Paris is always a good idea

Pathologizing Parisian style isn't, yet here we are!

I think enough has probably been said about Paris, but I’m going to say some more because a. I just returned from a last minute visit and b. why not. What I’ve noticed is that Paris holds a very unique energy. It can feel that cities and non-cities live at the poles: whereas a non-city is relaxing, restorative, and peaceful, a city, by virtue of its classification, is necessarily energizing and bold and inspiring. But Paris somehow has the ability to hold both truths: to be a city that asks you to slow down, to be both inspired and renewed - not dumbly consuming but expanding. In our world today, it’s far too easy for inspiration to turn into a manual: everything seems aimed at encouraging us to do more, and not enough encourages us to just be in a way that doesn’t reek of overconsumption and a divorce from reality (read: a resort vacation, though lovely, is more of a divorce from real life - with its staff waiting on you hand and foot, its separation from any nearby villages or cities where local people actually live, with it’s $3,000 a night price tag).

What so many of us need is a break that draws us out of the well-trodden pockets of ourselves: just enough to rip away the black and white veneer on life. Not a manual for becoming more that asks us to do more, but a gentle nudge to dream a little wider, to expand instead of perform.

Parisian women seem to imbue their wardrobes with this energy: their ability to create ever-fresh beauty and style out of what is often a relatively simple wardrobe speaks to this desire and ability to create but not consume, to indulge in creativity but not necessarily capitalism. To indulge in the part of themselves that wants to build, to play, and not the part of themselves that just wants to throw a credit card at it, to escape their lives for a moment. Expansive, instead of consumptive.

Listen, again - I am not going to tell you what fashion in Paris “means,” - I don’t know who, if anyone, is right for the job (read: nobody is lol), but it’s certainly not me. But I do want to speak about what Parisian fashion means to me. Parisian fashion is all about classics with a twist: a breton stripe with a raw hemline, a button down with an embroidered, ruffled collar. I find that Parisian women all buy what look, at first glance, like total classics. And that, in fact, wear like classics: modular and timeless. But that speak at a whisper about who they are and what matters to them. Which always feels fresh and new while feeling heritage and chic. Which is why a well dressed Parisian always feels classic but never boring.

I also do not believe the way people hold French women on a pedestal is good or fair or even true. I love Parisian fashion, I love basically all things French, but it is simply one way of doing things. When, however, one way of doing things happens to be better on the whole for the environment and for our own consumption trends - it is of note, so they have my flowers.

But most of all, Parisian fashion actually may say more about their priorities and history, culturally, than anything else. Old money means things are fixed and patched rather than replaced, right? And a more leisurely working culture doesn't just mean more free time - it means more time spent steeped in art, in conversation, in the kind of cultural fluency that has nothing to do with productivity. And this sophistication shows up in how they dress: effortlessly chic. There is a feeling amongst the French elite - at least those I know - that spending a large sum of money on clothing is gauche, a sign of poor judgment, of someone trying too hard to say something that should not need to be said.

Here’s where I’ll admit something: the story I nearly just told myself - the one you probably told yourself too - old money, fixed class, no mobility - isn’t true. Some research on intergenerational mobility actually finds France and the U.S. fairly comparable, and on certain measures, children from low-income French families are more likely to reach the top than their American counterparts.

What is true is that inherited wealth has become a much larger share of total wealth in France than it used to be - by some estimates, inherited wealth roughly doubled as a share of total wealth between the 1970s and 2010s. So it is halfway true - old money is more present, more entrenched, more determinative of who has what. Mobility isn’t impossible, but the floor under old money is more visible, more historied, more woven into culture and self-conception.

So perhaps the difference isn’t mobility itself, but the psychology around it. In America, where the myth of mobility is so central to our self-image, status becomes something to perform, because class is supposed to be earned and is therefore never fully settled - if you’re a reader of my column I assume you know about Veblen and conspicuous consumption. If your class is never quite proven, you dress the part you’re claiming. In France, where old wealth and old families are simply a known, named fact of social life, there may be less psychological pressure to prove anything through clothes. This is not because the system is fairer, but because the hierarchy is more openly acknowledged rather than constantly re-litigated through purchases. That acceptance - whether imbued by the way they speak, the way they dress, or the way there are just some things that invite a shrug - feels uniquely Parisian.

In the spirit of this, I arrived in Paris with a short but mighty list of items I was relatively certain I could find the best version of. Which, by the way, is a fabulous way to build a shopping list.

Ok, so what did you buy in Paris?

This vest that I absolutely adore over a cream tee shirt and shorts or with an opera coat over top - it is SO versatile and can be dressed up or down!

I have been on the hunt for the perfect Jane Birkin woven bag and good lord did I find it in this piece. Perfect size, shape, and the lining inside makes it extremely practical.

The most urgent need I had in my wardrobe was a cream medium sized bag with some personality and I couldn’t be happier with this - I haven’t taken her off since. Plus - she’s on sale for 50% off right now (kicking myself but happy for you I guess)

This skirt was a sleeper hit - the fabric is absolutely beautiful and it works perfectly with a tee shirt or dressed up with a button down. Its silky, feminine, and very chic.

Did you even go to France if you didn’t leave with an Hermes scarf (plus a ring) for your collection? As I told my friend Sarah when we bought these matching: when you see an Hermes scarf you like, you have to just buy it. You never know when you’ll see the perfect colorway again!

I’ve had my eye on this Balzac blouse and was a kid in a candy shop in their store in Saint Germain. Classic with a twist.

The perfect cashmere bandana in both chocolate and burgundy - you’d be surprised how many opportunities I have to get a little cowboy with it

Another big item from the list: funky belt. This tassel belt exceeded my wildest dreams.

A structured yet casual blouse I’ve already worn as both a top and a jacket! What can’t she do!

My rule with sneakers is that there needs to be an element - usually textural - that elevates them from normal sneakers. These silky numbers are perfect for my greenfits(tm)

I met the illustrious Candice Fauchon, iconic Paris fashion girl and relatively newly minted designer of this robe and shorts. She was a dream, and the tailoring on these pieces is on point.

I’m a Blair girl at heart, which means I’ve never met a headband I didn’t love. This one is just neutral enough to read as volume, and just natural enough to read as unfussy.

If Veblen could see this list he'd have a field day. Thanks for reading, and I don't want any of you Parisians getting mad at me!!! Thanks and bye!