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.

I wear loads of scarves, Toss, if it's square folding it into a triangle is good, if it's long/rectangular, pull one corner longer so it's less square. Tbh, I mostly wrap around my neck and tie v loosely as dd2 has a habit of pulling scarves, so over the shoulder etc. is less practical.

I love leopard print. If it is done well it is a great neutral. I do not subscribe to the idea that one can be too old for anything, in and of itself. I’m 41 now and I’ll wear whatever I like until the day I die.

Holger me too.

Today thanks to you all and this thread I went out with black eyeshadow and a subtle red lip (I'm very pale with majority grey hair) and even after only 4 hours sleep I felt great about myself.

I wore a grey knitted Ralph Loren dress which was heavily reduced this time last year biker boots and opaque black tights. Enjoying wandering round a garden centre looking at new Christmas decorations feeling quite festive instead of feeling self conscious about myself!

Cruella by Nars is the lipstick I have found which doesn't make my teeth look yellow! It stays on all day through coffee and cigarettes, but it does tend to suck the rest of my facial features away. Will be trying the Chanel one definitely, any other good rouge shades?

I have scarves that are 70 years old. (Now fragile, TBH.) I own scarves in velvet, silk, wool, cotton and even polyester, They are the vitality in what I wear, which is otherwise generally straight Uniqlo and jeans, My scarf is both warmth and decoration. It helps conceal turkey neck and lends the flourish of colour or texture to an generally ordinary outfit. Hence the Parfois stole, which is my DSis's Christmas present.

I have a stupid question re scarves.

If you have long or past shoulder length hair, where do you put your hair when you have a big scarf on? Under the scarf with it piling out the bottom? Over the scarf? Under scarf and coat?

Realise this is the ridiculous and minor issue but I do wonder every time I put a scarf on. Over the top, it just feels huge and underneath looks odd.

I do have bigger things to worry about I promise but as we're here...

Coming not piling

Am I the only one who watched that new French series on BBC 4 analysing the female detective’s make-up, hair & clothes instead of the crime scene?
I blame this thread...

French style

&otherstories latest collection is a Lou Doillon selection

www.stories.com/gb/

I'm having scarf lust over the beautiful IM number @botemp

I need to get out of my grey / black rut and get myself a new scarf. Cream feels like a safe option but I need to embrace colour

Which is mental as my winter coat a couple of years ago was fuschia and I had bright pink hair - now I'm all about the black / grey / navy since I stripped everything back

Think I need to find a bit of a middle ground!

Link copy paste fail

https://www.stories.com/gb/Ready-to-wear/TheultimateeFrenchmuse

I love the french style and everything abput france.the food, markets. I reckon i was french in a past life. And when those french men speak english with an accent. Ooh la la

Ahem, do I need to pull out a ranty speach about ages too? If it suits it suits, age doesn't come into it. Period.

I look shit in leopard print in the traditional colours but I can easily do non traditional colours, I expect that won't change much over the next 50yrs and beyond if I'm fortunate to live that long.

1little, Cruella is a neutral red so look for others like that. Pricey but the Burberry military red may suit, it's somewhat glossy with a sheen so a bit more full on, but since you mentioned your other features becoming muted perhaps that's a preferable finish to matte. I actually suspect the Balmain X L'Oréal shade in Domination may work too but I've still yet to see that in person myself.

Enid, it depends on the material. It's really something I associate with French younger women to wear a chunky knitted scarf over their hair and I suspect they do it to keep ears warm and avoid bothering with a hat. Hair would be under the coat too. Just curious what other people's opinion on this are, I usually put on scarf first then put on coat and adjust coat around it but I know many do it the other way round, I just prefer how it sits that way.

Which show is it bettys? I'm all through Call My Agent now.

Yeah, &other stories do a lot of colabs with French women. It's technically a selection I believe, which I prefer as they're not pretending these women suddenly are designers. &Other stories is interesting as they have three design studios, well they call them ateliers. One in Stockholm, one in Paris and on in Los Angeles. I love the Paris and Stockholm stuff but the designed in LA stuff and I never get on. Once you figure that out it makes shopping there a lot more efficient.

Maybe the version they sell on Farfetch (pic 1) would work for you? I rejected it because I fell madly in love I feel it needs a more monochrome wardrobe and the only black coats I have are the Maje parka which I'd never wear a scarf with and a cape from COS which is unwieldy enough without also managing a scarf. They also have last year's version (pic 2) which I suspect is the same material and weave but it's a large square keffiyeh style. Code 10BF gets an extra 10% off with FF. Or if you want to go full padded cell, Harvey Nichols sell it with up to 25% off this weekend or go really nuts at MyTheresa who sell a wider version at almost double the already insane price I don't think it even looks better with that much mass. Unfortunately none of the photos online seem to be able to capture the beautiful sheen it has which is unique to the cashmere weave and really gives it that something extra.

That wasn't supposed to be but .

botemp I may have accidentally got suckered in by the Black Friday 50% off on FarFetch for the keffiyah scarf. Oops.

Oops I like it a lot, I think it will go brilliantly with your HL leggings.

Bettys you’re not the only one.

I am getting SO much wear out of the HL leather leggings

My winter coat is the All Saints City Monument, currently wearing a grey lambswool scarf with it, but looking forward to wearing the cream IM. Just need to watch some YouTube tutorials to learn better ways to tie them without garotting myself as I undo them as I get on the tube to avoid expiring with heat and then do up again on the escalator leaving the station because I'll freeze my tits off as soon as I step outside

I have just ordered an Ines De La Fressenage book. The lovely Justine suggests in one of her blogs that if you feel a bit lost style wise you could find an actress/ someone well known who is your size/ build and look at what they wear. I am extremely lost style wise! The book seems to give really good ideas on how to and how not to make things look instantly French chic. We shall see.
I have also decided hats are the way to go for me. I am currently sporting a Greek fisherman style black and blue cap and will hit the antique shops in a min to see what hat delights I can discover.

bettys
No you're not did you see last nights The Missing on BBC4 where the daughter told her groomed, stylish, French haired, stylish, short nailed, great eyebrowed, clear skinned, stunning mother the reason she was alone was the mess her face and clothes were in, or words to that effect, made me snort. Spiral was good French style watching, perfectly cut but messy hair, great casual clothes, tasteful jewellery and that was just the cops, the dodgy female lawyer had a very enviable chic expensive wardrobe (which she had to turn to crime to support).

and betty did you not think it odd that although the red haired photographer had been held captive for 3 years she had extremely on trend clothes, the cut of jeans, the ankle boots etc.

and that totally unplanned steamy encounter with the man from the bar she had beautiful black lingerie on not everyday comfies. I did think 'mumsnet wouldn't like that' when she was having a long after hours phone conversation with her male work colleague and he questioned her sex life!

I think I do similar with a scarf botemp. A thick, probably knitted, scarf would be mostly hair under except any bits that escape, as it makes your hair "big" to lie on top of thick fabric, whereas something thinner I would more likely have hair over. I put my scarf on first then my wintercoat/jacket too.

What a great thread - so much useful advice and wonderful links. Botemp, are you French yourself or do you live there? Moi aussi!

botemp it is called Witnesses (Temoins), set in Bethune. Rather gripping!

Ameliaflashtart yy very nice clothes for a drugged up captive! Who did the shopping? Wrt to the detective's undies I'm assuming that french style starts next to the skin and gone-grey-in-the-wash M&S knickers are not acceptable.