Skip To My Ludivine

I’m a shopaholic. Like many unfortunate souls I live paycheck to paycheck, spending on the essentials: shoes, clothing and bags. I can equate myself to Carrie Bradshaw who exclaimed one episode after realizing that she had spent more money on shoes than on rent “I literally am going to end up the woman who lived in her shoes!” Not so far fetched. Some might say I’m setting myself up for bad credit, some might say I’m wasting my money, but at least I know what makes me happy. So I guess money can buy happiness, or at least temporary euphoria.

That being said, when I stumble upon a new store, it’s like finding a diamond in the rough, an oasis in the desert. And this doesn’t happen often. I shop at the same places selling the same things to the same people. Soon enough I start looking like everyone on the street. And that, my friend, is style suicide. But there is one store, which I recently discovered, that offers a solution to this shopping ennui, a certain je ne sais quoi to the New York style scene.

Ludivine, owned by two Parisian ex-pats Ludivine Grégoire and her sister, is a boutique that carries cult French brands like Vanessa Bruno, Tsumori Chisato, Sonia Rykiel and Les Praries de Paris. In addition to cozy knits, silk tops and babydoll dresses, the store sells simple accessories like round toe pumps, sequin skinny belts and delicate 24 karat name plate gold necklaces. Their collection is edited to perfection.

The minute you walk in their shoebox sized store, you feel at home. Pale pink walls decorated with Victorian mirrors exude girlish charm. French singers croon in the background because “my father used to listen to it,” says one of the Grégoire sisters. It’s the kind of store you’d find while strolling through the Marais district in Paris, not in the West village sandwiched between a burrito joint and a smoke shop.

Ludivine is truly a treasure. Their best feature is they only carry clothes you can't find anywhere else. And what’s not to love about that?

Final word: For Francophiles and fashionistas alike, Ludivine provides a Parisan outlet for the otherwise jaded shopaholic.