Paris: of jeans and converse
 

this is the popular look on the streets. Non of the fashions in the window did we see on the steets yet?

http://parisbreakfasts.blogspot.com?

I could buy all those fashions and still not look French since I am not tall, slim, and flat chested. Oh, and no longer young.

But I did see most that were not very tall.
And not many big boobs.

I'm a bit suprised that the advice to start smoking wasn't added since at least one of those skinny minnies was doing so...

I guess zaftig isn't a French trait!

Nothing wrong with zaftig, or so I always say.

Well, no wonder people always think I'm French! Gotta work on my perfect Bed Head, though.

I did some research to find the averge height of women in Paris. It seems to be five feet 3 to 4 and a startling 133
pounds.

Converse has been so big for the past two years that I'm pretty sure that the fad is ending soon.

Jeans will always be in fashion. In the 35 years that I have lived in Paris, I can think of only 2 years when jeans suddenly disappeared on the street -- but only on young people. Their elders continued to wear them.

Luved the photos! I'm usually a "less is more" girl, but I can see I need a big bag. It will be useful for my carryon overflow.......hee hee...

You do know that French men are not attracted to women with big bags, I hope. It is considered a warning to men -- "I have so much crap in my bag that I don't have time for men!"

5' 3" and 133 lbs? That's a good deal more than I would have thought. Was it really just Paris, or all of France? Anyway, those girls in those pix weren't 133 lbs.

Cool photos, Mimi!

Wear all black or a black and electric blue combination; the "in" colors for Paris this spring.

My tall-and-thin 15-year-old great niece in rural Pennsylvania has been wearing skinny jeans and Converse shoes for a couple of years. Likewise, bed head hair. BTW, my niece and her friends paint their Converse shoes, changing the look, colors and style every couple of weeks. White shoe laces are totally lame; the brighter-colored the laces the better.

Paris, schmaris.

Ok, I just made the switch to a big bag, trying to keep up with the fashions. It is beautiful. And I hate it. Everything gets lost!

mine is very big but I use it only for travel,
almost the size of a carry on.

"5' 3" and 133 lbs? That's a good deal more than I would have thought. Was it really just Paris, or all of France? Anyway, those girls in those pix weren't 133 lbs."
I agree, someone 5'3 and 133 ponds is at least 20 pounds overweight to be considered slim.

The French are NOT tall. they tend to be mid height and frequently of a wiry build. Many women do have boyish figures (and there is little call for gigantic fake boobs you see in the US - since most clothes don;t look good on curvy figures). In Paris you can be sure you will see trendy, lots of black and no grown women wearing levis and giant white clown sneakers.

nytraveler women of all ages wear jeans throughout France
not clown sneakers but Bensimons.

Oh, I am so piqued that I did not see those tote bags at Laduree with the picture of a French Bulldog on the side. Mon Dieu! Jackie O would have loved one of those.

Thin

Yes, I thought of you, thin, when I saw that.
And the cat looks like my darling who is in the big
sandbox in the sky.

"French women do not wear earring!"

Really? Something I never noticed before.

The earring thing is really strange. I don't buy it. All my Parisian girlfriends wear earrings. I buy most of my earrings in Paris.

I don't do huge bags either - small or medium-size, with a penchant for a small classy leather backpack that I picked up when my kids were little and I had to trawl Paris with two of them in tow, holding onto two hands but still carrying my "stuff" with me. I would have killed for something with a French bulldog on it, though!

And back when I was carrying 133 lbs., I was what I considered fat - no flat stomach, bulges at the hips, etc. That's pretty big for 5'3".

Agree that 133 lbs. is 20 lbs. overweight for 5'3". Most Parisian women have slight frames. I'm 5'3" and have a medium frame, and I'm fat right now at 115.

great photos cigcale.

everyone seems to stress over what to wear in paris but like your pictures tell, there were a lot of jeans with ballet flats, converse or boots - not much different than how we dress here.

my uniform for my trip was skinny jeans with either boots or ballet flats.

i rarely take the large bags that i normally carry at home.
i end up feeling like a mule because everything ends up in it which is not what the big bag look is all about anyway.
for travel, i just have a small snug crossover bag that will carry essentials - passport, $$$, c.c., atm and lip balm.

Here's a site that shows the average height and weight of the people in every European country:

http://www.statbel.fgov.be/fiGurEs/d25_fr.asp

translate the French into pounds and feet, kerouac, please!

Interesting thread! But, I think it's about 25 years too late for me.

<i>translate the French into pounds and feet, kerouac, please!</i>

Men: 5'9" & 170 lbs
Women: 5'4" & 138 lbs

Both subject to rounding to the nearest inch and pound.

And several of the women in those photos are easily 130+ lbs. Don't kid yourselves. People often tend to underestimate weight when looking at someone who isn't morbidly obese.

thanks travelgourmet.
Also many Frenchwomen wear clothes that are fitted to them by a tailor so their inexpensive outfits always look great
and that makes them look thinner.

Is it time for me to link "my" fashion posts again about real French people in normal neighborhoods?

http://tinyurl.com/d36vxo

http://tinyurl.com/df4d3d

I'm happy everyone is enjoying my thread.

This is my favorite blog for Paris street style:
http://www.styleandthecity.com/stree...-fashion-week/

Okay, I must comment on this. 5-3 and 133 lbs. is not fat. I'm 5-4, weigh 140 lbs., and wear a size 6. I'm not thin but nowhere near fat.

My husband and I were both impressed by how little obesity we saw in Paris. People are not ridiculously skinny or overweight. Just healthy-looking. Must be all the walking!

your weight is also determined by how big your bones are.
My weight is more than a small boned woman of the same height.

True. That's why body mass index (determined solely by height and weight) is such a poor measure of obesity.

I was curious about 5'3" 133 being considered fat, so I did the BMI calculation: 23.6, which is toward the high end of normal. So not thin, but definitely not fat. At 115, the BMI is 20.4 - also normal range, but toward to low end. Normal being 18.5-24.9.

no!!!! :))

try leanving your apartment and gp to other parts of town.