Palais Royal — the hunt

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!