How to Dress Like a French Woman – Style Made Easy
Welcome to my Style Made Easy series, where we decode how to put together international looks from countries around the world. Today, we start with France.
Every gal wants to crack the secret to French style. Seen as the epitome of understated chic, it’s been thoroughly documented in films and magazines. If you drool over Pairs Fashion Week but doubt whether French style is attainable, you can officially relax.
Here are the key elements of Le Look.
Le Look Classique
French fashion is best described as “classic with a twist,” so embrace traditional silhouettes and fabrics with a modern twist. By owning iconic pieces like simple boot-cut jeans and a camel-colored trench coat, your wardrobe will be timeless.
Keep an element of modernity and fun by choosing fun details —unique buttons on a never-going-to-wear-out blazer or a punchy, printed scarf paired with a subdued cashmere sweater.
Fashion Cents
French women believe in the adage of quality over quantity and will gladly invest in foundation items like blazers, jeans, and so on. Emulate a Parisian and invest in a few high-quality basics that you can rotate. Think about it: do you really need five jackets that you feel so-so about when two fit-like-a-dream ones would do? I didn’t think so.
As you start to acquire higher-quality items, expect to sacrifice some of the quantity of clothes you have. But I’m willing to bet you won’t miss those bargain-rack duds anyway!
That’s not to say that cheaper items don’t have their place, however. Cruise the sale section periodically for trendier pieces that you know will be in style now and likely won’t be next season. It’s a great way to add some color and interest to more basic pieces.
Playfully Parisian
There is an inherent sense of femininity in the French style, so feel free to incorporate ladylike accents —think lace, lipstick, doctor’s bags, and scarves. Even a style as refined as this needs some room to experiment! Adding a dose of these types of items will keep an undercurrent of playfulness in a look that could otherwise verge on being too serious.
All Hail the Handbag
Consider your purse to be more than a simple carryall you schlep to work and back. To the French Fashionista, it is the exclamation point to your outfit, so choose one with rich, unforgettable details —like laser-cut leather, pyramid studs, or perfect contrast stitching.
Be warned, though, that to get the details that make a bag totally timeless and still statement-making means committing to it being the most expensive thing in your closet. But if you own a Saint Laurent tote, do you ever want to carry anything else, anyway?
J’aime Jewelry
The love of sparkle is alive and well in France. However, unlike our natural inclination to wear multiple pieces at once (which vie for attention), French style is all about choosing one piece to act as a statement and wearing smaller, dainty fragments with it.
Try selecting one remarkable item from your jewelry box and one to two small, delicate pieces to complement it —that’s it! A sense of restraint goes with everything, after all.
There you have it- all the style tips you need to fake it as a French fashionista. Now, if only getting the accent was as easy.
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I love the bracelet with the flowers!
I love the lipstick!