Salon du Vintage Ages Well

6 Apr

Like good wine, the Salon du Vintage ages well as it enters its third year in stride at the Cours du Marais. Considering that I’m not usually one for vintage shopping, I was a little skeptical about attending it when I read about it on Heather Stimmler-Hall’s Secrets of Paris weblog. Considering that it is sponsored by ELLE.fr and that it was only 3€ (student rate), all I had to lose was my Monday lunchtime pastry.

Having attended the Salon du Chocolat and the Ethical Fashion Show, I was expecting something grand. So you can imagine the look on my face when I walked along rue des archives and came across a house that had a chic-renovated interior with posters advertising Salon du Vintage, and what seemed to be a security guard standing by the door.

Walking in, you immediately pass by one of the exhibitions (with haute-couture vintage items, featuring a limited edition Gaultier bag for 2500€ and YSL Rive Gauche ‘smokings’ for women) and enter into a crowded room of more exhibitions. To clarify, the exhibitions are spaces rented by the vintage stores found in the Marais, who bring an array of fashion items from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. I spent a good deal of my time on the ground floor looking at the designer clothes and costume jewelery that were on display. Certainly, there were deals to be had, but there were other deals that were just too bold to be worn anymore.

Heading up the stairs to the first floor (or second floor for the North American reader), I find a more casual scene. There are military inspired items, cowboy inspired items, baby clothes, and the casual. Of course, these items are far more affordable than those on the ground floor.

The small exhibit took me about an hour to get through; surely, the keen vintage shopper (which I am not) could have spent much longer there, looking at each piece ready to claim a home.