photo the style bar 2011
If you think that the modern day department stores have lost their magic, think again. Or at least, take a trip to Paris before you decide once and for all*.
For whilst many modern versions are far removed from Aristide Boucicaut’s original vision of a place for the city’s bourgeois women to indulge their fantasies (and run up store expense accounts) with goods available to them from all over the world under one glamorous roof, in ‘les grands magasins’ the dream is very much alive and well.
photo the style bar 2011
I don’t know what it is that sets them apart as such. For me it’s the combination of a number of things: the quiet hush that greets me as I open the heavy door, sealing off the noise and bustle of the busy street behind me as the doorman says ‘Bonsoir Madame’; the sparkle & scents that cocoon me as I wander down the aisles past the makeup counters (always placed on the ground floor as one enters to make you feel reassured & excited by the promise of affordable luxury) before heading for the escalators to the floors above.
photo the style bar 2011
I never really spend up big on one of these visits. In fact, I rarely buy anything at all. I am simply content to spend a quiet hour or two lost amongst beautiful things, taking in the atmosphere and peculiar hush that only truly beautiful department stores (or museums!) seem to possess. I am hardly the ideal customer I’ll grant you, but I am a loyal one if that should count for anything.
photo the style bar 2011
I find this sense of refuge to be especially true in a big foreign city like Paris: for whatever adventures and encounters that have taken me out of my comfort zone in the hours preceding, I find ‘les grands magasins’ the ideal place to find my centre again, regain some semblance of calm and poise and then emerge, nose freshly powdered, ready to face the world again.
photo the style bar 2011
If you find this all totally over-the-top delusional and romantic, fine. You may prefer the spectacle of the annual Christmas windows taking place on the outside of the store.
This year in Paris, Printemps enlisted the talents of Karl Lagerfeld to create ‘Noël Rêves d’Évasion’. Absolutely living up to its name (‘Christmas, Dreams of Escape’) it is an indulgent, festive exercise in pure escapism if ever I saw one.
photo the style bar 2011
All done in that elegant – yet somehow hilarious style – for which we love Karl so much! I love the way he is taking shots of us taking shots of him – who is watching whom?
photo the style bar 2011
I never know if he is making fun of the audience or himself (although I suspect I can guess)
photo the style bar 2011
Or, if still none of that interests you, it is worth it just to take a trip to the rooftop terrace to take in the view…
photo the style bar 2011
I am sure we can agree on this last point at least 
photo the style bar 2011
Happy (grands magasins) styling!!!
Rubi
*Or New York, London, or even David Jones in Sydney for that matter
**Credited with opening the world’s first department store, Le Bon Marché, in 1838.
