Vintage has the last couple of years not only become, chic and “bohemian-hippie-cool”, but also extremely expensive for what it is. I personally love to find cheap bargains and odd stuff that I can be the only one wearing, but there is a limit of how much I can pay, for something already worn, and maybe not always in perfect condition! You somehow start to wonder if people really buy a plain cotton second hand T-shirt for 10-15 Euros, when H&M has their T-shirts for 5,90 Euros and up..

There are some big fleamarkets in the suburbs of Paris, and a couple of really good vintage shops in the city.
Concerning the fleamarkets, you can find not only clothes and accessories, but also fabrics, laces or plasticbags full of cool and odd buttons! If you’re lucky you can negociate the prices, but normally they stay fixed, since the markets are well-known, (and famous in guidebooks) lots of people come and they know they can sell to a certain price. I like “Marché de St-Ouen” and “Marché de la Porte de Montreuil “, they are big and have a little bit of everything.

If you’re looking for vintage shopping you should stroll around in the popular 3rd, and 4th arrondisements, where you’ll find lot’s of small shops with clothes, accessories, and shoes…and so on..There are lots of tourists nowadays, so I guess the adresses of the shops are mentioned in various guidebooks, or magazines.
There is one shop in Montmartre that looks like nothing, but where I bought 5 pairs of shoes last summer. I paid 2 euros a pair, now that’s a proper second hand! My two sisters also found their happiness..But as when it comes for already used items, you just have to search, and search…there are a lot of things to go through before you find that little thing that got frozen in time, that needs to be revitalized…

For this winter, but maybe even more for next year, I think there will be a big inspiration of the 50′s and even the 60′s, with lots of coulors, the very neon ones, and also the pastel colors…You know, the creamy whites, the pale yellows, the pink-abricots, and the minty greens… I don’t know, maybe the haircuts will follow, that would be fun. Also some of the big shapes of the 80′s are sneaking up on us…
The big wave of “kitsh” and everything retro has been here a while, and I would guess it’s here to stay..
The thing is, fashion is like music, or any other art by the way, it takes its inspiration from things already seen or done…and is given a new “look” a new “touch” or even a new “name” in order to fit into the time we are in for the moment. To fit the people of the moment in other words…

Tags: Fashion

Posted on September 4