I've just got back from five days in Le Marais, and I've decided I want become Parisian, s'il vous plait.

[TossDaily]

So there.

EVERYBODY looked fantastic. EVERYBODY. DP and I just sat open-mouthed in fascination. Whatever their age, they looked amazing.

So I'm sitting here on a diet, wearing an Isabel Marant jumper and frantically googling 'How to turn French.'

As far as I can tell, the rules are:

1. Be thin, despite the fact you are walking down the street at 11am gnawing a cheese and ham baguette the length of your forearm.

1. Have your hair the colour and texture of natural hair.

1. Have the most amazing skin, despite the fact you have a permanent Gauloise on the go.

1. Never get pissed and lairy, despite the fact you are having a glass of red wine with your lunch and it's Tuesday.

1. Wear shoes you can walk in.

1. Have an amazing coat.

1. Know how to tie a scarf so it looks like you have slung it on and it's just choosing to snuggle up to you because you are SO FRICKING GORGEOUS.

1. Have a pharmacy on every corner that is just an Aladdin's Cave of miraculous skincare delights for less than a tenner each.

Anyone else have any tips? Joking aside, I loved the style - the shops, ohmigod the shops! It was like I'd walked into my internet shopping history.

I could actually walk around in my biker jacket without feeling like a twat.

I want to be French. Aidez-moi.

Thanks Botemps!

Oh for goodness sake I gave in and bought The Stole too. bo you’ll have to stop dithering and get it before it goes. Luckily whilst we’ll all be side eyeing each other as we pass in the street, as you’re not in the UK you won’t have to worry about meeting your fur stole twin in the post office queue.

I’m now contemplating a faux fur leopard print coat but I think that’s probably very not French style.

So many lovely links botemps thank you. That de toujours website has some gorgeous stuff on it.

Enid I have a similar stole in burgundy from topshop, from a couple of years ago, I always get complimented when I wear it. You won't regret it.

I love burgundy accessories quirky. I’m chickening out of the leopard print coat so hopefully this will fulfill my faux fur needs.

I’m not getting The Stole, it I have just ordered a giant scarf in nice autumn colours, which will hopefully look nice and can be draped in a suitably chic manner. I don’t think Norfolk is ready for me in my wellies, wax jacket (pockets full of empty poo bags for the distinctly non-Chanel Number 5 scented gifts mon chien leaves for me to deal with) and The Stole 😂 They aren’t even Le Chameau wellies 😱

Spudlet I'm in Norfolk too, I do wear my stole as going out not day wear. Not quite school run appropriate. My wellies are short rainboots from La Meduse via Plumo, so French, but I don't live out in the countryside so don't really need heavy duty ones.

Enid I wear a lot of burgundy, I was in burgundy converse yesterday. I have a small leopard print furry stole too, but it's a soft grey/purple so quite understated, more of a collar size. I like leopard print but the tan/brown looks awful on me, I can manage grey or purply leopard.

I am loving this thread! I am trying to figure no the link to the faux fur sole - can someone repost. Ta.

Will someone be a chéri and post a photo of themselves avec le nouveau fur stole?

Luna I'm on my phone and don't seem to be able to link but the website is called Parfois.

I have stole envy. I would look unbelievably dreadful in it, but it's so beautiful.

Enjoy the beautiful thing, stole-owners

Has anyone read Emma Beddington's book We'll Always Have Paris: Trying and Failing to be French? If you're enjoying this thread (as I am) I highly recommend it.

I have! It's a great book!

I have the book in my kindle library but have been saving it for when I'm next there. Always like reading about a place when you're there.

The Stole here.

They also have a burgundy, green and pink one but it's a lot smaller here but I wasn't as enamoured with those in shop as you can only wear them one way.

Oh wow that's lovely bo! I thought it was the smaller one, which looks perfectly nice but I couldn't quite see what all the fuss was about. Now i understand!

Check out the wonderful Joanna Walsh's illustrations of Paris women (badaude is her illustrator name, she's a writer too). I met her recently and her own style is a lovely blend of tweedy English and Parisian chic.
hipparis.com/author/badaude/

You've reminded me of another thing I love about the Paris fashion scene. Fashion illustration is still a thing, it's great to see the catwalk tendencies presented so succinctly in just a few lines as a visual diary, it's really a lost art.

The annual MN scarf has never been so chic, I pity next years' candidate having to top that beauty!

cuir those illustrations are lovely. Tweedy English and Parisian chic sounds a great combination.

Today's private sales and I can't believe I haven't told you all about Tictail yet...

Lemaire Christophe Lemaire used to be at the helm at Hermes, now has his own brand where he elevates very ordinary (but good quality fabrics) to beautiful things. He also designs the U Collection for Uniqlo (which is pretty much the only thing worth getting at Uniqlo in my book, but I accept I'm weird about Uniqlo). 30% of the entire order with the code WINTER valid until the 26th of November. Higher price point but the trousers are so worth it.

Soeur a selection with 30% off. Is it wrong that I want the giant woolly grandpa undies?

Kenzo, last day today, I missed this before. Code WINTER17 gets 30% off your order with the exception of the permanent collection. Not as French as it once was, but thought I'd include as perhaps someone has a teenager with something from them on their wishlist.

So Tictail, after detoujours I doubt this will add to my popularity. It's an independent marketplace for up and coming designers and independent boutiques started in Stockholm so most shops are Scandi but the Parisians, Londoners, and New Yorkers are early adaptors. A lot of French bloggers also sell their old wardrobe on here (usually marked as Vide Dressing although Tictail doesn't really want people selling 2nd hand unless it's proper vintage). Price points are various. You are buying individually so shipping prices can be a hassle but it's a great place for gifts I highly reccomend this if in need of a 'fancy' baby gift. It's basically a really highly curated mashup of pinterest, shopify, and etsy. You can follow other customers and see what they're liking, if you follow shops you basically sign up to their newsletter and their new products show up in a feed on the app and website. Anyhow, it's a bit of a rabbit hole. I'll have to see if I can change my username as it's somewhat outing so you can see my fave shops and products.

One of my fave French shops Raoulle (see pics) currently has a promo for 30% off everything with the code PRIVATE until 20/11 midnight CET. They sell little accessories to pimp your trainers but if you've got some plain brogues I'm pretty sure they'd work on those too. The pics I added are ones that are already on sale at €12, code conditions imply the entire shop though so they'd be a bargain.

They currently have a 10% first order offer on all of tictail. I'll have to look up some of my other French faves but one I absolutely adore (she has a shop in Paris too but I would never have found it) is Laura Laval, it is all of that French Chic with a feminity that isn't girly. I've been lusting over the chemise in the third pic for a tad too long now.

Speaking of Tweedy English meets Parisian Chic, that's pretty much the Soeur brand in a nutshell, well with a bit of 70s Sorbonne vibes tossed in, battered old brown veg tan leather bag not optional.

I'm not clicking, I REFUSE!

Botemp stop it!!!!!

Botemptation

Aw those poor hands...

&Other Stories have some great gloves in right now, designed in their Paris atelier. Fab to wear over a blazer or thin sweater and just a scarf for those cold but not really cold days and look all sorts of chic