All Things French
The thing about French women is that their chicness just seems so effortless. It’s as if they rise out of bed and leap straight out the door with their beautiful French skin and maddeningly high cheekbones, and they haven’t even yet said boo. Well, they may have skipped briefly into their sunny little kitchens with the mile high windows and whipped up a quick little cafe au lait, before their 5 minute stop by the closet to oh so casually don their kitten heels, pencil skirt and sweater, grab their dainty little handbags, dab a quick touch of lipstick and perfume behind their perfectly little pinned back French ears, and THEN head out the door. Do I sound bitter? Well, I’m not, because first of all I love all things French which includes the lovely style and aesthetic of the quintessentially fashionable “dame francaise”, and because claiming the French look as one of your own go-to styles is easy and beautiful in its simplicity. And, of course, the absolute best thing about his look and why it is a huge winner is in my blog brain is because BLURRED LINES are all over it! With a few tweaks here and there, it works for all ages, body types and within your natural fashion aesthetic. Straight lines are so much more complicated.
What you need:
- Kitten heels or pointy toe pumps
- Flats – definitely black and other other neutrals
- Simple thong sandals
- Black pants
- Jeans
- White blouse
- Navy and white striped or black and white striped cotton pullover type shirt
- Blazer
- Trench coat and/or leopard car coat depending on the season.
- Simple pullover sweaters in neutral tones…white, black, camel, red
- Cardigan sweaters
- Skirt – pencil or gathered
- Neck scarves
- Clutch purse and/or small handbag
- Sunnies
- Red or pink lipstick
- Nail polish, red or pink
What You Do:
As you gather up the pieces, many of which are probably already in your closet, you can go classic or street style with your new French wardrobe repertoire.
For classic French, you can almost mindlessly combine any of the above closet essentials and voila, you’ve gone over to the French side. Get your basics together and you can literally mix and match away. This is foolproof, I overslept, I’m-too-tired-to-think-of- what-to-wear dressing ladies.
Some examples of CLASSIC FRENCH looks:
- Plain black trousers, flats, white blouse, coordinating neck scarf and handbag, trench coat over the shoulder, red lips and nails, hair in a neat pony, and sunnies. This is more of a tucked in, conservative look. Want it a little more casual? Do jeans instead of the black trousers, choose your long white blouse with a half tuck. Want to take it to dinner? Throw on kitten heels, load up on multiple strands of pearls a la Coco Chanel, wear your hair down.
- Pointy toe heels, pencil skirt or gathered skirt – both need to be below the knee – crew neck sweater or crisp white blouse, pearls, simple necklace or neck scarf and coordinating clutch, cardigan tied over the shoulder for chillier weather.
- Striped cotton long or short sleeve tee with a crew or polo neckline, jeans, flats or thong sandals, red or white belt, neck scarf and sunnies.
- Keep makeup simple with the bright lips and nails being your pop of color.
For a more street style Parisian look, take your basics and think “funkier version of”. Your jeans can have holes. Go with a leather jacket instead of the blazer, your heels can get a little funkier with gold buckles and encrusted pearls, your hand bags a little bigger and more embellished, your sweaters still solid colors but chunkier. Pile on the necklaces instead of simple pearls. BUT, and this is the kicker, DONT WEAR ALL THESE TRUMPED UP PIECES IN ONE OUTFIT IF YOU ARE GOING FOR A FRENCH FASHION AESTHETIC. Get your high style groovin’ by adding one or two of these chic alternates to your French foundation, and you are ready for the streets of Paris!
Some examples of STREET STYLE FRENCH looks:
- Blue jeans with holes, white blouse, neck scarf, leather jacket, simple pointy toe stilettos, chunky pearls instead of classic ones.
- Cropped faded blue jeans, flats or simple sneakers with a camel colored sweater tucked in, neck scarf, neat pony and red lips.
- Gathered skirt and chunky sweater instead of a simple crewneck, funkier heels, beret or neck scarf, coordinating clutch, pink lips and nails.
- Leopard car coat and boyfriend jeans, with simple pointy toe high pumps, white blouse and chunky pearls. Red lips and nails. Bright funky clutch.
So get going! This one is easy. I bet you can walk into your closet right now and pull together your first French look without having to purchase a thing. And if a little shopping trip is in order to complete the look, well, now that never hurt anybody, did it?
Images courtesy of Mpire Mode – Pinterest – Damsel in Dior – Poshmark – Nordstrom – Loft – Pinterest – Pinterest – Theyallhateus – Amazing Outfits – The Stripe – Wit & Delight – Nordstrom – Tommyton – Best Products – Ebay – Glam Radar – Goop – Pinterest – Your Style Vault – Vogue – Sheer Luxe – The Cut – Universal Standard – Practically Fashion – Elle – Vogue – WhoWhatWear – Consigli x Principianti – F Yeah Sunglasses – Look du Jour – Man Repeller – Just the Design
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