French girls love a ballet flat almost as much as they love their Converse or their pair of biker style boots. When not wearing talons they wear ballet pumps... and they are a fabulous look... Ballet flats are comfortable, look great with jeans... skinny ones preferably... or even prettier with a full skirt and nipped in waist. They are a classic French wardrobe staple and in my nearly twenty years of 'French girl observation' not much has changed... ballet pumps pound the pavements and peddle the bicycles more than any other type of footwear. The ballet slipper to the French is what the loafer is to an Italian...
Shopping for ballet slippers is easy in France... from the most expensive a la Chanel to the cheap and cheerful copies in the high street boutiques.... Repetto, a brand I love sits in the middle although disappointingly the prices have been creeping up to a ridiculous level. The problem is... and I promise myself I won't buy another pair... is that Repetto gets it right every time... the shape sits prettily on the foot and the colours are always the ones I want. I do have a trick to making them last which has made all the difference to their longevity and that in turns makes their pricing more justifiable... don't you just love a 'shoe queen's logic... Before I wear them I have the cobbler add a new non slip heel and sole... you barely notice the change and it doubles the life of the shoes. The existing soles on a pair of Repetto's are fragile and will barely last a season... I do often wonder why I have to re-sole and heel brand new shoes... but I suppose there are worse agonies and costs we endure for the sake of fashion...
My other go to shoe secret in France is called André , a chain of shoe boutiques that are located all throughout Paris. André make reasonable quality copies of all the latest designer footwear... and they are good. Three pairs of ballet flats for the price of one pair from Repetto... hard to fight those numbers... My solution... I save my Repetto pair for 'best' and use my André flats for everyday... win/win don't you think...? xv
For your Parisian address book
Repetto
15 rue Soufflot
75005 Paris
125 rue Vielle du Temple
75003 Paris
André
33 rue Sevres
75006 Paris
80 rue Saint-Antoine
75004 Paris
my daily click HERE
Yes please, they sound wonderful.
ReplyDeleteAlso love the Pepetto window display you have featured.
What a wonderful shot Vicki! I long for the perfect pair of ballet flats and the grace in which to wear them. It is not my calling, no matter how many pairs sit in my closest. I guess I am a boot girl at heart. A girl can dream and this post is the perfect place to to it! Many thanks for he shopping tips..I will go along when next in Paris and think of you... :)
ReplyDeleteJeanne xx
I do love a ballet flat. In my dreams I have a lovely Chanel pair (hopefully one day) but you have convinced me I must look out for some Repetto ones now :)
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely win/win!!!!!
ReplyDeleteOh Vicki, I adore this post. Thanks so much for sharing this gorgeous little insight into Parisian life. I've always pondered whether ballet flats are as popular over there as we're lead to believe. Thanks for the elucidation! J x
ReplyDeleteI don't go any where without my Prada slippers in my bag. They fold, take no space, last forever...i have rock climbed in Nevada, gone to fancy parties and walked miles in them. These shoes have walked more countries than i can even remember!! i will be in paris on thursday and will check out Repetto, i do agree with you, the price is a little steep...I may even stop by an Andre shop, they have been around for ever... Heard there was snow in Avignon...and i was hopping for some warmth and sunshine that sometimes february brings.
ReplyDeleteI hope you save the old ones to hang on the wall.
ReplyDeleteI use to wear the 1950 shoes called Ballet slippers.
My Mom said NO NO NO.
They are bad for your feet - no support
So I hid them in a bag behind a tree.
Before getting on the school bus
I changed from the oxford stride-rite
to the ballet. Mama never knew.
PS Maine has passed a new law.
If you have a flat tire,
you can not buy 1 tire or 2 tires.
You HAVE TO BUY 4 new tires.
It just cost me $700 for a flat tire.
What are your State LAWS on NEW Tires??
Never thought about adding that sole and heel...you are clever!
ReplyDeleteAlthough my feet have suffered much over the years from ballet or more likely simply wearing the wrong shoe, I have a romantic attachment to them. I vividly recall reading Ernst Hemingway's, 'A Moveable Feast' and all the talk about the espradrilles that Hadley always wore. They seemed just so 'French' and I aspired to have a pair. Now they are readily available, but perhaps not as romantic.
ReplyDeleteBest, Lisa, ladolcevilla.net
Vicki,
ReplyDeleteI love French ballet flats. I have a pair of Tory Burch and I use those for better occasions and buy the Off Broadway pair ($40+) for everyday. I looked into Repetto but in the U.S. they are pretty expensive...I'll have to save. :-)
Karen
I love my Chanel, Lanvin and Repetto flats. But I just found a new favorite and that is the Bloch ballet flat. Bloch is also a ballet shoe maker who has perfected a shoe for every day wear. I especially like the Fonteyn style with the cord that allows adjustment just like a real ballet slipper. It's less expensive than even Repetto but is all leather including the soles. They come in a nice selction of colors too. I hope you will enjoy them as I have. Love your blog, by the way! Ruth
ReplyDeleteJust thought to add that Repetto makes a pump that looks like a ballet slipper with a kitten heel. Saks carries them in the US. It's the most comfortable heel I've ever worn and I love them! Hope you're having a great day, Ruth
DeleteMedian price of $300 for a pair of ballet flats? That last a season? Maybe two with the resoles. Ok, maybe three. But it hardly allows for two or three pairs when that's what one needs, minimum. Glad all of you didn't do double takes. What with Pradas in one's bag! Lucky yous.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, the Repetto window is gorgeous. Anything ballet-related is gorgeous.
I am a ballet flats kind of girl through and through. I just can't ever seem to find a comfortable pair. This year J Crew looks like they have finally done it right. Although, they are not cheap either. Repetto's are def on my someday list. I think you might have just bumped up the priority for me though :) And what a great idea to have the extra sole added!
ReplyDeleteXO t
What an intoxicatingly GORGEOUS window display!
ReplyDeleteI wish I was in Paris now to buy a pair as ballet flats are pretty much my shoe of choice. Cute and stylish but still comfortable enough to run after my 16 month old baby girl.
ReplyDeleteGreat look! I love my Repetto flats. Some of the flats work best on a narrow foot. My Repetto flats are comfortable and give my foot the support (just a little!) that it needs. The grouping of ballet slippers is so pretty. My daughter was a little ballerina and I have her point shoes on a white ladder in her room. I figured they were worthy of displaying given the large some of $$$ I spent purchasing them! ;)
ReplyDeleteleslie
Oh I love their windows. I rushed there this past trip only to find it just like last year's with the mound of glorious pink toe shoes as you've captured here. It's a divine place but I've never gone in! What am I thinking. I'm glad you have though
ReplyDeleteV
Now I realize what is missing from my wardrobe! Plus I used to take ballet!
ReplyDeleteI love your idea of the soles Vicki, very smart, for other shoes as well, haven't you had shoes and later wished you had bought an extra pair when they had worn out!
xoxo
Karena
Art by Karena
Bonjour Vicki. Growing up in France, André was one of the chain stores where my Mom would buy shoes for me. There are other chains I like (a bit pricier maybe) like Minelli. As for the costly - but so trendy - Repetto brand, my cousins, who live in the Dordogne near Sarlat have mentioned an outlet mall, and Repetto is represented there. They stock up when they go. Maybe there is one in your area too? A bientôt. Veronique (French Girl in Seattle)
ReplyDeleteI love your logic! The ballet slippers in the window are gorgeous all piled up like that!
ReplyDeleteI've been to Repetto on Rue de la Paix last August. But I mostly remember a young sales associate. She was a prettiest girl I've seen on that trip, Audrey Tautou type and dressed impeccably and of course in Repetto flats. She was very busy with the clients and I was too shy to get a pic, which I regretted later.
ReplyDeleteLove, love, love ballet flats and my daughter can't leave home without them. I can remember dressing Angela in her French embroidered lace dress with her ballet flats. Tears...
ReplyDeleteTeresa
xoxo
Repetto, was a pointe shoe company way back in the day when I danced!Loved the window display!Loved your tips on making them last longer.......that is one shoe I have never worn.Dont know why but I donot own a pair of ballet flats.I of course, would want the CHANEL pair and that is out of the question...( I do wonder how long they last!)Hope your on the mend from that dreaded cold!If I can make a request do a post on that PUPPY of yours!!!!!!!!He is toooo DIVINE!Sorry, I have forgotten his name!That seems to be happening to me more and more............
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love the repetto shoes too! Theirs shops are amazing as well. You just feel fabulous walking there! x
ReplyDeletewww.thingsthatmakemesmiledaily.blogspot.com
Love this post! And to French Girl in Seattle: thanks for the great info. And to think I spent a month there and didn't know about the outlet center. My frustration knows no bounds!
ReplyDeleteDear Vicki,
ReplyDeleteI do the same thing! Everytime, I go to Repetto, first I stare at the window forever, then I say "I will just go in and look, I don't need another pair, really I don't" My husband knows I am just going through the motions to go inside to fail each time... I walk out smiling with my light pink and black box! I feel like a queen and then I say to to myself...
It truly doesn't get any better than this:)
xxx's
You had me with the photo of the toe shoes! Dreamy...as an oil painter, I am longing for a pair of well-used toes slippers to use as the subject for some of my paintings. And...as a girl who has a new obsession for Paris, you blog is food for fodder! I appreciate your 'insider' Paris posts! And now with one of my favorite subjects...Shoes! I can identify with the resoling of a new pair of shoes! I have it done regularly, especially with sandals. There are so many really cute ones available but the soles are flat, thin and I need a more cushy sole. I have the shoe cobbler resole them with what I have worn since childhood here in Southern California, flip-flop...soles. You know the ones that are all rubber. I don't wear the ones with rubber straps but the same material is available here for resoling. I will wear a pair on my trip to Paris! And now I know where I will purchase my ballet flats! And where I will go for everything that you write about. Merci beaucoup, mon ami!
ReplyDeleteLe sigh.....love the beautiful and elegant window display. Viewing this picture brings back childhood ballet classes, at the time I thought boring....now I adore the art :)
ReplyDeleteA gorgeous photo Vicki.....I adore Repetto's window display! I still remember the very first of their windows that I saw in Paris, I was blown-away by their colour and detail.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping you have returned to good health...?
I love anything having to do with ballet, its so elegant. I didn't know they were so popular in France but I should have known, given their taste for anything elegant and beautiful and no doubt they know how to carry them off in a way no one else can. What a gorgeous window!!
ReplyDeleteVA-
ReplyDeleteFrom all of the years of dance and wearing point shoes, I must admit my feet are not as lovely to look at and most of the time, I just want to hide all the wear and tear inside a boot but I do love dance and all that goes with it, the shoes, the discipline and the rigor.
I do have several ballet flats and a dance shoe with a perfect heal for walking.
As always, thank your for sharing french essence and joie-de-vivre!
pve
I'll have to make repeat trips to Repetto! Gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteI wavered for so long in Galeries Lafayette about buying my pair of Repettos. It just seemed so ridiculously extravagant but they were one of my wanted souvenirs. I ended up buying them and justifying them, but did not expect them to be so divinely comfortable. Mine are already starting to look tatty, but the more I wear the softer they become. I should resole them, but at the moment I love them just as they are.
ReplyDeleteI love this image, Vicki! That's a fabulous tip about having one's shoes heeled and soled just after purchase. Worth the investment over and over again. It seems the more expensive the shoe, the more tender those parts are. Have a gorgeous day...
ReplyDeleteOui, oui, oui! Another shop in Paris on my list! Merci beaucup!
ReplyDeleteMr FF your loving husband here Ms French Essence - you've been sprung. From now on more visits to Andre & less to Repetto. Either that or we'll need to start taking in lodgers. That pesky couple from Stirling have been asking again about accommodation options here at the Mas. That in itself should influence your ballet slipper purchasing decisions big time.
ReplyDeleteFF xxx
Dear Vicki,
ReplyDeleteI LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Repetto....they are just the BEST ballet flats. I first saw them for sale in Toast....that idea about having them re-soled is a good one. We still have a shoe mender's in our town, he's Italian and has been there for about 40 years !!.....you don't see that many anymore, well, not the old-fashioned kind so, I must pay him a visit.
Many, many thanks for your kind birthday wishes. You are a lovely blogging friend. Much love. XXXX
Hi!
ReplyDeleteI'm a flats girl and my walk-in closet is full of shoes but not yet have any pair of Repetto's... so sad.
Greetings from
Tibs
beatiful!!
ReplyDelete