It's not winter but who cares!!!

Take a look. ;-)

http://www2.galerieslafayette.com/international/goFolder.do?f=home_en&sf=home_en_accueil&lang=en&fontLang=latin

I wish I could say I am hanger-outer at Bergie's and Prada, but... as I said, I'm just an amateur addict, an addict wannabe My trips to Prada ... are 5 or 6 times a year to drool and perhaps once a year to actually buy... (girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!)

I don't recall cops on Avenue Montaigne a few years back 'cuz a few years back... I couldn't afford the airfare to get to Avenue Montaigne coupled with a room and a baguette or two -- no matter what the exchange rates were doing. Luckily, I had my first walk in twenty years on Avenue M. this past November. It's been a long twenty years saving those nickels!

My apologies folks... I didn't mean for my other post to come off snooty-wealthy, scarfing up Prada bags in my spare time with my spare change.... If that were really me, I'd at least be buying them in Italy!

You mean you do not remember when a few years back the dollar was worth 7.80 francs and police paroled along the avenue Montaigne stopping people who they thought were buying designer bags and clothes solely to re-sell them at home.

Minette......for one who hangs out at Prada and Bergdoff I'm surprised you don"t remember not too long ago when the buck did pretty well in Europe. I remember the £ only cost about $1.50. But it never got to the point where we brought empty luggage for shoppingf as the Europeans are doing now.

It will be interesting to see if business is down this year due to the strong Euro and Europeans feeling they have less buying power. Enter any upscale US department store in NYC and you'll hear EU residents exclaiming over how cheap everything is.
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So true, Karen and so funny. I was in Bergdorf's over the weekend, just tagging along with a friend who wanted to look in their glorious shoe dept. Well, you couldn't get near it as it was over run by Europeans -- the accents were flying along with the shoes! After ten minutes we left, exhausted just from watching.

Then we went to Prada. I have a handbag addiction to which I submit only once a year, though. (I'm really an amateur addict.) Anyway, Prada has fabulous sales sometimes -- not the crummy bags that no one wants -- they actually put some of the really good stuff on sale -- 50%. The Madison Ave store had a bag I wanted dearly on sale, which I was able to buy over the phone but I went in to pick it up. I had to wait quite a while behind one group of French women and another group of Italians who were picking off bags like grapes from the vine. They were squealing over the prices. Now, a nice, leather Prada at 50% off is still the cost of roundtrip airfare to Paris from NY and a night or two at an ok hotel. One of the squealing French women (and I NEVER saw any woman squeal in Paris) happily walked out of the store with THREE.

OK, when is it our turn!?!???

It will be interesting to see if business is down this year due to the strong Euro and Europeans feeling they have less buying power. Enter any upscale US department store in NYC and you'll hear EU residents exclaiming over how cheap everything is.

It's that time again: The winter sales started today and will run through February 16.

With the crummy exchange rate, I know one person who won't be taking much advantage of them... but the rest of you, feel free to go on without me!

Bon shopping!