Style in France varies from city to city, just like in the US. New York is more fashion-forward than Dallas, just as Paris is more than Pau, the city I’m in. However, many French style stereotypes hold true in Pau.
In iconic Coco Chanel style, neutral colors and simplicity are still the backbone of everyday French style. To guard against the constant rain and mud in Pau, nice boots and coats are essential, but the Parisians usually don fashionable ones. From what I’ve observed, there isn’t much trend-following here; everyone has a pretty unique sense of style. Obviously in America, everyone has their own taste as well, but here there is much more variance in what people wear.
It may also be that in America, women take longer to find their own style. In California, girls follow trends without even realizing they’re doing so. But at a certain age, most women settle into their own style. Here, in general, it seems like young women find that style much earlier. The high school, middle school and even elementary school girls seem to have a much more sophisticated sartorial sense than we Americans do during those often painfully awkward years. They seem to just skip over their “ugly duckling” phases and go from being dressed adorably by their parents to putting their own chic spin on what they wear.
Going-out apparel is much more casual here than in California. Most people wear the same kind of outfit they would wear during the day. Girls don’t “do” their hair much, and makeup is never excessive. Though in some ways the French are more laid-back, in other ways they’re less lax. In France, it would be very strange to wear a sweatshirt to school or yoga pants to a café. They always look nice in an effortless way.
Today, unfortunately, marks the end of the “soldes,” the biannual sales in France. They last for five weeks, during which the discounts continually grow. It’s a great time for the French and wanna-be French to stock up on their own French style essentials.
As Yves Saint Laurent, the famous french designer, said: “Fashions fade, but style is eternal.”