This is "Part Deux" to my shopping recommendations! (If you don't like shopping, feel free to skip this post...I know who my "girls" are, but guys, this one's for you, too!
)
As we all know the "big names" on Saint-Barth along Rue de la République, they probably don't need any introduction, except to say that you can actually save quite a bit of money if you find what you want, given that the Euro price is WAY cheaper than the US price and there is no VAT in SBH as it is a "duty free port", so you do not have go through the hassle of getting your VAT back at the airport with all the attendant paperwork. There are some local shops that are not "big names" but equally enchanting that are on the expensive side, such as the exquisite pink store of Vanita Rosa up on Rue Oscar II in Gustavia, which is my first stop every trip. Definitely not cheap but really cheerful if you want the nicest beach coverups on the planet. (Online you can often get some pieces on sale for a really good price so look them up when you can't get to SBH.)
The selection, unfortunately, is often limited in the "big names" on the island, though, but if you find what you want, it is well worth it to buy it on island. A recent example: Last time they were made a couple of years ago, I missed a really useful pair of sandals at Louis Vuitton in SBH (they didn't have the color I wanted) and swore I would get a pair if LV ever made them again. They just came out with the sandals (Neo Revival mule-high heel version) so I jumped on a pair but had to pay the US price and the CA tax
. If I had been able to get them in SBH, I would have saved around $250 or more, but I was too early in January for them to have come back.
If you are buying a purse, you save even more as the differential is greater for the more expensive items. But this is not really news to you if you track US vs Europe prices.
However, with all the exquisite things to buy in SBH, you do not have to spend a fortune to have fabulous things, especially if you come fairly often, and just want a few fun items as souvenirs of your trip..you know, the clothing and shoe kind of souvenirs. So let's do a little Tour de SBH for the cheap and cheerful items you can find. In the good old days, the stores along Plage Pélican next to Nikki Beach on both sides of the entrance in St-Jean were definitely comparatively cheap and cheerful, but now, not as cheap as they used to be..they were more "local" and now they are sort of local ( I really like Terra..check out the PHO Firenze brand) but some names that you find in France, too. You can find some really cute items in these stores so don't forego your shopping there. The stores keep changing over the years and I think one is POP which I believe is also present in Gustavia. They took over the store at the far end toward the vending machines (!) which in the real old days used to be "Betty Boop" and has been a couple of other names since.
But if you walk down the road away from there, a couple of hundred yards down the road and across the street, and walk over to Villa Créole (where Peter McCool's restaurant is..you can leave your non shopping partner there and there are TVs outdoors!), you find the very fun and cheap and cheerful "Drugstore", which is not a pharmacie but a souvenir store, where you can buy some great perfumes/colognes as well as a good selection of regular SBH type souvenirs.
However, if you keep walking on the walkway to the left of the Drugstore and go toward the back of the center, you will find a little walkway that is behind the Drugstore off to the first right sidewalk after the bath articles store on the corner. Go down the little path and you will find a store that is called, "ORIGINAL ST BARTH". This is worth the détour if you want some fun clothes with some nice fabrics for a good price! **And guys, they have clothes for you, too! Linen shirts, shorts, etc. (Not quite Vilebrequin linen but still nice. Young guys can do well here, too.) So at ORIGINAL, this time I found a cream/white sleeveless sweater with their logo on it (good with white jeans or under a blazer), a short sleeved oversized sweater with their logo on it, just for fun, but something much nicer; actually 2 somethings: a cream colored long silk heavy satin skirt and a black sleeveless heavy silk top that ties at the neck to go with it, out of the same material. (Most things don't have logos, so don't get scared off. )I think the prices for each were less than 100 E and some a lot less, like about 59 E. (In December 2022, I found a stretch velvet gown with little chain gold straps for less than 100E.) You do have to pick through but the girls who work there and the owner are SUPER nice and will help you. A lot of the younger girls go in there so it is fun to see what they are choosing. The owner also owns the store straight in the back of the Villa Créole that is more "neon" Club wear sort of stuff, but last year I found a really cute black ruched dress that was very reasonable that I could pull off, so you might take a peek in for fun. I thought ORIGINAL had some nice, flow-y beach type dresses, too, especially if you are tall. (I am not..). You never know what you will find there, so go have a look. They have an instagram account if you want to check it out, but there isn't a great representation on it.
So to continue our tour, we are off to the new little strip mall by the new gas station at L'Oasis. You can park there right by the gas station, too! It is across from the U Express/Le Bouchon shopping center. We will start with Océane Brin's lovely shoe and purse store in the middle of the line of stores! The name of the store is "Brin d'Île. (Of course you get the idea..her last name, and also the almost-pronounced-the-same word, "brindille"..super clever, non?!) Kevin was kind enough to give me a taste before I went there with some photos you can find on the Forum. It is a small store, and Océane was associated with our beloved but now closed Laurent Effel, and she has some original sandals and beloved SBH hand sewn loafers (kind of like the Tod's Gomminos drivers with the little rubber bumps on the bottom), but her loafers have a penny-loafer style bar with a cut out map of Saint-Barth..so chic! Mine are the denim colored suede and wish I had bought more..(What's need got to do with it?!). You really do have to try them on because each is hand made and they are not perfectly consistent in sizing. I sized up, and you want to make sure the stitching isn't too tight so it does not rub. (If you travel a lot, you may want them a tiny bit bigger if you know what airplanes can do to your feet
. )
Now, Océane is nothing if not inventive and she has "engineered" these ankle wrap sandals that are fun and shiny (everybody needs a little bling, non?!) that have a wire in them to wrap around your ankle and are super comfortable..flats but perfect with pants and dresses if you want to feel "dressed up" but also comfortable. I think I got 3 pairs..whatever fit! So my "engineer" of a husband was asking her about the wiring that springs back in the ankle straps and how you keep them from getting crushed when you transport them (who knew he was interested in the intricacies of sandals
) and she sure had an "engineered" answer...they just fold down like a slinky, or one of those old portable drinking cups. Impressive! Packs flat, easy to transport, (of course you take 3 or 4 that way, for our carry on buddies!).
Some of you have seen the beaded sandals that sell out immediately both at Brin d'Île Saint-Barth and in Saint-Tropez with the names of those cities on them (they exist in Italy, France, etc. with names of vacation cities), made by De Siena..they are amazing but of course, they sell out. Last I knew, she was waiting for a shipment but I was not lucky; maybe you will be when you go!
As for shoe prices, I don't remember the individual prices but for 3 pair of shiny sandals and a pair of suede loafers, the entire price was 595 Euros..truly amazing. And very cheerful!
To be continued...
As we all know the "big names" on Saint-Barth along Rue de la République, they probably don't need any introduction, except to say that you can actually save quite a bit of money if you find what you want, given that the Euro price is WAY cheaper than the US price and there is no VAT in SBH as it is a "duty free port", so you do not have go through the hassle of getting your VAT back at the airport with all the attendant paperwork. There are some local shops that are not "big names" but equally enchanting that are on the expensive side, such as the exquisite pink store of Vanita Rosa up on Rue Oscar II in Gustavia, which is my first stop every trip. Definitely not cheap but really cheerful if you want the nicest beach coverups on the planet. (Online you can often get some pieces on sale for a really good price so look them up when you can't get to SBH.)
The selection, unfortunately, is often limited in the "big names" on the island, though, but if you find what you want, it is well worth it to buy it on island. A recent example: Last time they were made a couple of years ago, I missed a really useful pair of sandals at Louis Vuitton in SBH (they didn't have the color I wanted) and swore I would get a pair if LV ever made them again. They just came out with the sandals (Neo Revival mule-high heel version) so I jumped on a pair but had to pay the US price and the CA tax
However, with all the exquisite things to buy in SBH, you do not have to spend a fortune to have fabulous things, especially if you come fairly often, and just want a few fun items as souvenirs of your trip..you know, the clothing and shoe kind of souvenirs. So let's do a little Tour de SBH for the cheap and cheerful items you can find. In the good old days, the stores along Plage Pélican next to Nikki Beach on both sides of the entrance in St-Jean were definitely comparatively cheap and cheerful, but now, not as cheap as they used to be..they were more "local" and now they are sort of local ( I really like Terra..check out the PHO Firenze brand) but some names that you find in France, too. You can find some really cute items in these stores so don't forego your shopping there. The stores keep changing over the years and I think one is POP which I believe is also present in Gustavia. They took over the store at the far end toward the vending machines (!) which in the real old days used to be "Betty Boop" and has been a couple of other names since.
But if you walk down the road away from there, a couple of hundred yards down the road and across the street, and walk over to Villa Créole (where Peter McCool's restaurant is..you can leave your non shopping partner there and there are TVs outdoors!), you find the very fun and cheap and cheerful "Drugstore", which is not a pharmacie but a souvenir store, where you can buy some great perfumes/colognes as well as a good selection of regular SBH type souvenirs.
However, if you keep walking on the walkway to the left of the Drugstore and go toward the back of the center, you will find a little walkway that is behind the Drugstore off to the first right sidewalk after the bath articles store on the corner. Go down the little path and you will find a store that is called, "ORIGINAL ST BARTH". This is worth the détour if you want some fun clothes with some nice fabrics for a good price! **And guys, they have clothes for you, too! Linen shirts, shorts, etc. (Not quite Vilebrequin linen but still nice. Young guys can do well here, too.) So at ORIGINAL, this time I found a cream/white sleeveless sweater with their logo on it (good with white jeans or under a blazer), a short sleeved oversized sweater with their logo on it, just for fun, but something much nicer; actually 2 somethings: a cream colored long silk heavy satin skirt and a black sleeveless heavy silk top that ties at the neck to go with it, out of the same material. (Most things don't have logos, so don't get scared off. )I think the prices for each were less than 100 E and some a lot less, like about 59 E. (In December 2022, I found a stretch velvet gown with little chain gold straps for less than 100E.) You do have to pick through but the girls who work there and the owner are SUPER nice and will help you. A lot of the younger girls go in there so it is fun to see what they are choosing. The owner also owns the store straight in the back of the Villa Créole that is more "neon" Club wear sort of stuff, but last year I found a really cute black ruched dress that was very reasonable that I could pull off, so you might take a peek in for fun. I thought ORIGINAL had some nice, flow-y beach type dresses, too, especially if you are tall. (I am not..). You never know what you will find there, so go have a look. They have an instagram account if you want to check it out, but there isn't a great representation on it.
So to continue our tour, we are off to the new little strip mall by the new gas station at L'Oasis. You can park there right by the gas station, too! It is across from the U Express/Le Bouchon shopping center. We will start with Océane Brin's lovely shoe and purse store in the middle of the line of stores! The name of the store is "Brin d'Île. (Of course you get the idea..her last name, and also the almost-pronounced-the-same word, "brindille"..super clever, non?!) Kevin was kind enough to give me a taste before I went there with some photos you can find on the Forum. It is a small store, and Océane was associated with our beloved but now closed Laurent Effel, and she has some original sandals and beloved SBH hand sewn loafers (kind of like the Tod's Gomminos drivers with the little rubber bumps on the bottom), but her loafers have a penny-loafer style bar with a cut out map of Saint-Barth..so chic! Mine are the denim colored suede and wish I had bought more..(What's need got to do with it?!). You really do have to try them on because each is hand made and they are not perfectly consistent in sizing. I sized up, and you want to make sure the stitching isn't too tight so it does not rub. (If you travel a lot, you may want them a tiny bit bigger if you know what airplanes can do to your feet
Now, Océane is nothing if not inventive and she has "engineered" these ankle wrap sandals that are fun and shiny (everybody needs a little bling, non?!) that have a wire in them to wrap around your ankle and are super comfortable..flats but perfect with pants and dresses if you want to feel "dressed up" but also comfortable. I think I got 3 pairs..whatever fit! So my "engineer" of a husband was asking her about the wiring that springs back in the ankle straps and how you keep them from getting crushed when you transport them (who knew he was interested in the intricacies of sandals
Some of you have seen the beaded sandals that sell out immediately both at Brin d'Île Saint-Barth and in Saint-Tropez with the names of those cities on them (they exist in Italy, France, etc. with names of vacation cities), made by De Siena..they are amazing but of course, they sell out. Last I knew, she was waiting for a shipment but I was not lucky; maybe you will be when you go!
As for shoe prices, I don't remember the individual prices but for 3 pair of shiny sandals and a pair of suede loafers, the entire price was 595 Euros..truly amazing. And very cheerful!
To be continued...
! I’m sure she could bring home a few things from there
..she probably already has a few pairs from your initial visit to the store; an early adopter, if you will
..you deserve it!
Hope they have the De Siena beaded sandals for you that say “SAINT BARTH”!
. ). I hope everyone gets a chance to go by for some truly authentic SBH items by a lovely owner.
