Paris – Part 4: Abercrombie & Charvet

Happy Friday! Do you all have big weekend plans? Mr. Feather and I are heading to New York this morning for the long weekend – I hear it is going to be hot hot hot everywhere (I hope my mom remembers to come over and water my precious plants)!

And now, here is Part 4 of our time in Paris (Part 1,  Part 2, and Part 3 here):

So on our last full day in Paris, while I was walking down the Champs Elysees, I noticed this long line of people on the street, kind of like a club layout – with men in white polo shirts and walkie talkies walking with authority down the line, kind of like bouncers. Instantly curious, I walked closer, only to discover that the place inspiring this type of behavior was Abercrombie & Fitch. Amazing!! There were at least 40+ people in line, and tourists were being let in a little bit at a time. Glad to see that my former place of employment is doing healthy business abroad (not sure if domestic is as rosy).

Charvet at Place Vendome

Mr. Feather really dislikes shopping for himself – when he needs something he just wants to get a bunch of them so he theoretically he has to enter the mall as little as possible (although this all goes out the window because of me). Anyway, one of our mutual favorite places for dress shirts is Charvet, which we visited that afternoon. Charvet is a bespoke tailor and shirt maker, and has been around since 1838. They really make some of the most beautiful and luxurious shirts (and pajamas) in the world.

Our first stop was the 4th floor, which sells ready to made men’s shirts. There are hundreds and hundreds of colors – one of the colors we wanted was light purple and there were probably 30 different shades to choose from. When you want to buy a shirt, you try on one of their standard “sample” shirts which is this jailhouse stripe, make sure it fits, and then select the colors you want in that size. You don’t try on the actual shirt, because then Charvet would have to get it sent off for cleaning and repressing immediately, you dirty birds!

Also on the 4th floor were these raw bolts of silk, and these men’s pajamas and robes in materials like silk and cashmere. The salesman told me that one of their customers is cold all the time, and so he buys silk robes, lined in cashmere for every day of the week. Who is this dude, some kind of Bond villain??

The 3rd floor was the tailor’s floor – here you see all the raw bolts of cloth and the tailors hard at work! Most shirts require some type of alteration, and most are free at Charvet, included in the price of the shirts. Of course you can also get bespoke shirts, made custom for you….$$$ but so worth it!

Our salesman was so sweet, he gave Mr. Feather a little bag of cufflinks that matched the colors of the shirts he picked out. Adorable! I really wanted to buy myself something but my days of wearing dress shirts to work are over (hooray, Silicon Valley dress codes). I inquired about a shirtdress for women but was told they didn’t make them: “But, some of the ladies, they like to buy an extra large men’s shirt, and then belt it, ” the salesman said.

“But I am not a super tall, willowy, chic French lady!!” I wailed.

“Well…yes…I suppose this is true…” he said. I always like it when sales people give me the truth!

I think if I cover our London trip it will be way, way later, so I included this little shot of our airplane snack on our flight back from Heathrow to San Francisco. I always like to look at airplane food even though I rarely eat it, this was pretty yummy though, some proscuitto and salami. I never eat the hot foods (except the cookies), they make me queasy on planes.

Okay, that’s it for Paris! I hope you all enjoyed the posts, and my best wishes that you all have a fabulous holiday weekend. Hopping on my plane now…stay safe this July 4th everybody (and the same to my international friends)!