IRL--Kimberly Baker Lexi Earrings

The beautiful Taryn basking in the sunshine and enjoying her new acquisitions.

Portland Warming Trend Party and Sale This Saturday

When and Where:

Le Train Bleu
1905 NW 26th Ave
Portland, OR 97209

Saturday, June 21st
Doors open at 11 am
Reception 6-8:00 PM

Public Transportation: Bus Line 77-Stop NW 27th & Vaughn
Dear Portland,

We haven't forgotten you. For the last few months we've just been buried in cardboard and tissue but we are now ready to come out of the woodwork and celebrate our recent press with a party and some Portland friendly prices.

All clothes will be 40-80% off for one day only. Yes, ma’am, you heard me right!

Of course we’ll have our ubiquitous offerings: DJ Matt spinning old-timey 78’s, Saint Cupcake towers, and cheap wine. Our new location is brimming with highly sought after picks for Spring, including newcomers Fleur Wood from Australia, Yumi Kim from LA, and Heimstone from Paris, to name a few.

Looking forward to seeing you there!
Bria and your friends at Le Train Bleu


**The large print giveth and the small print taketh away:
Accepting credit cards or cash
No price adjustments on prior purchases
All sales final

The LTB Wedding Season Survival Guide

Wedding bells are ringing! Here are some suggestions from Le Train Bleu to help you enjoy the season.

The Non-traditionalist
No veil. No Bridal Magazine look-alikes. No skirt too long to dance or hop a train in. You’ll wear this one with your grandma’s short crochet gloves (they look perfect with the French lace trim) and a neat gardenia bouquet.


Going away dress: time to run off into the sunset
Now that you’re hitched you’re feeling rather lady-like. Leave the party in this smart Heidi Merrick dress as lovely as a ray-of-sunshine.

The Bride and Groom may take the presents but you can take the cake
Cakewalk perfumed candle from D.L. & Co. Long after the bride and groom have left the party you’ll still be kicking up your heels in a cloud of Madagascar vanilla and chicory.

The Best Dressed Guest
The Fleur Wood Field of Flowers dress is perfectly perfect for attending just about any wedding, whether in a chapel or in a back yard. Not for shrinking violets—the wedding photographer will be following you around all day.

Sweet Memories
An enduring sweet—Flavigny Pastilles are the very first candy confection ever made, dating back to 1591. A perfect keepsake and memento for those in your wedding party adorned with a romantic, pastoral illustration.

A dress for the beach-bound bride
The Madame Tirocchi Dress from objets trouvés is elegant and unfussy: an artful silk dress with a delicate hand-drawn white-on-white design resembling sea urchins.


An endearing gift
The lovely couple will think of you every time they fill this pretty vase with flowers in the years to come. Definitely better than the chip and dip set.

For your ladies in waiting
They curled your hair making you into a pageant queen for a day. They even danced with your drunk uncle Marv. It's payback time--here's a start.


A warm honeymoon destination calls!
The show’s over and now it’s time to bear your shoulders in the sun and practice saying “My husband…”

Hitchcock Dress Testimonial

Hi-

I just received the Suzabelle "Hitchcock Dress" in the mail and I just had to send you an email to compliment you on this find! It fits perfectly and looks really fantastic. More than that, the copy on the website touting all the details for the reasonable price was right-on.

Thank you for your great work!

Best,

Kelly

Le Train Bleu named "Top Shop" by The Washington Post

Saks.com, target.com, and...letrainbleu.com?!

Whoa, weird! I'm still rubbing my eyes in disbelief but somehow Le Train Bleu made it onto Instyle's Top 20 Online Shopping Sites amongst big guys like Saks, Target, JCrew, and Bergdorf Goodman. It was nearly 5 years ago when I launched the site out of my studio apartment with zero retail experience and nearly the same amount of money and I never in my wildest dreams imagined this day. It's a true testament to how the internet has vastly changed the world of fashion retail.

What I'm really proud of is the "Best for" category that they bestowed upon us. It wasn't Budget Bags (that was Target), or Beach Accessories (that was JCrew), but best for Under the Radar Designers. Another win for the little guy!

What they said about Letrainbleu.com:
It's that little boutique where you want everything--from the retro-print tops to the ruffle-knit dresses. Many sites feature emerging designers--Revolveclothing.com and Kaightnyc.com--but nowhere are the items as lovingly chosen as on the Web outpost of Le Train Bleu, a Portland-based boutique named after an early 20th-century ballet with Chanel costumes and a Picasso backdrop. You might not recognize designers like Heimstone and Eskell, but rest assured your fashionista friends will be jealous.

Zooey Deschanel in Fleur Wood

I was so pleased to see the lovely Zooey Deschanel wearing the equally lovely Fleur Wood Vera Dress on the cover of the new Lucky. This has been one of my very favorite styles this season at Le Train Bleu and we just have a few left which are on sale now (the blouse version is just as sweet and also on sale now).

In the NW edition of the same issue you will also find a nice write up of our Portland store as well as our newly revamped site, right under a feature of our home town heroes Church & State. They've featured our Florentine Rose Water, which is terrific in the Summer heat.

All in the Details #2

The first installment seemed to be a hit so I thought I'd take a few more detail shots. If you're ever in need of additional photos of anything on the website feel free to email us at info@letrainbleu.com, we're happy to oblige.

Delicate white-on-white screen print on the objets trouves Madame Tirocchi Dress
Angie pointed out that they remind her of sand dollars, sea anemone or some other aquatic creature and I can't agree more. Perfect for a beach wedding!


Curious to know what the black baroque print on the 12th Street All The Pretty Horses Dress looks like? Mystery solved.


Delicate lace and smocking detail on the by Francine Crepe de Chine Blouse


Tiny flowers and pleats on the Fleurs Top from APC

Shhh...

A secret sale before the sale, for special friends and those "in the know."
Good through Friday June 13th.

What's in a Name?

In the March issue of Lucky there was a funny description of how nerve-racking it can be to come up with ever new ways of describing articles of clothing. Kim France challenged readers to submit their own captions for their shoe guide in The Lucky walk-in-our-shoes caption writing contest.

I particularly enjoyed their list of banned descriptives:
adorable
bling
fashionista
fave
fierce
flair
funky
groovy
indulgence
kooky
run, don't walk
shopaholic
the final word in
whimsical
food references used to describe nonfood item (as in "a delicious shade of pink")

On my own personal list there would definitely be some crossover. Bling, fashionista, fierce. Those all make me cringe. I've no problem with adorable (as long as it's not followed by the word "duds") and whimsical though--sometimes those ones are just too apt. We should all stay away from flirty and girly--two adjectives that will erode your self-respect and give you cooties.

I've been naming and describing all the clothes for Le Train Bleu for over four years now and I relate to the hair-pulling that Lucky describes but that's mostly just due to the fact that I'm normally writing those things long after I should have been in bed. I get a little unfocused and slap happy. And repetitive. Longtime readers, please forgive the duplicate Picnic at Hanging Rock references that always come to mind when the white dresses arrive with our Spring shipments.

See, clothes talk to me. They tell me stories. They remind me of movies and old lovers and things my Mom wore when I was a kid. They remind me of cool girls I see in cafes but have never met. Cities I've visited. Mixed tapes that my best friend made me in 9th grade.

I've come to realize that what I love most about fashion and also about my job, is the storytelling. For me the world of clothes and the world of retail is a world of waking dreams and memories and aspirations. Clothes fire up my imagination and imbue my days with fantasy.

So, here are some of my recent clothes-inspired daydreams from Le Train Bleu.

The Pâquerette Coat


This one is named after her:
She was one in a long line of Picasso's girlfriends (that serial lady-killer). She was also a model and worked for Poiret. Pâquerette is the French word for wild daisy and is also the name of a ballet created in 1881. You should know by now that I'm ever the balletomane and francophile.

The coat has a slight sheen that's subdued, almost faded. It smells like coffee and violet perfume and Picasso's damned infernal cigar smoke. The cut is feminine in a gamine way with delicate, slightly shrunken proportions. The color is a bit sombre, but like the goofy hat Pâquerette wore in the Cocteau photo above it has a lighter side in the over-sized buttons and
"fan" pleat on the cuffs.

The Radcliff Music Wonk Shoulderbag



Named after Ali MacGraw's character Jennifer Cavilleri in Love Story. She loved Mozart and Bach and the Beatles. She was a minimalist and a natural beauty. She would never be so frivolous as to spend over $100 on a handbag, preppy.


The Bon Ton Dress
I thought this dress, with its 20's drop waist and exuberant deco print, was like a modern interpretation of a colorful fashion plate from early 20th century fashion mag La Gazette du Bon Ton.


Aren't they having fun? They look like they just danced out of a box of candies.

Lili Marelene Jacket


Marlene Dietrich liked the tux jacket so much that she needed it in both Black and White, and so did I.


This style was really talking to me though and it was hard to settle on the name Lili Marlene. The tux jacket is so iconic and so many other cool dames have worn it so well. Don't worry, I'm not going to challenge you to a "Who Wore it Best" quiz but just as a quick hats off:


Time will tell if the Jane Birkin progeny will go down as iconic tuxedo artists in the annals of fashion history (I'll bet they will) but Bianca Jagger's name will always come to mind to me when anyone mentions "White tuxedo jacket."
A personal aside: when I was 16 I wore a black tux to my big brother's wedding (the following year I realized I was a girl). I'm sorry Joseph.

The House of Elliot Dress
The House of Eliott was a BBC series about two sisters who, against all odds, launched their own fashion label in 1920's London. This looks like it could have been out of one of their collections. The series and book were co-written by Jean Marsh who wrote and acted in the beloved Upstairs, Downstairs series. If you have never seen either, hop on over to amazon.

Nylon's Jeans of the Month--APC Super 70's Jeans

This new style in the APC denim arsenal is catching on--I was happy to see they are offering them again for Fall. But don't wait 'til then--we still have a few pairs left from our Spring batch in the store.