Some Paris vintage shops

Paris! I didn't take as many pictures as I anticipated, but I do have some recommendations for you. First up: vintage shops. Paris is the very best city for vintage. You'll find everything: cheap piles of clothes, mid range vintage, consignment stores selling recent second hand from the more costly French brands, vintage paradises stocked with mignon hats and purses and a few high end am-I-allowed-to-touch-this? shops. I want to tell you about three stores in particular.

The first was Chez Mamie in the Rue de Rochechouart. The website is for two seperate shops: Mamie and Mamie Blue, located right next to one another.

The first, Mamie, is a three floor treasury. You'll find some amazing things here, but overall, we found the prices were much too steep. 100+ euros for a tiny purses with ripped sewing on the inside? Pass. The couple keeping shop looked amazing, dressed up in full rodeo mode, but weren't very sympathetic. Maybe it was us, maybe they were hungry, we'll never know. In any case, if you like rummaging and don't mind paying for what you find, you'll have a lot of fun here.

Next to Mamie is Mamie Blue. I thought it more conveniently arranged, better priced and overall more pleasant. The hat selection was particularly nice, as was the man behind the counter. He reminded me of a dandy shoemaker, all buoyant and tongue in cheeck.

I'm a little sad I couldn't get a clear shot out of that last one. On the photo is the shopkeeper and a baffling old lady, trying on all kinds of hats and accessories. She almost made a scene when she no longer found the ostrich purse she had intended to buy - turned out one of my friends had been admiring it and put it somewhere else. What's the fun in old ladies if you can't fool them once in a while, right? But seriously, if I were a rich senior citizen, this is exactly how I would spend my days. Advanced Style-ing the shit out of Paris!


Now, the last shop, Boutique Odetta at 76 rue des Tournelles, was in a different league. First of all, this is a kind of vintage concept store. A tiny vintage concept store. It sells vintage furniture, clothes, accessories and a new line of leather goods. The selection is wonderful (special edition Chanel purses, labels à la Dries Van Noten on the racks) and beautifully curated. Sadly, all of this comes with a hefty price tag attached. Also, the owner scared the bejesus out of me. I was afraid to touch anything, let alone ask if I could take pictures. I didn't even dare take pictures outside, which explains the weird angle in the following photograph. But don't let that scare you: I'm just a big fat wuss. I recommend taking a look at the excellent website before you go, that way you get an overview of what they have in stock.