julies

Watch the Tour de France and check out the spectators. You'll see that the French wear exactly the same type of clothes for casualwear that the rest of us do. The myth (which is perpetuated by many on this board) that you need tres chic clothing in France is simply untrue. We spent two weeks in the countryside of France last month and very casual clothing (day and night) was the rule unless people were dining at very upscale restaurants. We have also found this to be true on our other trips to France. Obviously, however, there is a distinction for those spending time in Paris or other major cities.

TopMan

I agree except on a recent trip to Paris I saw as much denim and as many athletic shoes ON EUROPEANS as I do here in the US.

For many, the latest styles of athletic shoes ARE "tres chic."

Travelnut

For daytimes and sightseeing, you can wear your normal casual clothes in Paris. I would avoid shorts, however, but jeans, dockers, slacks, capris..go for it.
Bring a nice jacket, shirt, blouse, scarf, etc for dinners in nicer restaurants.

Marianna

We just returned from a few days in Paris and saw many people wearing shorts (mostly men but a few women also), perhaps because the weather was mostly sunny and very warm and humid.

Underhill

Just this morning I bought a pair of très chic athletic shoes in cream and dark green. There were a whole lot of really cute shoes on display at Nordstrom; choosing was hard!

Vincent

Well, the Tour de France crowd is the French equivalent to, well, I don't want to offend anyone, but, say, a very basic US sports crowd. But again, most of these people follow all the stages in their RVs, meaning hours of pastis drinking and traffic jams to get down from the mountain roads. Well, it's not the kind of people I see in my daily life in Paris, but, unfortunately, they make up the bulk of the French population.

WillTravel

I saw people of all nationalities in all sorts of clothing in Paris.

I did tend to think that teenage boys who wore loose T-shirts and knee-length shorts and white athletic shoes tended to look North American (that was my son's favored outfit). French teenagers tended to have more fitted T-shirts. But he spoke French to everyone, and everyone spoke French to him, and he wasn't bothered in the slightest by his clothing. He did agree that he saw few boys wearing such clothes, although he did see some young black French-speaking teenagers in similar clothing. Of course he didn't go to any formal occasions in these clothes, but then that isn't his thing at all.

As for me, a non-slim woman in her late 30s, everyone spoke French to me also, despite my lack of innate fashion sense. By chance, I had taken along clothes in various shades of blue, mostly dark blue. I also had a pair of black walking shoes, and a pair of walking sandals (German-made Rieker brand). I had taken along one lightweight navy print shirtwaist dress, and I noted that by chance this style of dress seemed to be very common in both Paris and Berlin. Admittedly the average wearer was somewhat older than me.

newbieuro

I just got back from the south of France and Paris. In Paris, I saw many different styles of clothing and shoes, but in the south of France, many of the women wore a casual skirt and t-shirt, pants or capris. I was very surprised. I brought skorts, so I felt comfortable enough, but I wish I had brought a few of my skirts. They're comfy and cool.

edovre

Capris are the it clothing item now, for a man or a woman. It's cooler if you don't tie the lower drawstrings, though, just let 'em flop around and people will dig you.

m_kingdom2

People aren't concerned what you're wearing. Cities, towns, the smallest villages have no dress codes - only privately owned places can enforce dress codes. You can virtually walk around naked, people don't care.

taggie

Yes, mk, but some people DO care if you walk through the hotel lobby in a swimsuit in the evening!!

m_kingdom2

As I said - dress codes exist in private areas, not public ones. An hotel lobby that is patronised by guests is not an open for all area. Dress codes should be enforced as they are in bars, clubs, etcetera. What one wears in the streets at any hour is one's free choice - no dress codes there!

Vincent

Beware, American friends! We seldom have formal "dress codes" in Europe, but they are actually all over the place informally. And nobody would like to feel awkward (ie grossly underdressed) in a public place. And you don't need a dress code for that.

WillTravel

I was told that it's legal to be naked anywhere in Germany, but there are strong conventions as to the exact places where you exercise this right.