Claudia Strasser - Paris Flea Market Style

Paris Flea Market Style

Claudia Strasser

Paris Flea Market Style

Digital Edition 1.0

Text 2013 Claudia Strasser

Photographs 2013 Claudia Strasser

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except brief portions quoted for purpose of review.

Gibbs Smith

P.O. Box 667

Layton, Utah 84041

Orders: 1.800.835.4993

www.gibbs-smith.com

ISBN: 978-1-4236-3280-1

Many thanks to Jean Farrell, Stephane Blanc, Sophie Atlan, Claudia, Liz, Candy, Ellen and John.

Thanks to everyone who helped with this book, specifically my editor, Madge Baird, who encouraged me to do it and then actually made it happen; book designer Sheryl Dickert and Gibbs Smith production editors Melissa Dymock and Renee Bond. Thanks to my parents for always believing in me and opening our eyes to a magnificent world by taking us traveling as kids.

Its a brisk, Parisian Sunday with bright sunny skies and no sign of rain. And that makes it the perfect day to spend drifting through the enchanting flea markets of Paris. On my walk to the metro, I cross the Seine and stop at my favorite brasserie for a caf au lait pour emporter (to take) and a butter croissant that doesnt quite make it to the metro.

After relishing the petit djeuner and quick dose of solar energy, I continue on, heading to Vanves, my favorite little flea market in Paris.

The Paris Apartment is more than my business. It feeds my love affair with all things French boudoir, and I seek out romantic ways to dress them for my clients and sometimes for myself! I look to the great designers of Paris for inspiration, women like Madame Pompadour and Marie Antoinette, who invented these exquisite rooms three hundred years ago and set the standard we still hold dear today. I can spend hours in a treasure trove like Vanves and never see it all. Its filled with pretty things from slipper chairs to powder puffs. Each piece tells a story of who may have owned it, and its great fun to imagine what her life was like, her loves, her social life, and her time in Paris.

Its easy to get lost looking at Art Deco fashion magazines, handwritten love letters, baroque and rococo engravings, antique vanity sets, old photos, leather books, town and country maps, and tiny details like ribbons and buttons. Sometimes the smaller pieces can tell a lot about slices of life we can only imagine.

As I stroll the market, camera in one hand and coffee in the other, I realize that there is no place Id rather be than with the people who take such pleasure in collecting and preserving what they bring to the streets each week.

Hours later, the smell from the coffee truck at the corner tells me Im close to the end and the market will close soon. I sense a bit of urgency; its time to make decisions. If I want the boudoir lamps, nows the time, or they will surely be gone in my next pass.

The things I find each week fill me with joy, knowing I am now the steward of a magnificent work of art or exceptional find, even when its just a scrap of ribbon.

Travel is a marvelous teacher. It gives us the chance to step outside our everyday world and transports us to a completely different life, setting and culture. Our perception of reality is different when were out of our element; maybe were a little more aware, and with that heightened sensitivity, the best of a place can come to life.

While some destinations are a must-see at least once in our lives, others beckon us back again and again. For so many, thats the case with the city that belongs to the world and is our eternal museMademoiselle Paris. I must confess Im still in love and ache every time I leave.

What is the pull to this magical city? For me its the wealth of inspiration at every turn, a city unchanged and stage for great minds, so rich in design and creativity for centuries. Its a place that continues to reveal layers of a splendid life, almost a fairy tale in its infinite opulence and incomprehensible in its magnificence.

But its not the monuments and the museums that unveil the tiny clues as to what life was like between the time of, say, Marie Antoinette and Coco Chanel. To touch the past in Paris, theres only one place to go back in time, looking through love letters, heirlooms and relics left for us to decipher. Only at the flea markets can you curate a collection of tokens with true history and many lovely stories. On tattered tables are memories, these photos, ribbons, buttons and more, precious reminders of what we were and what we are, what we value and what weve lost. For those who appreciate the past, the markets are portals to a world long ago but not far away.

For those who love archaeology, sociology, history and design, the flea markets offer one-of-a-kind insights into a lovely, bygone society that valued beauty and worked to create it through calligraphy, music and art. The craft was as important as the product it produced, and even the tools were something special.

Even if you cant get to Paris, I hope this book will inspire you to look at things more closely, to go into your own town and look at the pieces of the past. In our throwaway society, why do some things last? From the feel of an old books leather spine to a tight lock on a flappers compact, art and design make the difference. We relish finding things of beauty, whether in artwork, lace, or an industrial remnant. And we want to have those things close to us in our homes.

Throughout the following pages, I share my secrets and show you what to look for in piles and under tables, how to tell the age and condition of a piece. There are tips on what to look for in silver, art, porcelain and linens. And lots of ideas on what to do with it once you claim it as your own.

Take a trip with me through the markets of Paris, the perfect stroll on a Sunday afternoon amid the fabrics and furniture, to find art, jewelry, toys and accessories that you will treasure and pass down to your favorite Francophile!

For lovers of antiques and vintage, the flea markets are a romantics paradise. Its easy to get lost in the feast of merchandise that has been preserved and passed on over decades, even centuries.

The flea markets are part of the culture for a special set in France. The French market vendors are continually buying, selling, trading and appraising their cultures objets dart. Looking at old photographs of the markets reveals that we havent changed so much over the years and that the clocks, linens, tables and jewels circulate and find new homes and owners with each generation. We are guardians for a while, and then the items move on, live on. But thats the beauty of the markets for many of us. We treasure the past, want to hold it and meditate on it. Whether its an important work of art or a sash from a dress, its a piece of history we can have as our own.