Tour Details
Duration
3 hours
Product Type
Tour
Venues
- Palais Royal
- Place Vendôme
- Opera Garnier
- Rue Saint-Honoré
Photos & Highlights
- Paris fashion tour led by a fashion or art historian
- Learn about fashion history in the world's fashion capital
Select a date
Tour Description
Known as the City of Love and Light, Paris is likewise the City of Style. Nearly synonymous with fashion, luxury, and haute couture, Paris boasts a long list of fashion history's most iconic designers. From Worth and Poiret, to Chanel and Dior, these fashion visionaries turned the city into a haven for designers and trendsetters alike. On our three-hour fashion tour in Paris in the company of one of our experts, we will weave a narrative through the Parisian fashion history, from the late 18th-century notion shops in covered passageways, the rise of the grands magasins, and finally the 20th-century designers who revolutionized the way we dress.
Disclaimer: The Opéra Garnier is currently undergoing exterior renovations and a large part of the façade is covered with scaffolding. This tour does not visit the interior of the opera.
Disclaimer: The Opéra Garnier is currently undergoing exterior renovations and a large part of the façade is covered with scaffolding. This tour does not visit the interior of the opera.
- Palais Royal
- Opéra Garnier (exterior only)
- Grands Magasins
- Place Vendôme
- 3 Hours with a PhD or MA level guide
We will begin at the Palais Royal where we’ll stroll through the covered passages that introduced glass-front shops to the 18th-century. Designed by Louis-Phillipe d'Orléans, Duc de Chartres in 1781, Palais Royal combined shopping, entertainment, and leisure space, becoming an instant sensation with the Parisians.
We will then move towards the Opéra and the grands magasins created as a result of Baron Haussmann’s 19th-century urban revitalization plan. Here, we will learn how the most current fashion trends of the Second Empire became accessible to a wider audience. We’ll pass by the former ateliers of high-end designers such as Charles Frederick Worth and Jacques Doucet, whose luxurious and stylish gowns attracted customers such as Empress Eugénie and other nobility.
Passing through the Place Vendôme, now home to high-end jewelers and boutiques, we’ll step into fashion of the 20th-century. Pioneered by Coco Chanel, who installed her studios nearby, we will look at the shift away from the excessive, constrictive designs for women's fashion towards more practical—yet no less stylish—silhouettes.
We'll finish our time with a better understanding of how various fashion movements in Paris influenced shoppers over the years and having become acquainted with some of the more significant shops and locations in the fashion capital.
Will there be any opportunities do some shopping during the walk?
This tour focuses on illuminating the timeline of fashion history in Paris. The tour will stop inside some shops to provide historical context, but this is not a shopping tour.
This tour focuses on illuminating the timeline of fashion history in Paris. The tour will stop inside some shops to provide historical context, but this is not a shopping tour.
Is this tour walking intensive, and/or wheelchair accessible?
We do cover extensive territory on this tour. Please contact us with any questions; we will be happy to advise if this tour will be appropriate for you, and can also design a private, adapted tour for visitors with mobility issues.
We do cover extensive territory on this tour. Please contact us with any questions; we will be happy to advise if this tour will be appropriate for you, and can also design a private, adapted tour for visitors with mobility issues.
Where You'll Start
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80 Reviews
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This tour was absolutely amazing. We had taken the Versailles for Kids tour the previous Sunday and were very disappointed. But this walking tour with Marie, was amazing beyond the wildest expectations of both my 11 year old niece and myself. Marie was articulate, kind and very intelligent. She gave us a walking tour of the Left Bank AS WELL as the Right bank where all of the historical fashion icons resided and worked. Her visual aids kept the interest of both myself and my 11 year old. I am rather familiar with the history of Paris as well as the Parisian fashion industry, yet she kept surprising us with new information, new behind the scenes activities, and "off the beaten path" fashion locations I never knew existed. And she was so knowledgeable. WOW!!! One of the BEST context tours... in fact, one of the best travel tours I have ever taken. After the disastrous context Kids tour of Versailles we bravely endured 2 days before, I was ready to give up on taking another context tour. However, this tour was so incredibly awesome, I would clearly continue to recommend these tours to all of my colleagues who frequently travel. Although I'd tell them to avoid the Versailles tours like the plague.
Colleen
Reviewed on:
Jul 1, 2019
Since there are many free walking tours being offered these days, I think your prices are a little extravagant. Also the participant should be left with a brochure or summary of the highlights, details and information about what they have seen.
Ellen
Reviewed on:
Jun 7, 2019
We loved learning about the history of France and Paris through the lens of haute couture fashion, as well as seeing a vintage couture shop and modern fashion atelier shops. Learning about our guide’s favorite public gardens and public spaces was a bonus.
Sandra
Reviewed on:
Jun 6, 2019
