Paris Style Scene, And A Little Maquillage

mountains of macarons at Ladurée in Paris

Our Paris visit was all too brief. I had a lovely long lunch with Tish, walked around with le Monsieur to find some small gifts to bring home, and enjoyed a fabulous dinner at Pirouette (which I highly recommend for both creative, tasty dishes and comfortable, laid-back atmosphere). Somewhere between shopping and dinner we managed to park ourselves at a corner cafe with a glass of bubbly so I could snap a few photos. After dinner it was back to the hotel to pack and crash, as we had an early flight home the next morning.

Parisian Style In Context…

The few street style photos I was able to snap are probably already obsolete, as the weather has changed completely in the few days since our visit. It was still cool and damp when we were there; now it’s sunny and hot. Also, due to the short length of our visit, we didn’t get much beyond the city center (1st and 2nd arrondissements). Most people were moving quickly, and I was sometimes shooting from a distance, so apologies in advance for the blurry images.

Not much had changed from the styles and silhouettes I noted in December (Style Spying In Paris) except for some seasonal adjustments.

Trench Coats

trench coats in Paris

A perennial in Paris, trench coats are seen on women, men and children. Most often they are khaki/tan, but sometimes black, olive or even another color (center). Note how belts are tied, saw that frequently. I also spotted some softer, more drapey styles, though wasn’t able to get photos. The woman on the left above is wearing the fluid, wide leg pants I mentioned previously. These were almost like pajama pants.

Pops Of Color

neutrals in Paris with color accessories

Neutrals still reign supreme, but often accented with a colored scarf, bag, or pair of shoes. I noticed a lot of red shoes/boots. And sneakers, lots of sneakers.

Jeans: Long And Lean

straight leg jeans in Paris

While I did see super-skinny and/or distressed jeans being worn, most often they were on younger women. Slim straight-leg and boot-leg styles were what I observed most often on les femmes d’un certain âge, worn long enough to cover ankles or tops of boots. (Though that may have been a function of cooler weather…I’d be curious to see if there are more cropped or cuffed jeans now that the weather has warmed up.) Also note the pink pants on the guy on the right; variations of faded red, salmon or pink pants or jeans are something I’ve spotted on previous visits too, on men and women both.

And Still Lots Of Black, Bien Sûr…

Parisians in black

Saw a few lighter, patterned or textured short coats like the ones on the left and right. Not as many puffers as in Italy.

I did see a few women in dresses or skirts, and they were almost always worn with black tights.

Again, take these with a grain of salt, as it was a very limited sampling.

While Parisians still seem to go light on the maquillage, I did notice more women wearing red lipstick than in the past. It’s by no means universal, but notable. The old “rule” about either eyes or lips still seems to hold though…if obvious lipstick is worn, the rest of the face is relatively un-done.

And Speaking Of Lipstick…

Brian at Makeover Workshop has created another tutorial, this one on Lips! Sandy and I are in this one…you’ll get to hear my squeaky voice again.

Brian is offering a value-priced Beauty Box featuring the products shown (choose your liner, lipstick and gloss colors) that includes a printed How-To guide. As I mentioned in the video, I love his Re-Creation Lip Treatment and still use it daily.

Makeover Workshop Lips

Do you like to wear a brighter lipstick, or do you stick to natural shades?

As Seen In Paris…

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11 Comments

    1. Agreed….these photos could be New York, Montréal, San Francisco etc. I think Paris is losing it’s grip as ‘le dernier cri’ of street fashion. I’ve seen some questionable fashion choices there as well but skinny jeans, trench coats and funky scarves? Pretty universal these days.

      1. I agree actually. I think a couple of things are at work here:

        1) Style overall has become more global, thanks to the internet.

        2) What we think of as Parisian style tends toward the classic and conservative. Paris may be known for fashion, but you don’t see the average person wearing very fashion-forward looks. What Parisians do well is looking very neat, pulled-together and intentional.

  1. Love Make over Workshops Lip treatment. It’s a miracle product. I must make an appointment with Bryan for a new lipstick. I’ve just had three basle cell cancers removed from my face and I need a way to distract peoples eyes to my lips as opposed to my face. It’s also another excuse to buy more lipstick.

    Love your candid shots. Fun. I can see red shoes in my future.

  2. I’ve seen a few women wearing footless tights/leggings with skirts, and then ballerinas. Kind of less wintery than opaque tights. I suspect they slip off the leggings if it gets too warm in the afternoon.
    The trench coats vary in length, too, from hip to knee.

  3. I’ve seen a number of hip young men at our university here in rural Kansas wearing those pink (and sometimes purple) pants. I thought they were just rebels!

    Lipstick… I don’t wear it often (used to do my eyes, though) but when I do, I like to use rose shades.

  4. Just wore my trench coat on Saturday! I love it and I’ve always tied my belts like that…even 20+ years ago when trenches were in!

    Love that you saw Tish too. I need to catch up with her! Been so busy. I’ve been bad.

    Looks like a fantastic trip all around!! (And I was happy to see your hoop earrings went along! I hope they served you well )

  5. Interesting makeup video. Who knew putting on lipstick required so many steps? I’m a lip balm wearer…very rarely wear actual lipstick, and it was nice to see a video of you in action!

  6. Tying was always the way to belt a trench…unless one was very conservative. The common trench belt never held, as the buckles had no prong, the belt no holes, so it slid, always. If, perchance, one had a traditional buckle with a prong, one had to loop the always very long end over and through, after belting, in order to get the tail out of the way of mischief, or to prevent it from hanging awkwardly a long way down. So, it just was faster, or altogether more secure, to tie it as you’ve been seeing it. I like color and don’t know why men so often eschew it or see it as unmanly. Male golfers and cyclists seem to enjoy it in their athletic wear. Sadly I t’s not often reflected in their non-althetic clothing.

  7. I arrived in Paris just as you were leaving. In the two warm weeks we were there, we noticed an incredible amount of color on just about everyone. The women tended to wear darker bottoms, but the trench coats were gone and the tops were every color of the rainbow, with mostly more neutral cardigans in the cool mornings. Our conclusion was that anything goes, but most outfits were more pulled-together than we see in middle America–suitable but not excessive accessories, for example.

    What surprised my friend and I the most were the brightly-colored trousers on the gentlemen, particularly the younger ones. Barn red (often somewhat faded) was very common, and mustard yellow-brown put in several appearances. We saw a few French-blue trousers. On our last night there sat next to an older couple at a cafe in St Germain. She was stunning in chambray blue trimmed with heavy white lace, and he was wearing pink shirt and trousers, with a beige sweater thrown around his shoulders.

    What I see as the real advantage of Parisians in terms of fashion is confidence. Whatever they were wearing, they owned it–even if the pieces themselves were somewhat bizarre.