Fae_Thomas

My husband wants me to ask about clothing in Paris. I read an article that says no shoulders or legs should be shown in churches, and that we shouldn't wear white sneakers. My fav pair of sneakers are white; who really cares about that? Anyway, my husband's question concerns the color of our clothing. He thinks some of my things are too bright; that people will mostly have neutral colors on - particularly at night. Any thoughts

kerouac

For churches, you are confusing France with Italy. There is no dress code for French churches (which belong to the government if they were built before 1905) other than what your own vestimentary code dictates.

You can absolutely wear whatever shoes you want -- nobody cares -- but to totally reassure you about what real Parisians wear when they are not at work, here is a set of photos from my neighborhood in the 18th arrondissement from
a: 2009 -- http://tinyurl.com/28bnlq9
b: 2010 -- http://tinyurl.com/62my3gx

And if that's not enough to convince you, I have worse stuff in stock.

janisj

Wear what you want. Honestly, no one will care. It is true that day to day, Parisians may wear neutrals -- but that is because they are at work. You are on holiday. But you may not be comfortable wearing shorts.

janisj

was posting the same time as kerouac . . .

dorie

We are on our way to Paris next weekend for 10 days,and I will be packing black and tan pants with tops and sweaters to mix and match. During the day any color will due, but at night I like to keep to black and tan.

This has worked very well for me the past few years we have been there.

AlessandraZoe

Wear what you want. Dorie's suggestion, however, will make your packing really easy.

ira

Hi FT,

>He thinks some of my things are too bright; that people will mostly have neutral colors on - particularly at night. Any thoughts <

Unless you really wish to stand out as a complete rube from the US, you <b>must</b> wear all black. That includes nail polish and lipstick. It would be a good idea to dye your hair black as well.

Enjoy your visit.

Cowboy1968

Unless "too bright things" means that you usually sport a HiViz vest, I think you can dare to wear what you want.

Parisians are very tolerant. And have better things to do than to look at tourists' feet.

nytraveler

The rules about covering shoulders and knees in churches is for Italy and not France.

You are perfectly free to wear whatever you want.

You just need to realize that dressing in bright colors (esp pastels) and large white sneakers - for adults - will mark you immediately as an american and may increase attention from pickpockets and other scammers. (And I find walking shoes -even Skechers mary janes - much more comfy then sneakers.

IMHO adults should not wear shorts in cities - only for sports and at resorts - but that's me. (I won;t wear shorts here except for biking in the park or running errands in my neighborhood. If going out for dinner or to a major museum or show I always wear either pants or a skirt and real shoes - not tennies.)

As for colors, in NYC a lot of my stuff is black and much of the rest is neutral. I do have some bright tops/sweaters and a few solid bright work or cocktail dresses but I would never wear solid pastels, esp matchy matchy - at all.

PalenQ

echo wear what you want - white shoes nobody will notice nor care.

About half of Parisians are immigrants so their style of dress is far from the ethnic French - point is anything goes.

and to me the first time I went to France the major thing I had wrong was that the French were fashion horses - quite the opposite IME - rather frumpy attire on older women and yes younger women like in any country wearing the fasions but often tight jeans and the Vogue look.

What you wear in Paris is up to you and nobody cares in my annual trips there for decades now.

qwovadis

U can wear anything you want even a burka if u want but

parisvoice.com

gives you a sense of what it takes to blend in

wear casual darker quality designer clothing to blend in

designer Ts sneakers etc all fine if they have style.

Tank Tops baseball caps loud garish colors will get

dirty looks or kicked out of some churches and restaurants.

To be most authentic do not take a shower for a week

and splash yourself with Chanel #5 to cover the BO up

and whatever u do do not clean up after your foo foo dog

so that u leave dog poop land mines all over for folks to

step in... then and only then will you truly blend in.

AlessandraZoe

Let's set aside the sarcasm.

For a period of a decade or two ago, there was a tendency of American women ages 30-50 to wear, God knows why, bright pink track suits with really large white athletic shoes. They strutted the streets of Paris proudly, and all we Americans trying, God know why, to "fit in", cringed.

Several things have happened since then, such as...
...that strange pink thing, weird shape fashion craze has passed (well, there are still a few 80-yr-old relicts out there)...
...other Europeans now tend to dress worse than we do and...
...we Americans are far less neurotic about the image we present.

That said...
Please, if it is possible you are so inclined, just leave any track suits at home. If you are not inclined to wear track suits, I think you are good to go.

nytraveler

The rules about covering shoulders and knees in churches is for Italy and not France.

You are perfectly free to wear whatever you want.

You just need to realize that dressing in bright colors (esp pastels) and large white sneakers - for adults - will mark you immediately as an american and may increase attention from pickpockets and other scammers. (And I find walking shoes -even Skechers mary janes - much more comfy then sneakers.

IMHO adults should not wear shorts in cities - only for sports and at resorts - but that's me. (I won;t wear shorts here except for biking in the park or running errands in my neighborhood. If going out for dinner or to a major museum or show I always wear either pants or a skirt and real shoes - not tennies.)

As for colors, in NYC a lot of my stuff is black and much of the rest is neutral. I do have some bright tops/sweaters and a few solid bright work or cocktail dresses but I would never wear solid pastels, esp matchy matchy - at all.

Fae_Thomas

You people crack me up - and help me at the same time! I don't want to stick out like a rube/a dork/a pickpocketer's dream, so I will scrutinize my wardrobe, but yet not be anal about the whole thing. Rest assured my bright clothes do not include a HiViz vest! I already have black hair, but draw the line at black cosmetics. And no shorts for this girl, but I do love capris. Thanks for brightening my day, and making my coworkers wonder what I'm snorting about as I try to stifle my laughter.

suze

I always travel with white sneakers, they are my best walking shoes. No one in Paris will care or notice. Believe it or not Europeans also wear sneakers for sports and casual, like doing their errands.

I take my favorite outfits that match the weather where I'll be traveling. The fabrics that will pack well, not wrinkle, and pick pieces that mix and match all with each other.

People will know you are a tourist, doesn't matter if you want to wear your bright colors or not.

JeanneB

Fae: It appears you'll be taking the best accessory of all....a good sense of humor!

Have fun.

kerouac

I have lived in Paris for 38 years and have never worried about wearing white sneakers when so inclined -- for example when I am going to be walking all day, which is what the majority of tourists tend to do.

suze

Here's my shorts/sneakers/europe story. I had the same worries before my first trip.

So I'm staying with a girlfriend who lives permanently in Switzerland (the french-speaking region) and we're getting ready to head to the open air farmers market on Saturday morning at the beginning of my trip. What does she pop into my room wearing, you guessed it, kakhi shorts and white sneakers!

Christina

It was not a trend for "American women" age 30-50 to wear bright pink track suits in public a decade or two ago. Perhaps this was a trend by a few American women, but it what not common by anyone I knew or anywhere I lived, and that is my demographic. So it is exaggerating to say that was a trend for all American women because a few did that (or still do, most likely, and now men are getting in on it, at least wearing track suits as leisure wear on planes, but not pink). I did sit next to a woman wearing a bright pink track suit on a flight to Cancun once a couple years ago. But I was connecting in Houston so that explained it, she wasn't from where I lived on the East Coast.

I wouldn't be caught dead wearing white sneakers anywhere, even the gym, but that's just me. I've never liked them and never worn them, even for athletic purposes. They would be okay for tennis but I don't play tennis.


I've been to French churches for services, not just as a tourist, and even local French women that belong to the congregation sometimes had bare shoulders in church. And certainly bare legs (?) in summer. Even in Italy, I don't think there is any rule against bare legs in general, just too-short skirts or shorts.

LSky

Think dark colors. The suggestion about black and tan is a good one although not colors I would chose but think black and a color. Navy or dark brown or grey. Whatever best compliments your skin.

The reason is simple, travel can get dirty. You want something that hides stains if you can't run home and wash it right away.

Pack clothes that can be washed in a sink and dry easily.

Wear nicer clothes, simply because you don't know where you'll end up.

Certainly you can wear what you want anywhere in the world but, just like here in the US, you'll get treated better if you look like you care about yourself.

I'm not saying you need to get dressed up each day, but why not look great in clothes that suit you? You're going to get your picture taken quite often.

Some friends were showing me their vacation photos and we came across some photos of a guy in a ball cap and t-shirt. Finally, I said, "who is this guy?"
Yikes! It was the wife.