The days of showing a collection to a selected few in Mademoiselle’s private salon at 31 rue Cambon are long over. In these golden Karl Lagerfeld days, it’s all about the spectacle of the runway at the Grand Palais in Paris…about how to one-up the last one in the over-the-top department. It’s so much fun to see the show and review the still photos days later from the comfort of my sofa, but Chanel to me is all about the first-hand experience. I could write for days (and maybe I have :D), extolling the virtues of the craftsmanship and fabrication and designs and fit, but I doubt I could convince any of you to buy your first piece of Chanel RTW until you yourself have seen and touched it. It’s all about the tactile experience.

For the 2014 Fall RTW show, the stage was set up like a supermarket à la Chanel. Only down these very chic aisles can you find quilted egg cartons and shopping baskets with the intertwined chains. The staging was so elaborate and fantastic that it was hard, even for me, to focus on the clothes. The accessories definitely stood out for me. A closer look at the RTW, however, did not motivate me to add any looks to my wishlist. But after seeing these advertisements (courtesy of Chanel.com),

the photography piqued my interest. I went in for the tactile experience at my local boutique’s trunk show. Hmmm…

that jacket definitely does not look as fun as in the ad. Even if I leap across the dressing room, it will still be too generous a cut for my frame. This color is also not for me. Here’s hoping the mustard, collared jacket from that same advertisement will be more suited for me. Speaking of mustard/ochre/saffron…

Love the cut of this dress, but hello, are my days of resisting Spanx numbered? This was definitely the first time I’ve tried on a dress in my usual size that was this tight. Not sure going up a size for more room in the waist will mean too much room up on top. This goes on the maybe list. As in maybe I’ll do a few extra situps.

So after trying a few things that caught my eye, I basically felt that my wallet would be safe come fall shopping. Nothing I had to have. And then I saw this:

I am the last person on Earth to drink milk, so I think it would be rather funny to add this bag to my collection. Lait de Coco makes the short list! But dear readers, you know I probably would not even be posting about this rather lackluster collection unless there was something truly spectacular for my camera, right? This candy/confetti dress caught my eye immediately:

I debated in my head how the sleeves could be removed to make the dress more wearable, but then my sales associate noted that the embellishments in the sleeves were supposed to resemble M&Ms/candies (though I suppose the Ms would be replaced by interlocking Cs as it were) as a nod to the supermarket theme. Crazy amazing details. I go blind just looking at the tiny pleats.

I stared at this dress for so long that a friend who came to the show with me urged me to try it on after we squealed over the price ($38,350). It was a sample size 38 so it had the longer length of the 38 (which I love) but the fit of a 34/36. And by urged I meant she said you should try it on and I said yeah! This is why it’s so much more fun to go to trunk shows with a buddy.

Whoever that’s rich or “special” enough to get to own this dress will have one epic toothache. Just looking at the eye candy from my photos is enough to make me want to call my dentist. Or someone who can give me the numbers for a winning lotto ticket.