Jamin Puech

This one is strictly for the ladies (... or men who like the ladies... or who like to dress like ladies...). Jamin Puech is the dernier cri in boho-chic accessories. Whatever is happening in handbag style, the Jamin Puech team (that's Benoit Jamin and Isabelle Puech) are doing it bigger, bolder, better and quite possibly pricier.

This is both a good thing and a bad thing, and it is something that pervades their boutiques, because:
a) these are some of the most beautiful small-production handbags you'll ever see, with exquisitely delectable exteriors matched by equally delectable interiors:
b) most people I know (myself included) could never hope to afford one at full price (but I hate to think what that says about me or the people I know, suffice to say many of us are still paying off our University fees), and
c) they really don't like young women who clearly fit into point b) to be poking around in their stores with a camera (who am I kidding? These people don't need my publicity! They have more stores in more countries than I have pairs of socks in my wardrobe).

But here's my confession: I have loved these bags for much longer than I knew how to pronounce their name. When I was a starry-eyed teenager in Melbourne devouring copy after copy of Vogue, I would read about all of these impossibly chic European women who carried Jamin Puech bags (I was impressed enough that they knew how to say it, let alone actually owned one) and really seemed to enjoy the act of looking cool and nonchalant whilst smoking (never been my thing) and trotting around in high heels (ditto... I like to tell myself that I'm just too practical-a-girl to frequently wear heels, but that does nothing to explain why then at the ripe old age of thirty I am still lusting over Jamin Puech bags in the store window, rather than in my hot little hands as I pull one out of its tissue and proceed to stuff it with my own belongings. In my own home. Having paid for it with my own money. But I digress)...

So, to put it in a nutshell: if you like pretty little things you can clutch at or toss over your shoulder and justify the existence of by being "necessary objects that hold practical things" (even better if you can actually afford to buy one), get thee to Jamin Puech. Or even if you just like really cool interior designer-y things, they have those too (perhaps something to distract the boyfriend with whilst you are looking at the bags. Though these are not for sale. But trust me, there are sufficient interior design objects of note in each store that should distract him just long enough for him not to realise that you have just re-mortgaged the house to get that sweet little tote in canary that is lurking in the corner, gently cooing your name...).

Just be sure not to drool on the goodies contained within the store - the shop staff don't like that much either (... don't ask).

Jamin Puech in Paris / 26, rue Cambon / 75001 Paris / Ph: (+33) 01.40.20.40.28 / Metro: Madeleine / + / 68, rue Vieille du Temple / 75003 Paris / Ph: (+33) 01.48.87.84.87 / Metro: Rambuteau / + / St-Paul / 43, rue Madame / 75006 Paris / Ph: (+33) 1.40.20.40.28 / + / Metro: Rennes / 61, rue d'Hauteville / 75010 Paris / Ph: (+33) 01.40.22.08.32 / Metro: Poissonnière / http://www.jamin-puech.com/