Le Palace in Marrakech

This morning, like most mornings, I found myself going down a rabbit hole.  Searching for inspiration for Instagram posts and potential blog posts, I scroll through Instagram and Pinterest, sometimes Tumbler, and next thing you know, I have pulled out a stack of books looking for images to document the inspiration.

Here is where it started today, with a collage of current, moody pieces on the website: the color platinum, mixed metals, satin fabrics and silk neck ties. 

I immediately thought of this image of Yves Saint Laurent.  Travis and Company (@travisandcompany) shared this photograph of Yves a few weeks back on Instagram and it took me back to beautiful dinner we had in Marrakech.  Naturally, the whole city is mad about Yves but one of our favorite restaurants paid homage to the iconic designer.  Le Palace is a chic restaurant with a French vibe in the main dining room: bistro tables and beautiful, large, glossy, framed photos of YSL on the walls.

Downstairs at Le Palace,  one is engulfed in a red velvet, dimly lit, dining room and bar that makes me think of an opium den in the 60's-70's.  That would make sense since Yves' signature fragrance was "Opium" which I wore in high school.  From my teens to my 20's, I wore my opium fragrance, the only YSL item I could afford at that time, with my signature red lipstick, a scarf, hair slicked back, always some long pearls or large cross jewelry.

Opium has since been replaced with a fragrance called "Black Opium" and I am determined to find it and sample it, I have to!

Back to Le Palace.  If you go to Marrakech, you must book a reservation, the food and atmosphere is so sophisticated and you feel like Loulou de la Falaise or Betty Catroux will walk in the door at any moment.  I am sharing a few photos of the restaurant below, unfortunately, I didn't take any of my own so I am using some I found on trip advisor.

The main dining room on street level

The main dining room showing photos of Yves

The red velvet dining room on the floor below, photo taken by

The Bespoke Black Book

May I recommend a few books? 

These books take you back to the time when YSL was in Paris and Morocco, and the close group of friends with whom he surrounded himself through the height of his career.  As well, they document his life and his talents.

All About Yves, by Catherine Ormen

Entre Nous: Bohemian chic in the 1960s and 1970s, by Mary Russell

Loulou De La Falaise, by Ariel de Ravenel and Natasha Fraser Cavassoni