Longing for Paris: French fashion
I hadn't planned on posting this, but Aims asked about French fashion, so here goes.
Coming next week: Up the North Shore with the boys. Boscoe is starting to show his age...
I'd been warned by someone (and you know who you are!) that I would feel frumpy in Paris. This is a reasonable assumption, since I feel frumpy in St. Paul.
But the truth is, I didn't feel the least bit frumpy in France. Sure, there were glamorous ultra-thin women with insouciant scarves and high heels and cigarettes and, sometimes, interesting hats. You couldn't help but stare.
But there were also old shuffling people, and fat people, and casual people in blue jeans, and sort of regular-looking people, and people who attempted to look kicky but just ended up looking a bit off. Like this young woman browsing the bookstalls along the Seine: 
One of the more popular looks for women was a frilly dress worn with very heavy jeans, sometimes rolled up at the ankle. The effect was a bit lopsided; the wearer looked winsome and delicate from the knees on up, and tough and durable down to the feet. But it struck me as practical, too; sort of the best of both worlds.
The most signficant fashion detail I noticed, though, was breasts.
Breasts are apparently quite significant this spring in Paris. Maybe they are every spring. I'm sorry I didn't take any pictures for you. But it seemed to me that every single woman in Paris was wearing a push-up bra; I have never seen such perky girls in such numbers (two at a time, obviously) on so many different body types. Even Doug noticed, in his Norwegian understated way. 
Perhaps he even noticed more than I did. Combined with clingy tops and low necklines, they were definitely, um, out there. On display.
My own fashion statement was less provocative: comfortable shoes, a swingy skirt to beat the heat (worn without jeans), and those important accoutrements of every traveler: a camera, and a tour book.
7 comments:
Very sensible, your clothes. Just what I would be wearing. If you swap the skirt for a pair of jeans. I'm not a skirt kinda woman.
And it's very interesting you should've noticed the bras. I went shopping for same the other day and I swear, one shop was full of them. I found exactly 2 non-push ups in that shop. Amazing. I left without buying anything there.
Can't wait for your Up North stories. It's great to have you back! Although you probably don't think so and would rather be back in your cabin.:)
I love being a European woman and wearing European clothes, but I have no idea if that would be very different form wearing American clothes. I just assume it is. It think I dress more feminine here and that in the States I dressed more casual, but I've been gone so long that this may no longer be true. I did come from California, so maybe that had something to do with it.
Anyway, here's to womanhood and all the opportunities it gives us to dress in all possible styles. Take advantage of it, girls.
nora, i would say that americans dress much more casually than europeans. at home, as well as when they travel. some time ago, when i was in finland, i became extremely aware that my shoes were big sturdy clodhopper walking shoes and all the women i encountered wore beautiful shoes that looked incredibly uncomfortable--and they wore them with no socks or stockings, to boot! i decided then and there that european women have much tougher feet than american women. at least, than this american woman.
babaloo, you would have worn a skirt in paris, simply because it was way too hot for jeans. way too hot.
I would love to find some of those beautiful shoes that looked incredibly uncomfortable, being a tithing member of the church of the big sturdy clodhopper walking shoes myself!
I'm glad you added this fashion bit; it was fun!
You look quite comfortable. The week we were in Paris, it was cool and damp. We wore layers and sweaters. I didn't leave the hotel without my wool wrap, gloves and scarf. We even saw a few snow flakes one day. I think you were there about one month later. I think I'll check with you before we make travel plans again!
The thing I noticed most, both in England and in France, were the boots ladies wore. High heels and pointy toes; they looked very uncomfortable. What really surprised me was the number of women walking through the Metro in those kinds of shoes, obviously something they did every day. I used to wear heels every day when I worked and I'm fairly comfortable in them, but you wouldn't catch me walking a mile in them, let alone on a daily commute!
Oh, thanks for noting the breasts fashion detail. That's a look I'm completely unable to pull off.
I've sort of lost it with blogging this last couple of weeks and am way behind with reading. Didn't even know you had gone to Paris. Sounds like you had the requisite sunshine and showers.
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