The Walkable Weekend: The Ultimate Paris Luxury Vintage Shopping Guide
The best shopping adventure of your life: Where to go, what to skip, and the surprising #1 store for luxury vintage.
Hello, I’m Julia—a design-world person, formerly of NYC, now living in my favorite city: London. I am an interior designer and journalist, and I co-founded The Design Release, where we cover the collectible furniture industry and the best design fairs and exhibitions year-round (our goal: to make you a design-world insider). I started this newsletter to explore my other passions: hunting for vintage clothing, city guides, beauty, jewelry, wellness, product round ups, and interior design tips. I hope you enjoy it.
Paris is the best city on earth for shopping. You know it, I know it—it’s just a fact. I usually visit during Design Week, and with so much happening, I barely get a day to myself. But earlier this month, I went for Matter & Shape (recap here), a unique new design fair held at a much better time of year—during Fashion Week. I think this was my first time experiencing Paris during Fashion Week, and it was as good as it gets. The weather was warm and perfect, friends were in town from all over, and I even had enough downtime to sit at the Ritz and people-watch for two whole hours. It was perfect.
As I mentioned, the fair brought me to town, but my real priorities were: finding the best French onion soup in the city (failed) and hitting every single luxury vintage store in Paris to review each one. I thought I could do this in a day—it took four. And I only made it through central Paris, working my way toward Le Marais.
Also—I’m not just passionate about vintage shopping, I’m passionate about a good, long walk that will cause irreversable damage to your knees. I love a serious stroll, and in Paris (where I spent four days), I clocked 30,000 steps each day. I hope you’re impressed, and I hope your body is ready.
With that in mind, I wanted to make this Ultimate Luxury Paris Vintage Guide as walking-friendly as possible, so you can start at my starting point and meander your way through the city.
A few notes: In my opinion, the 9th & 10th Arrondissements (where this route begins) offer the best selection at the best prices. Le Marais (or the 3rd & 4th Arrondissements) has the highest concentration of shops, but since it's a major tourist destination, the prices reflect that. Be warned—some stores sneak in fakes. Don’t buy a random knit Chanel dress off the rack for €100. It just ain’t real.
And finally—the best vintage shopping in the city (which may surprise you) is at the bottom of this list as your last stop. These final two deserve their own day.
My favorites are starred ⭐
Here we go:
9th & 10th Arrondissement
Iregular | 16 Rue Victor Massé, 75009 Paris
Great first stop for unique vintage pieces, small and curated. I’ve seen some good Prada here (I am always on the hunt for Prada).
Retro Chic | 57 Rue Condorcet, 75009 Paris
More vintage designer here. Nice selection of Chanel bags.
⭐ Madones Vintage | 28 Rue Condorcet, 75009 Paris
The owner, Philippine, a former Architectural Digest editor, has a fabulous eye and a wealth of knowledge. Expect a ton of Courrèges tops, racks and racks of YSL blazers (~€450), and a mix of pre-Karl and Karl-era Chanel bags.
Le Boudoir | 51 Rue du Faubourg Poissonnière, 75009 Paris
A small quick stop. A good selection of Chanel and Manolo shoes at about €200, and fur coats.
🚶♀️Walk to the 10th arrondissement (5-10 min.)
⭐ LOUISE Paris | 10 Rue de Lancry, 75010 Paris
I love this one. It’s very Chloe, very girly. The top floor has luxury dresses and shoes, and the bottom floor has contemporary brands like Sandro.
⭐ Thanx God I'm a V.I.P. | 12 Rue de Lancry, 75010 Paris
My friend who works at Celine corporate told me about this one ages ago, it’s a real destination. I would say it’s more authentically vintage rather than luxury, well priced. Lots of leather handbags, and a great place to get wool trousers or blazers and silk tops. It’s organized by color so it doesn’t feel like you have to dig too much to find something you love.
⭐ The Archivist | 13 Rue Taylor, 75010 Paris
Well-curated, cool kid store with brands like Comme des Garçons, Issey Miyake, Prada Sport, and Yohji Yamamoto.
🚶♀️Walk to the 2nd Arrondissement (10-15 min.)
2nd Arrondissement
Bobby | 89 Rue Réaumur, 75002 Paris
Lots of skirts and tops, but be mindful of authenticity. I would shop here for non-luxury pieces. A good one if you like to dig around a bit.
⭐ Amarsi Vintage - Vintage Designer Archive | 110 Rue Réaumur, 75002 Paris
Curated selection, strong Y2K influence, lots of vintage Yves Saint Laurent.
Opulence Luxury & Vintage | 107 Rue Réaumur, 75002 Paris
Very high-end, tiny shop with mostly Chanel bags, and some jewelry. Not that interesting (Chanel bags are not interesting to me at all), but you might find the vintage handbag of your dreams.
🚶♀️Walk to the 3rd Arrondissement (8 min.)
3rd & 4th Arrondissement (Le Marais – Most Vintage Shops!)
⭐ Plaisir Palace | 3 Rue Paul Dubois, 75003 Paris
A great collection of Alaïa, Saint Laurent, and Courrèges in a very cute little shop.
⭐ Demain Rétro | 154 Rue du Temple, 75003 Paris
Well-curated, very Y2K and minimalist. I like this one a lot.
Chez Snow Bunny | 12 Rue Dupetit-Thouars, 75003 Paris
Very cute and small shop, curated 90s/2000s. Overpriced Fendi handbags. Cool sunglasses.
Very chic store, great curation, ok prices.
(at this point these all start to feel the same)
Nuovo | 130 Rue de Turenne, 75003 Paris
Edgy and cool. Lots of vintage Plein Sud.
Dressing Particulier | 1 Rue de Normandie, 75003 Paris
True vintage - not everything is luxury, lots of colorful clothing, some Ralph Lauren Collection.
⭐ The Parisian Vintage | 20 Rue Saint-Claude, 75003 Paris
Top five for me. I loved the curation here, very chic and sleek clothing. Reasonably priced, and has a great selection of vintage YSL, Prada Christian Lacroix. For the luxurious minimalist.
Open Dressing | 63 Rue de Turenne, 75003 Paris
Great luxury options. Hermès, a lot of LV shoes. More of a digging situation here.
Fancy | 65 Rue de Turenne, 75003 Paris
Small shop, Y2K style, a little over-priced.
THE ROOM | 71 Rue de Turenne, 75003 Paris
Great selection, mostly high-end and expensive vintage. Lots of little black dresses and coats.
🚶♀️ Final stop in the 4th Arrondissement
Come on Eileen → 40 Rue de Rivoli, 75004 Paris
For those who like to dig, this one can have some serious hidden gems.
The Winners 🏆
Eventually, all the Marais stores tend to blend into one, all sort of showcasing the same early 2000s JPG and Courreges styles. The best vintage selections I found, were in the department stores.
9th arrondissement of Paris, Opéra
⭐⭐ Galeries Lafayette Haussmann | 40 Bd Haussmann, 75009 Paris
On the 3rd floor of the Galeries Lafayette department store, you’ll find (Re)Store, their section featuring vendors and curators of vintage clothing. There are some luxury pieces (mostly handbags or sunglasses here - maybe a few dresses), but the clothing selection is great, and the pricing is extremely reasonable (especially after a day in Le Marais). I think it’s because the department store is offering cheaper rent perhaps to show their dedication to “responsible fashion” as they call it.
⭐⭐ Printemps Haussmann | 64 Bd Haussmann, 75009 Paris
The holy grail of luxury designer vintage! Wow I almost fainted when I finally reached the 7th floor of Galeries Lafayette’s neighboring department store, and not just because I had to climb stairs. It was every handbag I have ever wanted, every shoe I had on my real real wishlist - it was excellent. Prices were reasonable (I suppose perhaps for the same reason - somewhat subsidized rent for the vendors? Although I’d be surprised in this case).
We have reached the end of this journey and I hope you enjoyed it! Next up in my Paris series, I’ll hit the shops below the Seine. Stay in touch!
Julia
I went vintage shopping in Paris last year and it was awesome except everything was like a size 2 😭😭😭
Just in time for my trip to Paris in a few weeks! How does Substack know… 😝