Island treasures at l'île st Louis

Paris is the capital of fashion and has been such for more than hundred years. Many, if not most of the world's celebrated fashion houses have had their main seats here for many years. With major shows and events like Paris fashion week, there's a lot going on related to fashion, from production, distribution and most importantly, consumption. This results in whole lot of raw materials for vintage stores and a high chance for visitors to discover real gems of bygone decades.

Allthough old clothes and funny hats can be interesting, there's nothing like finding a classic piece that looks just as stylish today as it did when it was new. With the number of vintage stores in Paris, there are some that specializes in these kind of items that never go out of style and is of a quality that lasts.

One of the ones with the most professional and knowledgable staff is located on ile st Louis. Here you'll not only find fine jewelry and watches from Chopard, Rolex and Cartier, but also luggage, bags and small leather goods from the most prominent names in the industry; Chanel flaps, a wide selection of Hermès bags, even some of the most coveted ones, and Louis Vuitton and Goyard, including a lot of limited editions.

Compared to some of the other stores, the selection at "antiquites de l'ile saint-louis" is limited, however all of their items are of exceptional quality and there's no need to worry about authenticity as experts like gemologists are employed when selecting goods to put up for sale.

Even if you're nowhere near Paris at the moment, you can always take a look at their current selection at www.isl-antiquites.com.

Their address:

Antiquités de l'Ile Saint-Louis
20, rue des Deux Ponts
75004 PARIS

Fleas, but no itch at Porte de Vanves

Ah, the flea markets... Either you hate them or love them. One thing's sure, there's always something interesting to see, whether that be the actual items or the people.

In Paris, there are several flea markets and the one at Vanves is one of the more famous and visited ones after les puces de paris at Clignancourt.





I should probably've known better than getting there around 11 o'clock in the morning. Vanves opens at 7am in the morning and closes at 3pm, but many of the merchants were already closing up when I got there. This means that to get the best deals and the nicest items you have to get up a little too early for my taste. I'm not sure my judgement would be half as good as usual at that hour either, and good sense and a well developped notion of what to avoid and what to get is essential at any flea market.













There weren't many nice items left when I got there, alllthough traces of what might've been good buys at the booths closing up. My favourite item was the above chandelier made in Venice. It was at a really good price and in perfect condition, but too cumbersome to take home. It goes to show that you can make a great purchase even at a rather ordinary market, despite being big, oustide puces the paris at st ouen, which rests the most interesting of all.