Jolies Pièces

About

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Jolies Pièces is an independent magazine devoted to fashion designers. We write for people who want to understand what they buy, what they wear, and what sets a carefully made piece apart from one that only looks the part.

Our editorial line

We start from the piece. Its cut, its fabric, the workshop that made it, the designer who drew it. Then we look at where to find it, at what price, and what it is worth in daily use. Five sections structure the magazine, ready-to-wear, jewelry, shoes, bags and concept stores.

Contact

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The editorial team reads every message and answers each one.

Report an error or request a correction. Tell us which story, and if possible the source that supports the correction.
Introduce us to a designer or a store. Describe the work in a few lines, with a link to the website.

To reach the editors, write to redaction@jolies-pieces.fr.

Jolies Pièces does not publish sponsored content. Paid placement proposals are not followed up.

Designer ready-to-wear: definition, history and how to judge it

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Designer ready-to-wear means clothes designed by an identified designer, cut in standard sizes and produced in short runs. It sits between haute couture, which is made to measure and legally protected, and mass fashion, produced in very large quantities without a signature. What defines it is less a price point than a signature and manufacturing you can trace.

What is ready-to-wear?

Ready-to-wear covers every garment sold finished, in standard sizes and produced in series. You buy it in a store and wear it the same day, with no fittings or alterations in a workroom.

Gold plated, vermeil or solid gold: what is the difference?

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Gold plated, vermeil and solid gold are not three grades of the same finish. They are three different objects, and French law defines each one precisely. Gold plated means a base metal under at least 3 microns of gold, vermeil means solid silver under at least 5 microns of 18 karat gold, and solid gold means a gold alloy all the way through.

The three terms are used loosely on product pages. Here is what they actually mean, and how to check them on the piece itself.

Legal notice

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Publisher

The website jolies-pieces.fr is published by the Jolies Pièces editorial team. Contact: redaction@jolies-pieces.fr

Hosting

The website is hosted by GitHub, Inc., 88 Colin P. Kelly Jr. Street, San Francisco, CA 94107, United States.

Intellectual property

The texts published on Jolies Pièces belong to their authors and to the publisher. Full reproduction without permission is prohibited. Short quotations are allowed with credit and a link to the story.

Photographs come from the Pexels image library, under the Pexels license, unless stated otherwise. Each story photograph is credited below the image.

What is a concept store? Definition, origins and examples

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A concept store is a shop that brings together a curated selection of designers and several worlds, fashion, jewelry, objects, sometimes a café or a gallery, under one point of view. You will not find a brand’s entire range or a whole department, but pieces that a person or a small team has chosen one by one. The format was born in Milan in 1990 and became a Paris institution with Colette from 1997.