Michelle, I thought you (and others) would like to know that all the young-person clothing stores here in Paris are flaunting "Canadian Chic". There is a big shop on rue de Rivoli which has (among other winter items) a pullover with nothing but the world "Manitoba" artfully rendered across the chest. I'm seeing Canadian themed items all over town.
Also, it seems I unknowingly moved to the garment district! There is a clothing fabricator in my building, three sewing machine stores on my (little!) street (99% pre-owned industrials), I've seen at least two other fabricators on the small street and the whole neighborhood is filled with people delivering rolls of fabric. Regrettably these are not the fine tailors of Paris. The fabric is never anything I wished I owned and I have to say the same for the clothes I see coming out of these places. Brits think "Topshop" and Americans think "ContempoCasuals".
There is a neighborhood just south of me which spans parts of the second and third arrondissments. It is filled with stores filled with clothes but none are ever sold retail. A young man was flirting with me and I just pumped him for answers about these shops. It seems they are shops for department store buyers to come and see fabricators so they can select next season's merchandise. In the case of the family-run shop I was invited into (they'd do retail for me, but only if I went out with the guy!) all the goods are made in France. He said he thought that was the case with all the other shops on the street too. In any case the EU is in a bind with respect to millions of Euros-worth of Chinese-made clothing which was shipped to Europe during "les vacances" (August) which caused a month to pass between signing the trade agreement and initiating the correct quotas. The Europeans want the Chinese to count these garments against next year's quota (the Chinese aren't into that idea) and so last I heard all these goods were just sitting on loading docks around the Union. ANYWAY, I'm digressing from my point here which was what these wholesale-to-stores stores were carrying! For me it was bad news, but others out there might like it. I was seeing lots of the same multi-tiered gypsy skirt we've been seeing all summer, this time rendered in corduroys, velvets, and other luxe fabrics in jewel colors. Often it was made from a partchwork of all of the above. We have seen that they sometimes have a band of sheer fabric at the bottom, for the winter this is often cut into petal shapes. Boots are in, but I knew that before I left the states. All of this info is a week old. I hope that when I go back there will be more structured and interesting clothing out. This is also the area where the ladies of the night work (around the clock, not just night), so I haven't been back since I first stumbled on it.
-Charlotte