I will be in Paris soon and am looking to buy some nice silk and nylon stockings while I am there. I know the Gerbe brand is made in France. Can anyone tell me where to go and find a good selection, and also if there are any outlet stores, or other places that sell these at good prices. I have looked to buy on the internet and everything is so expensive. Are there other high end brands i should be looking for?

All the major department stores (Galeries Lafayette, Printemps, etc.) have large selections. And there are small shops that sell nothing else, like the one on rue Buci. Probably some of the fancy shops on the rue St-Honoré would have them too. I don't know much about high-end stockings, but I don't think this will be a particularly difficult thing to find in Paris.

BHV near the Hotel de Ville has a good selection too

Wolford and Fogal have a very nice selection. If you're in the US and close to a major city (NY, LA, etc) you can find both Wolford and Fogal which, with the Euro conversation rate, will end up costing less here.

I agree with StCirq that it would be easy to find them at the Grands Magasins like Galeries Lafayette, Printemps, Samaritaine, etc. They will have a wide selection and you'll be able to find both silk and nylon stockings.

flytheworld: La Samaritaine has been permanently closed for a couple of years now.

the mind boggles.

Thank you for the options. Hoping to find some outlet stores like we have here in the US where I might find these at better prices than in the major department stores. Or possibly a smaller shop that puts these on sale periodically.

Wait. Did I just walk backwards through a time warp?

Yes, I am confused too. I think xman is a woman, but silk? stockings? Maybe to do with underwear-as-outerwear fashion?

"Are there other high end brands i should be looking for? "

Chantal Thomass and Cervin are high end brands.

Actually when I read this original post, I kept thinking of the "cold war" period. I remember reading that one of the things that poeple would bring back from the West to Russia and other countries were stockings since the west had such better quality.

In this day and age, how many of us really wear these and is there really anything you can't get anywhere when it comes to stockings? (There's a Wolford outlet in Orlando FL for instance!)

I too thought of chocolate bars and silk stocking, but whatever....maybe someone still wears these things. At any rate, I don't know of any "outlet" stores in Paris.

There are some semi-outlet stores in various parts of Paris, they have seconds/"degriffe", "stock", etc. I've shopped in them. They aren't outlet stores in that they are run by the same company and carry their particular merchandise like you find in the US, so much. There are some like that, such as Cacherel Stock on rue Alesia. There are some out near Disneyland, though (marne la vallee). Never been there.
http://www.lavalleevillage.com/en_GB/the-experience

I do not shop for silk stockings, so really cannot say if they have those, though. I have only viewed clothing and lingerie. They might have some in those stores, they have major brands. They sell Wolford at Marne La Vallee, but don't know about stockings per se.

SOme of the main streets with discount apparel stores (seconds, etc.) are rue Alesia (the main one I've been on, I know they have several lingerie outlet stores near the end towards ave Gen. Leclerc), and over in the 7th and 6th like around St Sulpice metro stop. I thought there were some on rue St Dominique in the 7th, but I don't know that area.

Sometimes it really is not worth it to be wasting time running around to get a discount on a pair of stockings. I think you'd have to be buying a lot to make it worth your time.

Smaller shops don't put things on sale periodically in Paris, sales periods are regulated (twice a year). There are some exceptions for last year's merchandise, I think.