SOL Lingerie

One word. Magical. That's how I'd describe our night at the Chateau de Versailles. Our expectations were high when we found out we were invited to the 50th birthday party of the Paris lingerie show that we go to. But in all honesty, we had no idea. There are lots of things we love about the French, and now we can add to it that they know how to throw a party! Versailles is incredible to visit during the day, but at night it is truly something spectacular. Since 2004, each January Jeanie and I have gone to the lingerie shows in Paris. This year, the Salon International de la Lingerie is celebrating 50 years of bringing beautiful panties to the world. They did the celebration in over-the-top Parisian style!

Jeanie and I were so excited to attend a black tie affair in the same place that Marie Antoinette hosted so very many parties in her time. I wore a Naeem Khan dress with Bagley Mishka shoes from Neiman Marcus and Jeanie was dressed by Lin from Garbarinis. Don't our husbands look so dapper in their tuxedos? Todd's bow tie matched my gown.

 Feeling so glamorous it was hard to hold in all of our excitement. As we approached the Chateau de Versailles we were guided to front row parking inside the palace gates. Lovely hostesses guided us to the entrance of the palace where we had VIP access to roam the King's Grand Apartment and the Hall of Mirrors. It was an exceptional treat made even more special because they had hired time period musicians dressed in costumes to delight our senses.

After we finished our self-guided tour we exited out onto the Chateau Esplanade (the main terrace) where we were greeted with champagne and enjoyed a view of the Grand Canal and the Palace gardens. We all lost our breath for a moment. It's one thing to be at Versailles as a tourist with loads of other tourists and quite another thing to be there in full black-tie regalia with a glass of champagne in your hand overlooking a view fit for a king.

The setting sun was the perfect backdrop for the many photos we took with our friends. Zee and Erin from Bits of Lace in Charleston, South Carolina looked so lovely in their gowns. Mariela and Ivy from Eberjey flew in from Miami to show their line at the show as well as joining in with us at the party. A very special thank you to Paolo Fabrizio from Empreinte for hosting us at the party. We all had so much fun from the first moments of the night until the wee hours of the morning.

The end of the musical fountain show and a drum line in period costumes announced the third event of the evening. We followed the drummers and other guests down the hill to the L'Orangerie where we had a dinner made by Fauchon. There was no shortage of delicious pastries or champagne to accompany all the yummy tapas. A side note for those who don't speak French...the L'Orangerie is the citrus fruit garden. The evening air was filled with the scent of orange and lemon blossoms. A pure delight for me!

The networking and industry chat was kept to a minimum but we did meet some new colleagues which is always a  welcome. Loda and Isobel from Intimacy of Atlanta shared great conversations with us about plans for their website. Sara from Funky Girl in Helsinki chatted with Jeanie about the new lines she had seen earlier in the day at the panty show in Paris. We couldn't talk shop for too long because the band started up at that point. Paolo scooped us up, gave us a glass of champagne and said "Let's tear it up!"

We danced in a hall that rivaled the Louvre. The 50 foot cavernous ceilings were made of stone and had gently curved arches. Katy Perry resonated off the walls and ceiling as the light show kicked into high gear. We all danced like crazy until 2 in the morning. I dare say we were a bit over heated as we ventured back to the gardens.

We all agreed it was the most fantastic party we have ever attended. Saying thank you to Sandrine for inviting Sol and throwing an amazing party hardly covers our gratitude, but THANK YOU!!! Awesome event and awesome fun with awesome friends.

 I know my blog entry can't do justice to the night we experienced. So, I hope the photos will. Check out the rest of our photos on our Facebook page!

Best night ever.

xoxo,
Cindy

P.S. We're on our final day and heading back to Denver shortly.