Vintage in Paris

I recently had the opportunity to visit Germany and France, on shall we say a little inspirational voyage.
Both countries were very cool and also very different from one another. I liked both places equally but of course for seperate reasons.
It was my first trip to both countries. Germany was my first stop. I was super surprised  to discover that Germany had such a huge influence from the art nouveau period, with many of it's houses and buildings fashioned after this very creative, distinctive yet diverse time in architectural history.

Alas this posting is about vintage in Paris! France was next on the trip...Paris specifically...

 
I spent 10 days in this truly AMAZING city and the majority of my pavement pounding consisted of frequenting a many vintage atelier's and indie boutiques. Here are some shots of a few of the places I visited...

Generally speaking, Parisienne's are known for being chic and polished dressers (which is very true) but I was a bit disappointed to find out that, for the most part, the style is quite conservative. In terms of their outfits black attire is, for the most, part a head to toe kind of thing. 

With that said you still see individuals, doing their own thing...like these girls...they were freakin awesome!

Hats of all shapes, sizes and colors are worn by most...both men and women...which was VERY cool to see

hey! who's watching who here??

In the Marais shopping district, there was just one indie boutique after another...

This vintage shoppe (below) was off the hook! The small space was totally crammed with SO much stuff AND people! Regardless people still shopped (including me!) and everyone was pretty polite despite the constant dancing and shuffling around the floor. It probably had something to do with the RIDICULOUSLY low prices, which was very odd for a vintage boutique in Paris. I scored a couple of fur stoles for my sales associate and they were only 5 Euro's each!! SCORE!

Next stop a punk/80's new romantics/avante garde vintage shop (below) was very cool... I SO desperately wanted these men's metal tipped boots to fit me!! Gawd they were rad...

This boutique was so sweet and classic. I was very impressed by the owner's eye and careful selection. Not to mention her outfit! She unfortunately, but politely, declined when I asked to take her photo. Hands down some of the absolute best 1940's-1950's pieces...

Street art was everywhere...

I fell head over heals in love with this antique dresser (below)  covered in pony skin...most unique, bizzarre and absolutely beautifuly detailed dresser I've ever seen! It was like only 5000 Euro's or something...pffft

Last but not least...hands down the BEST vintage shoppe I went to. This place was basically like a museum. It had the biggest and most pristine collection of pieces from as early as 1800. Also the women who owned this shop was a total jem! She had a full rack of each decade from the 1900's onward...what a treasure of a shop and a total inspiration! But of course...it's hard not to be inspired by just walking down the street in Paris...the city itself is a work of art. I would highly reccomend it...