Sezane ninon blouse

I don’t remember when I first discovered Sézane but I fell in love instantly. The pretty and classic designs are beautiful and the attention to detail makes every single piece so special. If you view their lookbooks, you will be transported to Paris. Beautiful clothing in gorgeous Parisian spaces, worn in an effortless way by the (seemingly) coolest french women. The problem was… they were based out of Paris so I would do the dance of placing gorgeous items in and out of my basket. Like anyone, I was unsure of many things: the quality for the price, duty and customs charges, and more unknowns that come along with international shipping. Shopping online can be a big mystery with a brand I had no experience with so I resigned myself to signing up for their beautiful newsletters and continued to ogle the perfect Sézane lookbooks from Canada. When I found out Sézane was opening a store in New York this past September, where I would be just weeks later, I was ECSTATIC. I would get to see my favourite pieces in person, the Ninon blouse, the Hope bag (yes all style names committed to memory as though they are real people). When I arrived at their Nolita location every sales person seemed to be french (impressive non?) and were wearing one of the brand’s classic shirts from their permanent collection, “La Liste” the Oscar. As excited as I was to shop at Sézane so were many people which left the stock disappointingly low. Nonetheless every piece was so beautiful, the Ninon blouse (similar) did not disappoint and I left with the gorgeous blouse that I’m going to treasure for a long time.

Sezane Ninon blouse

Visiting L’appartement Sézane on 1 rue saint Fiacre, Paris, France

I was greeted at L’appartement Sézane by a charming doorman/ security guard. The store was bustling with people! How different from my experience in the quiet, undiscovered Nolita location in New York. I came to realize later that yes Sézane was popular in Paris! I perused their selection carefully, quickly locating the items I had been eyeing for months and found myself at the sweater bar. A SWEATER BAR. Part of the “L’appartement Sézane” merchandising is the concept of an actual apartment so you will find built-in shelves perfectly styled with their clothing and accessories. Sweaters, bags, stationery goods, etc. This location has a bar in front of built-in shelves full of their gorgeous sweaters all folded perfectly. I observed other shoppers going up to the bar and  pointing at sweaters which the sales people would bring down and unfold for viewing. This was a new shopping experience for me and even though it could be considered a barrier, it was charming. By having these items ‘behind the counter’, the service and shopping was special and the items which were treated carefully- we have all seen sweaters sadly un-threaded with holes while shopping. I went up to the sweater bar, picked out a couple sweaters and brought them and my other items to the fitting rooms. The salespeople were busy Parisian bees switching out sizes and grabbing other items for their customers. They were very nice, spoke english to me and indulged my request for, “um that black dress with pleats in the front of the store… with the bow on the back” which I saw another woman trying on. While in the fitting rooms, do you ever get caught up in the magic of trying on a special brand? I had to pull myself out of the infectious Sézane energy, look at my selections practically and ask, “Will I actually wear this? What else will this go with in my wardrobe? Is this a special enough item to purchase from Sézane or can I get it elsewhere for less? Do I like this just only because it’s Sézane?”

After many questions I left the fitting room with the Izaac shirt in nude, an item I fell in love with when the Winter Collection Act 1 lookbook came out. And the Mathilde dress which I honestly didn’t notice online but the material is lovely and the A-line shape is very flattering. A classic dress that I have already worn a week later at home in Canada.

I left the fitting rooms happy with my two items and found myself haunted by the Hope bag, strategically placed in every space of the boutique. Here was a bucket bag that I had in my online shopping cart months before. It’s arguably the most perfect bucket bag, which stands out from other similar styles with it’s edgy yet elegant studs placed all over among other forthcoming details. The thin chain strap, like jewelry, was beautiful, great quality and smartly used as the bag’s closure acting as the drawstring when you wore it. Simply Perfect. After holding ‘Hope’ several different ways, shortening the strap, lengthening it and wearing it cross-body then trying on every other colour and fabric. I took it to the counter. I purchased my three special items and waited as they were carefully packaged up along with some free goodies as part of their advent promotion- how lucky! I happily skipped toward the door with my brown bag with Sézane written on it and tied with a special red bow. And the charming doorman? He made sure I left with a cookie, one of many plates sitting around the boutique. Merci! Au revoir! 

Below I’ve made a lust love list of my current favourite Sézane pieces including items from their new Magic Christmas Capsule. 

 White Sézane Blouses