What French Women Taught Me About Fashion

While I was walking around a market in Amsterdam with my friend Lara, she asked what women were wearing in Paris this year. I gave her a list: black leggings made from shiny, fluid fabric that looks like leather, short denim shorts with tights and tall boots, tall boots with just about anything, crazy, colored tights, and the list goes on and on. There really isn't just one thing. I liked some of it, some of it not so much, but I did learn one very valuable lesson from French women when it comes to style.

I think it hit me one day of the first warm, sunny days we had in Paris when I walked by a busy cafe and a woman was sprawled out on her chair like a cat in a very transparent, very small camisole, enjoying the sun. And she looked amazing. And, you could tell, the last thing on her mind was how she looked.

I started looking around and realized that this epitomized the real edge that French women have on fashion, they are fully committed to it, and more comfortable in their skin than even the most put together American women. Of course there are exceptions, but I feel that it's very rare to see an American woman who is truly comfortable in her own skin, let alone her fashion. I took the above picture of a woman walking down the street near our apartment because she looked so amazing (and had some really amazing shoes) and was wearing pink. Pink! Layers and layers of it with ruffles and flowers. I wouldn't have been caught dead in that outfit, but she looked BEAUTIFUL!

So, I guess what I want to take away from this is to find my own style, wear it well, then commit to it, believe it, and forget about it.