Rachel Zoe Recap - Oct 5

Ahhh . . . it’s fashion week in Paris, which is like Christmas and Hanukah all rolled into one for Rachel Zoe. Rachel (and her five suitcases for just six days) Rodger, Brad, Rachel’s assistant and even Joey the make-up artist all arrive to soak in the fashion couture and keep Rachel sane. Taylor, as we all know, stayed back in LA to run the studio and just work, work, work. From the second Team Zoe stepped on Parisian soil, they totally forgot all about Taylor and her bad attitude—until someone would remember they should feel sorry that she stayed behind. When that would happen, Rachel and Brad would practically take a moment of silence in her memory.

Paris is Rachel and Rodger’s “city” just too bad that Rachel is glued to Brad the entire trip and barely pays her hubbie any attention. Rodger says he doesn’t mind and that he’s used to it—but is he really? Especially when Rachel receives the invitation of a lifetime to tour Coco Chanel’s apartment and brings Brad along with her. Anyone who watches RZP knows that Chanel is what she “dies” for—literally. She’s said in the past that when she actually does “die” that she wants to be buried in head to toe Chanel. In fact, when they walked inside, Rachel says that she felt as if they were entering the doors of heaven. Rachel sits on CoCo’s couch, tries on her sunglasses and claims that she is so emotional about the whole experience. But Rachel must not have tear ducts because she did not shed one tear.

While Brad and Rachel are living it up in Paris and hanging with the ghost of CoCo Chanel—we cut back to see Taylor hard at work in LA. It looks like daggers are about to start shooting from eyes and kill everyone in her path. Meanwhile, Rachel and Brad continue to live the good life and take in all the shows. At Stella McCartney, we learn that Rachel is a tad bit obsessed with the Beatles. She reveals that she did her senior thesis on John Lennon and freaks out when she realizes that Paul is there to support his daughter. Rachel says she “literally dies for Paul McCartney” but best we could tell—she still had a pulse after the show was over.

In between shows of all the biggest names in fashion, Rachel and Brad find a vintage store where Rachel literally bullies Brad into buying a Dior trench coat. He loves it but it’s obvious that he cannot afford it on his measly assistant salary. Rachel, however, has no concept of what’s in his bank account OR that there is a recession and threatens to not speak to Brad for the rest of the trip if he doesn’t buy it. You can tell that Brad is weighing the options in his head—not eat for the rest of the month and buy this damn coat or enjoy the silence! Finally Rachel gives him a raise right there on the spot and Brad walks out of the store with the coat. Rachel just doesn’t take no for answer when it comes to fashion. Taylor definitely had a heart attack when she watched this scene.

Speaking of Taylor—disaster strikes back in LA when a job that Brad was working on before he left town falls apart and Taylor has 24 hours to fix it and keep the client happy. This just makes Taylor even more upset that she let Brad go to Paris while she stayed behind to play the role of Cinderella and clean up everyone’s messes . . . the news is just way too much stress for fragile Rachel. In case you forgot, she was dying of vertigo last week so everyone fears for her health. She even starts to have chest pains and has trouble breathing. Everything works out (of course) but after this scare, Rachel finally comes to peace with leaving Taylor behind. If Taylor had come too—this would have really been a disaster! But, even though Taylor saved the day—she could care less that she was dubbed a hero.

Needless to say, when Brad ends up having an empty seat next to him at the standing room only Chanel show—he decides that seat was in honor of Taylor because she loves Chanel and she should have been there. A very nice thought—but Brad should have kept it to himself. Taylor did not appreciate it when Brad calls to tell her that she sat next to him at the Chanel show in spirit. We’re pretty sure that Taylor starting breathing fire out of her nose.

As the week in Paris comes to a close, Rachel and Brad hit up the John Paul Gaultier and Marc Jacobs shows while still throwing in every few minutes how much they miss Taylor. Rachel buys Taylor a Hermes cuff to present her with once they’re back in LA. Yeah, we’re sure that’ll make up for missing out on a week in Paris. Rodger presents Rachel with a photo album of the entire week to commemorate what a wonderful time was had by all. But did Rodger really have such a great time? We felt bad for him that there he is in Paris yet so bored and lonely that he had to entertain himself by hanging out in the local photo store.

Rachel and her team officially end Paris Fashion week by dining on escargot (Rachel refuses to try and threatens to vomit if she does) and toast to the week with a half-hearted tribute to Taylor. Things in LA, however, are heating up. Taylor’s parents visit and you immediately see that the apple does not fall far from the tree. Her dad reminds Taylor that everyone in the family is “temperamental and moody.” Taylor’s mom reminds her that she decided to let Brad go to Paris so she can’t complain. Taylor takes this all in but decides it’s time to settle the score with Rachel once and for all. So on next week’s finale—get ready for a showdown. But ask yourself this in the meantime—are you on Team Rachel or Team Taylor?