Feb 11, 2003 /FW/ -- Last Friday, the Bush Administration raised the national terrorism alert level from yellow to orange, citing among other criteria, a rise of anti-American sentiment worldwide.

Any American that has covered Paris fashion for the past several years could have already told you they felt orange. One Editor, who makes the pilgrimage 4 times a year, has decided to skip the Ready-to-Wear shows in March after having been pushed and shoved by security, and rudely treated by Fashion Houses during the Haute Couture shows. Another affects a British accent when speaking English with PR officials, in hopes of being better received. Yet another feels so blue that she wants to return to the US as quickly as the Concorde flies.

Anti-Americanism is not only on the rise in the Middle East, but in Western Europe, a traditional ally of Washington. The truth is that the incumbent US President, and what passes for foreign policy, are extremely unpopular here: to the point that French television broadcasts a popular puppet show, where W.'s character dressed in a cowboy outfit, gun drawn, is regularly featured in biting satire.

The repercussions of official policy have ricocheted through the Fashion World, where Americans at times are unwanted. At the Ungaro show last October, a French woman sitting beside me was furious at having been frisked by overzealous security guards. "This is all your fault," she said. "With so many Americans present, we're all targets!"

My personal alert level went to red last January when a PR officer at Hermès refused to honor my press credentials. After sniffing, she replied "We don't want Internet magazines, especially one from Texas."

On reflection, it occurs to me that the Hermès boutiques in Dallas and Houston are probably responsible for an inordinate proportion of the company's annual profit. And so my advice to anyone pondering a new scarf: Chanel offers a wide selection, go there.