Parisian Style
[ 22 October 2008 ]
Much is made of the allegedly superior style of French women — Parisians especially. There was a point a couple of years ago where books on how to live, dress, eat & act like a French woman were being churned out at an alarming rate. That’s slightly de mode now, but when I was in Paris a couple of weeks ago, I made a point of observing the style of the women around me. (I always do, I can’t help it, but this time I made a concerted effort because I was interested in what might have sparked all those previous authors.) Obviously it’s impossible to typify an entire city full of women & the way they dress, but I noticed that French women — or at least Parisian women — do have a very definite aesthetic, despite their individual stylistic differences.
I started making some notes, & they have evolved into the piece below. I hope you enjoy it & of course if you are a French woman, or have lots of experience with them, please feel free to say your bit & share your thoughts!
Parisian women know the importance of good basics (& don’t scrimp on them)
One of the first things I noticed was that even though the temperature had only just started to drop, all the women I saw (honestly, pretty much without exception) were totally kitted out. By this I mean that I didn’t see any of them huddling & looking cold in the Métro. They all had great coats, scarves & good winter boots.
I don’t know how often French women shop, so whether the coats were brand new or not is a mystery to me. The point is that everyone had them. They were good quality coats, clean & smart-looking. This is not to say that they were expensive necessarily, but they were definitely well-made & stylish.
Parisian women seem to grasp the concept that a coat, scarf & boots are going to be their major sartorial staples for at least a few months, & so they buy with this in mind. If you think about it, during winter, all anyone really sees are your coat & shoes, so it makes total sense to get the best you can.
For more tips, see How To Buy A Winter Coat!
Parisian women work from a consistent colour palate
There was not a lot of colour to be seen in Paris, at least when it came to clothing — not on the people or in the shops — but one thing I learned from a few women I spoke to is that they tend to shop with a limited colour palate in mind. This means that they have probably determined ahead of time what works for them & their skin-tone, & they stick to it.
One problem a lot of women have is that they get carried away with excitement & end up buying a raspberry beret (!), a lime green waistcoat or a pair of pink cowboy boots… & then don’t know how to work them into their wardrobe. Obviously if your closet is extensive & well-stocked, this might not be so much of a problem, but most women don’t have that luxury. & so that colourful poncho languishes at the back of the cupboard, because you just cannot work out what to put it with.
If you make a decision to work from a few colours — maybe black, beige, white, royal blue & red, for example — it makes your entire sartorial experience about a billion times more simple & cohesive. While this might sound boring (& it’s certainly not a rule I adhere to — I am totally prone to flights of fancy where I buy turquoise cardigans), if you feel like your style’s a bit of a mess & you don’t know where to begin fixing it, paring the colours down is a great place to start.
Parisian women don’t want to look “perfect”
The major difference between the look of Parisian women & American women that I can see is that Americans want to look absolutely perfect, with not a hair out of place. It’s very pageant style, very shiny teeth. Parisian women don’t want to look that way, & while they may spend just as much time getting ready in the morning, it’s not so that you could blast their head with a leaf-blower & have no effect. Parisian women often wear their hair loose & down, tucked into their scarf or coat if the weather is horrible, or pulled back in a messy chignon. This is one of those things that helps add to that tousled, sex kitten look that so many women are crazy about trying to achieve. You won’t look like that if your hair is pulled back so severely it doubles as an amateur face-lift!
Okay, so let me make a disclaimer & say that this is not to say that you can leave the house with soup stains on your skirt & safety-pins holding your sleeve together. It’s about looking effortless, not being effortless!
Allow yourself to get a little dishevelled. If you don’t know how to make that happen, get dressed, then have sex, then leave the house. Simple, non?!
Parisian women don’t wear a lot of make-up
One thing I heard years ago was that French women aren’t wild about make-up, but they are crazy for treatments, potions & powders. Apparently the average French woman’s medicine cabinet is a veritable apothecary, the likes of which would make a mad scientist beam with pride.
Regardless of their penchant for slathering strange creams on themselves, Parisian women really don’t wear a lot of make-up. I barely saw a lipsticked mouth the whole time I was there. Most of them seemed pretty content with a bit of foundation, rouge, eye-liner & mascara. I always thought of stereotypical sexy French rock & roll style as being a girl with long messy hair & slightly unkempt eye make-up, but I didn’t see any of those girls. Maybe they only exist in my imagination…
Parisian women take their time
This is not to say that they dawdle or plod around, because they certainly don’t. But the French, generally, understand that time is precious, & they make the most of it. Yes, they work hard, but they also make time to relax & look after themselves — unlike most Americans or English, who seem intent on working themselves into an early grave!
They make time to have a bath, go for walks & spend time with their friends. They’re not constantly running around with dangerously high blood pressure. They understand that life is about balance. Life doesn’t have to be perfectly structured & pulled tight in order to be satisfying. They’re okay with letting go of the reins.
Parisian women keep it simple
Parisian women seem to manage to avoid the temptation to load on accessories & gee-gaws. Maybe they all subscribe to Coco Chanel’s old adage of “take one thing off before you leave the house”, or maybe the overdone look just doesn’t appeal as much. Regardless of the reason, it’s much easier to look chic & polished if you have fewer elements fighting for attention.
Parisian women wear heels — a lot
Before you rush out & rack up a hideous credit card bill at ChristianLouboutin.fr (I know you & your quick-draw Visa!), stop! Yes, very high heels are sexy. But only some of them are comfortable, & spending a lot of money on a pair of kicks unfortunately doesn’t make them cozy. (You would think they would pass some kind of law stipulating that if a pair of shoes retails for over $500, you should be able to stand up in them without feelings of intense agony, but hey!)
So the most important thing to realise is that yes, a lot of Parisian women wear heels a lot of the time, but they wear heels they can walk in! & stand in! & actually feel alright in! Sometimes this means a little kitten heel, & sometimes it means something higher, but you really won’t know until you try something on. My point is, Parisian women make the effort with their footwear but they don’t murder themselves in the process.
Be good to your tootsies, they’re the only ones you’ve got! (Unless you have some kind of strange affliction… In which case, sorry. But go nuts on the shoes!)
Extra For Experts:
JAK & JIL BLOG has lots of French model style for your perusal. (It happens to be one of my new favourite blogs, too.)
The Sartorialist shoots in Paris regularly, though unfortunately his “Women in Paris” tag doesn’t seem to be working. Just scroll!
Super-love & cupcakes,
Gala
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I’d love to go to Paris. I stayed in Brittany for a week and I adored it. I wish I was French!
I would love to find a pair of heels that are comfortable for longer then an hour!! Please do share if you know. Ah, Paris I love that city~
I’m planning a trip to Paris early next year, it’s only a few hours away on a train, but I need to save up for the shopping first! Plus, I need to learn to walk properly in heels still!
Gala Gala Gala!
You must look at this, too: www.garancedore.fr/
It’s one of my favorites!
I like that you don’t try to paint Parisian/French women has ‘perfect’ or as some sort of ideal (which is what many of those books do) but as just another kind of style. I particularly like the reminders about limited colour palette and good basics… the image of a Metro carriage full of women in good coats, scarves and boots is rather inspiring. :)
(But kitten heels are the least comfortable type of heel ever. They make the muscles around one’s ankles seize up terribly. Boots with heels are much more forgiving.)
Baha, your advice on how to achieve the tousled look (“Get dressed, then have sex, then leave the house”) is so awesome. I love it! :)
Love this. The lipstick issue: I think this is not just an American thing (and I am an American girl) but an age thing. The women who are older than me (I’m 39, a gen x’er) seem so very attached to their makeup in general, and specifically to their lipsticks. Yuck. Women my age — it’s so rare to find one who “can’t leave the house all done up.”
The winter-wear: My partner and I have not owned a car for over seven years (intentionally), and so we take a lot more care in our coats and other cold weather accoutrements. And people notice. A man in Starbucks stopped me to tell me what a relief I was — color and beauty in my clothing even though the weather outside was freezing and messy.
I guess we’re a bit “French,” oui?
As a Parisian girl, I must say that you got (most of) us perfectly right! But also that most Parisian girls like to play it safe and are afraid to take risks, which can translate into dull and clone-like outfits. So my advice would be: get inspired by the Parisians for the basics, but always add something a little wild to stand out and be interesting (red, red lips, bright green shoes, colourful stockings, a purple beret…). I’d like it if more Parisian girls were less tasteful and more daring.
I am a Parisian girl who got bored of the conservatism of Paris styles and… ran away to London where I can fully express my fashion self.
Although I always have in mind the Paris sense of style, which leads to a very tasteful fashion mess :)
In this, I agree with Theremina… The thing is, for girls to be able to add a bit of fun in their outfits, the whole French way of thinking would have to change and be more accepting of originality – i.e people would have to stop shouting abuse at others in the street because of their fashion sense.
Thank you Gala! wonderful article :)
That’s exactly how I manage to achieve my sexily tousled hair!
Cute article!
I decided to be brave and wear heels for a performance the other night. I have worn them for extended jaunts before, but when I woke up the morning after wearing the shoes for 10 hours the 3 middle toes on my right foot were numb and tingly. It is 4 days later and it hasn’t gotten better. LADIES! BE GOOD TO YA TOES! I am optimistic and hope that I haven’t done any serious nerve damage!
I don’t find french style all that exciting but it certainly is timeless, which is always good!
I definitely hear you on Parisian style not necessarily being very exciting! It didn’t take long for me to start looking around, hoping to see someone dressed “differently”! I found it odd how conservatively most people were dressed; that wasn’t at all what I was expecting.
Timeless basics are always a good thing. I have a few great pairs of boots, a great coat, a couple of great scarves, that sort of thing. A black leather jacket that always gets compliments. Knee high brown boots. Standout pieces that match almost everything, since I’m wearing them for months.
My going out clothes and other stuff that I’ll get bored of can be low quality. My basics are amazing. Speaking of, I need to go out and get a few more long-sleeved tshirts and a few more thin sweaters (probably cardigans) before winter hits. I’m thinking American Apparel for the tshirts, as much as their advertising and window displays sketch me out. The colors and the quality are going to win out.
I’d love to go to Paris one day (I was planning to while I was in Spain but my funds were little to nonexistent).
Tousled hair… I might try that one someday.
Cool article Gala!
I love the “get dressed, have sex, and then leave the house” tip, you are such a sexy lady :)
I went to international school in france when I was 15, and on my way there, the airline lost my luggage. They sent it to Australia! from Spain! so I went a week without it, which I meant I got to go on a shopping spree! & bill it to the airline! with my french host mom. She was a normal woman but very elegant,like you said, in a very effortless kind of way & she taught me A LOT about fashion, helping me choose clothes. Most of everything I got, I still use to this day, because they’ve lasted me in such good shape and they’re all, all-time basics that can be worked around any style or outfit and you can depend on them making you look good.
My style has changed a lot of over the years (I’m 21 now) but I’ve been able to use those clothes through my gothic,chic & funky years :)
the colorful impulse buy is totally my vice.
but most of the time i can work it
i think i’m going to be parisian today!
purple knit dress
gray leggings
and throwing a slightly baggy rust corduroy toggle jacket over it should be adorable.
with of course my signature t-straps.
hope it works!!!
Oh, I love France! I can’t wait to go to Paris to take some fashion notes of my own :)
I really enjoyed this article, now I am inspired to find a pair of heels I can wear for more than 5 minutes at a time…
Allow yourself to get a little disheveled. If you don’t know how to make that happen, get dressed, then have sex, then leave the house. Simple, non?!
Gala, I love you!
These were all really useful tips. ^ ^ Thanks so much for your thoughts! Especially about the simplicity, and quality wardrobe staples.
Great article Gala! It’s so interesting to read about how women in different cities/cultures dress and approach their look. I’d love to hear about how NYC ladies dress (if there’s any one way to describe it!).
I’ve never been really Paris-crazed like a lot of fashionistas, but I’m so glad to hear that lipstick isn’t big there! I never “got” wearing heavy lipstick on a daily basis…tinted gloss all the way!
Hmmm…have you ever thought of doing similar reviews for other major cities? Like maybe Tokyo and Milan? Although I’m sure we can expect all sorts of awesome fashion articles if your travels take you there!
Oh, it all sounds so deliciously DIFFERENT from the attitudes and actions surrounding style and dressing here in the states. I need to take a page outta this book … especially the imperfect, mussed hair. Definitely guilty of a facelift-emulating bun over here.
Well done! I like to think that I am somehow Parisian at heart because I don’t think I could do “perfect American” if I tried! I don’t have the face to pull it off anyway. Hooray for not wearing gobs of makeup and investing in good basics!
Loved the article Gala!
OMG I love you! You’re so wise AND beautiful! xoxo
I’m not sure if this is true (looking at you for confirmation/negation Theremina) but I’ve heard it bandied about that French woman are really good at working their personal best features, rather than getting all in a lather over big eyebrows/wee boobies/wonky teeth. So they (allegedly) work their thick hair/round bum/long eyelashes and don’t worry themselves with the imperfect bits.
If this is, in fact, the case … I salute them! And how do I learn to not fuss over my flat bum?!
teehee, I love your tousled advice.
I feel like the idea of a limited color palette is very appealing, but the realization is awful to me. I am way to flightly to keep with one hair color longer than a few months, so I don’t think I would be able to keep my clothes one color palette.
Also, since I twitter-stalk you, hope your tattoo day has gone/is going nicely :)
Gala! I love this article!!!! :D I’ve lately had a few people tell me I dress very “French”, which I think is hilarious because I don’t think I do. Unless one counts the fact that I almost always wear heels as somehow the deciding factor. But I love these tips and observations—especially the one about looking effortless. I’ve begun to move away from the “mustn’t have a hair out of place” mentality and embrace my hair that has a mind of it’s own! lol.
Thanks for writing this! :)
Great observation gala. I would like to add to the heels
observation one thing. I know a lot of parisian women trot the city on foot and are not afraid to wear heels while doing so. However majority of americans do the car thing and yet I don’t
See as many high heeled ladies out there. I think they should take advantage :)
After having moved to a city with no decent sidewalks I totally regret not taking advantage of it when I lived there.
Ps. Kingdom of style had an Tutorial about wearing high heels. The best advice ever! Gallop like a horseeee. IT WORKS! Hahaha!
Hey Gala! I love that you mentioned balance – time for work, time for drinking coffees, time for just drinking with friends!
That was one thing that struck me most when I was there last and I am certain that it contributes to French women’s effortless style – somehow it translates into walking taller, more confidently, feeling stylish! Ahhhh France – my country!
I wish I was like that, haha. I would love to live in France, or at least just visit there one day!
i lived in paris for a year until the beginning of this summer & i have to say they really DO wear a lot of lipstick. deep red, like ruby woo from m.a.c. is what i saw very often. its true though that other than that they don’t wear much make up. also, i dont know where you hung out but i went to a good few vernissages and the like and the women dressed pretty outrageously eccentric but elegant & smart like you said.
I love this article Gala!
Keep up the great work :)
Seriously, it’s like you’re in my brain sometimes. About an hour ago I watched the last episodes of SATC, thinking about how much I cannot wait to go to Paris, then started looking at my learn-to-speak-French book that I got secondhand last week. And then I come on here and read this! Crazy…
“Allow yourself to get a little disheveled. If you don’t know how to make that happen, get dressed, then have sex, then leave the house.”
LOL. Great advice there, I love it :D
I was JUST recently thinking about Parisian ladies (since I wrote a piece to enter a contest for a trip to Paris…), and how effortlessly and classically chic they look. I’ve analyzed this more times than I should admit, but I’ve always missed out on a key element that you name here: that Parisian women take their time.
That honestly changes the whole way I think about that enviable lifestyle! Trying to orchestrate my own list corresponding to the fashion side of Paris chic has always ended up with my feeling that I need to work HARDER and BETTER on everything. Hearing from you that I’m all wrong is awfully uplifting and perspective-changing; THANKS!
I think much of my time until recently has been spent frantically making myself busier and busier. Only now can I see that that isn’t how maximum fun is really had. Not to get all pedantic…just neat to realize! xox Rachel
Just a quick tip of buying a winter coat- I always buy mine one size too big as in the winter you will be wearing layers and big wooly jumpers underneath.
x
Wow, Gala you absolutely read my mind! I’ve been living in Paris for almost a month (and still have 9 months to go!) and was considering writing my own article about the myth of the well dressed Parisienne. The thing is coming from Australia, I find the dress sense here very different. It is of course very chic, but it can also be kind of drab seeing black, followed by grey everywhere! I remember the looks of digust as well when I broke out my (bright red) havaianas on a warm day. Quel horreur!!
Overall I think that style here can be a little boring, a little bourgeois mainly. However, there are still some things that the french get just right- how to dress for the season (wearing the right coat or footwear) and how to tie a scarf just right. But for me, I miss the warmth and the bright colours of Australia. Plus no one smiles here, which is the key to making outfits look good. :)
i love this. great quality basics seems like such common sense, but it’s something that i often forget about. the reminder is perfect timing, now that autumn is arriving in nyc!
My lips already have enough color, so I don’t see the point of lipstick except a lip balm to keep the lips moist. Perhaps Parisian women are more practical in that sense? Or that defined eyes plus defined lips are too much for daytime?
Great article, this one!
I am definitely “French” when it comes to my wardrobe. Black and white pairings are common for me, and I stick to the same color palette when shopping. Another intersting read from you!
God- I love you! I had to kirtsy this.
OMG gala i love this article.
how to be a parisian is wonderful. i hope i will be able to fit this into some of my everyday clothing choices. i really wish i could go to paris.
i also have a question/favour/suggestion…
im about 6 months pregnant and im finding it hard to still be my faboulous self when none of my clothes fit me. if u have any suggestions on how to help a desperate girl who can no longer see her knees. it would be truely wonderful.
MUCH LOVE GALA. YOUR AMAZING.
x
French style is beautiful…yet monotonous.
I’ll be strutting around Melbourne in my my thongs (“flipflops”), cotton dresses and costume jewellery all summer. It’s bloody comfortable :D
Parisian women also wear flats. A lot. So they can walk over all those cobblestones…
xbadaude
Just what I needed, Gala, thanks! A basket of kittens for you.
XOxo
Wonderful article. I was missing your “style” posts! xx
I just wrote a magazine article about French style. I love your take, as mine was more general and I love how you broke it down into areas that I can make work for me.
I always feel more stylish in Paris as I work to fit in to the beautiful city. Would love for you to read my article about this and give some advice on this!
Tamara
ModernGearTV.com
moderngeartv.blogspot.com/2008…
After living in Paris for over 3 years, I can pretty much agree with everything you said. It still mystifies me though, the trend in being “French”. While there are many inspirational aspects to the French, they have their faults just like any other people. I’m sorry to burst anyones bubble but Paris is an entire city filled with all sorts of people not just what the Sartorialist seeks out.
I did see a greater proportion of well dressed people than I have in other cities but on many chic was almost like a “uniform”. That sort of repetition was definitely better than seeing folks in sweats and flip flops but part of me still screamed whenever I was in a metro car… and every single coat was BLACK!
I love black but sitting in a metro filled with a sea of black during winter was kind of depressing :(
i was just wondering if the french, typically, listen to the traditional rules of fashion, i.e. what the current english fashion scene has thrown out. navy blue and black? brown and black? polka dots and stripes? leggings as pants? i was just curious.