MY MOTHER'S HIGH FASHION BACKGROUND

My whole life I heard stories of my mother’s experiences when she worked for Pierre Balmain. Here are a few I would like to share with you. When Gregory Peck would accompany his native French wife Veronique who interviewed him in 1953 at the time when she was a journalist working for a French newspaper, all the Pierre Balmain’s saleswomen would rush towards him and make a big fuss asking him for an autograph because he was so handsome and popular in France, and they would completely forget about his wife. Sylviane remembers offering a chair to Veronique Peck to sit down and wait for all the big fuss to calm down and she apologized to her, to which Madame Peck would say, “Don’t worry about it, I am used to it. The same thing happens everywhere we go”. Sylviane remembers meeting Audrey Hepburn on the Champs Elysees one day as they crossed the Avenue together at the same time. The same thing happened when waiting for the traffic light to turn red, looking on her right, Sylviane recognized Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton on their way to Fouquet’s. Liz Taylor was a regular client for Pierre Balmain but would never come in person. She would send her secretaries to shop and they would always pay cash up front. They never came in summer but mostly in February or March and they came with their own Chihuahuas to look around in the boutique. My Mom would say, “I have got just what you want for Madame Burton. In fact, Monsieur Balmain had Liz in mind when he designed this dress or coat. Let me show you. She remembers selling them a really nice coat in light pink, three quarters long and with gold embroidery with a fur hat, Russian style. Sylviane said she could sell them anything she wanted. I asked my Mom, “Is it true that M. Balmain really had Liz Taylor in mind when he designed that outfit?" "Not really," my Mom said. "It was just a fun sales gimmick.” My Mom later became the boutique Director at the Hilton Hotel by the Eiffel Tower. She got that promotion because she could speak fairly good English and had been taking night classes with Berlitz, at Place de l’Opera. I remember so well her stories about her experiences there. Pierre Balmain had a large clientele of American customers because he had dressed many Hollywood stars in the 50's and 60's for their movies, so he was quite a celebrity in the USA at the time. That is why he decided to open a new boutique at the Hilton and he needed somebody charming and convincing to head the boutique. Some American customers who stayed at the Hilton, would window shop, come in, looked around and started talking to my Mom, complementing her on her English. As a retort, she would say, ” Thank you but I wish I could speak as well as my uncle. Then they would ask: Who is your uncle? "Maurice Chevalier." Maurice Chevalier was quite a popular French movie star in the 40's and 50's and who had made a career in the US. The ladies then were so impressed that they would come back with their friends and introduce them to my Mom. “You’ve got to meet Maurice Chevalier’s niece.” Of course, that really helped my Mom make a lot of money for Pierre Balmain. One day, there entered the famous French singer Patachou, who quietly listened to the conversation and once everyone was gone, said, ”I did not know my good friend Maurice had a niece! I will have to ask him about it." Then my Mom explained that she knew her English was so bad that she had to come up with that idea to sell more! My Mom added, “Please don’t say anything. The Americans are so impressed that they almost ask for my autograph!" To which Patachou started laughing and said, ”I will have to share that with Maurice, he is going to have a good laugh. “ The same ploy worked for French customers from what we call the province, meaning anything away from Paris and its suburbs. Doctors, surgeons and businessmen would come and spend the night at the Hilton Hotel because it was impressive. When women came with their husbands, the husbands would sometimes accidentally enter the boutique and my Mom would show them Pierre Balmain’s ties. She would say to them: don’t you want to get a tie like the ones Gilbert Becaud has?” Gilbert Becaud was a well known popular singer from the 60s to the 80s and he was famous for his polka dot ties. He was also my Mom’s favorite singer and mine too. To which the husbands would say, "Really, Gilbert Becaud wears Balmain’s ties?" My Mom would say, "Of course, he was having lunch here just the other day, he stopped by the boutique and bought 4 or 5 ties.” And then the husbands would end up buying a Pierre Balmain tie!  Those stories ended up to Pierre Balmain’s ears and he would laugh so hard at my Mom’s gimmicks to help him be successful. Most movie stars would go directly to the 1er etage or second floor of the main Boutique rue Francois 1er for their fittings but would stop on the rez–de-chaussee or main floor and look around to purchase perfume, jewelry and silk scarves and accessories where my Mom was working, before being promoted to the Hilton Hotel boutique. One year, she was on French TV News with the famous actress Martine Carole advertising Pierre Balmain’s Christmas gifts . Monsieur Balmain chose my Mom to be involved in that commercial. Martine Carole was a big star in the French cinema world in those days and also a regular customer of the House of Pierre Balmain. Among movie stars and comedians my Mom loved the most was the famous Italian actress from the 50's and 70's Gina Lolobrigida, who, at the age of 95 is running for the Italian Senate this year, frustrated at her country’s problems. Back in the day, she bought a dozen silk scarves from my Mom. Also the French comedian of La Comedie Francaise, Jean Piat who was a good friend of M. Pierre Balmain and Vivian Leigh (Gone with the Wind) with her husband Sir Lawrence Olivier. Upon arriving at the boutique, she would look for my Mom and ask:” Where is Sylviane? I need to see Sylviane." Sir Lawrence Olivier was sulking in the background because my Mom was so busy taking care of his wife, Vivien Leigh, that she did not pay any attention to him. My Mom always had a knack with wearing hats. M. Balmain sent her to Germany to represent him at a special High Fashion runway. That was her first and only trip to that country that had ravaged so much of her own country of France. She remembers being in awe at visiting the beautiful cathedral of Kohl. (continued) NEXT