This is the rear cover for the new Penelope collection...I am JUST LOVING how the NEW COLOR PALETTE...from soft to light and jewel toned, rich & dark...YUMMMMMMY!
Part Two...How I found the inspirational fabric for the Penelope line...
Can't exactly remember how things transpired verbally after that. All I know is how fascinated I was with "the very odd artsy woman" that was now at the other end of my scraps of fabric. I just wanted to stare at her and figure out what her story was, but I didn't want to lose my "prized fabric" to her.
I walked up to the attendant and inquired about the price. Basia, (I found out her name later) followed closely. In the end we vaguely discussed what we each wanted it for, and decided that I would split up the scraps with her, since all I needed was enough to see the whole repeat.
Thought that I would never see anything like Basia again in my lifetime...Boy was I wrong. It turned out that on that particular trip to Paris, I had also planned on going to London for a few days before returning to Paris and taking my flight home.
There are a dozen or more interesting little shopping districts/neighborhoods in London that have wonderful idiosyncratic "independent" shops. One day when I went to Sloane Square (a chi-chi little enclave made popular by Lady Di) I spotted a little jewel of a spot with luscious window displays...I went in. It was an odd little place...one HUGE table running down the middle with all sorts of eccentricities displayed in a beautiful still life. There before me was a pair of 18th century-inspired mules (think Marie Antoinette before the guillotine!) It was covered in "my" fabric from the flea market in Paris.
To make a long story even longer, apparently I didn't see the sign "DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING" right next to the shoes, and as if they had a laser system in place to catch the likes of me, a little bell went off and who rushed out of the back room, but the "artsy lady"!
Apparently I am so nondescript that she didn't recognize me from the week prior, as she scolded me and shooed me out of her museum store onto the street.
The unusual woman's name is Basia Zarzycka. She is known for her couture "bling - cha - ching" wedding dresses and custom finery. Her store is still in the same place just off Sloane Square.
Here are a few pics of Basia & her "stuff"...
Trust me ladies, the above picture of Basia with her "headdress", while eccentric and "over - the - top" IMHO, is light years away from the kabuki-faced goth get up that I first saw Basia in at Cligancourt!
I got these pics off Basia's website. The eerily real poodle handbag can be yours for 10,000 pounds (that's $15,098.10 to you and me at today's exchange rate, plus of course an almost 20% VAT tax and a 5% exchange loss, of course). LMAO!!!
Guessing this is one of her wedding gowns...check out the detailing on the sleeves...part fairy princess and court jester.
Hope you enjoyed my little trip down memory lane today. I'll be previewing more of the Penelope collection in the next week or so...so much to show & tell you...
Back in two shakes...
X;O)
