RED and YELLOW and PINK and GREEN....

La droguerie

When I came around the corner, the first thing I saw were fluffy coloured feathers in these huge round jars all lined up by the window. Then I spied the buttons, the beads, the pom-poms, the sequins, the yarn, and the ribbons. By this stage, my heart was beating. I entered the store in slow-motion I think. I can't quite remember. It still feels like a blur of technicolour craft Renaissance not yet discovered. What a place to daydream! What a place to breathe in colours unknown to now! What a place to initiate a depth within you that wants to be creatively challenged and nurtured! La droguerie, Je T'aime!

La droguerie originated in Paris in 1974, and already has five locations in Japan from Tokyo to Kyushu. The Japanese website is here.

http://www.ladroguerie.jp/

Check out the French website (in French) for a wow-factor colour burst.

http://www.ladroguerie.com/

Japanese store locations are here (Just click on BOUTIQUES).

http://www.ladroguerie.jp/top/top_left_right1.html

The Osaka boutique in Shinsaibashi is easy to find tucked behind Tokyu Hands and GAP on Nagahori-dori street. The staff are smiley, friendly, helpful, talented and passionate. The assortment of products is simply overwhelming. The ribbon section alone had me wide-eyed and dreamy. The designs seemed like nothing I had ever seen before. Some ribbon prices left me speechless as well.

“You needn't buy the whole metre” said the sweet shop staff when I saw the 2800 yen price (per metre) of my most favourite red, white and blue ribbon royal. She then went on to explain various (cheaper) alternatives of how to highlight the ribbon beyond a ponytail perfecter. I ended up buying a meter of my second favourite ribbon for only 1000 yen. I just have to grow my hair out now if I want to wear it in pair plaits as I envision.

Unlike Osaka, the Kitayama store in Kyoto has various craft workshops quite regularly throughout the month. Click on the Japanese link below the opening hours on the Kyoto store page for more detailed information.

La droguerie is open almost everyday of the year from 11:00 – 20:00.

They have a stamp card too. Dangerous isn't it.

I highly recommend coming here even if it is just for a sticky beak around.

And you know, if you are feeling a bit homesick, a bit down-in-the-dumps, or recovering from some unforeseen shift of fortune, the uplift you will feel from this rainbow coloured therapy, will surely renew your interior balances with life vitality quite quickly.