A word about "Les Femmes Parisiennes"

Just a word about the women in Paris--they're gorgeous. That's a generalization, of course... it's a huge city and not ALL of them are gorgeous. But there's something about the women here. It's not just fashion. Certainly not all of them are wearing "haute couture" (high fashion). I would say that it's more in the way they carry themselves, the way they combine simple things that, when put together, look fabulous. That and good genes.


The other thing I've noticed is that fashion is important to all women, from the very smallest of girls--especially the three-to-four-year-old set--to the elderly women. The little girls slay me. They are all dressed up and wear accessories including darling shoes, something in their hair or a hat and often a small handbag. Many of them are pushing their own strollers accompanied by maman or a nanny. They are more "put together" than most grown women I know. And women in their 60s and 70s still dress with flair, age-appropriate but with special touches like a small gusset at the flare of their trouser or jackets that are cut to flatter. They aren't trying to be trendy: they're setting trends of their own.


And les jeunes filles? The young girls? Quite darling, of course. On their feet they wear very high heels or low ballet flats--nothing in between and nothing that looks remotely practical, yet they manage to carry it off with panache. (Come to think of it, I have seen a lot of podiatrist shops around.) The summer look is lots of linen. Lots of combo looks, as I mentioned... a cute bouffy skirt combined with a lacy chemise layered by a simple top with a sweater or oddly cut jacket and capped off with the ubiquitous scarf which French women seem to come out of the cradle learning to wear. The fabrics are different, the cut of the fabric is different, in short--it's a different look. And it's smashing.


I've also noticed that a girl can be wearing old jeans and a casual top but in her hair she may wear a phony flower or a large bow and it still looks put together. Think Carrie Bradshaw in "Sex and the City."


Lest I neglect the men-folk, the men, too, have their own distinct look. I don't know the exact definition of "Euro trash" but some of the men I've seen might be examples of this: handsome, kind of Johnny Depp-looking... rumpled jackets, a 2-day beard growth, hair unkempt (or styled to look that way) and perhaps some fabulous eyeglasses, the likes of which we can't get in the U.S.A. Taken individually, these qualities typically might add up to a homeless guy. Put it all together and Voila! You have the handsome Frenchman.


There are, of course, exceptions to every rule. But I am bold enough to say (and I'm not the only one saying it) that the French have that certain je ne sais quoi that communicates style, ease, joy and a nonchalance in the way they dress and look. This morning, my friend Leanne and I are off to le Musee National de la Mode et du Textile, part of Les Artes Decoratif (which is all part of the Louvre) to do more research on fashion, style and fabric. I'll be wearing a scarf casually draped around my neck, just so.