Gallic style is more in vogue than ever and the Paris fashion week trends will translate easily to our wardrobes
‘You don’t have to be French to be a Parisian,” Karl Lagerfeld once said. Lagerfeld wasn’t one to sugarcoat his views on who was or wasn’t chic, so I have always been encouraged by his generosity here. As well as by the example of Betty Catroux – muse to Yves Saint Laurent, and the subject of an exhibition just opened at the YSL museum in the city– who is Gallic chic to the core, but was born in Brazil. I have had two decades of Paris fashion weeks to try to master the faux-Parisian look and, while I still haven’t nailed it, I like to think I have picked up a bit here and there.
I have the getting-dressed equivalent of speaking holiday-French, I guess. I don’t pass for a native, but I can put together an outfit that allows me to get seated at Cafe de Flore on Boulevard Saint-Germain at a table that isn’t the one where the loo door bangs in your face.
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