Feathers, Flowers, Fabulous! (Part I)

Dyed and notched feathers
Do you remember when you had to write your first report in grade school and felt overwhelmed by the idea of condensing all of the information about the assigned topic into a few handwritten pages with a couple of drawings?  Well, that's the way that I've been feeling ever since my visit to the Legeron Flower and Feather Boutique because I took 126 pictures and scribbled five pages of notes, all of which I would like to share with you.  Having heard, however, that blog posts aren't supposed to surpass the length of War and Peace, I decided to write two posts - one about feathers and one about flowers.


The founder's great-grandson proudly explained that Legeron, which was founded in 1880, is one of the three remaining houses in Paris to produce feathers and flowers for designers such as Dior, Ungaro, Jean Paul Gaultier, Chanel, and Louboutin.  Additionally, Legeron creations adorn the hair of models on the runway, decorate the windows of boutiques, and can be seen in the recent movie about Marie-Antoinette.

One of the storerooms on the second floor of the workshop holds hundreds of boxes and bags of brightly colored swan, chicken, pigeon, turkey, and ostrich feathers that have been carefully dyed, sorted, and classified according to quality.


Through a rather laborious process, feathers may be notched, dyed in variegated colors, layered, or made into miniature fluffy pompoms according to the unique vision of the fashion designer.


During a recent visit to the Chanel Boutique at 31, rue Cambon, I spied some notched feathers on this little black dress.  Are they from Legeron?  I don't know, but my appreciation for such a creation has increased dramatically now that I have a better understanding of the number of hours that went into making it.  Just in case Stéphane reads this and wonders why I'm suddenly shopping at Chanel, rest assured that it was only a stop on a recent fashion tour.  Oh, and by the way, don't worry about paying the credit card bill this month because I've already taken care of it...


Part II of Feathers, Flowers, Fabulous.

Other tours that I've done with the company, Meeting the French:


Aurélie Cherell, Parisian Fashion Designer
Pep's Umbrella Repair Store
I Need a Hat! A Visit to the Milliner's Boutique
The Herbalist's Shop

Comments

  1. Very interesting, Mary Kay. What tour were you on that allowed access to this boutique? By the way, I posted a link to your blog on mine; perhaps that will send you some visitors to enjoy your interesting finds.

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  2. Anne, Thanks for linking to my blog. Reading your blog always gets my mornings off to a good start. I love your unique view on things, including finding humor in the French translations on the labels of your moving boxes.

    Thanks for asking about the tour - I just added a link for the company, Meeting the French, in this post. Their tours have been one of the highlights of my days in Paris because the artisans are so obviously proud of what they're doing...and some of their families have been in the same business for generations. One of my best visits was to the furrier (post not yet written) and even though I would never wear a fur coat, the visit is a wonderful memory. Another added bonus is that the tours are mini French lessons for me because the artisans usually speak in French and Meeting the French provides a translator for the English speaking guests. And at 7-13 € a tour, they're well worth the price.

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  3. I've never heard of these tours--terrific to know.

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  4. I am travelling to Paris soon and need to purchase feathers for clothes.Who will sell these?Where can i go?Please help me!!!!

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  5. Anonymous, I would suggest that you contact the Legeron Boutique and ask them for advice. It's possible to purchase feathers from them.

    Here's the address for their website:

    http://www.legeron.com/en/01_content.html

    Good luck!

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