Parisian Fashion
Striped blouses, red lips, smokey eyes and messy hair
The key ways to be like a Parisian woman.
I’m guilty for looking at books and reading articles like this because it seemed so classy and charming just like the average Joe.
But how accurate are these books and articles? Is there such thing as the Parisian style? How did the media create this icon.
Paris has been a beacon of interest for the arts and has been a hub for both artists and writers throughout the centuries. Multiple famous foreign authors such as Hemingway and Fitzgerald have traveled to Paris in order to retrieve a creative vibe from the city. While at the same time, Paris is also known for its renowned writers and artists such as Monet and Zola. The city has its own spirit that lure people, besides artists, to explore it and mythicize it.
I’m guilty to saw I have been influenced by its “charms.”
But are there really “charms” ? I mean let’s face the reality. Paris is really just a large metropolis capital filled with people from all walks of life. People have problems and difficulties just as the average person. However, Paris has its “character” which is it’s espirit or spirit which is acknowledged not just in Paris but in France overall. This spirit helps give artists creativity and inspiration, according to Fashioning the City. Every city has something that makes it well-known or charm, such as Japan and Korea with the Pop-culture. Paris has its own spirit of “nonchalance”attitude and creativity to help give vibes to designers, authors, and the like.
“Paris has a gift for perpetual invention” according to Christian Lacroix in Fashioning the City.
In the historic perspective in the slightest of a nutshell, Paris has been decency known for fashion in the arts during the Renaissance ages and before, but the statement really didn’t begin until Louis XIV used fashion for a political stance to establish power in France during the 17th century, which made the textile industry acknowledged for excellence. Paris began to grow as a sector for fashion after the death of Louis XIV. Moving along to the 18th, fashion began to gravitate more with Versailles. In the 19th, fashion became established as a part of Parisian trade considering its history of being a trading manufacture for textiles and fabrics, according to Fashioning the City. From the 20th century to now, fashion photography and writing helps give Paris the allure it is known for now. Which is why advertisement and fashion writings help give Paris an edge like Milan, New York, Seoul and Tokyo.
But then, what is Parisian style?
Good question because there really hasn’t been a summary of it.
Some mention how Parisian style is how there is a mix of designer and non-designer brands since Parisian woman are known to be very creative.
The Americanized view of a classic Parisian style is having a minimalist wardrobe with neutral colors, red lipstick, smokey eye and being a smoker. The even more Americanized classic style is wearing all black or having striped shirts and wearing a smokey eye and red lipstick.
Tho, both are quite false. Now, it is true that most people are wearing minimalist styles and a more red-yellow base shade of lipstick, not everyone is and certainty not, all black all the time and red lipstick. Many Parisians dress rather sloppy while others tend to be on the more fashionable side similar to many cities across the globe.
Most of what is called “Parisian fashion” isn’t really Parisian or a very cliched version of it due to advertisements and the media and novels itself.
I mean if “Parisian fashion” never was called Parisian fashion, would you consider it as such?
Fashioning the city: Paris, fashion and the media by Agnes Rocamora
