Paris is renowned for being an incredible shopping destination; from the chic designer boulevards of Saint-Germain to the quirky vintage shops in Le Marais and the gorgeous patisseries that litter the city, there's an option to suit every budget. This is by no means an attempt at any kind of universal guide, I'm completely massively biased. SO, here are my favourite shops in no particular order.
COLETTE
Even if you can't afford anything here normally, Colette is marketed as a 'concept store' that sells a nice mixture of everything. From high-end fashion to cool phone cases through to those hard-to-find fashion magazines that I craved so desperately , there is something here for anyone remotely interested in art & fashion. To be honest, the majority of people just take selfies here and add it to their instagram photo map - it's become the 'place to be' and you'll probably bump into a celebrity or two during Fashion Week.
www.colette.fr
213 rue st honoré, 75001 paris
THE KILO SHOP
I CANNOT overstate the brilliance of this shop. You might be familiar with the vintage fairs that occasionally pop up in England flogging a bag of clothes for £15 - this is the same concept, and the largest store in Le Marais has two floors and is an absolute treasure trove if you're looking for a perfect vintage coat or a few silk shirts to layer up. Retro weighing scales are dotted around so you can see the price of whatever you want to purchase before you take it to the till - I bought my all-time favourite winter coat from here for 18 euros, so if you hunt hard enough you could land a bargain. Like any 'vintage shop' there's a fair amount of shit to wade through - think those gross shiny prom dresses that should definitely have been abandoned in the '80s - but if you're willing to dig deep and put in an hour or two, you'll reap the rewards.
www.kilo-shop.fr
69-71 rue de la verrerie, 75004 paris
GALERIE LAFAYETTE [HAUSSMAN]
This place is so huge and so well-known it even has its own Metro stop! It's basically a cross between Selfridges and Debenhams - think fancy food courts (where you can stock up on some of your imported British faves) and floors full of clothes which range from high-end to low-end. This is well worth a visit just for its Christmas displays - the year I lived there Prada collaborated with the store to take over their shop windows, decorating them with fluffy Prada bears and a range of adorable merchandise that was exclusively stocked there for a surprisingly reasonable price, so think of this as a tourist destination as well as a shopping Mecca.
www.haussmann.galerieslafayette.com
40 boulevard haussman, 75009 paris
7L
You may know this shop as the side-project of fashion's most famous eccentric, Karl Lagerfeld. Stocking a surprisingly diverse range of books from fashion to fiction to architecture, the shop is worth a visit just to pick up one of the ultra-chic tote bags that retail at a surprisingly reasonable 15 euros! There are also some cute Karl dolls and, of course, the infamous book of Lagerfeld quotes that overall make this a perfect destination for any Chanel fan.
www.librairie7l.com
7 rue de lille, 75007 paris
I LOVE MY BLENDER
It would be slightly too predictable to include the iconic Shakespeare & co bookshop on this list; instead, if you're looking to indulge in an English-language book and give your head mild respite from the relentless French language, come to I Love my Blender on the outskirts on the Marais. The owner hand-picks his English selection, and there are plenty of retro knick-knacks (think keyrings, board games) to pick up as opposed to just literature.
www.ilovemyblender.fr
36 rue de temple, 75006 paris
TEN BELLES
I found about this cute coffee shop courtesy of my darling American, Karen. After looking around for coffee shops in Paris that weren't just brasseries offering espresso, she came across Ten Belles, a (then) newly-opened coffee shop called Ten Belles, located on the famous left bank, the shop offers cracking coffee as well as a selection of tasty treats.
www.tenbelles.fr
10 rue de la grange aux belles, 75010 paris
