I hope you all had a good week and are as excited for the weekend as I am!! I am looking forward to some rest and relaxation after a long week which was complicated by the messy weather here in Manhattan. It is currently snowing as I write this post and apparently there is more snow on the way. It is also supposed to drop 20 degrees tonight, which I know I am most definitely not looking forward to!! Brrrrr!
This frigid weather has me dreaming of the Summer and counting down the days until I can head to the beach again. Unfortunately, Summer is a long way off and there is a lot to be accomplished before then. Due to the fact that my job consumes most of my time and has a quite demanding schedule, I will not be jetting off to a balmy destination any time soon. Fashion Week in New York will soon be upon us, then Milan, then Paris etc. etc. so both Nancy and I will be very busy until around late March.
However, this does not mean I cannot fantasize about vacation, sun, surf and having to wear considerably less in the coming months. Thinking about the Summer and the sun has made me nostalgic for the Cote d’Azur’s St. Tropez, which always seems to conjure up images of one of my other favorite fashion icons, Brigitte Bardot.
The original French bombshell, Brigitte Bardot
The Secret Spot in St. Tropez that my friend Massimo showed me...
I had the pleasure of visiting St.Tropez last July for work, for the Philipp Plein boutique opening, one of the other fabulous designers that I work with. Philipp Plein is a hugely talented and amazing designer who has a cult following across Europe and is a rising star in the United States. His lifestyle luxury brand caters to the international jet set crowd with boutiques in Monte Carlo, Cannes, Vienna, Moscow and Kitzbuhel, so naturally the St.Tropez boutique was the perfect addition to his ever growing fashion empire.
Philipp Plein Boutique St. Tropez
The Philipp Plein boutique is located in the center of the enchanting town, surrounded by boutiques from some of the fashion worlds heavy hitters…
The gates to the Chanel boutique in St.Tropez; they had this incredible Chanel surfboard that I was dying over...
The Blumarine Boutique in St. Tropez, one of the other amazing collections I get to work with...
Dolce & Gabanna Boutique, St. Tropez
The intoxicating colors of St. Tropez
The weather was almost intolerable, it was so hot. I was informed by my friend Massimo that this was due to the Ghilbli Winds that blow up from the Sahara Desert, but even in the soaring temperatures, St. Tropez was still absolutely mesmerizing and magical.
A beautiful entrance to a home close to the sea....
A “covet” worthy home near the center of town…
A perfect palette
The party for the opening was beautiful; there was a fashion show and French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s son, Pierre, was the DJ for the evening (he also happens to be the face of the new PP ad campaign for men). The after-party was held at the famed Cave du Roys nightclub and was the perfect end to the evening.
Doing my best to stay cool and still look Glam with Ivan at the Philipp Plein party...
Anyhow, back to Brigitte Bardot! While we were in town, there was a huge exhibit of photos and artwork at a gallery on Brigitte as her name has become synonymous with St. Tropez…
One of the many posters advertising the exhibit on Brigitte Bardot
Her famous pout, recognizable almost immediately...
Brigitte's sultry gaze
An indescribable allure...
The exhibit reminded me of what an iconic beauty she was and why I fell in love with her look and style in the first place.
Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot was born in 1934 and rose to fame as an international sex-symbol for the role she played in the movie “And God Created Woman,” directed by her then husband, Roger Vadim at the young age of 18; the movie also thrust the sleepy fishing village of St. Tropez into the international limelight and in turn put St. Tropez on the map. It also was the beginning of the public’s enduring fascination and association with Bardot and St. Tropez.
A young brunette Brigitte
Doe Eyed Brigitte
Brigitte in the bikini she helped popularize
Brigitte grew up training to be a ballerina and later began modeling, which eventually turned into acting after she met her Vadim. During the 1956 filming of “And God Created Woman” in St. Tropez, the cast and crew hung out and filmed on the beach Plage de Pampelonne, located in a somewhat remote and difficult place to get to at the time. There was a family, the Colmonts, that had a tiny restaurant “Cinquante Cinq” that they ran out of the small beach hut they lived in located at Plage de Pampelonne. Somehow, the Colmont family ended up catering for the cast and crew of the movie and the rest is history…
“Cinquante Cinq” or Club 55 is now one of St. Tropez’s most legendary hot spots. It is the place to be seen, especially during lunch. The restaurant and bar is filled with a posh international crowd, clamoring for tables, as getting a reservation can be quite tricky I have heard. The only way to get to this storied spot is via a long, narrow road or by yacht!
I never made it there, but one of my favorite boutique owners and buyers that I work with, has been several times and she said there is nothing like dining at Cinquante Cinq on the blue cloaked tables and the restaurants fine cuisine all under a starry sky by the sea.
Perhaps Brigitte was heading over to Cinquante Cinq on her Hinckley for lunch?
Brigitte went on to make many more movies and marry several other men after she divorced Vardim, but she will always be remembered for her role in “And God Created Woman” and her love for St. Tropez.
A couple of years after the filming in 1958, she purchased her own home La Madrague, in St. Tropez, where I believe she still resides.
Brigitte donning the hot pants with a corset tank, a look that has become synonymous with her name
Wearing a dress with the low cut "Bardot" neckline, named for her
The beehive chignon hairstyle also known as "the choucroute" that she popularized
Fabulous choucroute
Her iconic style and fashion sense remains to this day. When I think of Brigitte and St. Tropez I think of pedal pushers, hot pants, gingham, bustiers, capris, crop tops and fabulous little striped knit tops.
In fact the Blumarine Spring Summer 2011 pre-collection was inspired by Brigitte Bardot in St. Tropez on the French Rivera. The collection was full of amazing little pants, gingham dresses, knits and crop tops that Brigitte would most definitely have worn. In the showroom, we named the prints in the collection after cities of the French Rivera…
Sultry in nothing but thigh highs
Brigitte in gingham
Wearing a bustier
Looking Divine
Although, she has become somewhat controversial in her later years for her various political statements and special interests, she will always be remembered as one of the foremost international sex symbols and fashion icons ever.
Simply gratuitous…a few more images.
Enjoy!
BB
POUT
BB
A parting shot...
Hope you enjoyed! If you are in New York, stay warm, it is cold out there!!
Until next time Covet Shop readers…
xoxo
BPT
