La Veille Jupe Françaises

Posted by terraolsen on October 25, 2012 in Thriftin | 1 Comment

La Veille Jupe Françaises

By: Virginia Eader

People always ask me “Virginia, what is the best thrift shop you’ve ever been to?” (Actually only one person asked me this, and it was myself 5 minutes ago).

The answer to this question didn’t take much thought. I’ve been to a lot of thrift stores in my 28 years, but the one that stands out far above the rest in my mind was in Paris, France. Yes, I know, of course it was in Paris, because everything in Paris far exceeds anything else, but still. It was really, really awesome.

I found the place by doing a Yelp search in the Marais neighborhood, which has tons of unique little shops. The next day my only mission was to find this place called Free ‘P’ Star.

Even before I could get both feet in the door I knew it was going to be good. The place was jam packed with colorful vintage prints, lace, velvet, sequins, and old t-shirts (which to my dismay were mostly American). I was overwhelmed with excitement, claustrophobia, and the glorious smell of my grandmother’s closet.

As I made my way toward the back (I like to do a mental inventory of all the goods before settling in on a particular rack) I noticed a small gap in the floor where people seemed to be appearing from. Like some sort of Chronicles of Narnia trap door to another world, I took a good look around me and decided to follow the next person down the hole.

I lowered down onto the first steep step and onto the next following the spiral down. I couldn’t even get a good view of what I was stepping into because the staircase was so narrow and the woman’s big hair in front of me blocked my peripheral. But as soon as I got a glance I screamed  “QUE JE VIENS
DE MOURIR ET D’ALLER AU CIEL?!!” Or rather, I thought to myself “Did I just die and go to heaven?”

It was the BARGAIN BASEMENT, which was jam packed with boxes and racks full of the same killer stuff from upstairs. Now, a bargain in Paris, France is not exactly comparable to the bargain bin at your local Senior Center thrift shop, but  5-10 Euros from some old French stuff is a bargain in my book.

And I found one my all time favorite skirts there.

Quelle affaire!