Tourists: Buy Clothes Here…read more
People have frequently asked me: where should I buy clothes when I go to Paris?
My answer is, at least go to Tati. In the world's probably most fashionable city, my old hometown and love of my life, Paris, Tati is like the Walmart of clothing stores. But this is not a bad thing. In any case, it deserves an English-language review for all the tourists out there.
In many ways, Tati one of the world's greatest clothing stores. It is *so* unbelievably inexpensive given the quality, that what it pulls off is nothing short of miraculous. For example, I got a pair of pants for 5 euro that fit perfectly (rare for me, as I'm a little dude), looked awesome (grey checkered pattern), were comfy (wool with artificial silk lining), and lasted for two years. Jackets, shirts, shoes, my wardrobe is littered with Tati clothing. Some of it holds up better than others, but it's kind of like Ikea: you buy it knowing that it might last forever, or it might fall apart in 6 months. But it's cheap enough that if it falls apart, you can replace it.
Tati's fashion picks up on Parisian styles. It doesn't always pull them off well or accurately, but there is inevitably some work of genius that costs less than a crepe.
My one issue, and it's a big one, is that I have no idea where these clothes are coming from. I shudder to think at the possibilities. Developing world sweat factories? Underpaid local laborers in hidden garment shops in the Sentier? Trucks come by Tati every morning -- I have no idea where these trucks come from -- and drop piles of clothing onto the street in front of the store. Local ladies then run and grab what they can. The atmosphere outside the Barbes Tati, like the whole neighborhood, is like a crazy bazaar. People hawking all kinds of goods, makeshift booths, men trying to get you to buy cigarettes, repeating "maroboro maroboro" over and over again. Tati is sketch.
It so sketch that it's fun to shop there, knowing that it's sketch, but you also feel guilty about it at the same time. There's a certain slumming chic to Tati that the French middle-class kids seem to love. The Tati shopping bag, with its huge colorful pink logo, is ubiquitous in Paris. It's a status symbol, although I don't know of what status. But given that almost no tourists go to Tati, if you're carrying one of these bags, people will think you're a local, and you'll get treated better generally. So if you're going to go anywhere, go to Tati first and keep the bag during your whole trip.
