Trip to Paris - take diamond rings/jeans??
 

I have a very nice, expensive looking, wedding-set. Shoudl I just wear a plain band in Paris so as not to attract undue attention? (I have heard they don't really do the whole large diamond engagement rings over there like we do here.) I doubt it would cause a problem, but wanted to ask you guys.

Also, will I be out-of-place if I wear dressy (dark, trouser style) jeans?

Thanks!
Tara

Hi Tara,

They wear jeans all over Paris -- I was just there in late September. Just don't wear those high-rise Mom Pants, but wear trendy new ones, and dress them up with a nice pair of black shoes/boots, and you're good. I never saw jeans WITH tennis shoes on anyone who wasn't American.

As for your rings -- wear them if you want, just consider what neighborhoods you'll be in just like the States. Unless it's some eye-popping Hope Diamond job and you're going to Paris next week before the riots might be over.

There was a very lovely, very well-put together older woman on one of the buses I took that was dripping in jewelry -- including a very nice expensive wedding set, and she looked like she didn't have a care in the world. For some reason, I think the Parisiens are used to being around money and people who at least look like they have it.

Happy travels,

Jules

I spent a quick weekend in Paris in August and wore jeans and had my nice engagement ring/wedding band and felt fine.

I didn't even think twice about it.

Years ago in Paris (could have been anywhere, but I was reminded of it while reading your question) I was in a salon having a shampoo when someone started massaging my hands. I supposed it was part of the pampering until I felt a tug on my ring! I looked up through my shampooers arms and came face to face with a sheepish grin on another face. The two of them (shampooer and tugger) spoke in French with each other and the other woman bustled off behind a curtain.

Needless to say the pampering moment was ruined and I was skeptical about the whole salon after that.

The moral of the story is: be aware just like in any big city.

Well, you can talk about Naples, Seville and Mexico City, but the only place I've ever been robbed was Paris.

I am also wondering what Mom jeans are. Probably the kind I wear so when I bend over I don't look like the friendly plumber.

Wear your jeans and no one will ever suspect that those diamonds are real.

Mom Jeans, the ones that actually come up to your waist as opposed to "jeans" that ride below your belly button. And if you want to look good you better be sporting a 6 pack and not a cellulite gut.

I never saw jeans WITH tennis shoes on anyone who wasn't American.


Really? You would think SOME Europeans would know how to look and feel good at the same time.

People in Paris wear both jeans and diamond rings - it's not a rarity.

As long as you're not wearing your diamond jeans, you'll be OK.

You should be fine with both jeans and rock. You might be even more comfortable just leaving your ring at home in the SDB and take a fake. I was nervous last year about wearing a recently inherited and very expensive watch on our last trip to Europe. My dad told me to just wear it and not be a "prisonor or my possessions". I did end up taking it but I worried the entire time.

... I meant to add a big WINK to that.

I think it's sweet that somebody asked a simple question hoping for a simple answer. (OK, there are no simple answers here, but the thought was nice.)

Nothing wrong with wearing some rocks when you travel - most folks say it's risky to take extras along that you have to keep track of. But truly, Paris is a place where you might look around at dinner and wish you had your sparklers if you leave them at home. Parisiennes LOVE jewels.

But lots of people are a little uncomfortable about traveling with their diamonds - if you're one of them, into the safe deposit box with you!

As for jeans, if you look hot in jeans, wear them. If you don't, leave them at home. Jeans are for the young in Paris and most of Europe. Adults are happy to look like adults.

HAVE FUN!! And enjoy looking good!!

If you feel uncomfortable at all at the thought of taking your diamonds then take something else. On some trips I wear my diamond and on others I leave it at home, depending on my "comfort" level... usually has to do with whether or not I've visited there before, and whether or not I perceived it to be unsafe for some reason. If I'm unfamiliar with my destination I leave my wedding ring at home. There's no point in having to worry while on vacation!

My advice on the diamond is 2-fold:
If it's insured, then wear it unless the sentimental value is great, then leave it at home.
DON'T replace it with a fake ring, just a plain band. The biggest reason not to wear a lot of jewelry on vacation is that it calls attention to your wealth, with the possibility of purse snatches. The likelihood of anyone stealing the ring from you finger is slim, just don't leave it in the room.

Again - If you are intent on making a 'smiling' impression on the street wear a skirt or tailored slacks. If you are going to dinner or the opera or a University function leave the jeans in the room. Jewelery is always at risk. If you must wear it be sure it is insured for theft or mysterious disappearance.

Wear what you like. Why should you care? You are on holiday not some sort of undercover pretend-I'm-French spying mission. Admittedly some of the more extreme 'American' looks can raise a bit of a snigger in Europe, but not jeans. If I think of a stereotype American tourist comedy-picture I visualise a very loud obese couple, with him in those bright checkered golf trousers, both with baseball hats on (at aged 50) and her in a baggy brighly patterened nylon dress (or a huge bum squeezed into very tight jog-pants and too small t-shirt) and a bad perm, and big sunglasses. And asking REALLY stupid questions (I volunteer at a historic house dealing with visitors and I have to say the Americans come up with the oddest things. One asked me what the lawn was made of!) So if you don't look like that you should be fine....

the whole <<jeans + "tennis" shoes = american >>

is just a cliche that anyone who does a fair amount of traveling around the world would know is far from the truth. associated with this cliche is some weird assumption that in france you have only locals and americans and that everyone's focused on the americans because they are the only non-french "oddballs".

I just love these questions!!
Answer Question No.1:
Yes, wear your rings if you want to take the chance they may be lost some other way - I would eat my air-ticket if they got stolen in Paris!
Answer No.2:
You would be out of place if you DID NOT wear your dark trouser-style jeans.

Pray tell, are you suggesting that Paris is somewhere on another planet where nobody has ever seen a few diamonds before, and therefore will be compelled to mug you for them?

Have you no comprehension of how patronising, condescending, ignorant and downright rude questions such as this sound?? And I don't even like France!! You're going to one of the world's major capital cities - not to the middle of the Siberian Steppes (with all due respect to those people who live in the Siberian Steppes, but just an example).

My apologies if you think my response is harsh but whilst you may treat places as holiday destinations and a slightly novel change of scenery, do remember that many, many millions of people manage to get by living on a day to day basis quite well there. And, believe it or not, some have even managed to scrape some money together to buy their own nice jewellery! :-)

Tx

PS. Most people the world over, are way too intrested in themselves to give two hoots what anyone else wears....

I think some Parisiens do wear "sneakers" or "tennis shoes" (a term Americans use a lot for shoes that aren't shoes made for playing tennis) with jeans, but that depends on your definition of sneakers. They might wear those popular Puma-style colorful shoes, but not your big white Nikes that are only for gyms.

They did a fake commercial on SNL once about "mom" jeans, I suppose that's where the term came from. It is not just high-rise jeans. It is a reference to cut and quality and general style more than that, and the type of waistband. Mom jeans in that skit were baggy jeans with elastic waistbands, that kind of things. Also, cheap jeans you might buy at a discount store are not of good quality denim (and may not really be denim at all) and don't have the traditional French seams, etc., that is part of the standard jeans design. I don't know what the OP means by a "trouser-style" jean, though. That sounds like something with pleats or cuffs or something.

My concern about traveling with valuable jewelry (monetary or sentimental) is they could be lost or misplaced, packing and unpacking, moving about, in rooms and bathrooms not familiar like at home. This would be much more likely IMO than having them snatched off your finger, rather that they get dropped down a drain or vent, behindn a dresser, etc.

jules4je7, thank you for clarifying what trendy edgy Parisians wear (I am a custom dressmaker and am unaware of the French off-the-rack sensibility). I guess I should investigate a bit before my trip next year because I certainly want to dress just like everyone else. Or do you think the lowrise diamond rings/jeans will be "out" by then?

To Fidel the dressmaker, what are lowrise diamond rings?

Fidel, you're hilarious. As much as I observed in Paris, I didn't witness any lowrise diamond rings. I promise to do more research.

After all the discussion on this board on what to wear to Europe Paris in particular, (and laughing at what a sore spot it is with some people), I enjoyed my people-watching while I was there in September, and made a few fashion observations.

Of course fashion is all over the map as any big city, but there are a few "tried and true" fashion accessories, just like here. Super-pointy shoes, flared skirts, and low rise, wide-leg or boot-cut jeans were a few of the things that I noted (on the women), and men tended to dress up more, but there were plenty of rumpled over-worn suits, but I guess you could say that at least they were wearing suits...

Dare I say that I assumed that most of the people I studied were indeed French since I was, after all, in France, and not sitting under the U.N. meeting that is the Eiffel Tower. Please pardon me for not checking IDs, as I can only say it is an inexact science, but I think I had it right with a degree of error of +/- 5 percent. ;)

I'm sitting here in sweats and a Green Day t-shirt, so don't get your hopes up that I'll be able to give you any advice this time next year when my information isn't quite so current. LOL

Happy travels.

Jules

It is chilly in Paris today, so lots and lots of fur on the gals!

personally, I think I am allergic to Mom jeans ;)I like low rises from Victorias Secret (aka "vickies panty palace)

just for curiousity. would they be called Mum Jeans in London??????

I never wear my wedding set when traveling, that's just what makes me more comfortable though. Not because I think it is more likely to be stolen, but because it is awfully hard to get back to a far away foreign country to retrace your steps and go look for it!

As for the pants question, I wore jeans all over Europe with trendy little non-white sneakers and felt totally fine. As for mom pants, I am very familiar with the term and to me it means very very very high waisted pants that go above and beyond the belly button. By the same token super duper low rise jeans are just as ridiculous on most people.

My motto: Just wear what makes you feel happy and comfortable.

francophile03, Lowrise Diamond Rings is a subset of Stripper Fashion.

laustic, "very very very high waisted pants that go above and beyond the belly button"

Technical questions: At exactly what point does a non-Mom Pant fall? 1.125 above the button, 0.75 below the waist, where? And "super duper low rise" -- within a range, how low is that? Third, are you saying we were mistaken to believe that "high waisted" is above the waist? Lastly, are you certain "waisted" is in our English language?

My traveling dears, watch this video and then you will know all about mom jeans:

www.funnyhub.com/videos/page.cgi/mom-jeans

I was in Paris two weeks ago and there were LOTS of people in jeans and tennies. Not the white, clunky tennis shoes but Geox's. In fact, we had planned to each pick up a pair (hubby and I) before we left, but never got around to it (you can buy them here anyway.)

Just don't forget your scarf!

LOL, thanks seaurchin. They look so old fashioned compard to today's jeans.

Look, I didn't mean to offend anyone. Of course I know that the French have diamonds and I am most certainly not going to be mistaken as French, so I'm not worried about trying to "look French." I just don't want to stick out like a sore thumb. As far as my rock...here's the thing... It's nearly 2 carats in a ornate Art Deco setting. It calls attention to itself. The diamond earrings I have are 1/2 carat in each ear. Since I will obviously be an American, I didn't want to draw even more attention to myself. I figure that the liklihood of us being mugged/robbed is very low... especially since I am not bringing a handbag at all, and my husband will keep the passports and so forth in a money belt underneath his clothes. But if I were carrying a purse, wouldn't diamonds all over make thiefs think that *my* purse would be a particularly good one to snatch?

As far as the jeans, I am 24. So yes, I'll bring them :)

And as for the language, je parle francais un peu. I am most definitely going to try to use it when possible and greet shopkeepers, etc. politely.

Bottom line: I know I'm American. They will know I'm American. I just don't want to be an Ugly American, d'accord?

P.S. Yes, jewelry is insured.

You seem to be worried about your rock already and you haven't even left home.
Leave it and go forth and have a fun time w/o worrying or thinking about your rings.

I wear very simple jewelry that I wouldn't mind losing when I am traveling. I also don't wear $ jewelry in certain parts of my own hometime, I would rather have a footloose time than to be worrying about my bling.

um, hometown, not hometime...

Ugly Americans, take heart.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ph...s/warmweather/

In March, I noticed the style of very large rings being worn, often on the middle finger. The stones may or may not have been real but they were not small and subtle. .I wear what I wear here..which is not really what you would call plain..
I don't wear jeans though :)

LOL SeaUrchin!!
"I am not a woman anymore, I am a Mom" :D