host mom always finds them for me for my collection. As much as I love fashion, books are really the way to my heart. Diamonds and gems, too, but I digress…BTW, have you seen The Avengers? I managed to see it here a week before it was released in the US, and I have to say, in my next life I’m coming back as a superhero. Mask and all!
Tags: cabillaud, Chanel, Europe, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, tuna tartare
So around the world yesterday all the fashionistas came out to celebrate the third annual Fashion’s Night Out (FNO). One of these days I’ll finally get my travel schedule together and spend FNO in NYC, but this year I found myself at the Galleria in Dallas…
which featured the longest runway in North America (a quarter mile)…
and lounges (read: booze) to get people into a buying mood…
I saw some Louis Vuitton luggage that was tempting (the personalized bags are cute) but came home empty-handed. I’m saving my energy for this coming Tuesday’s shopping marathon. My sister went to the Missoni/Target popup store in NY and everything was already sold out, so we are anxious:
There are about 5 Targets within 20 miles of my house, so I think I’ll be calling in sick that day. I have a feeling I’m about to get the…cough, cough, zigzag bug.
Tags: Dallas Galleria, Fashion's Night Out, Louis Vuitton, Missoni, Target
OK so it’s been a few days since my prematurely exuberant entry about finding a great travel bag, and I’m afraid after a day of testing out the bag, I’m back to square 1. Yes, I love the size/leather/color of the vintage camera bag, but I’m not sure I can do the whole messenger style thing. Carrying a bag cross-body is still not very comfortable to me…so yikes, I’m still in search of the perfect companion for this long trip.
A sweet reader just commented in my last blog entry about her favorite travel bag, the Louis Vuitton Sofia Coppola bag, and I’ll have to go investigate (ha! another excuse to go shopping 
). I think I do have a few options left to mull over during my short trip this week, and I’ll come back here to post those thoughts for your counsel. The big trip is in 3 weeks so the clock is ticking! How is it possible that after all these years of hitting the road I still don’t have the perfect solution for a bag!
Speaking of scarves, one of my best investments is a limited edition Monogramouflage scarf released by Louis Vuitton a few years ago in a collaboration with Japanese artist Murakami. Here, in a case of sensory overload, I’m pairing it with Italian designer Prada’s take on the camouflage.
Look 5: Prada camouflage rain hoodie jacket, LV Monogramouflage wool scarf, large black camera bag.
Tags: camouflage, Louis Vuitton, Monogramouflage, Murakami, Prada
