As I told you in my last post I know Paris pretty well: I lived there for a while when I was a student but this last visit in October was my first real “vintage” experience in Paris.
The “excuse” to buy myself a weekend in Paris for my birthday was the Salon du Vintage in Paris: I was so curious about this event as I heard a lot of it during the past few years. It was a one-day event at the Carreau du Temple, in the République area, and the location itself deserves a special mention. It is a covered market built in 1863 re-opened only in 2013 and dedicated to be a public space mostly for fairs and different kind of events. If you are used to Italian or English fairs, let me say that it is quite different! I cannot really explain how and why but the atmosphere is incredibly classy yet grunge at the same time…it is a “first” for me as I have never experienced this before! Half of the Hall is dedicated to vintage clothing and accessories of all eras and for every pocket while the other part is dedicated to handmade artists (especially jewels) and antiques. Moreover, Olivier Châtenet, one of the biggest Yves Saint Laurent collectors, presented the exhibit LA COLLECTIONITE AIGUE with the evolution of the designer’s iconic bush jackets from 1969 to 1980.
It was possible to find striped shirts, denim shorts and a lot of American vintage for young people to designer coats and accessories mostly for lady but if you are around on the next event (planned for December but in another location) don’t forget to look for Dingue de Lunettes for vintage frames, the vintage pieces by Martine Rigole and Constantine Vintage and Hippy Market Vintage that you can also find in town in different locations. Personally I fell in love with Tilt Vintage coats: I spent there a lot of time trying almost all the faux-fur jackets and coats until I fell in love with a 70’s coat that traveled to Italy the same day (I will show you soon on the blog as the cold season is almost here!)
I also discovered a lovely French jewel designer who made the loveliest pieces in plated gold and leather, Ciell, from who, after a long decision over many of her pieces, I bought a golden bracelet that you probably saw on my Instagram/Facebook feeds lately!
I was surprised about the number of people visiting the place and leaving with bags full of vintage shopping (which I did too as you can say!) and considering the number of vintage shops that I saw (and visited) in the area of Paris where I spent the weekend – mostly the upper Seine river – let me say that Paris is more into vintage than what I imagined.
If you are in Paris make sure you look for a “friperie”, a sort of vintage store/charity shop where you can find great bargains as they are usually cheaper that the vintage shops. That’s why I want to tell you my favorite vintage stores (or friperies) of my area or at least those I could visit during the short weekend. First of all, if you are visiting the Centre Pompidou, a few meters away you can find Mad Vintage, a lovely shop full of beautiful dresses and skirts. From there you can head to rue de Rivoli to find Free’P’Star, it is a very tiny shop on two floors that requires a lot of patience because it is often full of people but where you can definitely find some great pieces. If you love kilo sales you can try in the same area and more precisely in rue de la Verrerie, Kilo-Shop Paris le Marais a huge vintage shop where you can find almost everything and buy it based on its weight; if you visit it during the weekends be prepared to fight a lot to see what they sell as it is packed as hell!
I wore a retro inspired handmade jumpsuit from Bloody Edith, Zara white shirt, Max&Co bag and coat, vintage shoes and a yellow handmade turban by Sine Modus.
theladybugchronicles.wordpress.com 