Paris turns into a runway
For nine days, the whole city dresses up. Dior, Chanel, Saint Laurent, Louis Vuitton. Street style outside every venue. Photographers on every corner. And a lot of girls pretending they’re not checking if they got shot.
You don’t need an invitation to enjoy it. Most of the best fashion week moments happen between the shows: the coffee, the long lunch, the bar at midnight.
Here’s my Paris Edit, from a girl who’s lived in the city and loves it.
Cocktail bars
Bisou. No menu. Tell the bartender your mood, your favourite colour, your ex’s star sign. He’ll make you a drink. It’ll be right.
Little Red Door. Behind a small red door in the Marais, one of the best bars in the world. You’ll walk past it twice. Worth it.
Hôtel Costes, Rue Saint-Honoré. Dark velvet, candlelight, a playlist that never ends. Very fashion week. Very good for spotting your celebrity crush too ;)
Bar Hemingway, the Ritz. A martini at the end of the night. Small, quiet, perfect. Dress for it.
Bakeries
Jolie Miche. Ancient flours, serious bread, and pastries that make the 17th worth the metro ride.
Poilâne. The sourdough miche every Parisian grandmother trusts. Buy a slice, not a loaf. You’re travelling.
The French Bastards. Cheeky name, cheeky pastries. The croissant you’ll post before you eat.
Restaurants
Maxim’s. Belle Époque mirrors, red velvet, a century of scandal. Order champagne. Obviously.
Siena. Italian, candlelit, slow. The kind of dinner where nobody checks the time.
Brasserie Dubillot. A new-wave brasserie with old-school soul. Good steak, fair prices, great people-watching.
Le Voltaire. On the quai, facing the Louvre. Where fashion people eat when they don’t want to be photographed. Book ahead.
Madonna. A Milanese osteria in the 9th. Pasta, Negronis, and a room that feels like a secret.
Bouche. Small plates, natural wine, a young crowd. Order everything and share nothing.
Le Bon Georges. The bistro every chef recommends. Steak, wine, no pretence. Very Paris.
Maison Revka. My favorite. Dinner that turns into a show that turns into a party. Wear the heels. Eat the caviar.
Hollywood Savoy. Glamorous, loud, a little decadent, with a private club hidden inside. For the night you don’t want to end.
La Cour Jardin. The garden terrace of the Plaza Athénée. Ivy, white tablecloths, the most polished lunch in Paris.
L’Entrecôte de Paris. Steak frites off the Champs-Élysées since 1974. One dish. Perfected.
Le Dalí. Inside Le Meurice, under a painted ceiling. Afternoon tea like a surrealist daydream.
Brasserie Rosie. Bastille brasserie, pretty and warm. Oysters, a glass of white, a long lunch with the girls.
Coffee Shops
48 Collagen Café. Collagen lattes and red-light therapy. The most Parisian way to fake eight hours of sleep.
Le Floor. Coffee and pastries in a design space in the 2nd. The laptop-and-latte spot for girls with good taste.
Matcha Social Club. Matcha in every flavour you can imagine. Pistachio, strawberry, and the chicest queue in the 1st.
Café Berry. Healthy, pretty, very Marais. The bowl you’ll photograph from above.
Curiosities
Librairie du Passage. A bookshop inside the Passage Jouffroy. Old prints, rare books, and the glass roof above you.
Les Merveilles de Babellou. Vintage treasures at the Saint-Ouen flea market. Go on a Sunday morning, leave with a jacket you didn’t need.
Bobby. Designer consignment. Last season’s it-bag for this season’s budget.
Suzanne. Ready-to-wear and leather goods in the 2nd. Understated, French, the kind of pieces you keep for ten years.
Marché aux Fleurs. The flower market on Île de la Cité. Buy peonies. Carry them home on the metro like a Sofia Coppola film.
Liquides Perfume Bar. Niche perfumes you won’t find anywhere else. Leave smelling like no one else in the room.
Galerie Vivienne. The most beautiful covered passage in Paris. Mosaic floors, glass roof, zero chain stores.
Assouline. Coffee-table books as luxury objects. The souvenir that makes your living room look curated.
Officine Universelle Buly 1803. A 19th-century apothecary for the beauty-obsessed. Hand creams, combs, engraved everything. Gift wrapping is an art form here.
Les Caves Legrand. A wine shop in Galerie Vivienne since the 1880s. Taste a glass at the counter, take a bottle home.
Grand Café Tortoni. A café, a florist and a Buly boutique in one Marais courtyard. Coffee surrounded by flowers. Enough said.Merci, Boulevard Beaumarchais. The concept store. Linen, stationery, perfume, and the kind of vase you’ll carry home in your hand luggage.
Le Bon Marché, Rive Gauche. The most beautiful department store in the world. Don’t argue.
The Marais. Just walk. Rue Vieille-du-Temple, Rue de Turenne, Rue Charlot. Vintage, small designers, and the best street style of the week happens here, not outside the shows.
Shakespeare and Company. Buy a book you won’t read on the plane. Get the stamp anyway.
Your nails, day by day
Fashion week is nine days of outfit changes. Your manicure shouldn’t be the one thing that can’t keep up.
Show day: ALLURA. The glazed French. Goes with everything, photographs perfectly, never competes with the look.
Long lunch: NINA. Burgundy polka dots. Retro, a little Parisian, very editorial next to a glass of red.
Night out: AGATHA. Red hearts. For the dinner that turns into a bar that turns into 3 a.m.
Three sets fit in a clutch. A salon appointment doesn’t.
One trick before you go
Packing for a trip? Keep your press-ons in their case, not loose in your bag, so the shape stays perfect. Pack one extra nail glue and a few sticky tabs in your hand luggage. And if you’re changing sets mid-trip, take them off after a warm shower, when the adhesive softens. Five minutes and you’re ready for the next look.
See you next Sunday. If you’re in Paris this week, send me your fashion week nails. I’ll share my favourites.
Martina
Founder, MUSE Nails Atelier
P.S. Forwarded this to a friend who’s going to Paris? Good. She’ll thank you at Bar Hemingway.
