4 months ago
24 ARTICLE AD
Bethenny Frankel, woman of the people, has taken to Instagram to decry the (mis)treatment she received at a Chanel flagship store in Chicago. Pray, what kerfuffle befell Ms. Frankel? Well, she had some time to kill and just wanted to browse the store with her big bag of popcorn in tow. But an attendant would only open the door a crack and denied her entry because she didn’t have an appointment. (She wasn’t turned away because of the popcorn, I’m just painting the picture here. And I’m hungry.) What?! You must have an appointment to enter a luxury boutique for one of the most famous French fashion houses in the world? Sacré bleu! But yeah, most Chanel store websites say “please book an appointment,” but I’m guessing Bethenny didn’t look that up before filming her rant.
Bethenny Frankel ranted against ultra-luxurious Chanel after the store allegedly denied her entry into one of its retail locations in Chicago because she did not have an appointment.
The “Real Housewives of New York City” alum explained in a video posted to her Instagram Wednesday that she showed up on a whim but was immediately stopped at the door by a security guard.
“I’m like, ‘No, I don’t have an appointment. I have a credit card. I have a bag of Garrett’s popcorn, a basic bitch purse. Am I not allowed to come in at 3:54 on a Tuesday?’ Evidently not,” Frankel, 53, told her 3.4 million followers.
“To be treated like you’re an interloper. … I didn’t realize we weren’t allowed to walk into stores anymore. Gotta get a pap smear appointment and also to walk into Chanel. No big deal.”
The former Bravolebrity acknowledged in her caption that “security is critical” because “crime is at an all time high,” but she felt the security guard’s behavior was “elitist and exclusionary” because she was wearing a “sweaty tshirt [sic] and not dolled up or looking wealthy.”
“In business, first impressions are lasting. I would never want anyone to feel lesser than, particularly from a luxury brand making billions off of people buying into the hype,” she wrote.
“Chanel is a beautiful brand with timeless classic pieces. Being kind to customers of all socioeconomic backgrounds is also timeless and classic.”
Reps for Chanel didn’t immediately return Page Six’s requests for comment.
Frankel has been a longtime customer of the haute couture brand, having previously shown off her duds online and at high-profile events.
Fans actually mocked the Skinnygirl founder last summer after she proudly displayed her $20,000 Chanel birdcage bag.
“ok, as much as I love Chanel, this is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen. come on, now, even for Chanel, this is stupid,” one commenter wrote.
Props to Bethenny for putting “Chanel” and “pap smear” in the same sentence. It’s about damn time! LOL. Here’s the video of her showing off that $20K birdcage bag, and yeah, it’s a lot. I think she and/or her then-fiance actually paid for it too (as opposed to it being a freebie), because she talks about them justifying it as an art piece. To each their own, but if she’s purchased an item like that from Chanel, it’s hard to swallow her being so surprised that you need an appointment to enter the store. Methinks Bethenny was either already spoiling for a fight from something that happened earlier, or she just thought “this’ll make good content,” and started filming. Getting into needless beefs is basically her brand at this point. One thing I will give her credit for, though, is her effort to unionize the Real Housewives cast members. Power to the people; the working women just trying to save up 2,000,000 pennies to buy a purse.
Note by CB: Bethenny was able to get into Chanel when she dressed up and came back. She’s so annoying!
