Thread your way back in time - the Mercerie - Silk

Thread your way back in time - the Mercerie - Silk Thread
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Thread your way back in time - the Mercerie - Silk Thread
Ultramod - the Mercerie and hat shop
A quest for silk embroidery thread leads me to a haberdashery on a narrow Paris street.
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The only name visible at this address behind the green façade is "Mercerie".
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The mercerie on the rue de Choiseul sits a few doors north of the Passage Choiseul entrance along rue
Saint-Augustin.
Unlike the first chapter setting in Emile Zola's novel, Thérèse Raquin, this display window lacks the dust and
dinginess. The interior is lit with brilliant colors of the past and present. The roses are freshened weekly.
Ultramod lacks the depressing spirit of Zola's main character. If you visit between two and three in the
afternoon, you will encounter a conviviality doubtfully found in any other mercerie shop in Paris.
One day while waiting for the owner, Mr. Jean-François Morin, the sounds of laughter and chatter and the
clinking of the cutlery against the porcelain and the scent of a warm lunch mingled with the sight of colored
jewels of buttons, boxes, ribbons and threads.
Ultramod is a haberdashery shop -- a mercerie. They have two shops across the narrow street from each
other. The mercerie on the one side of rue de Choiseul sells vintage silk ribbons that feel as if you are burying
your fingers in goose down.
If you are looking for a button, you have hundreds or "thousands" from which to choose.
Layover information
About This Site
They sell silk threads from Au Ver à Soie or the complete color range of DMC, traditional braids, ribbons of all
types, embroidery and tapestry threads.
About Colleen's Paris
Across the street, is the vintage hat shop with its vintage patterned straw and other materials, furniture braids,
coarse-grains (gros-grains), and supplies (fourniture) for hat making. Givenchy once bought here, Lanvin does
and Jean Paul Gaultier visits personally to select his materials. If no one is in the shop, someone in the
mercerie will open the door for you.
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Consider the vintage materials in the two shops as unique -- once they are gone they are gone forever!
Experiencing the moment
This mercerie spells ambiance with a capital “A”. The little shells above the entry door tingle continuously as the
customers move steadily in and out looking for that special color….
A French couple comes in looking for thread. Her button has come off the bottom of her pants.
The color has to match her shoes, her stockings and the color of the button. With help, they find the taupe color
necessary to pull the look together.
The Japanese girl in the raincoat wants to replace the black buttons on her coat and sets about to patiently look
for and to find the replacements in one of the button boxes.
The French woman holds two rolls of printed ribbon and needs a specific measure.
Another tries to imagine how the olive felt ribbon will look tied; Marc demonstrates how to lap the pieces to
achieve the effect she wants.
A green, hand-crank cash register and hand written receipts monitor all sales.
Often tourists come in browsing and still end up leaving with something, Mr. Morin says.
We speak Japanese
Guidebooks and fashion magazines in Japan mention Ultramod often.
Momoko found her job with Ultramod after reading about the mercerie in the Japanese Elle magazine. She
wanted to work here and followed the channels.
She is here on an exchange visa so she can work and learn French and the business simultaneously. This
mercerie is a favorite destination for Japanese tourists, and she acts as the translator.
History
The oral history of Ultramod dates to between the 1860s and 1880s. The last of the family sold out in the
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Thread your way back in time - the Mercerie - Silk Thread
http://www.colleensparis.com/Colleens_Paris_Mercerie.php
1990s.
Mr. Morin formerly had a career in finance, until about 1991. In 1996 he was smitten as soon as he walked into
the mercerie side run by Madame Léone Santais. Mr. Morin then had the opportunity to buy the store across
the street, the original with all of its vintage stock. The last of the original family was selling (the name of the
family was not exactly clear -- Mr. Morin is not even sure of the name any longer).
The original families’ factory and storage facilities in the north of France was bombed in the 1940s. They
brought the salvageable stock to Paris and rue de Choiseul.
The collection of the vintage treasures for sale is amazingly large. When the stock is depleted, that’s it!
Useful information
Ultramod
Open Monday to Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
3 and 4 rue de Choiseul 75002
Tel: 01 42 96 98 30 Fax 01 42 60 45 57
Metro: Quatre Septembre (near the Opera)
Additional trivia
A haberdasher is a person who sells small, commonly used items in clothing via retail. This can include ribbons
and buttons, or completed accessories, such as hats or gloves. A haberdasher's shop or the items sold therein
are called haberdashery -- Wikipedia
Au ver à Soie
The wholesale business of Au Ver à Soie (founded in 1820) is located on rue Réaumur.
The woman with whom I spoke at Au Ver à Soie was very secretive about their factory.
She spoke to me from behind a massive, solid wood, old-fashioned counter, topped by a gigantic gold cash
register, the atelier (studio) windows behind her.
She was among the wood bookshelves that reached to the top of the high ceiling room filled with thin boxes
and tightly wrapped grey packages. Other women were at work over to the side behind other partitions and
walls.
Samples hung on the wall and on the display hooks to the right of the two entry doors made of wood and old
glass imprinted with the complete name of Au Ver à Soie written on an angle.
What I left with, however, was the name of Ultramod and their address.
This was also my introduction to silk thread.
A reader wanted to visit Au Ver à Soie thinking that the factory was located in Paris. During the September
Journées du Patrimoine, it might be possible to visit the factory which is located in Bracieux (Loir-et-Cher, Centre).
Let's visit Ultramod
Come with me on a tour of Ultramod, a haberdashery (mercerie) from long ago that lives a popular presence
on rue de Choiseul in Paris.
Jean François Morin and Momoko
Ultramod - 3 and 4 rue de Choiseul 75002
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Thread your way back in time - the Mercerie - Silk Thread
http://www.colleensparis.com/Colleens_Paris_Mercerie.php
The mercerie interior - front to back
When entering the mercerie, you are
faced with buttons on two walls
A collection of the various Au Ver à Soie products
The window display never stays the same;
it stays as lively as the interior!
Marc and Masako Taniuchi (Hokkaido Bunka
Fashion College)
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Thread your way back in time - the Mercerie - Silk Thread
http://www.colleensparis.com/Colleens_Paris_Mercerie.php
Antique hat pins - not for sale
Cabinet that holds the antique hat pins for display only
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Thread your way back in time - the Mercerie - Silk Thread
http://www.colleensparis.com/Colleens_Paris_Mercerie.php
Ultramod interior front to back
Buttons! have they got buttons
A small selection of beautiful embroidered ribbons
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Thread your way back in time - the Mercerie - Silk Thread
http://www.colleensparis.com/Colleens_Paris_Mercerie.php
A piece of equipment that is now used to
count out mega meters of ribbon
A wall full of fringe for household decorating
Gorgeous!
This rayon (silk) product can be shaped to any form
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Thread your way back in time - the Mercerie - Silk Thread
http://www.colleensparis.com/Colleens_Paris_Mercerie.php
More selections on the hat side of the street
Hat samples to decorate
Queen Elizabeth II's hat form from wild hare
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Thread your way back in time - the Mercerie - Silk Thread
http://www.colleensparis.com/Colleens_Paris_Mercerie.php
Straw used for hats
Hat form
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