Rachel's dad visited her, and she disclosed to him that, despite her success, she feels she's failed as a boss to her employee Taylor and as a wife to Rodger. It's a problem that is, for the most part, unique to women, as most ambitious businessmen rarely publicly profess concern about the feelings of their employees or the neglect of their wives.


Taylor's parents also stopped by to help her with her workload. I love that she and her mother never take their sunglasses off.


Rodger and Rachel called Brad and Taylor in for a meeting to explain the restructuring of the business. Rodger will now be the boss of Brad and Taylor and Taylor will play a bigger role in product development.


One of the products that Rachel is developing is a fragrance, and she brought Taylor to NYC to consult. From the sound of it—sandalwood, patchouli, etc.—the perfume is going to smell like a hacky sack at a Phish show.

Rachel said that getting to visit Coco Chanel's apartment was a career highlight for her.


Rachel and Brad went shopping at Didier Ludot, the most renowned vintage shop in all of Paris (literally!). I went there this past summer looking for a wedding dress, and I had a Pretty Woman moment there. But not like in the way that my John was buying me everything that I wanted. More like, I was (literally!) told that they didn't have anything in my size and they couldn't help me. The lady working there was wearing her body weight in Chanel chains and was totally rude, even though I had my French Canadian fiancé translating for me, which I thought would win me favor somehow. The woman was about 75 if she was a day—with so much black eyeliner and white powder on that she looked all Kabuki—and she had no patience for a sweaty, disheveled Yank in jeans and a T-shirt. I (literally!) told her, "Look, I have money to spend in here." She didn't care.

Rachel was told by her doctor to reduce the stress in her life and take it easy, so she took a few days off. However, she also decided to take on a project in her downtime, so she streamlined her personal jewelry collection—of which there are/were over 1,000 pieces—and put them up for sale at an exhibition at the vintage store Decades (all proceeds going to research for ovarian cancer) with photos and anecdotes of when/how she obtained each one. To help her, Rachel's sister dug up old family photos, including those of their mother, who is Rachel's fashion accessories inspiration, who taught her daughter that "more is more."


The other dramz that took place was the typical Brad/Taylor dilemma. Only one of them was going to be able to attend fashion week in Paris with Rachel—after they were initially told they could both go—and Rachel left it up to them to decide which one it would be. The news sort of decimated Brad, who immediately broke out into what appears to be hives. In the end, it was decided that Brad would attend Paris fashion week with Rachel.

Of course, there was no official diagnosis, or even a trip to the doctor, as of yet.

Bonus clip: I love that Ashton and Demi are so into The Real Housewives of Atlanta.

The negative press and comments really affect Rachel, but her husband Rodger seems like a really good guy.


Rachel and Nicole Richie once had an infamous feud over allegations Nicole made that Rachel forces her clients to take Mexican speed pills to lose weight. They've since made up and ran into each other at the event.

Related:
The Anti Jon and Kate [DailyBeast]

The best part of this show is how these people talk to one another. For example, when Rachel said that she needed to have a serious conversation with Brad about his attitude, all she said was, "Brad you have a Braditude." Then she insisted that being passive aggressive is "different," thus, better.

Rachel also ran into Lindsay Lohan on last night's episode. Lindsay was one of Rachel's most famous clients and helped make her a name, but they stopped working together a few years ago. Rachel said she hadn't seen Lindsay in almost two years (you know, when she was getting in those car accidents and going to those rehabs).

Rachel wasn't telling Taylor that she was "fat", but that she had big boobs. However, I imagine that working in that industry, in that city, could make one sensitive to any mention of physique —especially when said by someone so very, very thin. Still I can't help but find Rachel Zoe really likable and funny. And though Taylor seemed like she was on the verge of quitting, she apparently did gather with Rachel, Brad, and the like to view the first episode of this season.

This episode also illuminated how the economy is affecting stylists. Rachel was stressed because, typically, she would have multiple "bananas" dress options for her five big-name clients (Demi Moore, Cameron Diaz, Debra Messing, Anne Hathaway, Eva Mendes). The situation was different this time around, and she had to struggle to find even one dress per client. Rachel explained it thusly: "Everything from spring's been worn, everything from last couture's been sold. The big fashion houses are saying. 'We're not spending a lot of money sending couture around the world only to find that it's not gonna be worn.'"

The recession might be affecting Zoe's personal finances as well. The first season of TRZP was filmed in her home, with one large room converted into her styling studio. This season however, Rachel and her husband Rodger are living in a much smaller apartment, while she has a much larger commercial loft space for her studio.
Old house:



New apartment:

It turns out that her home had been on the market since at least fall 2007. Maybe they were liquidating assets to further her business? You can read more about it here.

As for the Golden Globes, Rachel ended up convincing Karl Lagerfeld to alter a couture Chanel dress for Cameron Diaz to make it much more accessible for the American public.

In the end, it all worked out fine. Here are the results of Rachel and co.'s frenzy:

Sign up, and "you'll be the first to know" about Zoe's favorite fashion, beauty and lifestyle finds," according to the site. "It's going to be bananas!"

But as BlackBook points out:

Seeing as the "Editorial Policy" on the site reads, "The chic variety of accessories, apparel, and other items featured in the Zoe Report are carefully chosen by our editorial team of fashion addicts-ahem-experts" ... more likely than not the products and people highlighted might not necessarily chosen by Zoe herself, but rather a trusted editorial team.

In other words, expect Daily Candy-esque e-mails about shoes, handbags and beauty items.

The question is, don't we already know what Rachel Zoe offers? between her TV show, her best-selling book and clients? How many loose, drapey gowns/caftans and oversized sunglasses are there in the word? Wait. Don't answer that: Surely the Zoe Report will let us know.

Rachel Zoe Expands Empire with Fashion Newsletter [BlackBook]