Les Puces des Saint-Ouen

 I actually visited Paris a few months ago when my relatives came visiting Europe. Of course I have seen the Eiffel Tower and the other tourist attractions but Les Puces des Saint-Ouen was the place I wanted to see the most. I saw this market first in a glamour magazine where they recommended flea markets from all over the Europe. A friend of mine also told me that I should definitely go and check it out because she really liked it. So I deemed this my number one destination. 
So after getting off the tube we had to walk through those stands where a lot of people sell those fake LVs and Pradas and shoes for like 5€ a pair. I thought it was kind of annoying because they obviously could tell that we were tourists and thus were extra persistent. 
But after passing a few alleys we finally found it and it was like another world (at least to me it was..). It was very calm and quiet compared to the streets we had walked just minutes ago and the things that were sold were really antique and pretty! I could've been there for hours if I'd gone there alone! It was a flea market paradise! The passageways were really narrow and old. You could buy everything: toys, clothes, jewellery, bags (second hand Chanel bags that my aunt loved), chinaware, huge antique doorknobs and basically anything you could imagine. 

What I LOVED about Les Puces was this  "I've-stepped-into-another-world" feel. I was really mesmerized by the surroundings and the whole atmosphere plus the weather was very nice,too.

The people were very nice and I could tell that they were proud of their goods. Nowadays you see many sellers just offering whatever but they were more like selling what they`ve treasured and collected over the years. None of the stuff I saw was in bad condition. 
I also fell in love with a little jewellery shop where I purchased clip earrings and a necklace. The dust on the products was very charming.

I am definitely a fan of Les Puces de Saint-Ouen, my love!

Paperworks

Issey Miyakes fashion show from his Fall/Winter 2011-2012 collection shows the potential of paper combined  with fashion. Through the whole show the children's song "Twinkle twinkle little star" is playing in the background while the models get ready to slip into their outfits.
Paper is actually a very good material to work with because there are different kinds to choose from and the folding techniques are practically limitless. Miyake's work is simple yet impressive. Although it looks like it would be a piece of cake to fold these, it isn't.

Due to fashion school I am grappling with it myself at the moment and it SERIOUSLY is so difficult to fold the paper the way you want, especially when it is a large piece. What's even harder to do in my opinion is to transform it into one wearable piece without ripping the whole thing. 

My first attempt on this whole paper topic. I am not satisfied ( my professor even less) but there are only two weeks left...

Holy Shit Shopping

As I was trying to find a good flea market I searched the web and came across this: Holy Shit Shopping. I don't know why it is called that but "Holy shit! Where's the f*ing entrance? Holy shit! Why is there a queue? Holy Shit! Why is everything so expensive?" could be reasons for that title.

I even saw one girl take one of these posters...

 As you might have assumed -  yes, once again we had trouble finding the location although the description on the internet clearly spit out "Messehallen Hamburg". But what we didn't know was that it is a freaking huge building with an even bigger fence around it. So we (of course) arrived at the other end of it and had to walk more than ten minutes to get to our destined place.
What we saw was a mass of people lining up to get in, which meant that it cost us an entrance fee of 3€. Acceptable in my opinion considering that Holy Shit wasn't a flea market at all. The place gathered young designers mostly from Berlin and I also spoke with one from Korea. 
They sold accessories, clothes, hosiery, postcards, illustrations, bags -  all self-made, -printed, -drawn. Very impressive. The prices are actually appropriate.

My sister
Scarf - knitted by mom
jacket - khujo
shoes - Dr Martens
backpack - Fjallräven Kanken

My friend
scarf -  knitted by mom
shoes -  adidas
bag - N/A
jacket - ZARA

Flea Market - Hamburg Altona

Yesterday, my friend, my sister and me spontaneously decided to go out and visit a few markets here in Hamburg. Every week there are all kinds of flea markets or those which sell antiques. for our first stop I chose the one that took place in an old factory in Altona.

The factory in Altona

Self-made masks that were pasted all over the wall.

 With a smartphone it wasn't very hard to find but if you don't have one you might want to check where to go first. Because it took us almost 10 minutes to get there by walking. But due to the weather we were actually pretty pissed...

Entrance

Well, when we got there the atmosphere was quite good. I really liked the dim light and all the stuff hanging from the ceiling. There were a LOT of people and it was crammed by clothes, toys, shoes, people, people, people.... Just the way a flea market should be! I also liked the heads made out of paperboards and paperglue. They reminded me of my kindergarten times and it gives this place a very personal and familiar feel. 
The only downside to this trip to Altona is for me that  the offer  wasn't really that great. I hoped to find some vintage stuff but most of the sellers brought there old H&M or Vero Moda clothing which really isn't something I would want to buy at a flea market. This is also why I didn't purchase anything there.

But it was my first visit so I might as well give it a second try.