I chanced upon DOM Christian Koban while shopping in the Marais in Paris (which I can now add to the likes of Harajuku in Tokyo, Oxford Street in London and the whole of Hong Kong as my most treasured shopping haunts). Quite a number of chic Marais-ites were bustling in and out of the shop's decidedly dark interiors, I had to at least pop in to check it out.at the DOM storefront

Aptly described by my non-fashiony brother as a European Urban Outfitters without all the outfits (with more emphasis on the other fun stuff they peddle), DOM was indeed a stimulating find. They sell everything from rubber raincoats, to collapsible market totes, to art books and music, to furniture, to the most adorable finger monsters.inside the DOM shop

DOM is a German brand, and outside Germany, it only has shops in Paris and Amsterdam. It does have an interesting online shop though, where I found this clever sleeping mask:and quite an unreadable but nonetheless cool-looking watch (?) called the "UHR Tokyoflash Pimp 2".They've also got a creative and affordably-priced selection of jewelry too. For the ladies,cable-knit bangles.

I left the store with this handsome brass signet ring,which can be described as "grandfather's ancient gold ring meets grandmother's teatime linens",

and this heather gray jersey cotton and metal chain neckpiecewhich I have not yet figured out how to wear or what to wear with. If you've any ideas, please share them by way of a comment, thanks!