7 Tips For Looking Like the Average French Woman

When talking French fashion, it’s usually all about what’s on the Paris runways or Hollywood red carpets.  There are plenty of blogs, magazines, and style television programs to make most of us feel like abject fashion failures.  After spending enough time in Dijon (“The Midwest of France!” should be its official motto) I’ve realized it’s not that hard to be that French woman you meet on the street, as opposed to that one on the runway or in Paris.

If you thought you might like to try on a bit of French style without dieting down to size 00 or strutting through the supermarket in 4-inch stilettos, have no fear.  Just pick a couple of these tips (#5 is the most difficult) and soon you’ll be showing that certain je ne sais quoi.  Your friends will start to wonder if you have a secret second home on the Continent.

1) Comfortable doesn’t have to be dull

The unofficial motto of Dijon is “A Pied”  (“on foot”) because it’s citizens walk everywhere, except when they take the bus or tram.  However, that doesn’t mean the women clomp around in Nikes all day.  I firmly believe that these women have feet of steel from all that walking because none of their shoes show the slightest bit of arch support.  Ouch.

2) Black is the best color

except when it isn’t

Black may be the go-to color in Paris or the other larger cities, but around here variations of taupe work all year round (or gray in winter).  It seems to be the favorite of women past their twenties.  Like black, everything can go with it but it’s not as depressing.  Or you can just go wild with color and pretend you’re strolling along the Mediterranean.

3) The right accessories are essential

4) There’s never an inappropriate place to wear a wedding dress

Most weddings in town are held on Saturday.  The official marriage takes place at the city hall, then all the couples disperse throughout the city for church ceremonies.  It can be a wonderfully festive day, what with brides filling the streets as they walk to the marriage court and bells pealing all afternoon and into the evening after the church weddings.

5) Eat this for lunch

Not this 

6) You don’t need high-tech moisture-wicking fabric and expensive footwear before you get up and move your body.  Or a gym membership.  You can even ride your bike in a flowing skirt.

Sunday afternoon is the day for promenades.  Everyone gets out and walks somewhere.  Or rides their bike.  It’s a family thing.  And it doesn’t require changing clothes or heavy sweating.
 

7) Start the training young.

What’s your favorite bit of style advice?  Or what’s your worst experience from being a slave to fashion?  Tell us in the comments box.
 

And I’d like to direct everyone’s attention over to a special post written by one of my favorite bloggers.  Start on Annette Gendler’s blog to see photos of her grandparents’ home in the Czech Republic before World War II, then click over to her essay in the Wall Street Journal to get the full story.  It’s a touching memory of a place she had never been until long after her grandparents were gone.  Well worth your time.