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.

[Countduckulanose]

Maigret* ffs autocorrect

[Countduckulanose]

She sure is TossDaily
She's the embodiment of all the women I admired growing up and wanted to look like growing up in Paris

[IdentityRequest1]

Placemarking for when I am a grown-up.

(I'm in my 30s, just not cool enough to pull it off!)

[botemp]

I like CM but currently I'm lost in Françoise Hardy land after seeking out the perfect bangs inspiration pic. It's all from the 70s but looks like it could still be today. She still dresses impeccably these days regardless. I'm pretty sure CM has been much inspired by her too.

[Countduckulanose]

I am not sure why my posts aren't making sense today...massive migraine and coffee?
Anyway the look is very easy to pull off, easily achieved. It's also having the confidence, state of mind and lifestyle.
You can't be self conscious or uncomfortable or it won't work otherwise it's all good!

[InigoTaran]

Just went off to google what 'clope' was, thought it was a posh extra low cal type of tea or coffee, but no, it's a fag!

[milkmoustache]

I have met lots of stylish French women, but very few I would imagine drinking pints with and getting a bit loud with. I prefer less stylish women who are happy to have a go on a zipwire from time to time.

[pimmsy]

Re customer service, we often say

" Le client est roi, vous vous sovenez de ce qui est arrivé aux rois ?"

"The customer is king, you remember what happened to french kings right?"

[pimmsy]

souvenez*

[TossDaily]

Pimmsy

[MrsMarigold]

Great style, but they take themselves so seriously, I'd rather have a pint of bitter and a good laugh.

[MaudAndOtherPoems]

I too came back from holiday resolved to be more French. For me, it's about lipstick (see recent thread about bold lipstick in the day).

[RoseWhiteTips]

I have to say that I wasn’t aware of those amazing women when I was in Paris recently. I do know the sort you mean, though. If they work so hard in being thin, perhaps brittle bone disease awaits during their later years...

[RoseWhiteTips]

As for the potions from the beauty counters, they are mainly smoke and mirrors. Good genes is what bestows good skin.

[RoseWhiteTips]

Having good genes...

[RoseWhiteTips]

...on being thin...

[specialsubject]

No mention of the rat on a string that excretes everywhere. Have they gone out of fashion?

[mercurymaze]

I just bought a book from a charity shop 'how to be a Parisian wherever you are ' it's very funny v recommended

[oldlaundbooth]

The blokes are alright too.

Even the taxi driver was fit!

[TossDaily]

There were a few dogs, but the shit situation has improved hugely due to the introduction of heavy fines.

There were some lovely men, yes...but not my type and we were in the Marais so they were mostly gay

[WhooooAmI24601]

We've family in France (outside Orleans, so close enough to Paris for regular visits) and whilst I love it, the whole chic thing exhausts the shit out of me; the endless grooming and tousled-nonchalance must take hours each day to create. I want to wear t-shirts with unicorns on them to bed. I want to wear a nasty Primark bobble hat when it's cold and I have to stand at the side of a rugby pitch on a snowy Sunday morning. I want to wear baseball t-shirts saying "have yourself a merry little christmas" in July.

Oddly, my Mum inherited none of the style of her family. She loves all things British and lives in Laura Ashley. The style in Paris is incredible. I love the shows (my Aunt is in a Paris fashion house so often gets to show stuff off she's inherited via work) but surviving on three fags and a bowl of coffee each day isn't for me; I'm a massive twat when hungry.

[TheOtherGirl]

My cousin has a French husband and lives part of the year in the Ardennes and at his family apartment in Paris.

Apparently French women only ever enjoy a couple of glasses of wine which they sip very slowly. They eat a lot of salad and lean protein, and although they do eat cheese they only have a piece no larger than a matchbox.

They fill up on black coffee and fags, both of which seem to suppress the appetite. They don't snack or eat junk or refined carbs.

They have very regular beauty salon appointments, and are constantly being manicured and pedicures and having facials.

Hair is very natural and not overly styled.

Vibrant lipstick. Eye-wateringly expensive scarves. Thin, always thin.

[CauliflowerSqueeze]

French kids might eat quite sensibly at meals but Jesus Christ you should see them with their baguettes and Nutella when they get home from school!! 😮

[DistanceCall]

I've always thought the Italians are really much more stylish, and have more fun. French style is overrated.

[ZaraW]

It sounds exhausting and very boring.