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- Le Corbusier

I think Le Corbusier must be the most famous architect in France. I was majorly hankering for a architectural tour, after visiting Alvar Aalto's studio and home in Helsinki last summer. I did a bit of Internet research, and Le Corbusier was the only architect who came up! In case any of you don't already know, Le Corbu is the most pre-eminent French modern architects.

In Paris, there are a few main architectural sites, designed by Le Corbusier. You can visit his house and studio, but unfortunately I procrastinated too much for that. Because of the timing, I was able to see Le Pavillion Suisse, La Maison du Brésil, and, La Cité de Refuge. 

Le Pavillion Suisse and La Maison du Brésil are pretty close to each other. They are both part of Cité Universitaire, a college in Paris that was created to attract students from all over the globe. They have a lot of other interesting buildings that are used for student housing, but these are the only two from Le Corbusier. I would suggest you plan on spending a morning there, and wandering a little, if you have the time.

Le Pavillion Suisse is open from 10 to 12 am, and 2 pm to 5 pm. What I didn't realize, before I visited the South of France, is that many take an extended lunch break.  

Anyway, I think I arrived around 11 am, and needed no more than 30 minutes to see everything Le Pavillion Suisse had to offer. 

So to backtrack a little, you need to take the metro or tram to Cité Universitaire. You enter, and there should be pretty clear signs to each building. Back when it was created, only Brazilian students lived in the Brazilian building, but now anyone can live anywhere. 

It is 2 euros to enter La Pavillion Suisse and you have access across the ground floor, and on the first floor in the hall, and in an orginal student dorm room.  It's definitely the least expensive museum you can visit in Paris, and well worth it.

This is the outside of the building. It's Brutalism at its best. You have to go kind of through the side to get in.  What's really incredible is that La Pavillion Suisse was built in the early 1930s.

Le Corbusier is so good at introducing nature into his work. 

All square. 

This is the student lounge, which was one of my favorite spaces in the building. It is so friendly and inviting with the beautiful mural and the Barcelona chairs.

Here is where you get your nature. I love the huge glass windows looking onto the outdoor space. 

This type of color combination is very typical of Le Corbusier. 

And onto the first floor! 

The halls upstairs are a little on the plain and stark side. 

This was the top of a small table in the hall. I liked how cheerful the painting was. 

Colorful doors at least!  

Imagine you were a student here, looking out your window. This is what it would look like. 

Charlotte Perriand was a Le Corbusier collaborator and designed this furniture. While it all makes sense functionally, I gotta say- I think the look is a little grim. 

Another cool tiled table. 

And here is the pretty fancy brochure I received. 

La Maison du Brésil is my favorite Le Corbusier building in Paris, and it is only 1 euro to enter. It is quite close, and if I remember correctly, their hours are slightly more lenient. This allows you access, just to the lobby. The lobby is fairly large, so that's good!

I really like the way this building combines concrete and color. 

I like how there is color on the ceiling. 

This is the pavillion outside of the building.  

a square window. 

Where students would get their keys. 

What's really stunning is the way the color reflects off everything like stained glass.  

Everything Le Corbusier does is very linear. 

This is where you can lounge. 

Lots of primary colors going on. 

I would imagine this is really pretty at sunset. 

I like the contrast of the grey ceiling.  

Some art. 

Some art from Brazil. 

This is the brochure from La Maison du Brésil. This one was built much later, in 1957. 

Here I am, enjoying the view! 

Next is La Cité de Refuge. 

I'm pretty comfortable in most settings and neighborhoods. What I didn't realize before visiting La Cité de Refuge before visiting it, is that it is still a fully functioning Salvation Army. The area is far out, and not very polished. It didn't seem dangerous to me, but just be aware of your surroundings. 

Take the metro to Porte d'Ivry and expect to walk for about 20 minutes once you get off along a long stretch of busy wide road.  

The outskirts of French cities are known for brutalist architecture, and this area of paris is no different. I noticed this beautiful concrete building for fire fighters on my way. 

This is the plack outside, explaining the importance of the building. It costs nothing to get in here... Because you can't get in! Please look from the outside.

I love the primary colors. 

it is all enclosed in chain link fence. 

What I love most about this building is the tile work and how vibrant the colors are. 

So that's it for now, and I would highly recommend visiting the three buildings.  

Paris- Palais Royal- Didier Ludot and Gabrielle Geppert

Palais Royal is one of the most beautiful places in Paris.  It is tucked back from the street and is known for its garden and it's open courtyard filled with small striped stands. It is also famous for its unique shops that continue around center. Two of these shops are Didier Ludot and Gabrielle Geppert.

Didier Ludot has two shops in Palais Royal. One is always open and is dedicated to more modern items. Think classic Chanel handbags, their corresponding tweed jackets, and Hermès silk printed blouses.  They also have a mix of other French designers here and it's all fairly well priced for what it is. Of course a Chanel jacket is over 1000 euro, but I also saw things that were priced around 200 euro to 300 euro, when I was there. 

The Didier Ludot shop you really want to go to, is by appointment only. If you want to dress in clothing that comes from a museum, this is the place for you. Basically everything they have looks like it would fit in well to the permanent collection at the Costume Institute at the Met. And it is all in perfect condition. For many people this shop is the holy grail of vintage.

They have basically every designer you could think of. It veers towards 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, but there is some more modern as well(if it's an extremely collectible designer). They have a lot of Pierre Cardin and Courreges, and the thing that is so wonderful about this shop is that they know the history of the clothing they carry. Think of this shop as couture quality vintage. It is priced accordingly. 

Here is an entire window dedicated to Hedi Slimane's work for Dior.

Didier Ludot also has a line of little black dresses that he sells. These are not vintage.

Gabrielle Geppert has a similar concept going on in Palais Royal. Usually she just mans one of the shops, and if you ask nicely, she will bring you over to whichever you like!

Her first shop is extremely well organized. Personally, I don't really go for the classic Parisian Hermès/Chanel look, but if i was going to, I would shop here. 

On the left, this shop primarily has accessories. They have a lot of the more timeless Chanel purses and they also have a great sunglasses selection. On the right, is the clothing. They have it organized by designer, which I guess is pretty easy when you only have Hermès and Chanel! 

I like that this shop feels curated and has a really specific point of view. It makes it easy to shop.

Gabrielle Geppart has a second shop that is dedicated to her tee shirts and other items with cute screen prints on them. 

The third shop is dedicated to true designer vintage. This is your shop if you like super wearable clothes and accessories from the 60's through 80's. Most of what's here is made from fluid, printed fabric. She has Leonard, Pucci, Yves Saint Laurent, and Jean Patou to name a few. There are a range of prices, but don't expect to find anything under 200 or 300 euro.

What I would say makes Gabrielle Geppert really unique is her selection of accessories.  I would say the accessories are less "designer" than the clothing, but everything in the shop has unique and quirky details. There are a ton of wicker and straw purses from the 60's as well as many leather and suede clutches from the 70's and 80's towards the back of the shop. There are also some shoes and a lot of interesting sunglasses. 

Gabrielle gave me this tee shirt, which I am very excited to wear on the beach in the South of France!

I think my Kate Spade dress and Marni sandals fit in just right!

Till next time!