FRENCH STYLE

Style Secrets
Feb 4
6 min read

Updated: Feb 14

"Style is NOT bought, it is created by how you wear your clothes with elegance"

That is the French woman mentality.

HOW THE FRENCH WOMEN DO IT:

Why I chose French women even though I am not French, because they have in my opinion the best fashion & beauty standard in the world.

Their philosophy is to enhance what you have in a way that doesn't scream like you have put any effort. They say that you should make a huge effort to look effortless.

What does that mean? Well, it means that you do the foundational work

of incorporating the type of lifestyle that makes your look

effortless, such as going to the gym 3-4 times a week,

eating very healthy with smaller portions than most people to stay slim,

and looking after your skin as best as you can with the correct

products for your skin type (oily, dry or combination skin).

As for the clothes, they do not believe in brand names but in super high-quality fabrics and materials. Knowing HOW to use your clothes, rather than buying trends.

They use the 80/20 rule, 80% classic clothes, and 20% trends.

WHAT ABOUT HAIR:

Hair is super important too, they love the "out of bed" effortless look that isn't

overly styled or has too much product like hairspray or gel in it.

I must admit, this one is hard to achieve every day, some days require

a bit more maintenance on curly hair, but I do get the whole

not looking overdone thing. And clean washed hair is essential.

WHAT TYPE OF CLOTHES DO THEY WEAR?

French women wear clothes that fit their body type, not what looks good in the shops, they have at least 5 staples in their wardrobe that they wear on rotation to have that effortless chic look always. They are mainly classic pieces with a modern twist that makes them look classy every day. They do not wear gym clothes out and about,

I hate to admit this, but I love wearing my gym clothes everywhere out of comfort

and ease. But their wardrobe also matches with everything they wear due to the neutral palette they choose. They never wear bright colours unless they are adding

a pop of colour to their outfit, especially via their accessories such as scarf, bag, hat or shoes. They also love wearing elevated basics, not just a plain t-shirt and jeans, but always they have somethings extra to them. And they love layering their outfits.

And also wearing cardigans and coats. But always a minimal look

(even with layers).

WHAT IS THEIR MOST IMPORTANT TIP YOU NEED TO KNOW?

That they get a good 8-10 hours of sleep every night. They go to bed early to wake up early and this helps them look young, even when they are over 40 years old.

They also believe in making everything easy to do like a quick skin

routine that doesn't need a thousand steps to achieve, making outfit choices easy by owning fewer clothes but of super high quality and that they all match with

all of their accessories, wearing dainty jewellery, or a statement piece

that doesn't scream "look at me!" They also love not wearing foundation on the face,

hence why they put so much emphasis on having flawless skin (unfortunately not everyone can have this), and very, very minimal make-up. They use a bit of

eye shadow, eyeliner, mascara and a natural colour lipstick or sometimes a nice red lipstick that isn't overly bright. And in winter they may put some rouge

on their cheeks, a colour close to their skin tone.

WHAT DO THEY DO THAT ALWAYS MAKES THEIR LOOK SO EFFORTLESS?

They never leave the house without accessories. This means they always wear a hat,

a scarf, sunglasses, jewellery, gloves, a coat, headbands, and a very stylish bag.

And not necessarily all in one outfit. That would be overkill.

They don't like looking like a Christmas tree.

Choose which ones you'll use for each outfit and then you will look

like an elegant French woman.

WHAT ABOUT TWEEKMENTS?

French women are not against tweekments, they are against them looking way too obvious. They prefer to make them look as natural as possible, if you decide to do Botox, Fillers, or even breast augmentation, they make sure they look natural and you need to make sure they can barely detect what you have changed on yourself.

Or if you decide to get a facelift or nose enhancements to also make them look

like you barely did anything. Or just choose one thing to

fix and keep the rest natural.

WHAT ABOUT AGING?

Frensh women are some of the most beautiful women as they grow older,

from the age of 50 plus, as they have had such a healthy lifestyle their

whole lives, they age gracefully and naturally.

They embrace growing older and see it as a gift from God to be able to live so

long that they do not try to defy gravity or change their appearance

to look younger, coz they naturally do look younger from

years and decades of looking after their health, fitness, skin and hair.

They also don't stay in the sun too long. And they drink a lot of water.

Beauty starts within.

WHAT ABOUT LOGOS AND BRANDS?

French women do wear designer brands but none of them (except for Chanel) wear loud logos on their clothes, bags or shoes. Most of them wear French designer clothes to support their own fashion designers and wear them proudly.

They do not believe in showing off wealth or showing which brand they support by

having any logo show up in their outfit, this is also called quiet luxury.

And I agree with it.

WHAT ABOUT NAIL POLISH?

French women either wear a French manicure, white nails, pale pink or a red colour.

You will never see them with blue, green, orange, purple or any other crazy

colour or pattern and they definitely do not like super long fake nails, or huge

embellishments on them like rhinestones or crazy art.

This is a personal preference and if you like these don't stop doing them, as long as the rest of your outfit is simple.

WHAT ABOUT FAKE EYELASHES?

They do not wear fake eye lashes that stand out, I'm not even sure they ever would wear fake eye lashes in the first place as it isn't natural, or natural looking,

unless you have lost your natural ones and need to replace them.

Otherwise, I have never seen any French woman with fake eye lashes.

WHAT ABOUT HIGH HEELS?

They never wear high heels in the daytime, that is a rule they all keep.

They prefer to wear loafers, sneakers, kitten heels, ballerina flats, square heeled boots & shoes, or Mary Janes in the daytime, even at work.

WHAT IS THEIR LIFESTYLE LIKE?

They work to live, not live to work like the rest of the world.

They also do not work all day and all night. They make sure they have time

after work to go to the gym, spend time with their family, and eat healthy

home-made meals every day with their family at the dinner table

with good conversations and lots of laughter.

Even when they go to the cafe to meet up with friends, they eat small portions even if it is a croissant or baguette with cheese and salami, with a coffee or latte.

They stay slim by not eating fatty food and only eat traditional French food like snails, frog legs and sweets on special days such as Christmas, Easter and Birthdays.

The rest of the time they eat very light meals such as salad, omelets, fruit

and a lot of vegetables with very, very little meat, but never processed

red meat. They even eat small portions of cheese and yoghurt.

WHAT ABOUT BUYING STUFF?

They are one of the most minimalist nations I know. They own very few things but all of which are of very high quality, from their furniture to their decor, to their clothes.

Since they do not have a lavish lifestyle, they do not need to work overtime to

fund this obsession of buying things to make themselves feel good or

important, because they have already found the formula

to a happy life. It is time for the rest of the world to catch up on this mentality,

coz that's what it is, a shift in mentality.

Everything they buy is intentional.

WHAT ABOUT PERFUME?

Also, another understated part of their lives. During the day they never wear heavy perfumes. They wear sweet, floral or soft smelling perfumes or Au De Parfum.

Everything they do is subtle but with grace and elegance. They usually find one or two perfumes they love and keep wearing for most of their lives.