Toulouse- Vintage

Toulouse is a small, walkable, flat city. Really, you shouldn't need to take the subway anywhere here. I spent two nights in Toulouse and you don't need more than half a day to see all of the vintage stores there. Most of the shops are eclectic, not very edited, and most of all- well priced. None of the shops are "nice" and you will have to dig a little, but there are treasures to be found. Many of the shops are located all nearby each other.

Backstage Vintage was praised pretty highly online. Personally, I found the style to be a little too "model off duty". 

Groucho Vintage has two different locations. I'm not totally clear how they're different, but I think this location(the one on Place de la Bourse) is the more inexpensive of the two.  

Enter Groucho. Women's is towards the front and men's towards the back. On your left you'll find the good stuff. The right is mainly old mom jeans and sports tee shirts from America. I like Groucho because there is a lot to look at. The racks are packed. Condition and quality may not be totally there, but things are cheap, and you can find something great if you're willing to hunt.

Many printed dresses from the 1960s and 1970s. 

A common theme in many French vintage shops- white cotton eyelet and lace. 

Another common theme- hundreds of mariènere tops in all colors and stripe patterns.

If you're in the market for a leather jacket... 

And here is what I got! I can never resist red white and blue, and I loved the print mixing, pockets, and puff sleeve on this little cotton dress. It reminds me a lot of something Red Valentino would do.  

Jet Rag was missing some of its sign when I was there. I would say their style was a little casual for me, and mostly based in denim and Hawaiian shirts. A bigger selection for men than women.

This is Groucho's second location. It is a huge shop, taking up two store fronts. The selection here is still inexpensive, and varies slightly from the other location, in that there are more dressy items and the quality is slightly better.  

A rack of many, many trench coats is located in the front of the shop. 

Want cashmere? You can find any color here. 

Again with the white cotton eyelet and lace shirts. Very French. 

A selection of printed bottoms. 

Here, there are dresses, mostly from the 1960s.  

I loved the tonal colors, draping, and folded roses, on this soft cocktail dress. 

Lots of pins for sale. 

Earrings too. 

Au Bonheur des Dames is in a slightly different location of town than all of the other vintage shops, but still is walkable. It is located in an area, nearby all of the high street chains, as well as the designer shops.

I liked that their selection was the most edited in Toulouse. They focus in on traditional white French lace and cotton eyelet, similar to what you can find at any brocante. Their product is in perfect condition, and there is a good amount to look through. Pricing might be slightly higher than some of the other shops, but you can find most under 100 euro. They also carry a small selection of colorful vintage clothing, as well as a large selection of home items. 

beautiful French white lace gloves. They're would be great even just to use as decoration. 

I like how the inset lace trim breaks up the larger scale lace in this table cloth. 

The mannequin outside their shop bears their initials. 

Stacks and stacks of beautiful table cloths. 

Clothing is mostly on two racks in the front on the right, and toward the back on either side.  

If you only have time to visit one vintage shop in Toulouse I would pick Au Bonheur des Dames! Their undeniably French aesthetic is pretty charming.

Paris- Marché Au Puces Saint- Ouen/Clignacourt

The first time I came to Paris, I thought the vintage shopping was terrible. Dirty and tattered clothing at prices that were too high. Since then, I've found the right places to go with the help of some recommendations and the Internet. 

Le Marché Au Puces quite literally means the market of fleas. There are two major flea markets in Paris; Saint Ouen, also known as Clignacourt, and Vanves. Saint Ouen is open on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday of every week. I went on a Monday around 2 pm, and a lot was still opening. Some vendors never opened, and most closed up shop between 5 pm and 6 pm. 

I used to take the subway to the stop at Porte de Clignacourt, but realized that Garibaldi is actually closer. If you take the Clignacourt stop, you will have to walk through, what I would consider, a pretty sketchy market that has knock off cell phone cases and over bleached jeans. There are signs pointing to the direction of the flea market everywhere, so really there should be no reason to get lost. 

Marché Paul Bert is the first big market you will pass that has clothing. There are a couple smaller ones before this, but they only have home items. 

This is the map for Marché Paul Bert. Honestly, it seems a lot more chaotic when you're inside, and I don't think I've ever gone down every row. 

If you want beautiful home furnishings, Marché Paul Bert is the place for you. These are just a few examples of rooms I loved. 

If you need statues... 

This beautiful little jewel box of a store is located in Marché Paul Bert. It is called Les Merveilles de Babellou. This shop is expensive, but it makes sense for the quality. On the low end, you can get a Yves Saint Laurent silk printed top from the 1980's for about 150 euro. Most dresses are around 600 euro, but they can be over 1500 euro if they are really special or embellished. They also have a great jewelry selection which includes a lot of Chanel.  This is a shop I've been to before, and I would definitely go back to again.

They have a good selection of shoes, if you're into that.  

Some jackets towards the back of the shop.  Chanel tweeds galore.

A pretty selection of dresses

This was my favorite section. Very colorful. The striped skirt and the geometric skirt next to it were both Yves Saint Laurent.  

This was one of my favorite dresses in the store. Unfortunately I think it was between 600 and 800 euro. 

More beautiful furniture next!

If I had higher ceilings, I would own this chandelier. 

I love the cactus sculptures! 

This store is called 112, which is their stand number. If you want vintage Comme des Garçons or Yohji Yamamoto, this is the place for you. 

I had no idea Merveilles de Babillou had two shops. I prefer the other one, but both are worth checking out. 

Good jewelry at this location. 

Marché Serpette is another big market in the Marché Au Puces.  

As you can see, many shops were closed since it was Monday.  

I have been to Artemise et Cunégonde before. It is a pretty cute shop and has good quality items. Over all, a little less expensive, but still not cheap. Like most French vintage shops, they are heavy on designers like Chanel, Ungaro, Dior, and Yves Saint Laurent. 

I like their hat stands! 

Little yellow Chanel jacket. 

This is the shop for you if you want Hermes or Louis Vuitton bags or luggage. 

I love this shop's pink walls! And they have a lot of cute designer vintage, really similar product and quality to some of the other shops I have already mentioned. 

Another great home shop. I love the wall hanging! 

You exit the market, and will find a street called Rue Paul Bert. Here you will dig. There are treasures to be found, and it is quite inexpensive. 

More grungy items, like rocker tee shirts.  

Floral house dresses. 

This shop on the corner was my favorite on this street. 

Michelle Leon had a lot of interesting items inside and outside of the shop. I was tempted by a tennis racket printed dress by Guy Laroche.

There are racks in front of more racks. It's hard to see it all. 

This Victorian shirt was starched to perfection. 

I have been to Gilda before. She has a small shop in the Marais. From what I remember, that shop is all vintage. This shop is a mix of vintage and new "retro" items. The guy working there was super helpful. The quality here is pretty good, but not designer level. It is inexpensive though and there are some finds to be had. 

I bought this dead stock dress from Côte d'Azur. It reminded me of Prada with the funny eyelet sleeves and the khaki colored print.  It was only 65 euro!

Marché Dauphine, was the first market I ever visited in Paris. There is some clothing on the first floor, but nothing I have ever found exciting. I would focus on the trim/jewelry/accessory shop on the first floor, and, on the clothing shops on the second floor.  By the way, they call the second floor, the first floor in France.

I had been by Daniel et Lili before, but never really taken much notice. Boy, was I missing out! On the left, against all the walls, they have bins with barrettes. On the far side, they have bins with jewelry. Most items have multiple available and they are all vintage from various decades. 

This is outside the shop. 

They have some clothes, but nothing super exciting. 

These are the bins I was talking about. Each card is labeled with a letter, which corresponds to a price. 

One of my favorite bins to look through! 

I bought this incredible barret for 31 euro. It reminds me of Miu Miu or Valentino. FYI- this place is cash only, so be sure to visit an ATM first! 

This glittery four leaf clover is so fun and modern! And only set me back 18.50 euro

Who could resist a Tahiti barrette, especially at 9 euro. I will wear this all the time! 

Upstairs, is one of the better shops for clothing in this flea market. It is called Falbalas and everything is pretty well priced. There is a ton of selection, and it is organized all by decade. Be careful to really look at condition, if you plan on wearing your purchases. Again, another cash only establishment. 

On the left is where you can find men's clothing and items that are really really old. 

In the hallway is the sale section. 

They have mannequins in the entry way to show off some of their more special pieces. Not sure whether these are also for sale. 

I feel like I'm at a museum! 

I love this detail. Would look great on a shirt today! 

Here you can see the 1960's and the 1950's racks. 

Love this Egyptian inspired collar necklace. 

I have never seen vintage shoes in such good condition. 

There are a lot of other shops on the second floor, I would reccomend taking a quick look through each. 

I really loved the details on this dress. And it was less than 60 euro. 

The hem is pretty too. 

Fancy handbags. 

Wish I had room for this guy in my apartment. He is on the first floor.

A friend gave me the recommendation to go to Chez Sarah. I hadn't been able to find much about it on the Internet, and I almost missed it. It is located in the Lecuyer Valles market which isn't listed on any of the signs, so please look it up before you go.

If you can only go to one vintage store in Paris, go to Chez Sarah. If you can only go to one vintage store in the world, go to Chez Sarah. It isn't cheap, but there are a range of prices and you are paying for great quality. They have basically any and every designer you've heard of, as well as ones you haven't. Prices start from around 60 euro for a simple cotton eyelet top, and range to thousands for a gown. There are a lot of dress options that ring in around 300 euro, though you're looking at closer to 700-900 euro if you're looking at Dior. 

I could spend months inside Chez Sarah. The shop is on both sides of the isle and continues from where I am standing, to the very front of the photo. They also have linens and vintage fabrics on the side on the right, when you're facing the front of the store.

Chez Sarah has a strict no photos policy inside, so I took some from the outside! This gives a good feel of what kind of clothes they sell.

The gowns. 

It goes on, and on, and on. 

If you go to Paris, absolutely go to the Saint-Ouen flea market. The great thing about it, is that you have so many stores all concentrated in one location. I would plan to spend all day there, if you have the time- and you will come back with treasures you would never find at home!