Paris
CHINEMACHINE 100 RUE DES MARTYRS, 75018 PARIS +33 (0) 8 73 75 50 50.
Here’s a test of your mettle. if you can stagger to the very top of the spiral staircase at Abbesses, your reward shall be a little sortie onto rue de la Vieuville, for a sip of the eclectic boutiquerie this district is home to. If you can bear to, face the stairwell you have just reeled out of, hurl delicately into your handbag to settle your vertigo, and sally up the hill a bit, up to the left. Find Make my D…, at number 7, is an old locksmith’s workshop transformed into a boutique by the sister of French designer Barbara Bui: style in the blood. A ‘warm and sober’ (google translate) blend from over 20 European designers, it is a good mix of price, frock, knit and accessory. A little further on, Cinemachine Vintage. A trifle overwhelmingly hip, but fake up some backbone and push on through for a satisfying rummage. Vintage Cacharel! Yves! Mugler! all the good ‘uns. And next door, Spree. (Isabel Marant dress. Sigh. Tried it on. Sigh. 500Euro. Idea of spending that much money brought the vertigo back… and the smell from my handbag was ruining my ‘good tone’.) Keep roaming happily through these streets, many treasures to be found.
