Fashionably Unfashionable

by Danielle

A few friends have asked if I find the French people to be very chic and fashionable. This is a tough call to make. A reminder: our neighborhood consists of many working class Chinese, Arabs and Africans, so you’re not going to see anyone looking like they walked out of Vogue magazine. You’ll see plenty of chadors and headscarves and dashikis but not Guccis and Puccis.

But aside from the international crowd…. Even in Belleville many people (well, younger women at least) seem to have a little something special going on with their style. It’s not a classic style per se, but simply a willingness to show total disregard for what flatters.  This sounds bad but I don’t mean it that way. It’s pretty spunky. To not care if you look ten pounds heavier than you are takes a lot of confidence. I should point out that while there are much fewer obese people here, there are plenty with spare tires and a little junk in the trunk.

Clothes-wise I see a lot of creative layering that I don’t see in the US. Long tops over short skirts, handkerchief hems, loose cut cotton tunic-style tops, leggings. Scarves, either silk or pashmina knockoffs, are on everyone even the men. Shoes are very often black Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars (never the hightop version), or well worn black boots.

It looks like all the French girls shop at H&M (or NafNaf), but I am in on their secret. Just around the corner is rue du Faubourg de Temple, three blocks of clothes and shoes that look like they fell off a truck. Everything is 5-25 euros and looks like an H&M knockoff. This means no natural materials in sight and questionable quality. But it’s packed with teens and twenty-somethings on the weekends who look more chic than I ever was at that age. 

I read that French women don’t own a lot of clothes, they buy quality not quantity, and only what is an absolutely perfect complement to their exisiting wardrobes. I can neither confirm nor deny this claim, but I suspect that if it’s true it’s only because Parisian closets are TINY. No walk-ins here. If you were fortunate enough to have a walk-in closet, it would be converted into a bedroom before you could say “mon dieu!”