The date that dedicated Paris fashion shoppers have been holding their breath for – January 6, 2010 is the start of Paris’ famous winter sales.

Starting from January 6th, and for five whole weeks,  it’s Paris sale time and the season for good fashion bargains. From the Grands Boulevards to Avenue Montaigne and Saint Germain to the Marais, there’ll be irresistible buys at prices reduced from 20% up to 70% off!

Shopping in Paris..

Clothes, shoes, fashion accessories as well as furnishing, home decoration, cosmetics and more are all on sale during the Paris sale.  As there’s a wide range of shops for different budgets,  Parisian chic is within everyone’s reach!

Shopping Strategy

On the very first day,  regular and clever bargain shoppers will be making a beeline  for those one-off items at prices they can finally afford.  Stocking up on basics and low value items can be left for later.

Plan your sales strategy before you go by checking out the Paris Shopping Guide,  but make sure you have a shopping budget in mind so that you don’t start the new year in a big pile of debt.

Remember that Parisian chic is not about the price tag but how you put things together!

Bon Shopping!

Read more about Paris Sales HERE.
Travel to Paris by Eurostar

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Informed collectors and amateur lovers of things vintage and beautiful will be heading for the Salon du Vintage’s fourth event in Paris this November. Those who love vintage clothing and accessories will enjoy this fair and from the queue at the last show in April, it seems that there are a lot of fans.

Apart from hunting down your bargain vintage clothing, accessories and furniture at Salon du Vintage, visitors will also be able to see a retrospective of the “past revisited” from select pieces of vintage fashion, accessories and furniture that have been re-created to contemporary designs.

On the furniture front, you can see that the Tam Tam stool created by Henri Massonet in 1968 has a new life as i-Tam Tam, a creation by Branexdesign in collaboration with Apple – yes, the stool comes with an Apple i-phone. Fritz Hansen’s colourful egg chair is a re-creation of the famous Egg chair designed by Arne Jacobsen in 1958. The modern chair is covered with fabric that’s been sourced during the creator’s voyages.

The corset which was imported by Catherine of Medici in 1552 has its influence in a dress by Dolce Gabbana, a leather bodice by Yves Saint Laurent and a bustier at the House of Fendi.

Then there are accessories like fashion shoes, casual shoes and watches.

Salon du Vintage will be held at:

180A Boulevard Saint Germain
75006 Paris
Metro: Saint Germain des Pres

Date: November 14th and 15th
Time: 10:00 – 20:00
Entry fee: €7.00

Bon Shopping!

More on Paris Shopping

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Galeries Lafayette, the famous domed grand magasin on Boulevard Haussman, has just inaugurated its new 34,500 square feet women’s shoes department, giving shoe addicts yet another reason to come to Paris.

The new footwear department “the world’s largest, according to Galeries Lafayette” opened in July, and carries 150 brands of shoes, 75 of which are exclusive to the department store.

Galeries Lafayette aims to please

Galeries Lafayette, Paris

Sandals and boots are available all year round for shoppers travelling to different climates.   This is also great news for visitors doing travel shopping and whose home country climate does not align with Paris seasons. We were in Rome last month and couldn’t find any summer shoes at all!

Your Every Shoe Need

At the shoe department, there are also a variety of services are offered on site, from an artisan cobbler to a foot salon specialising in pedicures.  A foot care centre offers everything you need to take care of your shoes and feet such as special brushes, shoe creams in all colors, foot-care lotions and so on.

The showroom has been organised into five themed areas : fashion, contemporary, urban, luxury and upmarket. You will find an original range that concentrates the world of shoes, from the most affordable to the most upmarket, and from the most traditional to the most creative.

Shoe addicts and budding “Imeldas” – what are you waiting for!

Paris Designer Outlet Shopping

Source: Atout France Australia

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It’s sad to hear that Christian Lacroix’s business is facing closure after 22 years of delighting fashionistas with his very creative haute couture.  His recent Paris show is the last for a while unless he can find new investors to resurrect his very prestigious brand.

So if like Edina of Ab Fab,  you’re totally hooked on Lacroix,  and are out and about shopping at the moment, grab what you can as you’ll not see his creations for a while.

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Update from La Vallée Village – Paris

Get more savings out of your Designer Outlet shopping:  Chic Outlet Shopping outlets throughout Europe have entered into an alliance with Europcar which will give shoppers an additional saving of 10% on their 3 favourite brands.  This is available to La Vallée Village customers who rent a car from Europcar, one of the largest car rental companies in Europe.

To enjoy this offer, you’ll need to present your rental agreement or Europcar card (First, Privilege Ready, Privilege Business, Funway or Europoints) at La Vallée’s Welcome Centre upon arrival.  This promotion cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.

If you’re planning on a big shop or there’s a few of you travelling together, this may be a more relaxing way to go on a shopping spree without worrying about train schedules.  You’ll be able to shop till the closing bell sounds.

To get more information on Europcar, click here.

Shoe news

Designer shoe fanatics will be pleased to know that Jimmy Choo has taken up at La Vallée .  Some other shoe names include Clergerie, Feragamo, Bally, Paul Smith, etc.

For more Designer Discount Outlets in other cities in Europe and the UK , see our Designer Outlet Directory.

More on Paris shopping:

• Paris Designer Outlet – La Vallee Village – more on
• Paris Shopping – Les Grands Magasins of Paris, France
• Soldes by Paris – Paris Sales
• Where to shop in Paris?
• What type of Fashion Victim are you? Paris Shopping

Travel Signposts Blog

Well, when it comes fashion shopping, much of the pleasure comes from feasting your eyes on lots of different designer styles, seeing what’s on sale and then narrowing your choices down to the best buys and what you can really afford.  There’s so much to choose from in Paris and this calls for big decisions to be made – do I need the Prada bag more than some Jimmy Choo shoes, should I spend on more office suits or weekend wear,  what about that gorgeous Bvlgari necklace that’s indelibly imprinted in my mind!  Decisions, decisions, decisions … and the truth be told, most of us want everything! 

If you have a few days in Paris, then obviously you don’t want to be buying the first thing that you come across as there’s sure to be many nicer choices further along the way.  Also, if we were just to follow the Classique trail (refer previous Blog), then we may be missing out on some fabulous Trendy offerings.  So, unless the item you see is a ‘one-off’ and an absolute steal, then it’s best to do a reconnaissance first.  This is where the Metro system comes in handy.

Les Grand Magasins

Paris’ Metro system is very easy to use.  There are 14 lines, all colour-coded and it’s the best means of getting you quickly and cheaply to the various shopping precints.  Thanks to the availability of online maps, it is now so easy to find out where the streets are and how long it might take to walk or drive between shopping districts.  However, if you’ve never been to Paris before and would prefer to be accompanied on your shopping expeditions, there are shopping tours that you can go on. 
 
Avenue Montaigne, Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré and Avenue George V are the exclusive end of town and there are enough big names here to cause serious damage to your credit cards.  If you’ve analysed yourself as a victim of the Classique category, then this is your paradise and you’ll certainly feel at home with the luxury shops in these streets.  And, even if you don’t have the big bucks to splurge, it’s nice to walk along the wide pavements of these chestnut tree-lined streets and be seduced by the elegance, luxury and charm of the area. Looking is free, so why not!  If you’d like to check out the boutiques, it’s advisable to dress appropriately.  The French are very stylish dressers, especially at this end of town, so anyone daring to walk in with track shoes and daggy jeans will be looked down upon. 

Next area to check out should certainly be Les Grands Magasins in Boulevard Haussmann.  Here, upmarket department stores like Printemps Haussmann and Galeries Lafayette will keep you pretty busy with their floors of fine merchandise.  The stores stock the international branded designer names as well as local and upcoming labels and you’ll have a greater price range to work with here.  See our earlier article on Les Grands Magasins.  Trendies will find their styles in these stores. The good thing about department stores is that you can browse at leisure and there’s usually not enough floor staff around, especially at sales time, so there’s no one tailing you around and pressuring you to buy. The department stores also have nice cafes where you can rest your tired feet and enjoy a nice glass of wine and cheese plate before you tackle the next leg of your reconnaissance.  Boulevard Haussmann is a huge street and there are other trendy shops in this street so even if you’re finished with the department stores, there’s more to explore here.

What next after Les Grands Magasins?  Well starting afresh the next day, I would head out to La Vallée Village, a “unique outlet shopping village” located about 30 minutes from the centre of Paris, and 5 minutes from the Disney Parks. Over 70 leading ready-to-wear, table ware and luxury labels offer items from their previous season’s collections with a minimum of 33% reduction off original recommended price, up to a maximum of 60%.  La Vallée Village is currently offering up to 50% reduction on already greatly reduced prices so you could land some really good bargains here! You’ve already done two days of research in town and have a good idea of what’s available and prices so you’re set to make your purchases if you see things that you like here.

Set in a village-style open-air centre, La Vallée Village  has a Welcome Centre, cafés, playground area, tax-free shopping, and free parking.  You can get here by RER or hop on the Cityrama shuttles which come out here on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.  And, if you don’t feel like travelling back to Paris or you would like more time out here, there are several resorts in the area that you could stay at and maybe have a day out at Disneyland.  I wonder what’s scarier, the big dipper or the big dent in your bank account!

The possibilities are endless and we haven’t even touched on people who look for Creative or the Bohemian look.  Then there’s shopping for gifts and the food trail as well.  I reckon that after a week scouring the above districts, you’d be pretty shopped out or at least your wallet would be.  If anyone has any interesting Paris shopping experiences, tips or stories, I would love to hear from you.

Helen

Where to shop in Paris?
Soldes by Paris – Paris Sales
Paris Shopping – Les Grands Magasins of Paris, France
Paris Shopping Guide

Travel Signposts Blog

The French tourist authorities suggest that where you go to shop depends somewhat on the type of fashion victim you are.  If you acknowledge that you’re a fashion victim and need help in determining what type of victim you are:

 -  Answer five questions on their website in regard to your art, desert, music and film preferences and your next interior decor acquisition
-  Depending on your responses, you will be sorted into five categories of shoppers from Classique to Trendy, Creative, Bohemian-chic or Fushionfashionworld.
-  Once your style has been determined, there are five shopping itineraries to suit.

Everything seems to be measured by fives!

-  If your style is Classique, you’re looking for classics. You like French luxury and elegance. For you, quality is more important than quantity and fashion is timeless. Catherine Deneuve, Audrey Hepburn and Coco Chanel fall under this category.
-  For the trendies – you’re at the cutting edge of all the latest trends. You keep up to date by buying all the magazines. Your wardrobe changes every season because, for you, it is important to be fashionable. You’re looking at Carrie Bradshaw (Sex and the City) in this category.
-  Creative types like to hunt out new talent and look for clothes by underground designers.  Your friends look to you for advice on what will be in next year’s collections.
-  The Boho-Chics take care of their appearance and dress well, but are not obsessed about having the latest fashion look. This style is a mix of timeless basics and designer pieces.
-  Finally, the Fushionfashionworld types are globetrotters.  The globetrotter’s style is inspired by their numerous trips abroad. Whether it be Asia, Africa, Scandinavia they love ethnic mixes and fair trade. Stars in this category are indicated to include the Dalai Lama and Karen Blixen, although I can see any influence of the Dalai Lama’s global travels on the traditional buddhist monk’s gear that he wears.

I think that unless you are a ‘Carrie Bradshaw’ type, most of us are a mixture of the different styles, depending on the time of day and occasion. For example, I could be a Boho-Chic on Sunday afternoon, a Trendy on Saturday night and a Classique for that important executive meeting.  This then makes it difficult to decide which of the five itineraries to follow as they do take you to different categories of shops.  Also, one may be disappointed by following the Classique trail if you don’t have the Euros to match as shops suggested for this itinerary include the likes of Christian Dior, Jean Paul Gaultier, Givenchy, Bulgari, etc.  It also depends on how much time you have to do the various itineraries.

There are some 17,000 shops that you could possibly browse through so if your time is limited then careful planning is required.  I have my thoughts on how I would cover the maximum grounds possible in a set time, but would love to hear from anyone who’s at the sales or has been to the sales and have taken advice from the Shopping Stations. Did you get a copy of the Shopping Book?  Did you follow one of the recommended itineraries and most importantly, was your shopping trip a success?

Again, the amount of work put together by the French tourism groups is impressive.  More later …

Helen
Soldes by Paris – Paris Sales
Les Grands Magasins – Paris
Paris Shopping Guide

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Well the January 2009 sales in Paris is in top gear.  At boutiques and large department stores one can find the season’s collection at discounted prices.  As mentioned in previous blogs, the sales seasons in France are regulated and sales only occur in January and July. 

The sales go on for about five weeks and you can find reductions of between 20% and 50% on the original prices, increasing to as much as 70% on their final offers.  Visitors from non-EU countries can also benefit from a tax refund of 12%.  So whilst the Euro is currently extremely strong, all the discounts will help greatly in making your purchases a bargain.

Direction to the Grand Magazins

Apparently about 60% of visitors to Paris have indicated that shopping is one of the main reasons for visiting Paris.  So the people at the French tourist authority and Chamber of Commerce have taken heed of this and are pretty serious about making it easier for visitors to shop.  For the third consecutive year, the world capital of fashion is once again presenting Soldes by Paris, an initiative co-promoted by the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry Delegation of Paris, the Paris City Council, and Maison de la France. From the start of the Paris winter sales and for the first four days, visitors can take advantage of practical advice, gifts, reductions, services and information to make their shopping break in Paris even more pleasurable.

These are some of the initiatives introduced:

• Five shopping stations have been set up in the key shopping districts.  These shopping stations are manned by students from the Institut de Conciergerie Internationale to provide shopping assistance to visitors, such as giving directions from your hotel to the shopping itineraries of your choice.
• You can also reserve a handy GPS device which will guide you through Paris! These can be book through www.parisinfo.com.
• Cyclobulles are also available at the shopping stations.  You can enjoy a 30-minute ride in one of these electrically-assisted tricycles with chauffeur! Starting from the shopping stations, these environmentally friendly Cyclobulles will take you along the shopping itineraries.

These are pretty impressive initiatives to me and demonstrate that the French are serious about attracting shoppers to Paris.  More about Paris shopping in next blog.

Helen

http://www.travelsignposts.com/wordpress/france/paris-shopping-les-grands-magasins-of-paris-france

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If shopping is your passion, a visit to the grand department stores of Paris is a must. Parisiens are très chic and there are some really nice designer stuff to be had in the shops.  However, outside of the sales period, haute couture is pretty outrageously priced, and one daren’t even walk into those expensive boutiques along rue du Faubourg St-Honoré and avenue Montaigne in the 8th arrondissement as everything looks so precious. In the department stores you can look to your heart’s content and not feel out of place.

Kenzo

So, if your desire is to look like a million dollars, but you don’t have the Euros to match, the sales season is a great time to hunt down those shopping bargains.  These official sales periods are regulated by the government, and there are two major sales (les soldes) during the year, in January and June.

Galeries Lafayette

The big department stores slash 50-70% off many designer items and to compete for the shoppers’ money, other retailers are driven to follow suit.  Stores like Printemps, Galeries Lafayette and Le Bon Marché provide tourists with 10% discount cards, and these are valid in the sales as well. In addition to the 10% discount, non-residents of the European Union are entitled to claim back the 12% tax you pay on your purchases at major shops (le détaxe), if you spend Euro 175 in one day in one store. If you have a lot of different things to buy, you are definitely better off shopping in a department store where you can get the tax refund.  So, as you can see, the ‘savings’ are building up already!

As you make you way to Boulevard Haussman, all signs point to Les Grands Magasins.  Chaussée d’Antin – La Fayette, the station on Line 7 and Line 9 of the Paris Métro takes you right to Galeries Lafayette.

Galeries Lafayette

GALERIES LAFAYETTE: This grand Parisien department store is a must visit.  It’s history goes back 112 years and it’s the most famous and spectacular of Parisien department stores. Here you’ll find nine floors of brand names like Jean Paul Gaultier, Christian Lacroix, Thierry Mugler, Armani, Chanel, John Galliano, Prada, Sonia Rykiel, etc., and if you’re lucky, you might also see some just as famous shoppers in the store.

Galaries Lafayette’s main Haussmann store is believed to be just as visited as the Eiffel Tower.  With approximately 120 million visitors each year, it is considered to be the leading shopping centre of Europe.  Wait till you see its fabulous Art Nouveau glass domes.  Looking down at the layers and layers of luxury goods, you get a sense of being in fashion paradise.

La Terrasse Lafayette

Lafayette Gourmet caters for the gastronomical needs of clients and visitors and you’ll find all kinds of gourmet foods here.  You can taste the finest foie gras, caviar, pastries and flavours from all over the world.  Even if you’re not looking to buy any food, it’s an eye opener and very educational to see the range of mouth watering goods that can be bought here.  If seeing all that food has made you hungry, there are several restaurants on the various floors where you can re-energize.  We had a nice lunch at La Terrasse des Galeries, a rooftop cafe with excellent views of the city. Tony had the cheese plate and the cheese was just excellent.  From here you can also see its famous glass dome.

Printemps Dome

PRINTEMPS HAUSSMANN:  Down from Lafayette, at No. 64 Boulevard Haussman is The Printemps, yet another upmarket Parisien department store. You can shop till you drop here, but before you get to that stage, you can refuel at one of the store’s seven catering outlets which offer anything from a quick snack to more substantial fare.  DÉLI-CIEUX, a restaurant on the 9th floor offers light and original grilled and stir-fried dishes so you can dine and enjoy the great panoramic views.

C & A:  This store is also on Boulevard Haussman, If you don’t find anything that meets your budget in Galeries Lafayette or Printemps, and if you have any energy left, then look in this store which is more in the budget range.

Happy Shopping!

Helen

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