Fashion in Paris

People going to work will wear business suits, dresses, and skirt or pant suits.
Tourists can wear what they want. If you want to dress up a little "to avoid detection", it really won't matter much. Everyone will know you're a tourist, because you aren't going to work and you'll probably have a map.

There are no rules about being denied service due to shoes, uncovered shoulders in churches, etc. If it's hot, most people wear shorts or light long pants and t-shirts. Almost everyone wears good walking shoes, including sturdy sneakers. Forget heels unless you're going to a fancy dinner.

Just pay attention to the weather two days before you pack, take a good long look in the mirror, and don't wear anything that would embarrass your mother.

Once you get to Paris, you'll see that anything goes fashion-wise. Teenagers in Paris dress pretty much the same as in the US (Jeans, shorts, t-shirts, leggings). Most adult locals seem to wear a scarf regardless of the weather. They also tend to wear darker colors, including a lot of black. I noticed that women in dresses or skirts often wore hosiery and heels, though I would skip the heels due to the uneven pavement. Comfort should out weigh fashion when it comes to shoes. My Paris wardrobe consists of black slacks, print tops (mostly black and white, with some color), black walking shoes, black cardigan, and a black trench coat. I have a couple of nicer tops, so I can "dress up" as appropriate. I feel like I fit in as no one paid much attention to what I was wearing. I really don't think you need to worry too much about being refused service because of what you are wearing except perhaps in churches where shorts and bare shoulders might be frowned upon, and in very expensive restaurants.

Thank you so much! You've made me feel a lot better about my wardrobe choices. Some of the sites I Googled let me to believe that all Parisians dress in high fashion.

I'd say that the all-black standard changes for summer. Crisp white sundresses and impractical shoes seemed in vogue the last time that I was there. If you ID a summer trend either before you leave home or while there, then maybe one such outfit will fit into the mix. Churches in Paris and most of Europe don't have dress codes like they do in Italy.

P.S. The shoes weren't necessarily heels. Flats and sandals that don't provide padding and support won't get me very far.

Taking white bottoms ( skirts ,capris or pants) is packing suicide to me unless you like sink washing every day..

Wearing white is a pain because you WILL at some point be sitting on a park bench, metro seat or stone wall.. and your butt will get grimy.

Wearing a white sundress would be nice for a special lunch out.. otherwise I stick to light colors.. preferably a pattern or print ( doesn't show a spot as easily) .. however the OP here is not going for a week but for 6 so she will have access to laundry on a regular basis I assume.

Remember.. sure you will see SOME French women in impractical shoes.. but they are NOT walking miles a day in them like a tourist is.. they are going from their house to the metro , metro to their job .. etc..

More important than not looking like a tourist is not acting rudely.. remember to ALWAYS say "bonjour" before you start ANY verbal exchange ( so not "two tickets please" but "Bonjour, two tickets please") and when you enter a business say bonjour.

I have worn this version or similar version of Dansko sandals all over Paris, France, Spain, and Italy. So comfy for all day walking (I wear them all day at work, too). Can dress up or down.

https://www.amazon.com/Dansko-Womens-Joanie-Dress-Sandal/dp/B00MAU978Y/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1485310797&sr=8-6&keywords=dansko%2Bsandals&th=1

in cool or moderate weather half the people you see on the street including old ladies will be in jeans; all those 'rules' about attire and athletic shoes and such are fairly obsolete. Few people wear giant white athletic shoes, but most young casually dressed men are wearing darker athletic shoes and women wear pretty much anything although I see many fewer heels than 15 years ago. US tourist men seem to wear those toddler outfits of giant cargo shorts, t shirts and baseball hats in hot weather. you see lots of short shorts on young women (oddly even in winter we saw them, but with tights then) Nice restaurants may have dress codes and people dress up for them -- the only one that has indicated this explicitly that we have visited was La Tour d'Argent which makes it clear that men are expected to wear jackets and women dress elegantly. You can see how we interpreted that here; I just threw a lightweight jacket on top of back jeans and top.
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2016/03/01/anniversary-lunch-at-la-tour-dargent/
In summer I usually wear skirts and fitted Ts and maybe a travel shirt with pockets as a jacket; my husband wears light weight dark pants or jeans and the same type tops.

Scarves. And generally more stylish than you see in the U.S. like blouses, not tees. I like Clark's sandals, comfortable for hours of walking, yet relatively attractive (their shoes too). When you're in Paris, you really can wear anything but you'll want to dress nicer. It's infectious.

If it's hot in Paris, nobody will be wearing scarves. Straw hats are useful, though.
Scarves are not required fashion accessories, but used to dress up an outfit for a special occasion, or most often, when it's very cold.

Nobody cares what you wear on your feet. The main issue is to find a pair that suit you, and most importantly, break them in a few weeks before you leave.
You might want to bring Band-Aids, which are expensive in Paris.

Glad to hear that. Last time I was in Paris was in spring, and there were some days I thought it was too hot for scarves but the locals were still wearing them.

Band-aids, sure, but moleskin is even better.

I saw lots of scarves this past june.. and it wasn't cold out. On men too. I thought how in heck can they stand it.. even those gauzy cotton scarves seem too hot to me.. ( I am not good with heat)

However I think wearing a scarf to fit in is a bit silly if you don't normally include in your wardrobe.

Agree with Pat that wearing a scarf to "fit in" is silly -- partly because you probably won't wear it correctly to look Parisian -- but after several trips I have a collection of European scarves, and they DO help vary the look of limited shirts!

Absolutely, a scarf is IN in Paris...and Italy. If you look at the touring YSL exhibit, you can he launched it in a big way into Parisian fashion from 50's on. Just think of Audrey Hepburn in that thin chiffon tied around her head...and more images I know you have in your memory. If you don't have one, I will bet you a St. Germain cocktall you will buy one there! But think of all the ways to use it, especially in the Heat: wrapping your head on a sweaty hot day, etiher as a headscarf or headband; wrapping it around your waist to atleast attempt to look Parisian:-), having it tied to your bag and ready to grab when you want to wipe off a fresh peach you just pulled off the fruit stand (just kidding) or to wipe your brow....or to wave at a taxi! I'm not kidding here! I plan to bring 2 scarved to Paris in July. Good Luck!

plus...they don't take up any weight or space! xoxo

Don't pack any scarves. Buy them in Paris . . . souvenirs! I bought a lovely one in the Opera metro station for about €5 and another for €29 at a Marais boutique. Love them both and I wear them here too (along with others from Italy and Turkey) and no one thinks it's anything but stylish. Sadly, because of our climate, I can only wear them in the winter. In Paris I really wanted to dress better than usual, not to try to fit in - hey, I know I look like a tourist - but it just felt right.

Ditto the suggestion to buy scarves there. Then you'll have memories and stories of your trip. Take only one heavier scarf for the plane or in case of cooler weather.

Merci Beaucoup! I appreciate all the wonderful advice. I think I'll pack a variety of clothes that can all be mix matched into different outfits. And I do plan to buy a scarf there, even if I end up giving it away later. Such a great gift idea!

What a great question!

My husband and I have travelled all over Europe, and spent a lot of time in Paris. It kind of funny, but lot of times we’ve had tourists approach us and ask questions of us in French. It's has been flattering, as I guess we look approachable as well< LOL We've been asked if we were Norwegian, Belgian, German and even Canadian, but never American.

I do think it may be because we dress a bit nicer, though not fancy, and as others have mentioned, we do not advertise our "tourist status" with a map or that over-awed, over-whelmed, over-tired look of disorientation that so many understandably have in Paris.

I would suggest nice, clean, pressed fitted jeans with a belt and a nice shirt tucked in, with a jacket or sweater, and maybe a cute scarf, or nice casual pants/slacks with cute shoes that you can walk in. Americans tend to wear tennis shoes, trainers, or other athletic shoes for regular use, but in my experience most Europeans, especially women, generally wear normal shoes. (i.e. I think shoes are a real give away)

Stylish walking shoes that are flexible soled, cushioned, but still qualify as cute shoes or cute sandles, not trainers are super choices. The same goes for clothes--Lycra (unless your jogging along the Seine), tank/crop tops, T-shirts, Flip-flops and generalized "play clothes" are dead giveaways.

So much these days, the "casual Friday" American-look tends to translate to “scruffy" clothes for vacationing, or traveling on a plane and people tend to start looking like they are going to the gym and that they don’t really care. I can attest to the fact that you really do get a lot better service too, if you look well put together, whether on the plane, at a restaurant, walking around Paris or strolling around The Met or Central Park in NYC.

Anyway, in general I think Europeans dress better than we do. Many of them have fewer, but nicer clothes than we do. And traveling to fashion forward cities like Paris are a great time to wear all those nicer things we all have in our closets, but maybe seem a bit too nice to wear around town here to grab groceries in. Enjoy your time there. I am confident that your interest ahead of time in what to wear, says you will be wearing something that is just right. It will be such fun to being able to feel part of the City and "look the part.

Janet -- That's a lovely jacket that you wore for your Tour d'Argent experience, very chic! and WOW what a table!!! Loved getting to "go along with you" for your lunch there!

Scarves yes, and shawls for women. Men wear scarves too, as noted, three seasons a year. An Internet search will turn up sites with instructions for how to wear them, a secret to dressing with flair. But it should be said, loudly, that no resident cares how you dress. Paris has centuries of practice at ignoring the invasions of outsiders.