Today for a change I had a nice couple of hours browsing in one of the Paris grands magasins, where I had deliberately not set foot since Christmas. It was very tempting and I ended up buying a couple of skirts in a designer boutique. I got in a conversation about Karl Lagerfeld with the very gay young vendor and his tall, pretty colleague, a girl with striking blue eyes.
"Do you ever actually meet [name of famous designer]?" I asked.
"Non, malheureusement!" said the girl. "I have always hoped to!"
"I did see Karl Lagerfeld one time," I said. "It was at a riding ring in the Bois de Boulogne. He heard my American voice behind him and turned around. Maybe he was expecting a fashion model or haute couture customer. When he saw it was just me, he put his nose up in the air, sniffed, and turned away!"
"Was that when he was still plump?" the girl asked, interested.
"He was plump?" I said. "I thought he was always thin. He had a long white ponytail, and was sitting down."
"He lost all that weight so he could wear Hedi Slimane," said the vendor. "Before that he was quite plump. Joufflu." [Jowly.]
"I read in an interview that when he was a small boy, his mother asked him what he wanted for Christmas, and he said, 'A valet.'"
"Ça, je n' crois pas," said the vendor, who had the air of one who knows. "Il faisait son intéressant."
Karl Lagerfeld is an interesting guy, even though I think someone his age looks weird that thin. Do you know he owns a bookstore in Paris? It's called 7L because it's at 7, rue de Lille in the 7th. It used to sell poetry and now it sells mostly photography books. Here is its logo.
You should hear what my (gay) fashion designer classmates have to say about this man. Although "joufflu" is funnier.
Posted by: Cree A. | 18 May 2006 at 11:47
Isn't the "7L" also a play on words? C'est elle?
From Sedulia:
I'm sure you're right, Coquette! How dumb of me not to notice!
Posted by: Coquette | 19 May 2006 at 11:07