Champagne Supernova: Rue de la Verrerie; Best Thrifting Street in Paris?

Hiii!

The city of love is just as expensive as you would expect. With all the boutiques, brands and price of rent, I pretty much window shop at groceries, most of the time. Also, the selection is weirdly boring. Outside of shops specifically for alternative clothing, everything seems to be beige, white, and too simple.
Weirdly enough, this made me appreciate Brandy Melville as they have at least some identity and I can realistically purchase their clothing. Also, it´s my sister´s favourite brand, so it makes me think of her.
Good thing that there are thrift shops! Vintage, cheap, specifically just Japanesse… they have everything. However, Paris is gigantic. You could easily spend 30 minutes in the metro between two stores, and that kind of sucks the fun out of the shopping day. So today, I will talk only about one of my favorite streets - Rue de la Verrerie.

It´s only a nice walk away from rue Keller, or one station from Chatelet, so you can get there pretty easily. It´s also in Marais, one of the best parts of Paris. It has a long history full of students, therefore it has a lively atmosphere and is almost cheap.
If you go there by metro, leave through sortie Rivoli or Renault. Hotel de Ville is a trap, you will get lost there. Amazingly, if you don´t really want to follow navigation, you can just look if there is not any cool-dressed person going in a certain direction. I found out that fashionistas on budget always go to Rue de la Verrerie. You can see it as a good the sign, but it also means that shops are going to be clogged and some people really don´t know how to behave.

You will be greeted by Kilo Shop. They don´t have the worst deals or selection, but there is certain scam feeling, so I don´t frequent this one.

Same can be said about Kilo Kawaii Shop, except for the latter. I go there everytime I´m near and they are open. Now, most of their stock doesn´t live up to their name. I wanted to visit this place since I was 15 and was supposed to go to Paris, so of course I wanted some Harajuku goods. The trip did not happen, but I would be probably little bit dissapointed at first.
You can more or less skip the lower floor and go up the stairs, as this is where magic happens. They have nice knits selection, surprising collection of black velvet pieces (it´s so hard to pass that one) and then the most amazing thing, reason for this store to exist. Rack with Japanesse brands.

You can find gyaru, himekaji, jirayi-kei, hell, even some punk clothing there. It´s sortet by colour, but I would advise you to go throught the whole thing, This is how I found Emily Temple Cute pajama once. It was a knitted nightgown with a fur trim, but it felt too worn. I would salvage it if I had a laundromat, but I don´t so I left it there. Of course, they also had Lis Liza and other smaller and bigger brands. It should be 30 euro/kilo.

They have also a shitton of slip dresses, popcorn tops rack and much more. When it comes to material, I would say that this shop is probably the most varied.

Once you go there, you can visit Lily Vintage, I never went there, because the front looks too scammy, but once you get inside, it´s not that bad. I really hate the interior, it feels little bit like hospital, but they selection is cool. Right now, they are big on plaids (19 euro for mini skirt), so if your little punk heart wants some, this is the place to get it.

They are also in possesion of some gorgeous platforms. This is good shop for a quick stroll. Their clothing selection is not the best outside of few highlights, the prices are overblown and the nonexistent atmosphere does not help it.

Now you are in a middle of the street and there are three shops left. All of them are Free´p´Stars. All of them have their unique personality, easily seen even from the outside. Those are the ones that the cool people go to.
Prices start at 5 euro in all of them, but they have pits with deals for 1 euro. You can find a scarf, a velveteen dress, summer cami and much more there. I don´t think stock actually varies that much thorought the shops, and everything probably travels through all of them.

Still looking for a perfect blazer

It´s also very seasonal. During summer, there were dirndls, lacy tops and a lot of long black velvet skirts for some reason. Now there are plaid skirts, kitschy Halloween sweathers (my love) and furs. If you don´t mind the slightly worn feeling and the typical odor on your coat, you can find (probably faux) fur there for 25 euro, in black, brown, beige, … it´s up to you.
After working in a second hand, I personally can´t get behind the slight smell (I promise it´s not so bad in Free´p´Stars, it just triggers something for me), so I just got a normal, practical coat.
Whoah, what? Me, splurging money I´m saving for my last weeks to have some fun? Yes, because I´m freezing to death at this point. I´m not lying when I tell you that those shops are literal life savers.
Practically new coat for 20 euros? The cheapest one I found in normal stores was 49. If you really need to replace something right now, I would advise you to go to Rue de la Verrerie. Or if you just one to have some fun.

My new coat in Musée des Arts Décoratifs
Black on black on black doesn´t offer the best overview of details

Free´p´Stars also carry some gorgeous vintage. I have seen this burgundy 60s dress, and another plaid one few weeks prior. I really do regret not buying the first one. Maybe I will just need to go back.

In conclusion, this street is definitely a must visit in Paris, even if just for the Free´p´Stars. For many of as, it´s the only way to get some clothing in this ridiculously expensive city, but it´s also stylish and fun. You can spend more than hour, just going through racks, listening to mostly good music. Last time, it was a lot of The Cure and The Smiths.

Source

I found some really cute things outside thrift shops too! Last week, I stumbled to Monoprix and this is their Autumn collection.

I really wish I had a house so I could store all those cute boxes and glasses! Hopefully, when I come back to Olomouc, I will be able to find something similar.

If you want to see more haute end of fashion, consider visiting Samaritaine. They carry luxurious brands, but also a gift shop, few cafés and, what is more important, it´s in gorgeous Art Noveau style.