Musings on recent holiday in France

[Kimfluencer]

Been travelling around France - Paris, Lyons, Marseille, Nice, Cannes, Monaco.

Some cliches are true. Women are generally slimmer. More plain colours and classic shapes around, very few of the patterns, florals and frills we’ve seen in the UK in recent years.

Midi & maxi dresses don’t seem to be a a thing. Literally saw not a single woman wearing one. Dresses of all styles and worn by all ages were knee length / just above knee / mini. Saw a few maxi skirts, but not dresses.

No fake tans. Lots of real tans. So, fewer streaky orange people but also not many people getting the skin cancer memo it seems.

Far fewer obvious Botox/filler victims. Only saw this in the south of France on older women. Not a day goes past when I don’t see frozen brows or fish lips in London.

Hardly anyone wears make up other than eyeliner/mascara. Didn’t see much lipstick, foundation, contouring etc.

A lot more women with above shoulder length hair. Long hair mainly on very young women / teen girls.

I've found the same as you observe OP.

I’ve got nothing to add, but if there was a ‘like’ button, I’d press it 😊 Also, I’m quite jealous of your trip around France and now I desperately want to go to France immediately

I was in Paris last week and can confirm your observations are indeed correct OP

I only wore my knee length dresses because it was hot weather. I would have melted in my maxi skirts.

I wore bare minimum makeup which is normal for me but come to think of it no one was wearing OTT contouring or huge crazy eyebrows or oversized lips

I've noticed the same. Actually I hadn't noticed the midi/maxi thing but now you mention it, I think you're right.
As well as less long hair, I noticed less very styled hair too. French women seem to go more with what they've got. If you've got curly hair, let your curly hair do its thing. Whereas I think in Britain a lot more women straighten or curl their hair.

I LOVE French style. We holiday there a lot and I always come home thinking I am going to try to morph into a chic French woman - but then I come back here and everyone is overweight and pasty and scruffy and full of filler and I slip back into my slovenly British ways. Urgh!
I think they are far more disciplined with their diet which is why they are all thin, and that makes their clothes look a lot better. We went to Annecy last year and I didn’t see one overweight person unless they were British or German. And yes the clothes are plainer and far more chic. I love it - lots of navy and white & no horrible florals. Your holiday sounds fab too, I’m very jealous!

but then I come back here and everyone is overweight and pasty and scruffy and full of filler and I slip back into my slovenly British ways. Urgh

That's just an excuse. It's nothing to do with the people around you. It's YOU that's closing to dress "less" than the French.

I find it really weird how British people on MN put other Brits down. I'm overseas, and nobody else seems to do it.

I used to live in France. (Miss it terribly still). The French are much more conservative and much more classic when it comes to style. They wear what suits them rather than this obsession we seem to have in England about being 'in' (regardless of whether it looks good or not). We see it all the time on Style & Beauty...."what trainers are in?", "what dresses are trendy now?" etc etc. Every time I want to write 'wear what you actually like and what flatters you (so you feel good)' but I guess that would make for a very boring Style & Beauty forum.

We noticed:

• more women (not ALL women) looking 'dressed up' eg blowsy knee-length skirts, blouses, smart looking print wrap dresses out at supermarkets, shopping centres and everyday cafes.*
• majority of women dressed just the same as those in the UK: plain tank tops, casual shorts, loose cotton harem style trousers and many, many denim cut off shorts
• however, no one wore gym outfits - no sports leggings or cropped sports bra tops... I did not go to a gym but assume they're all actually in there.
• Teens were dressed very 'American' - faded jeans (usually loose or ripped), varsity sweatshirts or Y2K tube tops, Nike/NB trainers galore. Girls nearly always with long hair in natural-looking colours, I rarely saw alt teens, not as often as I do here. Teen boys dressed like a lot of the UK ones, roadman style.
• little children wore paw patrol or Dino tshirts, etc

*As an aside, I saw even more women dressed 'lovely, traditional feminine' in Bangkok, it was very noticeable and they managed to look cool and classic sat astride the back of motorbikes in traffic, while I sweated buckets in (what I thought was) my 'nice' linen coords.

I go to France 2-3 times a year and the thing that always jumps out at me is how much everyone is slimmer than in the UK. I go all over, but mainly to Nantes, Paris (suburbs rather than the centre as I stay with friends) and the South.

And you get far more thin, toned women - not just skinny from a poor diet and stressful life. The ‘daily pilates & less food’ set has a much greater presence in France.