French / Parisian style if you're not skinny

[DanceBeneathADiamondSky]

Or even slim! I'm a tall size 18 or thereabouts and all boobs and hips.

Please don't recommend I lose weight - as if I haven't thought of that 😂

But, I love the whole effortless, Parisian chic look I see everywhere these days.

I actually lived in Paris years ago and definitely could have worn it then, but didn't really get into it.

Thinking things like camel trench coats, loafers and jeans with shirts.

Has anyone who isn't a wee slip of a thing managed to pull this off without it veering into the f word territory? Not fuck - the other f word we aren't allowed to say....rhymes with grumpy

I'm 39 if it matters

Thanks for all of this. I'm definitely going to give it a go in a minor way (and won't go nuts wearing nothing but Breton stripes).

I suit trousers and shorter skirts more than float dresses. So will start there and look at getting a blazer or coat which is a bit better fitting. I do have a wool type coat but it's only from Monki so a bit of a cheapy and has seen better days. I have a couple of crossover bags so feel I'm halfway there

I think this plus size insta poster always looks really well put together. Lots of trenches, jeans, linen, blazers. https://instagram.com/dressing_dawn?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Thanks @Daisy62, I'm following her now as well as the unefemme lady recommended^^

I'm also 5'9" and anywhere from a size 14 to big 16 in clothes - bigger on the bottom half. I've just bought two trenches from Mango and they look really good on - a little bit oversized and no buttons. I have a beige one (it was 69.99 Euros) and a black one (slightly more at 99.99 Euros) - sadly no longer online any more. But there are lots of others on Mango at the moment - just look up trench coats in soft flow-y fabrics. I wear them open, and find them really flattering with wide leg trousers just skimming the ground over some slightly platform trainers. Not sure if I look French, but I definitely look a bit stylish.....😂

Thanks @ChinUpChestOut. I'll have a look. Haven't shopped in mango in ages!

I am also quite tall and a top heavy size 14 so not skinny. I recently bought a camel trench from Uniqlo and have had loads of wear out of it. I don't wear it closed or belted but I love it open over plain t-shirts and wide leg trousers or loose mom jeans. I had tried on loads and found that ones without a lot of excess flaps/material up top were the most flattering on me.
If you have Instagram take a look at madeleineraeaway - she's a Canadian living in Sweden. She's not a fashion blogger per se but she's on the curvier side and I always think she looks really stylish and wears neutral clothes really well.

I'm a size 14. A good quality cotton/linen trench coat looks lovely. Wool, I'm afraid it does look like a dressing gown on me.

Thanks @Hubblebubble. My 'wool' (not really wool) coat ATM does look a bit dressing gowny to me. But then I've had compliments on it when wearing so maybe not.

@DistantSkye I love Scandinavia and travel type pages so will definitely check her out

Mango is great for this style. It's Spanish and 'continental European, classic look but cooler than 'just' French 😛. They have a plus size section if this should suit. I quite like their style.

@DanceBeneathADiamondSky I'm sure it does look good on you! I'm really short as well as a bit round, so it just doesn't work for me.

I think Keely Shaye Smith (Pierce Brosnan's wife) would be a good reference; she dresses really well and often wears classic, understated clothes.

Size 16, 5’9 with enormous 32 JJ breasts and a wonderful(!) bottom. We sound quite similar but I am a bit more “Japande” than Parisian style wise but there are cross overs. I have a trench from Cos and I often receive unsolicited compliments when I wear it. No one thinks I’m wearing a dressing gown 🙄and I cringe for anyone who can’t believe fat woman are stylish or everywhere.

Im not ranting at anyone on this thread by the way. I am just a bit 🤨 at the general weird undertone of teeny tiny body dysmorphic advice on style and beauty that bears no relation to what is stylish or beautiful. Rant over and as you were!

My more useful contribution is that I think you’re right about the details, like jewellery and accessories does make this look. Im practicing this advice myself and in my late 30s Im enjoying accumulating my stash! I make up little Pinterest boards of outfits for myself to remind me what I think works.

My takeaway from my latest bit of people watching in Paris is that most women don't style their hair.

The stylish women had healthy looking hair which I'm sure was well cut and coloured, but worn loose and very natural. It was something that really stood out compared to London. The sort of wavy and even messy/frizzy hair that we would want to smooth and straighten was just left to do its thing!

Excellent burn!! Of course there are far French people, for gods sake. And taking a trope and using it to beat the op with…

Of course there are fat French people, for gods sake. Not very many in my experience -and good luck in finding anything above a size 14 in any Paris boutique (or even in shops like Mango and Zara). I can't think of a single fat person in my DC's Lycée or at my daughter's uni. If you see a fat person, they are generally not French.

LillianGish some of your little digs are tedious “DD says she can spot a gaggle of English girls a mile off in the Metro by their hair and make up” a “gaggle” ?

it’s like me saying “I can always spot a French woman in London because she’s haggard looking and looks like she’s got a bad smell under her nose “
Now stop with the sly digs and either make constructive comments for the OP or leave the thread.

Not intended as a dig at all - just a statement of fact. The OP has asked how she can look more French - who's to say what looks better? There's an English look just as surely as there is a Parisian look. Surely its just a matter of taste? If it makes you feel any better, DS says he can spot a Frenchman at 50 paces at university - he'll be the one wearing the scarf (looped around his neck with the two ends pushed through the loop) even in May. There definitely is a look - the OP is correct.

That simply wasn't my experience of living there. I'm not going to list my fat Parisian friends, so you'll just have to take my word for it. Lycée students are younger so will generally be slim in a major city. I don't see many fat college kids in London either. I went to uni there (which did your DD go to? I was at Paris III) and there were chunkier people, but not remarkably fat. They certainly weren't all size 8 and under though. That is just a lazy stereotype.

Agree some of the shops don't stock bigger sizes though. H&M would be the only place I remember seeing plus sizes. Maybe Gap too.

Also agree I could usually spot other nationalities by what they wore. It's just true. Style varies from country to country, so it does make sense. But, tbf, people visiting a city will not be looking their best as they are there to sight see or go out on the lash etc. I can spot non Londoners a mile away in London and I'm not even a Londoner myself! I don't think it's necessarily a dig, but I wouldn't say it out loud on the night train from Waterloo on a Saturday night 😂

Style isn't uniform, it's personal. We all have our own ideas of what is 'stylish'.

Watch Astrid - Murder in Paris on Channel 4. The main policewoman in that isn’t skinny and looks fab.

This is nonsense! I’m a 12-14 and they look just as good on me now as they did when I was an 8. I’m tall.

I think a mid-thigh length single-breasted Mac is far more stylish for a larger frame.

Something like this worn undone with 7/8 trousers and loafers.

My sister in law is French. Certainly not slim and wears French/Parisian style clothes. I think she looks great.

If you are 5 ft 1 like me and a size 16 like me a trench is a very bad idea.

I would call a size 12-14 and tall is about perfect for a trench

I’m 5 foot 1 and a size 12 - a trench coat makes me look like a sack of spuds tied in the middle. Definitely not a good look. Height makes all the difference.