French Style!

[Izreal]

actually Paris fashion is very little inspired from Hollywood... the trend over there seems to be really casual / comfy, borderline hobo at the moment (see the 'bobo chic' thread), as reflected by Marc Jacobs as well, and that just is not picking up here. Paris makes its own trends, it rarely copies..

As for menswear, well the closest we got to hollywood was probably Tom Ford at YSL, and that didnt last very long (he was basically hated by everyone, including Hedi Slimane who recently said the man exemplified bad taste...).

 

[susie_bubble]

I've said it once and I'll say it again..... French style is admirable but it's also flawed as is English style. Is being safe and conservative with beautiful classics really grossly better than say British style which experiments but can be very trend led? This is just my opinion but I think there are merits to be found in both approaches to dressing I don't see one is better than the other - I equally like both! I don't want to sound like a patriotic freak (I don't consider myself British anyway......) but it irks me that people say that Londoners blindly follow trends and are badly dressed whilst praising Parisians for their infallible style. One has to consider the difference in how clothes are sold in both cities - the British high street is VERY much trend led and has a high changover in terms of new stock, whereas French low-mid range clothes stores don't rip off catwalk trends like that. Ergo....this encourages two different shopping mindsets. There's nothing bad about wanting to look fashionable and keep up with trends even if they do get it wrong. Likewise, the French have a knack of looking effortlessly chic but that leaves not much room for experimentation or thinking outside the box. Again I ask, is one better than the other?

Maybe I'm just a little more accepting of different approaches to dressing because I should hope that like myself, people have very strong ideas about their personal style and in turn we should all respect that right?

 

[Izreal]

You raise an interesting question, i'm not sure which is the most forward thinking approach, but i think other factors are may need to be put into consideration..

London has a much larger nightlife / youth culture than Paris. I mean pubs & clubs bring out tons more people than here. Therefore ,maybe the need for a more important 'alternate' wardrobe. The French may be just more "daytime" than "evening wear" consumers, and that could have an influence on the general emphasis towards kind of a more conservative approach.

Diversity is also something London is better known for. Where here, a girl is not alowed to wear a muslim veil at school, in the UK, you have cops and doctors wearing turbans. On the other hand, the UK have their kids in uniforms. so you've got individuality vs. conformity, might also provoke the need for this 'alternate' wardrobe at a very young age already.

Maybe these are stereotypes, but i think these social-cultural differences may also have repurcussions on todays street fashion..

 

[susie_bubble]

^Yes, these social situations so have their repercussions! Those are some good points you raised!

Ooops...I think we have veered off-topic a little....I don't want to turn this into a 'Who's got better style?' debate but I just wanted to raise some points about the comparisom that ppl have been making.

 

[Sylwiasta]

Well, I have made this comparisonbut Izrael has put it much better than I had adding a little bit of a social background.
Maybe as I was attending a design school I was only seeing the most creative people and St Germain arround, full of boutiques with inspiring fashion.
What I really wanted to say when comparing London and Paris was very well summarised in Izrael's post - I am much more "daytime" person and therefore I have always been puting attention to this kind of style - what to wera for work and look good, instead what to wear for a night out in a club where I may not pass a selection as I am not wearing "at the moment" clothes or clothes quirky enough.
I have also ment (maybe someone has already mention that before) that Parisian women (at least the ones I know) are chosing out of fashion what really suits them the best, instead following what is the most exposed at the Top Shop rails.
And that is what I admire them for.
Even when I flick through British and French editions of Elle or Vogue, I notice that Brits are more into "buy it right now when it is still fashionable" while French mags are rather selling a general image of the season's fashion so that a girl can learn what kind of silhouette she should look for when shopping and not for an item of the moment - as these items change so fast these days...

 

[susie_bubble]

^Yes, and as I was saying in my post, I too admire the approach that French women take. But at the same time, I don't think it's wrong to take 'the item of the moment' and make it your own.

I personally just think it's better to see merits and flaws in both styles of dressing - that is all. I wasn't pointing fingers at you! It's just that I know people who admire French style without understanding what it is really like and blindly thinking that it surpasses all other streetstyle in other countries (Britain or otherwise!). I have had this conversation many times and sometimes I think people don't have enough perspective about it.
We can agree to disagree though.

 

[Virginielle]

Are French people/European people as obsessed with tanning/being tan as Americans are?

 

[Fox in the Snow]

^ (not to mention the English...i've never seen so many orange faces as since I moved here!lol:

 

[Virginielle]

^ (not to mention the English...i've never seen so many orange faces as since I moved here!lol:

I don't know whether you're referring to the French or not, but if so, it seems to contradict the effortless look to which everyone seems to refer. So far I'm a bit surprised. Any other observations?

 

[Fox in the Snow]

I don't know whether you're referring to the French or not, but if so, it seems to contradict the effortless look to which everyone seems to refer. So far I'm a bit surprised. Any other observations?

^ No, i meant 'The English' as I said in my post- meaning English people in England. I don't know about French people, although I think many tend to be a bit more naturally olive-skinned (although I doubt they're big into fake tanning - just a guess though)

 

[Boluda]

London has a much larger nightlife / youth culture than Paris. I mean pubs & clubs bring out tons more people than here. Therefore ,maybe the need for a more important 'alternate' wardrobe. The French may be just more "daytime" than "evening wear" consumers, and that could have an influence on the general emphasis towards kind of a more conservative approach.

Diversity is also something London is better known for.

yeah... paris is wonderful, but lacks an alternative culture. in music, fashion, etc.

its not enough rock'n'roll.

 

[Sylwiasta]

^ But they have lots of alternative hip hop and street culture. My friends are all the time designing something great for a new avant garde mag or a new label of clothes, which of course do not pay much, as being so avant garde, not enought people know about it, to buy it!

Susue_bubble : comparisons are inevitable and of course to each their own. I do not think I am a blind follower of Paris "street styles", though.

Personally I cannot afford many "items of the moment" so I will rather stick to this essence of "French style" - not too many things but of great quality.
If I have understood the French style correctly

Speaking of a habbit of tanning - it is really huge in Poland (where I live at the moment), tanning beds salons are available everywhere really cheply and some girls and boys are really exaggerating I would not like to be in their skin in 20 years...

 

[Whitelinen]

Are French people/European people as obsessed with tanning/being tan as Americans are?

I'm not sure, because I have never visited US, but I think European women tend to be more natural than some of the American women. Plastic surgery/tanning/looking "perfect"/everything fake hasn't yet reached Europe with its full power, but sadly it is coming.

Here in Finland I don't think people are so obsessed with tanning...at least tanning salons aren't popular.

 

[Virginielle]

I'm not sure, because I have never visited US, but I think European women tend to be more natural than some of the American women. Plastic surgery/tanning/looking "perfect"/everything fake hasn't yet reached Europe with its full power, but sadly it is coming.

Here in Finland I don't think people are so obsessed with tanning...at least tanning salons aren't popular.

That's good to hear. I can't stand how plastic American women are looking these days. We're a culture of surgery and eating disorders. Can't wait to visit Europe!

 

[taismith82]

they are more creative,versatile,more intersted in other cultures and colors than most tawdry Americans,espcially teenage girls.

 

[Whitelinen]

Hmm...not so sure about that, though I haven't been in the US...teenagers here tend to dress alike...Not all, of course, but I don't think it's that different from the US. I could consult my friend who is half American and spents her summers there...maybe she can be more accurate than I.

 

[hermes_lemming]

I certainly hope that the orange fake-bake and silicon nonsense hasn't immigrated to the EU! I never really understood the fashion trends here - for the most part and felt more at ease overseas. I've had the pleasure of visiting both Paris & Milan, and thoroughly enjoyed those fashion meccas to the hilt. Yes, they strike me as being the forefront of the fashion pulse, and the lack of makeup caking was definitely refreshing. However the mention of anorexia in Paris is indeed alarming. But not enough to dash my hopes of one day retiring in the Left Bank.

But IMO, the women in Milan were sheer twigs!

 

[TKO]

Hmm...not so sure about that, though I haven't been in the US...teenagers here tend to dress alike...Not all, of course, but I don't think it's that different from the US. I could consult my friend who is half American and spents her summers there...maybe she can be more accurate than I.

pretty much every teen in the US wears the same thing. t- shirt, jeans and sweats. However size and bagginess does vary with urban, preppy, punk and etc looks. There was an explosion of velour back in my day...i hope that has passed.

My physics TA is french and i think he dresses great. Its always color coordinated button up shirts and sweaters. Very neat and chic without looking contrived.

 

[Heel-D]

I was in Lille last November and it was refreshing to see a lot more individuality than in UK - especially amongst teenage girls.

 

[Amylovehewitt]

Im going to france this summer with my boyfriend soon to be fiance so what should i wear? hes french his family lives there! what shoul i wear when i get there so i can fit in? show me some pics thanks