Taillevent Merged topics

[wnissen]

I can't believe all the bad vibes towards walking shoes here. Yes, many walking shoes are ugly, but many are not. I've seen Eccos that look nice, but Mephistos are just too insanely comfortable.

For instance, these shoes are not perfect for formal dress, but they'll work. And walking five miles in them is much easier than in sneakers, which have a too-soft sole and insufficient support.

Walt

[Margaret Pilgrim]

....The one thing we want to tell restaurateurs is that we've come a long way to eat here and that puts the burden on them to have made it worth our while. I'm afraid that's of little use in Paris only because it's not a unique situation, but elsewhere in France and Spain at least, we find we often get special attention as we eat with some enthusiasm and respect. ....

So true; perhaps the subject of another thread? As soon as we place our orders for such non-American foods as frogs, andouillette, tripe, kidneys, squid, we are embraced by the staff. In several out-of-the-way places (Bugey, Haute-Loire) we have been the first Americans to visit. They are much more interested in our eating habits than our dress.

[robyn]

I have a pair of black Ecco shoes that are more comfortable than any sneakers I've ever worn, and I can wear them anywhere and not look out of place...

My husband goes for black Ecco's too (he swears by them and his feet aren't particularly easy to fit). Robyn

[robyn]

I think the key is to just dress up a bit, even if you're going to wear jeans.  A French woman looks her best even if she's just going to the market.

And again the key is how you put everything together - and when you put it together - whether it makes you look stylish or freakish. There's an ad on US TV these days for a financial services company showing a housewife showing up at a school meeting in a designer dress that makes her look ridiculous (although it looked great on the model). A man (or a woman) has to know his/her limitations. Robyn

[cigalechanta]

IF you look good in jeans, fine. All my French friends wear them BUT they fit perfectly and are clean. My French friends say they can always tell American men by their pants, and the woman with their baggy clothes. The french wear clothes nipped in to the outline of the body. They all don't wear black.Depends like anywhere else if you're trendy, or a fashinita. But I still believe wear what you are most comfortable in. You'll have a better time. I've sighted some French people wearing some questionable things but you see that in any dining place around the world. Go, and have a great time. Bon appetit !

[mantee]

Please just dress simple and BLACK. The service and food will out sparkle you, no jeans, ever. Jeans are worn only by the 20 year olds with great asses, unlike this country, and never there, or after 9pm.

[cdh]

Well... let me say that, as a man, going to some extent formal is wonderful... If you've gone to the bother of buying formal wear, you've gone to the bother of having it tailored so that it is comfortable to wear. I own both a dinner jacket and a tailcoat, and when the need to look fab comes onto the horizon, 90% of my wardrobe decision comes down to one or the other... Whether to wear a white winged collar shirt and tie or a black banded collar shirt, or a turtleneck or something else is the biggest decision I have to make.

Actually my avatar pic is me on New Years in my tailcoat with a white turtleneck under which felt great and looked dandy too.

Wearing full on formal wear out to dinner at top restaurants is always plausible... if you dine early, you're obviously going to something fabulous afterwards... if you dine late, you've come from something fab... and is a good excuse to abandon the tie and tuck it into the breast pocket as though it has done its duty and that time has passed. Keep those thoughts in mind, and you'll always feel comfortable in the black and satin.

[marlena spieler]

mmmmm, spent the day at buttes charmant in paris the other day, since it was so sweltering in the rest of the city i just wanted to lay flat on the cool grass in the shade. of course half of paris was doing the same thing which was very very wonderful as an excercise in watching the french, and specifically in watching french style.

one thing i was very impressed with was that even under a blanket of hot humidity, frenchwomen were wrapped here and there with scarves: gauzy, airy, swaths of see-through colour, and i thought: this is truely what separates them from us. the scarves transformed the little bits of black or other simple fabric that pretty much formed the simple summer clothing.

do you think if i had a gene transplant i could have a french one in which my genetic composition transmogrified into a person able to wear a scarf with such style and panache?

marlena

[John Talbott]

And if I might risk upsetting some Americans, here is how I spot you

- short shorts (my husband and I call them American shorts. Give them up, they only suit you if you're 6ft 2 and skinny as a green bean. And you're at the beach.)

Interesting that you associate short shorts with Americans; I only see those idiotic shorts on French men in Alpine or seaside resorts.

[Bux]

do you think if i had a gene transplant i could have a french one in which my genetic composition transmogrified into a person able to wear a scarf with such style and panache?

Marlena, you should be well aware that a French chef with any pride at all, will refuse admittance to his restaurant of anything genetically modified.

[marlena spieler]

do you think if i had a gene transplant i could have a french one in which my genetic composition transmogrified into a person able to wear a scarf with such style and panache?

Marlena, you should be well aware that a French chef with any pride at all, will refuse admittance to his restaurant of anything genetically modified.

Love it, Bux!

[John Whiting]

one thing i was very impressed with was that even under a blanket of hot humidity, frenchwomen were wrapped here and there with scarves . . .

Last week in Paris, when the temperature was moderate and the rain almost constant, Mary commented on the same thing. French scarves are like the careful use of punctuation marks in a sentence -- they give form and proportion to a boringly conventional structure.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

French scarves are like the careful use of punctuation marks in a sentence -- they give form and proportion to a boringly conventional structure.

I like to think of them as intuitively concieved froths, comforting gellies, refreshing sorbets...Well, you get it. They are summer confections: sheer, delightful and perfectly balanced. Should you call this hubris, let me add that I need to pack tomorrow, and, trust me, wraps, shawls and gossimer scarves are my biggest inigmas!

[grace3]

Just wear what you would wear to any nice restaurant, any place in the world!!

I have dined at most of the Michelin starred restaurants in Paris and always felt comfortable with what I was wearing....

Enjoy..................

[FaustianBargain]

i suppose wearing my bestest sari is out...what if the sari is black?

[BackwardsHat]

I wouldn't go to Taillevent, unless for the posterity of saying you went... The food is not that great, easily surpassed by Guy Savoy, Astrance, or Pierre Gagnaire... But hey, this is not a discussion on where to go, it's on what to wear to Taillevent... So...

I say for men, wear a nice suit, and for women, wear a nice dress... Forget the tux, I've been to a bunch of 3-star michelin Paris places and never saw a single person wearing one... I think you'll only find it on opera nights like a previous poster suggested... Enjoy the meal!

[BackwardsHat]

You'll feel better overdressed than underdressed, so long as you don't go too far. My suggestions would be a simple, loose cut, good quality grey suit for sir, ideally Nehru collar, worn with a plain white shirt, also Nehru collar, no tie. Cufflinks should be platignum and expensive. Madam should wear simple black, V-necked dress (yours looked good) with her best platignum & diamond necklace. Don't wear too much make-up, and avoid lipstick and perfume - you don't want to spoil that food.

Both make sure you have room for a little expansion!

And if I might risk upsetting some Americans, here is how I spot you

- shirts tucked in

- check or plaid shirts

- slacks (Europeans wear jeans or trousers, never slacks. Don't ask me how I know the difference, I do.)

- short shorts (my husband and I call them American shorts. Give them up, they only suit you if you're 6ft 2 and skinny as a green bean. And you're at the beach.)

- socks with sandals

- white socks with sandals

- white trainers with socks with shorts

- bouffant hairdos (women)

- no hairdos at all (men)

- old fashioned consumer durables (video cameras and the like)

Apologies in advance. Now have a return pop at the English ;-)

"Shirts tucked in"??? How is this being "american"??? Anyone who goes to Taillevent (or similar) with their shirt untucked is a slob, regardless of nationality... I don't care how "hip" or "stylish" you think you are...

[Sandra Levine]

Leave your large walking around bag back at the hotel and take a small, neat purse to the restaurant. Acessorize your black outfit (pantsuit or dress) tastefully and, preferably, expensively, and you'll be fine. Black pants, a black jacket, matching or not and a good white or off-white silk shirt will take you anywhere. If you can't tie the scarf, attractive, conservative earrings or a necklace will do, preferably in plain gold or silver, depending on your coloring. If you are thin, but have some nice cleavage, unbutton the shirt to look a little sexy, but only if you are comfortable.

A tie will always help a man look pulled together, especially if he is of a certain age. 20-year olds can get away with a much more casual look.

Edited July 26, 2004 by Sandra Levine (log)

[Carlsbad]

This is fun, but I think we are losing track of the fact that it's only a restaurant. I'm still wondering where the Americans in short shorts are though.

[robyn]

This is fun, but I think we are losing track of the fact that it's only a restaurant. I'm still wondering where the Americans in short shorts are though.

The good looking ones at South Beach - the bad looking ones at WDW? Robyn

[John Talbott]

My wife Colette, offers these words for the women "I favor the 'little black dress' & jacket with snazzy but comfortable shoes AND the essential, smashing silk scarf to add color. I've quite a collection of beautiful scarves, most bought at Paris consignment shops; buying retail is prohibitive, especially with the dollar being so weak. Simple but elegant jewelry will 'make' the outfit. "

Regarding the shirt dangling out trend, it's been institutionalized this year by none other than France 2 Telematin's weatherman Laurent "Lolo" Romejko.

Finally, with the last word, Don Rickles, quoted in this week's "New Yorker" says "The ladies used to wear jewelry and furs to a show, and the men wore suits,.. today they come in their underwear."

[MysticMilt]

Thanks, y'all, for all the great responses. This thread has been way more active than I anticipated, and it's been fun reading everyone's posts. For those of you keeping score, I have found a lovely little black number that I think will be perfect. Now I just need to find some great jewelry (I am all thumbs when it comes to scarves -- I invariably end up looking like a boy scout) and strappy shoes and I am good to go.

As for the rest of the week, while I will definitely be putting a polish on my overall look, I've decided that I'm willing to endure any continental derision that might crop up and just wear my (clean, non-torn) jeans and tennis shoes for the day-to-day stuff. Cute but comfortable will be the theme of the week, I'm thinking.

[Underhill]

I doubt that you'd need a dinner jacket for your husband; that's definitely not the norm, unless Maxim's still has its formal evenings--and you're not going there. A suit will be fine and will mark him as a gentleman who appreciates a good restaurant. For yourself, the little black cocktail dress will be perfect.

[episyd]

I've quite a collection of beautiful scarves, most bought at Paris consignment shops; buying retail is prohibitive, especially with the dollar being so weak.  Simple but elegant jewelry will 'make' the outfit. "

John

This might seem like a dumb question but what and where does one find a "consignment" shop in Paris.

Cheers

Paul

[John Talbott]

The quick answer is to buy a copy of "Paris Pas Cher" published each year, available at most big bookstores in Paris.

The detailed answer comes from Colette:

"Go to ChercheMinippes on Rue du Cherche Midi, several stores - 109, 110 and 111 (Falgerie & Duroc Metros) for childrens' clothes and

Reciproque on the Rue de la Pompe, numbers 89-123, #58 bus or Metro #9 to Rue de la Pompe, where there are 6-7 stores, one with scarves."

Edited July 29, 2004 by John Talbott (log)