My Parisian buttons

My first and in many ways most memorable purchase in the Paris fabric district was from Dam Boutons.  I had read the reviews about this place on http://patternreview.com and knew I wanted to stop there.  My plan was to buy only (or at least mainly) small sewing notions that I could bring back easily, so buttons (which I love anyhow) were an obvious choice.  The plan changed when I set foot in Liberty of London, but I'll get to that in a later post.  :)

Dam Boutons is a small store, but then so are buttons ... most of them, anyhow.  There were a few staggeringly larges ones: I can't imagine what you'd sew them on.   Photography was not allowed in the store, so you'll have to use your imagination!

The buttons are stored in tubes, stacked horizontally into wall units.  I saw buttons stored this way in other shops I visited as well, but in nothing like the quantity at Dam Boutons.  Each tube has an example button attached to the lid, and a price on the edge of the tube.  Signs in French and English request that you not remove the tubes from their locations, and given the thousands of tubes and their careful ordering by color I can sympathize, though it made it hard to remember which ones I was considering since I couldn't carry them around with me.  I took ages to make my selection.  There were so many beautiful ones, but they weren't cheap, and I didn't have a specific project in mind to narrow my consideration.   The shop's proprietor didn't speak English, and I speak no French, but we were able to communicate somewhat through my husband, who speaks some French.  I think the store owner was puzzled that I was choosing buttons with no clear plan in mind for them.

In the end, I chose five different styles of button, and bought six of each.  The store's proprietor packaged them nicely in a tiny paper sack that was stapled shut.  I kind of hated to open it, and I did wait until I had returned home, so that I could "rediscover" my buttons (and not lose them all over my luggage while in transit).  If you've seen these same buttons at your local Jo Ann's, please do not tell me about it!

Finally, I leave you with ... button porn!