French style rules: how to dress like a French woman

The twenty rules

Written by me, Elizabeth, for women who would like to dress a little more French, with three rules at the end for your husband. Sacha approved every word. It took a while.

Le vestiaire · Your wardrobe

1. 01

   One good thing instead of five.

   Fewer things, bought better, worn more. A sum, not a mood.

2. 02

   The coat is the outfit.

   For half the year, it is all anyone sees. That is where the money goes.

3. 03

   Five colours, and everything goes.

   Navy, black, grey, cream, denim. Getting dressed stops being a decision.

4. 04

   Repeat on purpose.

   Wearing the same outfit twice in a week is unremarkable in Paris. The effort happens once, when you buy.

5. 05

   Buy twice a year.

   France has two official sales, one in winter and one in summer, on dates the government sets.

Les pièces · The pieces

1. 06

   A blazer, over jeans.

   Worn with jeans far more often than with a suit. The fastest way to make anything look intended.

2. 07

   Jeans, straight and hemmed.

   Not distressed, not pooling on the shoe. Dark or mid blue, ending near the ankle.

3. 08

   The marinière is a uniform.

   Navy and white stripes, French Navy issue since 1858. Chanel brought it ashore.

4. 09

   Flat shoes you can walk in.

   Paris is walked, often on cobblestones. Ballet flats, loafers, ankle boots, plain white trainers.

5. 10

   One good bag, and a scarf.

   Everything else can be plain. These two carry the outfit.

Dehors · Out the door

1. 11

   On ne sait jamais qui on peut croiser.

   You never know who you might run into. What French children hear at the front door.

2. 12

   Decide something before you leave.

   Not heels, not a full face. Just one choice that is visibly yours.

3. 13

   Sportswear is for sport.

   The one line that explains most of the difference between a Paris street and an American one.

4. 14

   Pajamas end the day.

   A pajama has one job: to mark the evening.

Le visage · Face and hair

1. 15

   Sunscreen, every day, for decades.

   The least glamorous French beauty secret, and the only one with real evidence behind it.

2. 16

   Spend on the cut, not the blow-dry.

   Coiffé-décoiffé: styled, then unstyled. Nobody wakes up like that.

3. 17

   Skin first, then a lip or an eye.

   Even skin, mascara, and either a strong lip or a defined eye. Rarely both.

Pour lui · Dressing him

1. 18

   The belt agrees with the shoes.

   Brown with brown, black with black. If they disagree, it is usually the belt.

2. 19

   Trousers end where they are told.

   Higher than America thinks. The hem just touches the shoe.

3. 20

   One blazer, one sweater.

   One good jacket does the work of nine. The sweater is insurance, and it is never worn.

Who wrote it

I grew up in Connecticut and Massachusetts; my father was a publisher at Forbes, in New York. Sacha grew up in Paris, around clothes as a trade: his mother was a model with an agency, working for houses like Givenchy and Yves Saint Laurent, and his father is in the clothing business, wholesale and retail. Nobody in that house called it fashion. They called it getting dressed.

The long versions are in the Journal: why Parisian women dress up to buy bread, what his father taught him and why French men dress so well.

Before you go

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