- July 9th, 2002

'Toile' Away the Summer...

You can wear it, carry it, sit on it, decorate your home and garden with it, dine on china painted with it, swathe your baby in it, outfit your dog with it, and that's just the beginning. 'It' is toile de jouy - most commonly referred to as 'toile' - which Time Magazine recently called 'the new leopard'. Well, it's hardly new, but like leopard, toile is popular, ubiquitous, and a classic.

The French word 'toile' refers to the printed fabric from the 1700's, created in Jouy-en-Josas, a small town near Versailles. The pastoral and genre scenes, neoclassical motifs, historical events, chinoiserie, birds, and flowers are most commonly rendered in blue, black, or red, and set against a background of white or ivory. Although such upper echelon individuals as Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI, and Napoleon first embraced it, toile quickly filtered down to the masses.

While toile's most common usage through the years has been in home decoration - it has long been a favorite fabric for couches, chairs, pillows, curtains and drapery - it has recently become very popular in both clothing and accessories.

Cashmere New York, located at 1052 Lexington Avenue is selling a knee length pleated skirt in off-white with a red and black toile design ($295), which is currently on display in their window (see photo at left).

Pierre Deux (pierredeux.com), the iconic chain of stores that specialize in French Country, is known for their toile. In fact, toile wallpaper just happens to decorate almost an entire window in their Madison Avenue shop (870 Madison Avenue, 212 570-9343). In addition to home furnishings and plates, they also sell a selection of sturdy, quilted cotton toile bags (see photo at left) from a small backpack which is currently on sale from $78 to $39, to an over sized duffle bag ($120) perfect for summer weekend getaways, and even baseball caps ($20).

Michele Saint-Laurent, (1028 Lexington Avenue between 73rd and 74th Streets, 212 452-4200) is selling a red and ivory linen tote bag, which is $130, and currently on sale for 20% off.

Across the street, on The Finished Room (1027 Lexington Avenue, 212 717-7626) has a beautiful lamp on a bamboo pole, which features a toile lampshade, assorted toile wastebaskets, and a black and white toile printed bench, which is on display in their window ($650).

CK Bradley (ckbradley.com), the very preppy boutique (227 East 81st Street 212 988-7999) sells an assortment of toile items in a variety of un-classic colors. Among them are a medium sized tote bag ($95), the classic Bermuda bag ($130 for the bag $52 for additional covers), and a reversible short wrap skirt ($162).

Do you want to clothe your baby in toile? Click on to babyblankies.com, to order their completely washable toile printed baby blanket ($27), and petitpatapon.com for their concise selection of adorable clothing.

And finally, while you're on the computer, you should check out target.com, for their small and well-priced selection of toile printed home items, including oven mitts, towels, and bedding products. And of course, there's always Ebay…their 'toile' category always has many different offerings up for auction at any given time. Happy Shopping!

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