June 8, 2018
Let’s start with some inspiration, shall we?
Quote from Agnes B. Spring 18 look book
One of the first things that I noticed when I got back to Chicago is the absolutely boring way people dress here. Yesterday Belovedest and I walked about 5 miles – from near Wrigley Field to our home in the downtown. The majority of women we saw – of all ages and body types – were wearing workout tights of some embarrassing level of revealing, with a tee shirt and a sweatshirt. I don’t for a New York minute believe that all of these women had been working out, or were headed that direction. In a world in which we collectively own more clothing than at any time literally in history, why are we all dressed so much alike, and so unflatteringly? Hmm…
So while I saw some clear patterns of how women dressed in Paris, and what I saw in shop windows, I have to condition these statements by adding that women there dress in a VERY wide variety of styles. We saw dresses, skirts, pants, jeans, shorts, jumpsuits – pretty much everything but leggings and swimwear! We saw every color of the rainbow. We saw short and tight (in 1 case really inappropriately short and tight…) as well as long, loose and flowing. We saw some things that I didn’t think made sense – jeans with high-heels is my least-favorite look; it doesn’t make sense because it’s an impractical juxtaposition of dressy and casual, and because the women wearing really high heels ALWAYS look madly uncomfortable and awkward. Don’t let anyone kid you that Parisiennes can walk on cobblestones in high-heels; they struggle just as much as women from any other place in the world!
What did we see that stood out, and that I loved?
Lots and lots of blue and white stripes – the stripes are almost equal width, like seersucker, but didn’t have the puckered texture. We saw this a lot…
dress – Uniqlo; sleeveless dress – J. Crew; pocketed top – Socialite; cinched-sleeve top – Halogen
It sounds like a cliche, but we actually saw dozens of people, of all ages and genders, wearing striped tops. Some of them were the classic sailor-style, and others were just striped tee shirts or tops. We never saw a wild rainbow in 1 top; mostly they were 2 colors, or occasionally a “bleu, blanc, rouge” one.
navy & white – L.L.Bean; red, white and blue – L.L.Bean; hot pink & white – Gibson; black & ivory stripe – Halogen
If you’re long-waisted, this next trend is all about you – lots of “paperbag” waists and high-waisted drawstring pants. They were in every store, and on many of the woman and girls that we saw (as well as more than a couple of men.) Comfortable, and very flattering unless your hips and your bust are cozily close together…
navy & white striped – Caslon; lavender – J.Crew; chambray – BP.; green – Caslon
If you grab these first pair of pants in the blue and white stripe, in linen, you win the Paris trend jackpot!
I mentioned that lots of women were wearing skirts and dresses. The nice thing about the way they wear their dresses is that they’re very… casual… about it. The shoes we saw most often, worn with dresses and skirts, were very simple white canvas… Perfect for when you’re riding a bike in the city!
mesh fabric – Converse; no laces – Sperry; classics – Keds; glitter – Keds
The mornings and evenings were cool when we were there (although it got really warm during the day!), so we saw a mad variety of denim jackets… they were pretty much the rule, worn over little dresses…
top left – Articles of Society; top right – L.L.Bean; bottom left – Uniqlo; bottom right – Levi’s
I’ve never had much luck finding a denim jacket that fit since I wore Belovedest’s about 25 years ago… but that bottom right jacket from Levi’s is described as being loose-fit… I might have to give it a try. Hmm…
And what dresses under these denim jackets? Many women of all ages (and I seriously mean ALL ages) were wearing spaghetti strap dresses. Now that the horror of the visible bra strap seems to have lost all stigma, everybody is free to wear these… But please, make sure that the bra strap doesn’t look ratty and stretched out, and try to avoid those with the overall contours of duct tape!
red dress – BP.; red striped – J.Crew; ivory striped – BP.
It’s impossible to give you any sense of a trending accessory in Paris, except the occasional shoe or bag, because there are SO MANY accessories available there that everybody’s got their own thing happening… So my favorite photos to take, and to share, are the windows at Diwali. Diwali has a handful of locations around Paris, so you’ll almost certainly bump into 1 of their stores if you’re ever there. If you wanted to build a little “accessory family” for the summer, this is the place to do it – it would be lovely, and not break the bank….
If you love teal and turquoise, or pink and purple, they’ve got just what you want:
The biggest “event” in Paris, while we were there, was the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the riots of May 1968. It was fun to see all of the older people around the city enjoying their memories, and the recognition that they were getting for their… accomplishments… from that time. This was a subtle piece of street art celebrating the date:
There was also quite a bit of graffiti and street art that seemed to be critical of the increasing work pressures emerging in French culture:
But there are always more signs of love and romance… Which is what keeps bringing us back!
love,
Janice
Like this article? Save it to Pinterest!
A wonderful roundup! That dress is summer perfection. And I see tons of the narrow blue/white stripes around.
I so much enjoy your recaps. You’ve hit on the exact thing I love about clothing in France – the variety. It always amazes me the number of different styles, colors shapes that I see in the shop windows and being worn in France.
I ran into a retired professor that I know the other day and she was in a blue & white striped sun dress and looked amazing – and she is well into her 80’s! My favourite shirt is a blue & white cotton that I’ve had for so long that the collar has finally given up the ghost and frayed beyond repair. It will now be relegated for “in the house only” wear.
I have a couple of navy & white t-shirts and another in black & white but I would LOVE one in bleu, blanc et rouge!
I dream about visiting one of those Diwali shops!
One of my favorite quotes (although I don’t know who deserves the credit) is, “Young children, intoxicated people and leggings always tell the truth”, which makes me wonder why work-out clothes are now considered fashionable street wear in the US. How refreshing it must be to people-watch in France!
Hello Janice! I definitely agree about the jean jacket + white canvas sneakers… when I was in France (down south), that was definitely the go-to for a large variety of folks… made me want to pick some up as well…
Unrelated, but where do you create your collages? (For example, on this page, or on the capsule wardrobe pages.) I also like to plan my outfits or styles that I’d like to emulate, and since I’m a visual person, I like to do it online – unfortunately, the site I used to use, polyvore, has since shut down, and I’m without an alternative. Thanks in response!
I do all of my work in PowerPoint! I can keep the notes about brands in the Notes section, and I can rearrange, resize, and edit images using it. I’ve never been tempted to move away from it…
hugs,
Janice
What a fabulous poster! So many ideas for exactly what my wardrobe needs for the summer. I love stripes and just ordered that pink/red one and hoping it will have a coral-like tone as I’m adding that color in. Draw string linen pants were on the list – the problem is which one! I love them all! Question: did you see in Paris jean jackets in colors other than blue denim? I have a khaki one and was thinking of adding white although I really love that little LLBean cropoed one in the darker blue. Janice Collins, Washington DC
I really enjoy reading your blog. You should check into Jennifer Scott’s (of Madame Chic book series fame) posts about dressing for everyday. Thanks for sharing your trip with us readers. Robin
Your observations about the boring attire of Chicagoans are so on point. I’ve frequently thought the same when walking out of a Saturday afternoon. I’m not saying people should have body shame; they should have body and self *pride* and dress themselves in flattering ways. It doesn’t take much. As Coco Chanel said, more or less, other people have to look at us so we may as well dress so they have something nice to look at.
And especially in Chicago, where one must suffer through so many coat-wearing months before one can go out in something cool and fun, there’s no excuse for not taking advantage of good weather. Even when running errands, or maybe especially when running errands.
I love Diwali! Now you have made me long for Paris again! I have the jean jacket, the dress, and even the stripes. I’m ready!
Diwali is a place I want to love- I bought so many textiles in India I had to ship them home instead of pack. But I think you could do better for quality, such as Inouitoosh (which has its own boutique near Place de l’Odéon) and Epice, which is sold at Bon Marché and a number of boutiques such as Trésor by Brigitte Masson in the Marais.
I bought this striped wrap top at the end of last summer – i’m glad to see they still offer it. I guess I can get in on the trend this way:
https://www.talbots.com/online/faux-wrap-peplum-top-rhodes-stripes-prdi42326/N-0?Ntt=striped+wrap+top&selectedConcept=&akamai-feo=off
Wow the accessories are fabulous, love the window pics. Just purchase some blue and white fabric to make a blouse!
I sometimes read comments on fashion/style blogs in which North American women scoff at the “myth” of French style; some commenters are dismissive and defensive. But as much as any stereotype is “true”, dadgummit, there is just more attention paid. Rather than being defensive, perhaps we should parse what “attention” means: usually, being fanatics about fit, whether that’s a coat or a bra.
I also noticed very, very few logos on clothing or bags… did you?
How interesting regarding variety in dress. I have felt that way in the Northeast for a few years now. Woman exist in black tights
out here. So do children and teenagers. Sometimes I want to cry from boredom. I feel that there is very litt!e inspiration for every day wear . With the tights comes a loss of an awareness of fit and proportion. they really are thoughtless and easy. You don’t need to iron them or be careful in anyway. There also seems to be no differentiation between a tight , a yoga pant, and opaque hose . I recently saw a young woman out at a mall with what appeared to be opaque hose with a cotton crotch. I feel awful judging other women. I have always been a believer of expression through clothes for people. I may not wear it if I can admire the creativity. But I cringe. I almost came close to saying something to this young woman .. But how ?
While I was in Portugal last year, I also much diversity in dress. I also saw it in NEW York during a visit t his Spring. There were Brazilians there at the time and they dressed fabulously.
I follow your common core template. But I swapped out tan for gray. It has been so freeing. I love menswear so I have many striped shirts , mostly blue, some gingham. I love dressed and where them spring/ summer. No one here wears any type of heel anymore so I’m excited to try the sneaker.
For me, the visible bra strap has not lost one iota of its stigma. And heels with jeans look “tarty” to my eye. I’m too old school perhaps, but I like having (and seeing) some standards.
I had a thrift-store Carroll Reed blue and white striped short-sleeved shirt 20 years ago that I still mourn. It had thin shoulder pads that made me look so polished, even with jeans and white tennis shoes.
I LOVE all of these items. One of my favorite outfits is my blue and white seersucker dress with my jean jacket. I got one at H&M that was a nice medium blue and had a bit of stretch to it super comfortable. I hate the black gym legging, or worse pj bottoms, as clothing trend. I am totally addicted to your posts and plan on using your techniques when we can start traveling again.