A Parisian Girl’s vintage shopping guide to Paris… (well le Marais really this time)

Saturday, I was taken to Paris courtesy of Eurostar with a few other fashion bloggers for a “Little Fashion Break”. There was an itinerary planned that involved a lot of interesting things for Londoners in Paris, to me it just meant “taking le métro on a Saturday”, so I went my own Parisian way. Spending the day in Paris wasn’t an opportunity for me to visit museums and discover the city, as it is where I grew up and it doesn’t really have any secrets for me anymore. I took it as a way to revisit my old habits, enjoy a quick catch up with friends and walk around le Marais, soaking up the atmosphere of my old neighbourhood. There is something very comforting about being able to jump on the Eurostar and spend the day in Paris, while still sleeping in my own London bed at night. Tiring, but comforting!

I thought this day in Paris would be a good opportunity for me to share some of my addresses with you, as I realised with horror I had never thought of doing this before… I can’t believe I did it with Stockholm before Paris. I am going to try and make it up to you now. I am mainly focusing on Le Marais, I will get around the rest in another post.

In the past few years, Paris seems to have woken up to Vintage… It went from having a few 70’s friperies boasting mainly groupie coats and Adidas shell suits to vintage shop saturation. These days you can’t walk in Le Marais without seeing a new vintage shop… but they aren’t all worth a visit. Here is my selection of places to visit:

La Belle Epoque, 10, rue de Poitou, 75 003 Tue-Sat 13h30-18h30. M° Filles-du-Calvaire.
This shop opened in 1996, way before vintage became popular, and it holds many treasures

La Jolie Garde-Robe, 15, rue Commines Tue-Sat 14-20 h. M° Filles-du-Calvaire.
This is a Parisian’s well kept secret worth visiting.

Odetta, 76 rue des Tournelles, 75 003 Tue-Sat 12-19h30, Sun 15-19h30 M° Chemin-Vert.
Opened fairly recently and offers a good selection of “modern vintage” mixed with last season’s designer pieces.

Photo by Alexandra Chalaud for Odetta

If you are feeling brave, you can go have a look in Free’p’Star, 8 rue Sainte-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie. Personally, I don’t like it that much, as they mostly seem to have 80’s polyester dresses and smelly shirts. The good point is that everything is cheap… But I wouldn’t want to pay more than €10 for their stock anyway.

Before I let you go, I would like to recommend a delicious restaurant called Monjul. I was lucky enough to be taken there for lunch by my dad once and it is absolutely delicious. Make sure to check it out if you are in the area!

Next time, I will give you more vintage addresses in the rest of Paris.

Thanks again to Eurostar for this little break.