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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Extremely knowledgeable, engaging, excellent English. Maybe a nicer, bigger iPad to see pictures?
David
Reviewed on:
Apr 6, 2017
Have just taken your Conceiving Couture tour with Marie (and 4 other tourists). And it was highlight of my long weekend to my favourite city, on last day. Very interesting to take in tour of a subject I have never considered before (visits to Centenary Rodin/ the new perfume museum and a hotel in Montmartre, made for an awesome weekend). You are now the perfect part of any trip to the city of light (via St Pancreas International) and I will definitely take a tour with you again. 'Less is more', best to be remembered, so will finish with, hope you have a great year, glorious weather, and probably back well before year ends.
David
Reviewed on:
Apr 4, 2017
Virginia V had great knowledge of not only Paris but also fashion and its history. It was good that she included Power Point slides in her tour so we really understood the history. Since returning, I have looked at Parisian art in a different way-now that I have an understanding of the apparel. Her tour took us to spots we would not have found on our own. Additionally, I will keep the list she gave us of the sights we visited.
We had a beautiful day.
Thanks so much and give Virginia our regards.
Alice
Reviewed on:
Feb 23, 2017
