dressing in Paris

How are women dressing in Paris these days?

I will be traveling there this August with my family.

What is most appropriate for day, and what for night?

Do the women wear jeans? What colors? I am assuming that they don%26#39;t wear white, but don%26#39;t know. Please advise.

Thanks.

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The women and the men are dressing tres chic in Paris. Many have a style all their own. Frankly unless your closet rivals the pages of (*insert name of magazine here*) and/or the finest pics from vintage boutiques and thrift stores, you won%26#39;t blend in. They just have %26quot;it%26quot;. You%26#39;ll see even the school kids have it. I%26#39;m convinced it%26#39;s genetic!

French women wear the same kind of clothes as Americans (jeans, slacks, dresses) but the fit, quality and the overall stylishness is far better than we American gals typically wear, especially with accessories and shoes.

You will see all kinds of clothing as there are many tourists. Wear whatever makes you feel comfortable. If you are dining in a nicer restaurant, leave the jeans and walking shoes in the suitcase. I would leave shorts and grubby t-shirts at home, period. Have fun!

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This question is answered ad nauseun on here. Use Search box (above your post to the right),put in %26quot;what to wear%26quot;. When you get results you can click to have the most recent ones first.

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Mumfordmom -

(My husband, teenage son, and I spent a week in Paris in mid june 2008)

Here%26#39;s what i saw and what we did.

The women in Paris are all over the board. From mom and baby daughter matching Chanel suits, to jeans, to leggings with short skirts. We were based in centre pompidue so we saw a lot of students wearing jeans, lots of jeans. Some were skinny legged - some were bang on the american baggies! I saw crops - (i wore crops) all types of fabric from jean to linen. Summer skirts and dresses were big. Not many T-shirt type shirts of women. No big bright colors or patterns. Lots of black. No shorts on women - although i did see shorts being sold in the department stores. Shoes - again all over the place. I saw lots of flats and heals and platforms. I also saw french women wearing Converse type tennis shoes or maybe Simple brand with jeans.

My son wore his jeans (not too baggy, not too skinny) or his plaid shorts ( he got lots of odd looks on these but also had more than a few kids ask him where he got %26#39;em) and his European Soccer/Football jersey. He had one for every team.... He wore his Vans (they sell %26#39;em in Europe) or his flip flops.

My advice - wear what you want. The French will know you aren%26#39;t French and will stare at you no matter what. People watching is an art in Paris....

Oh my take on the chic %26quot;Black%26quot; they all wear - it%26#39;s cause it%26#39;s a big city and if one wore white they%26#39;d be filthy after one metro ride.

Enjoy

LIssafromArizona

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thanks! This was very helpful.

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I%26#39;ll tel you what the difference is and why they look so chic - French women are not fat. So everything looks good on them, even a potato sack tied with a rope. Just add scarf. Voila! C%26#39;est tout.

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If the weather is hot or very warm in August you could wear white tops, nice cool sun dress, short or long skirts...lots of pheasant skirts are worn. These are much cooler.

Jeans or cotton slacks are good for cool weather. In the evening you could wear a scarf over your shoulders or a sweater.

Just wear good comfortable walking shoes ...you will feel like you walked your feet off!

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For %26quot;Shack....%26quot;

…revivalsoy.com/2006/03/french_women_dont_ge…

This article was written in 2006 the increase now is from 11% to 15% and from 40% to 47 % in 2007.

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Just look clean and decent, no one cares, and they will know you are tourists anyway (my kids and I had fun picking out the other Americans, too!) It%26#39;s just something obvious, you can%26#39;t put your finger on it. The men and teen boys look different for sure, skinny black jeans on all ages, longish hair, %26quot;man bags,%26quot; and the women wore mostly dark colors, always a scarf maybe in a color (for style and warmth if it gets cooler or the sun goes in), their shoes a mixture, lots of flats (but then they were walking to the Metro, not from the Arc to the E.T.) I wore nice jeans or capris, usually long-sleeved shirt with fitted jacket or lightweight cotton blazer and felt stylish enough (the shoes were a giveaway, my athletic shoes or Topsiders were the only ones that would cut the walking.) Brought nice clothes for evening but most of the time we never went back to the apartment to change, just grabbed a bite while we were still out (then we didn%26#39;t go to Jules Verne, either, lol). And yes, I did notice the French in general were not heavy (but then lots of them smoked, too, unfortunately) And something weird, no blonds, or so it seemed! Don%26#39;t give your clothes too much thought, think understated and classic if anything. However, pass on the shorts for adults; fine for kids and teens, but the girls should to wear Bermudas or longer ones, but skirts are great for both women and girls. Just have fun.

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Mummom: Why does it matter how Paris women dress? You%26#39;re silly if you think you can %26#39;fit in%26#39;. My best advice is to wear comfortable shoes and wear what%26#39;s comfortable for the temperature.

Don%26#39;t make the mistake I did and worry about whether or not you%26#39;ll be spotted as being a tourist. I ended up spending the 2nd day of a 3 day weekend in my Milan hotel with 5 blisters on my feet.

For example, yesterday the day started out warm and humid. After it rained, which took about two hours to clear, the temperature dropped 15 degrees with a brisk wind. Think about how quickly Chicago weather can change and dress for that.

Some of the posters here have said that shorts are a no-no. Well, I disagree. I live in Stuttgart which is geographly due east of Paris and if it%26#39;s hot, women wear shorts or skirts.

Granted Paris is high fashion but not everyone can afford or find suitable affordable skirts. Most of the sun dresses I%26#39;ve seen around Europe aren%26#39;t fit for the cathedrals. You%26#39;ll need a scarf around your shoulders or a short sleeve t-shirt under the dress to cover your %26#39;armpits%26#39;.

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K Tournesol -

It%26#39;s interesting that you noticed that French women don%26#39;t bleach their hair - they don%26#39;t much perm it either - they just have exquisite hair cuts that are trimmed regularly so their hair is healthy and that%26#39;s what makes it so shiny.

I think one reason French women are so chic is that they don%26#39;t buy any junk. They buy top quality garments which are tailored to fit them perfectly, and then accompany them with first quality accessories, shoes and bags. Other women have a %26quot;little dressmaker%26quot; (I was told) who tailors beautifully crafted, made to measure garments out of fabulous yard goods. Either way, they look utterly chic.