My son grew up in France and just returned from a seven week visit back home.

And when i picked him up at the airport Jan 1 he was wearing a nice black coat and said all the men in France were wearing these rather spiffy black coats (that are 'so European') and that everyone seemed to be wearing Black.

Q- why is everyone wearing Black in France or was my son just wearing dark glasses?

PQ, this is not news. Everyone knows black is the predominant color in France, where have you been?

Travelnut -
i guess NOT in France!

I thought the old ladies in mourning Black was history.

Dark winter - dressed in Black - seems all so, so depressing dressing

Pal - I assume you mean black winter coats, not suit or sport coats, right?

I thought black wool winter coats were sort of the norm everywhere in cities - NY, DC, Amsterdam, Paris and so on - for quite a number of years now. Am I wrong?

Yes black wool winter coats

Yes i must be out of touch sartorially for sure.

I am sure you are right, now!

No not everyone. I saw alot of different colors

http://www.styleandthecity.com/stree...-fashion-week/

http://www.garancedore.fr/en/categor...tstyle-photos/

In November it seemed to me the predominant color was black. The only other color I saw with any consistency was red. One red coat in every crowd of black. As I said in my trip report, it looked like a National Geographic exercise: put something red in every photo.

Nice pics, but all those women looked my daughter...could have even been my grandaughter ;-). Where were the people who liked like MOI? LOL But those women looked great BTW.

Black - or very dark charcoal - wool or wool blend topcoats are a perennial, almost the uniform of the business set. In Paris in November they were everywhere - you can tell how popular they are by the fact that Zara is selling them.

The Europeans use more black as they tend to buy fewer clothing items and black is easier to coordinate with accessories than "high fashion' colors. Damn I sound like "Thin's fashion hour".!!!!

A bit off-topic.... Mimi I LOVE the links you post! Thank you!

<i><font color=blue>&quot;seems all so, so depressing&quot;</font></i>

Haven't you heard, the French have been depressed for some time. There was an NOP study in 2004 that stated, &quot;France has the highest proportion of patients suffering from both depression and anxiety.&quot; So it makes sense that a bold color palate might diminish in everyday fashion. There's nothing like the peace and quiet of black. Not to mention, no-brainer convenience.

Also the French use more prescription drugs for depression, anxiety, stress, etc. than any other coountry, including U.S, on a per capita basis.

This isn't anything new. I thought nice black wool coats were pretty much the norm for european males in wintertime, non? Thru the years, and generally speaking.

When I was young, single and thin and living in Boston and Nantucket, pink was my signature color. Now I live in Switzerland and have gained weight from all the fondue and chocolate and what my husband calls &quot;mental-pause&quot; and wear black now. It really is slimming. Or at least I believe it is and if it isn't I don't want to hear about it.

Like any big city, it depends what part of town you visit. When I stopped in Hermes and Chanel,
everyone but me was dressed in very elegant outfits, high heels or ballerinas but I was treated nicely although I only bought a lipstick
and went to see what it was like.
In St Germaine, there was alot of color and sport shoes, in the Marais, it was anything goes.
Throughout France there was not alot of black except for old women and lots of jeans. We laughed when we stopped for lunch in the vienne and all but one person wasn't wearing jeans. In the South, as in Provence, you will see more color.
But never worry what you wear, the French do not critize you. They will stare if you show alot a skin in villages.

They've been wearing black for as long as I've been going to Paris. And I've been going, almost annually, since the mid 70s.

I like wearing some black, but I'm not into only wearing black pieces. To me it's also depressing and I'm not a depressed type of personality.

I remember, about 15 or more years ago, my best Parisian friend and I were strutting down the street, in Paris, and she was wearing all black and I was wearing my shocking pink, hooded, DKNY rain slicker-coat that reversed to black. But, of course I wore the black side inside and the shocking pink outside. I had a black skirt underneath and was wearing black knee boots. My friend just laughed after the shock wore off. I remember her entire wardrobe, at home, consisted of black, white, and gray.

Some of you might remember that DKNY collection of years past. Donna Karan even came to L.A. and was down at Bullocks Department Store at South Coast Plaza, in Orange County, doing a fashion show with a &quot;California-inspired&quot; collection. I was at the fashion show wearing my shocking pink raincoat. She noticed me and commented on how nice it looked.

Years later, when my Parisian friend came to visit me here in L.A., I finally got her to get out of the all black for about 3 days and she agreed to add some vibrant color to her wardrobe. Smiles. Happy Travels!

&gt;&gt;...black is the predominant color...&lt;&lt;

Black is not a color - rather it's the ABSENCE of color.

http://tinyurl.com/5pvx9y

the french love affair with black is grossly overrated here. i presume it's because many people only (or mainly) visit Paris. black is always more common in cities than in the surrounding countryside.

but the french DO wear black more than some other cultures due to the common practice of wearing an outfit every day for about a week (then you don't see it again for months when it will reappear for another week or so).