Colleen's Tips

Vintage-Second-hand and designer clothes

Consignment shops (dépôt-vente) are scattered around Paris. Other discount boutiques carry the shoe and clothes fashions that were modeled on a runway and never worn again. Some articles are prototypes.

If you have ever had a problem finding the common shoe size 7 1/2 - 9, well you have reached shoe size paradise. It is rare to find anything smaller or larger. You must keep in mind that 90% of everything is one of a kind.

What to bring

Bring your conversion chart for sizes; your Paris street book, the number 2 "Grand Plan de Paris" map (pick it up at the metro station); and lots of time. Oh, euros or a credit card will be helpful.

When looking for these boutiques, I strongly advise you to use a book with Paris street maps. An example of an excellent on is located on my guide book page "Paris pratique".

Looking for Vuitton -- almost all shops carry Chanel, but Vuitton? as the French say, ce n'est pas évident! (It's not obvious!)

I have found two shops that carry Vuitton regularly:

Reciproque (a virtual Ali Baba in disguise) -- the website might not work! and Scarlett - Achat-Vente.

Reciproque has seven shops clustered around each other on rue de la Pompe; around the corner from the metro of the same name along line 9 (Pont de Sèvres-Mairie de Montreuil) in the 16th arrondissement.

Reciproque carries fashion clothing (couture/designers, trinkets and gifts, antique and modern, men's and ladies' clothes).

List of addresses for Reciproque and what you will find:

No. 89 Gift shop: curios and Jewels 01 47 27 93 52

No. 92 Men's shop: garments, accessories and shoes

No. 93 Ladies' shop: cocktail, evening and party dresses

No. 95 Ladies' shop: day garments, furs and shoes

No. 97 Depot shop: (to leave your things on consignment) by appointment: 01 47 04 82 24

No. 101 Ladies' shop: hand bags, costume jewellery

No. 101 Ladies' shop: coats, rain coats, scarves

Reciproque Nicole Morel is open Tuesday to Friday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Scarlett

10, rue Clément-Marot - 8th arrondissement

01 56 89 03 00

(At this store, she specializes in Vuitton, Hermes and Chanel.) The French haute couture between 1920 and 1999 is by appointment only. They buy and sell accessories, handbags and clothing.

Scarlett

3 rue Chambiges - 8th arrondissement

01 47 29 56 19 or 01 56 89 03 00

This is the vintage boutique where you will find Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Chloe, Stella McCartney, etc. and collection pieces: accessories, jewelry, hand bags, clothing.

If you are going to La Vallée Village (outlet shopping mall) bring a copy of the Where magazine for an additional 10% on two brands.

La Vallée Village (outlet shopping mall)

RER A4 express train (Val d'Europe/Serris-Montevrain station from Paris (35 minutes)

Open 7 days a week, over 85 brands

Monday to Friday: 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Saturday and bank holidays (until September 30 ): 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Sunday: 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Closed on January 1 , May 1 and December 25

Guide dogs only.

Kiliwatch

64 rue Tiquetonne 75002

Metro: Etienne Marcel

Kiliwatch is a the corner of Etienne Marcel and rue Tiquetonne

Telephone: 01 42 21 17 37

Come on Eileen

16 rue des Taillandiers 75011

Metro: Bastille

Walk along rue de la Roquette

Telephone 01 43 38 12 11

Come on Eileen is three levels of clothes, shoes and accessories. Tons of stuff, requires lots of time to look. They only carry higher end in this store; Zara/H&M type clothes are sold at the Montreuil flea market. They carry a small selection of children's clothes.

Smells a bit musty in general.

Rag

81 rue Saint Honoré 75001

Metro: Louvre Rivoli

Telephone 01 40 28 48 44

Les 3 marchés de Catherine B

1 rue Guisarde - 75006

Metro: Mabillon

Telephone: 01 43 54 74 18 -

catherine-b@catherine-b.com

"In the heart of Saint-Germain des Prés, meet us at “Les 3 marches de Catherine B”, the only shop in Paris to offer so much items of the Vintage Chanel or Hermès. (Their website has an English version)--Paris tourist office"

Quidam de Revel

24 et 26 de la rue de Poitou 75003

Metro: Saint Sebastien Froissart

"The address for vintage Parisian. They carry jewelry, clothes, accessories, bags, conventional and unconventional products from the 1920s to the 1970s. (Their website has an English version)

In addition, they sell, rent, search and consult.

Clothing and accessory designers: Grès, Cardin, Courrèges, Paco Rabanne, Roger Vivier, Capobianco, Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel, Hermes, Emilio Pucci, Christian Dior, Charles Jourdan, Lanvin, Biba, Ossie Clarck, Bill Gibb, Gucci, Azzaro, Roberta di Caverino, etc.

Jewelry from Lalanne, Vautrin, Georg Jensen, Henry, Torun, etc.-- Paris tourist office"
 

Iglaïne
12 rue de la Grande Truanderie 75001

Metro: Les Halles

50soixante70

16 rue Caffarelli 75003
Open: Tuesday to Friday: 2 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Saturday: 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Metro: République or Temple

"50SOIXANTE70 is the idea of Philippe Nolde.

Born from a passion for an epoque and a taste for design, 50SOIXANTE70 tries to share this interest through a selection of furniture, lighting and decorating accessories characteristic of a style of living.--Paris tourist office"

Anna Lowe

104 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré 75008

Metro: Champs-Elysées or Clemenceau

Anna Lowe is at the top of rue du Cirque which joins Fbg Saint-Honoré with avenue Gabriel; or take avenue de Marigny and go to the left on Fbg. Saint-Honoré

Telephone: 01 42 66 11 32

Anna Lowe is an outlet for haute couture and ready-to-wear, including Chanel, Dior, Gucci, Lacroix, Prada, Valentino and YSL. Prices 40-60% below retail. Inquire about tax-free, plus discount.

Beautiful clothes - all new.

Advantage: more sizes in the back

Annexe des Createurs

19 rue Godot de Mauroy 75009

Metro: Madeleine, Havre Caumartin, Auber, Saint-Lazare

rue Godot de Mauroy is parallel to Vignon and rue de Caumartin - her website has a map.

Telephone 01 42 65 46 40

Great little store in two boutiques separated by a driveway.

Edwige Meister insists on no perfume smells on clothes.

She sells second-hand in the back and new products in the front. I couldn't tell the difference between the two.

Some of Edwige's haute couture labels include Chanel, Vuitton, Prada, Dolce&Gabbana, Dior, Hermès, Versace, Gucci, Prada, etc. with prices discounted up to 70%.

Depot-vente 17th

109 rue de Courcelles 75017

Metro: Courcelles

Walk up rue de Courcelles and cross avenue de Wagram

Open 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; 2:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Mondays.

Telephone 01 40 53 80 82

Second-hand designer clothes for men and women (Chanel, Hermès, Prada), accessories and objects for the home

Depot-vente Passy

14-16 rue de la Tour 75016

Metro: Passy

Telephone: 01 45 20 95 21

Griff'troc

119 blvd Malesherbes 75008

Metro: Monceau

Griff'troc is located as close to the corner of boulevard de Courcelles as you can get and boulevard Malesherbes

Telephone: 01 45 61 19 47

Women's couture and designer clothing, shoes and accessories at discount prices, with labels including Chanel, Hermès, Kenzo, YSL, Prada, Dior, Rykiel and others.

Miss "Griffes"

19 rue de Penthièvre 75008

Metro: Miromesnil

Telephone: 01 42 65 10 00

"Found behind a modes storefront on a quiet street, this is a two-level boutique that is a treasure trove of haute couture, designer and end-of-season clothing and leater goods for women from Armani, Lacroix, Prada, Ungaro, Valentino and Yves Saint Laurent. Discounts sometimes go as high as 50%.

Google maps to locate stores

Mappy to locate stores

Nespresso

For those readers who have Nespresso machines and are looking for a boutique to buy capsules here are four addresses:

126, rue du Bac 75007

3, rue Scribe 75009

45, avenue Victor Hugo 75116

41, rue de Prony 75017

From the Paris Tourist Office:
 

New Nespresso shop on the Champs-Élysées
Nespresso, Nestlé’s coffee subsidiary, will shortly be opening a new shop on the most beautiful avenue in the world, where visitors can browse or buy coffee machines and taste several varieties of the brew.

This 1,500m2 space entirely devoted to coffee is the latest exercise in a successful image-building campaign. The boutique has been designed as an invitation to a unique and unexpected coffee experience – a new way to awaken the senses.

Coffee lovers can bask in a welcoming setting where the keywords are intimacy, comfort, refinement, desire, discovery and taste.

In the interval before the shop opens at the end of the year, take a look at the huge canvas cover 20m-long and 5.50m-high masking the work in progress. During the day, a giant zip made up of about a hundred 25cm-high

Volluto coffee capsules opens up against a deep black background. The capsules and the Nespresso logo are illuminated at nightfall.

BOUTIQUE NESPRESSO
119 avenue des Champs-Élysées 75008

Pastry ideas

Best raisin bread

Paul, the boulangerie-patisserie, has the best raisin bread I have found so far. There was time when I thought Poulain (available in grocery stores) was perfect.

Ask to have it sliced (tranché) then it is great for toast -- especially with foie gras!

My favorite is made by Paul at 91 rue Saint-Antoine in the 4th arrondissement near Metro Saint Paul and costs 2,50 euros. Ask them to slice the loaf (no extra charge) or if you want want just a half loaf, ask for a demi.

If you are looking for the raisin pastry with the cream filling, ask for an "escargot".

Croissants- taste testing

Buying a croissant is easy. Trying to find the perfect croissant is, however, difficult and enjoying the perfect croissant requires guidelines.

Did you ever imagine that a simple pastry would involve such complications?

You may think that buying a croissant at the bakery (boulangerie) is a simple matter of point to it and pay. On the contrary, it should be an emotional experience.

Kitchen wares

If you like to search out cookware and utensils, the area around Etienne Marcel is the place.

E. Dehillerin is the closest one; practically next to Saint-Eustache and the Bourse.

They have a wide selection of Mauviel cookware.

Catalogs are available for downloading on their website (brand names are not given).

It is the green building mixed in with  the restaurants.

The other stores are located on rue Montmartre, the back side of St. Eustache.

Many of these businesses and the gourmet and foie gras/paté businesses are giving way to clothing stores.

E. Dehillerin (Experts in kitchen and pastry tools and cookware)

18 & 20 rue Coquillière 75001

Open Mondays 9 a.m. to 12.30 and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Tuesdays to Saturdays 9 a.m. to 6 a.m.
Closed Sundays and holidays

18 et 20, rue Coquillière - 51, rue Jean- Jacques Rousseau - 75001
Phone: +33 1 42 36 53 13

Fax: +33 1 42 36 54 80
Email: info@e-dehillerin.fr

photo from the E.Dehillerin website

Porcelain

M.P. Samie

45, Avenue Gén Leclerc
75014 Paris, France
Telephone 01 40 47 59 21

Open: 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Métro: Mouton Duvemet

"Everything for the home and decorating..."

If you are:

Looking for Limoges souvenir of the Eiffel Tower (15 euros)

Looking for Apilco porcelain

Looking for the dark blue Limoges knick-knacks or demi-tasse services

Votive candels by Philippe Deshoulieères (29 euros)

Looking for hand-painted gold lines on plates (15 euros)

Child's tea set (10 euros)

Baby shoes (1,95 euros)

They sell seconds here as well, thus, the lower prices. Apilco and Limoges and products by Samie are on three levels at this location. Many hand painted porcelains.

Ground floor: white porcelain; basement: permanent or ordinary dishes (seconds or end of series selection); upper level: more decorative pieces, not seconds.

Porcelain baby shoes at M.P. Samie

Miniature tea set

at M.P. Samie

Using credit cards

One of my readers ran into a problem with credit cards. Here is the scoop:

At the the Place d'Italie location, the customer service counter does not take CB (short for Carte Bleu). All of the other counters take your Visa and Mastercard.

Refer to your credit card as "Carte Bleu" (a generic term) not plastic.

Plastic in France is “Carte Bleu” – the phrase is used generically for Visa and MasterCard. AmEx and Diners are another issue and is different at each shop.

The phrase to find out if cards are accepted is: …peux regler avec carte…? Of course there is a longer phrase, but say this abbreviated version and you are understood. “Est-ce que je peux regler avec la Carte Bleu?”

All major shops now accept Carte Bleu. Otherwise, there is a sign posted that your purchase must be over 15 Euros.

Knitting supplies

Received a little help from my friends and have a list of knitting shopping hints for you:

Knitting translations translations available on this website in Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, French, Icelandic and Finnish:

Crochet translations translations available on this website in American English, British English, Italian, Spanish, German, and French.

The following tips are come from Susy -- her favorites:

Entrée des Fournisseurs 8, rue des Francs Bourgeois (in the courtyard), Paris 3e (Marais)
Mainly sells Rowan yarn and pattern books. Yarns are expensive, but high quality. Rowan pattern books in English. They "display a complete range of haberdashery items, including threads, diverse kinds of buttons (over 5 000 references), ribbons, soft furnishings, patterns, pearls, embroidery works, and so on (see “Products” on the website)." The website is available in English.

Lots of great feedback on this shop.

Anny Blatt Laines Pelote Depositaire - 40 rue des Francs Bourgeois Paris - Tel. : 01 42 78 65 65 ; the website is available in English.
Wide variety of yarn and patterns.

La Droguerie 9 - 11 rue du jour - 75 001 Paris - Tel : 01-45-08-93-27
At this location, sells La Droguerie yarns by weight (50/100 grams) and sells their own patterns (in French).

or La Droguerie at Le Bon Marché - Paris
Corner Rayon Mercerie
3ème étage
Sells all different brands of yarn and pattern books. Phildar, Rowan, Jaeger, Anny Blatt. Very helpful, knowledgeable staff.

Phildar
French yarn company. Many locations in Paris. Check website for addresses. Sells wool, cottons, blends, plus pattern books (in French). Prices are reasonable. (Printemps has a selection of this brand on the 7th floor. -- ed)

French knitting website Tricotin.com

This page on their website contains names, addresses and phone numbers of suppliers in the 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th arrondissements.

Both Laura and Susy supplied the name of Anny Blatt -- Thank you!!

Shopping guides

Shopping guides come in the shape of a person or a book. Two individuals who specialize in shopping offer both.

Jeanne Feldman

Jeanne has lived in Paris since 1991. During that time found out that shopping can be really different from what you might be used to, so to help others out she wrote a shopping guide.

In addition she writes articles for another Paris website.

"...Packed with insider information, Best Buys and Bargains in Paris shows you where to buy the best for less...."

Paris Best Buy Discovery Shopping Tours by Jeanne Feldman

With Jeanne's help you will "discover neighborhoods and stores that Parisians know about, but that are simply unheard of or are 'invisible' to the average tourist."

Contact Jeanne about her three-hour shopping tours in the Madeleine area, the Montmartre shopping tour and the fashion tour. You will receive an information sheet containing shopping tips and size conversions.

Rachel Kaplan

Rachel Kaplan, author of Best Buys to French Chic: The Insider's Savvy Shopping Guide to Paris, has designed a series of customized shopping tours ranging from discount designer fashion shopping tours to high-end luxury tours for the discerning customer. They published the 5th edition in 2007.

You can also download the electronic version of the book.

Bois de Rose design children's clothes (especially girls' and dolls' dresses). Their specialties are clothes for processions (e.g., weddings), dolls, smocks, night dresses, hand embroidery and accessories.

Champs Elysées open until midnight

Need make up? Clothes? CDs? A place to hang out window shopping? What to know the history of the Champs Elysées?

Visit the Champs-Elysées website to locate stores. It makes it easier to decide which metro stop you should use.

Here is a sample list of stores; most are open seven days a week:

Monoprix - 9 a.m. to midnight (not open on Sunday)

Yves Rocher - make up, body care, accessories until midnight

Paul - bread, sandwiches, pastries, drinks, etc. until nine

FNAC - CDs, DVDs, accessories until midnight

Sephora- make up until midnight

Marionnaud- make up until midnight

Stores in the arcades (Etam for example until nine; l'Occitane 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.)

Monoprix, however, is open only Monday to Saturday 9 a.m. to midnight

Les Champs Elysées is a fun and informative website with a map showing the location of individual stores.

When you click on "Useful information" and "telephone numbers" they provide a long list of their suggestions (every Paris website will vary). But you may find this helpful with emergencies, dialing in and out of France, credit cards, help in English, SOS lawyer, etc.

Conversion chart*

Quick reference:

1 meter = 3 feet, 10 meter = 33 feet. 2 meter = 7 feet, 11 meter = 36 feet. 3 meter = 10 feet, 12 meter = 40 feet. 4 meter = 13 feet, 13 meter = 43 feet ..

Bra sizes (found at the BreastTalk UK website ) Their cup sizing chart shows same cups between AA and D.)

Help with tons and tonnes and square meters and square feet

I found this all-inclusive private web address that includes everything you have always wanted to know about conversions or try the Google calculator: 

Centimeters into inches:

To find centimeters: Multiply inches by 2.54.

To find inches: Divide centimeters by 2.54

Kilometers to miles:

To convert kilometers to miles: one kilometer is equivalent to 1,000 meters or 0.62 miles. Thus 20 kilometers is about 12.4 miles.

Square meters - square feet:

To find square feet: Multiply square meters by 10.76

To find square meters: Multiply square feet by 0.0929

Tonnes to tons:

To find tonnes: Multiply tons by 0.9072

To find tons: Multiply tonnes by 1.1023

Useful measures:

Women’s dresses, knitwear and blouses :

Women’s shoes (chaussures):

Men’s shoes