STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Bastet · Kate Spade

What should I wear on my trip to France?

Hermes

I would go the route of simple shifts, skirts and tops you can mix/match. I wore a simple ochre shift with a big turquoise necklace and flat sandals when I toured monaco/monte carlo. there's a high end vibe there and I felt more comfortable looking polished yet casual. overall, for your trip, I would choose items you can mix & match and dress up or down with accessories. Also bring a cardigan you can wear over your shoulders if it gets chilly, as well as a pashmina. you could also bring a pair of jeans and a pair of pants - I always find I don't wear the jeans as much as I plan on and they take a lot of room in a suitcase.

FashionPrincess · Hermes

Maybe search on stylediary by country and look to see what they are wearing right now in France. Have fun, I'm jealous, I wanna go to France!

atlgirl · Gucci

I just got back from 11 days in France and Spain, and I would recommend the following:

- skirts. easy, non-wrinkling ones that you can put with cute tanks and camis. I brought a couple of skirts that did wrinkle somewhat, but I just did the "poor woman's steamer" and misted them with water in the evening and then hung them up. By the next morning they were relatively wrinkle-free again.

- capris, if you wear them. cooler than long pants but still warmer than a skirt in the evenings. Or loose linen / cotton pants. Or cargos, if that's your style.

- maybe one pair of jeans, if you feel like it. you can wear them with camis / tanks, put tunics over them, etc.

- a light sweater(s) or jacket(s) that you can wear if it gets chilly, or at night. I used a denim jacket and also a little 3/4 sleeve black cardi when necessary.

- tunics are great because if you eat all the wonderful French food (mmmm), you can still have a loose, drapey top on. You might feel like a stuffed sausage, but you won't look like one. :)

Remember to bring comfy shoes! We did tons and tons of walking and the shoes I brought weren't the "most" fashionable, but my feet never, ever hurt during the whole trip. I love my sexy shoes, but happily sacrificed those for comfort. Cute flats or sandals would be ideal.

You might consider a travel umbrella too. We got rained on one day at a castle, and the Tramontagne (sp) was blowing, so it was truly miserable outside. We had forgotten our travel umbrella so had to buy one. I was glad to at least have the jacket with me that day!

Definitely try to mix and match. I brought four skirts (and wore all but one of them more than once), one pair of jeans (wore 2x), one pair of capris. Assorted tanks that mixed and matched with the skirts, so I wore a few of those more than once, as well. And the previously mentioned jacket & sweater. And I brought one dress (for fancy dinner in Barcelona), and three pair of shoes - one pair of black sandals, one pair of brown sandals, one pair of black heels (for Barcelona). I mixed things up with jewelry - my favorite accessory, and it takes up very little room, comparatively.

We bought a fair amount of clothes / shoes while there, so keep that in mind - you'll want the room for your purchases on the way home, if you do any shopping. IMO it was well worth the sacrifice of having less clothes, to be able to bring new ones home with me. DH and I each brought one roller suitcase (mine was the larger one, his was standard size), and each of us had one carry on bag. We had packed a small bag JIC, and did have to use that as a carry on on the trip back, because of our shopping while in Europe. But even then, our big bag didn't weigh over the limit, so packing and flying was a breeze.

Have a wonderful time!! We've been married six years and felt that this most recent trip was our best, most fun travel since the honeymoon. France is so beautiful and you won't want to leave!

Michibanana · BCBG

I second Detroit and atlgirl...bring simple, classic pieces that you can style with accessories and mix and match. People really dress in Europe. Definitely some cute/comfy skirts, lighweight sweaters, a cute lightweight jacket, plus tops that match with all/most of your bottoms. Heels are hell to walk around Europe in - especially the part of France you'll be in, which will probably have a fairly high amount of cobblestones and other old-fashioned pavement. So bring a couple of pairs of cute flats. For three weeks in Europe, I had one pair of jeans, three skirts, three pairs of non-denim pants, a couple of jackets, a couple of sweaters, a bunch of different tops, and some really cool accessories. I fit everything in one bag.

jacks435 · Kenneth Cole

Everyone has given excellent advice, so I don't have too much to add, but I agree that Europeans tend to dress up more, so skirts and dresses are a good bet, especially in warmish weather. Whenever I travel abroad, I pack a couple pairs of flat leather sandals, plain leather flats, and Pumas (and then one pair of versatile heels for evening). Your feet will thank you :) You can get the cutest flats in Europe, too, (for some reason I think Euro-shoes always have a distinctly high-end look) so you might want to plan on looking for a pair while you're there!

Maven · BCBG

Lucky you! Dh and I did a similar trip 8 years ago. We stayed in Nimes and did day trips from there. I love Avignon! We drove along the coast as far as Monaco and spent several days in Nice. Styles have changed since then, but at the time the French girls were wearing long skirts in lightweight fabrics--very flattering--not like the lumpy dowdy long skirts American women like to wear. So I would say definitely take a couple of pretty skirts. I have a Tahari silk organza skirt that I have taken to Europe several times and on many trips in the US now. It doesn't wrinkle and is really lightweight. Take nice cotton pants. It was too warm for jeans most of the time.

We were there at the end of September and there were still lots of tourists wearing typical touristy clothes. The town at Chateau Neuf du Pape was overrun with what looked like American tourists, so we didn't stop there but did go to the castle ruins. In St. Tropez we stayed at the Chateau de la Messardiere--what a gorgeous place! It had recently opened up so didn't have many people. I think there was only one other couple in the dining room--we still talk about that meal.

We ate in several of the fine dining restaurants and found that people were dressed "resort casual." We didn't feel out of place there. (Unlike Paris where we felt underdressed many times.)

I'm sure you are going to have a great time.

Bastet · Kate Spade

Thanks for all the tips! It didn't occur to me to bring more than one skirt. I'll definitely bring my comfy flats, my pumas, and a nice pair of heels. Now I need to go play in my closet and see what kinds of outfits I can do with three or so skirts.

littlebean · Kate Spade

All of the suggestions that have already been given are great -- especially regarding the comfortable but cute flats and a dressier packing list. I've been to Nice and Monaco and so I just will add a few more thoughts:

It can get a lot cooler than you might anticipate, so I'd be sure to pack a jacket (or two!) for the earlier mornings and evenings.

Also, French women love to wear scarves and it will rub off on you during your trip. So if you have some pretty decorative scarves, bring them along because you'll love tying them around your neck in glamorous ways! If you have a pashmina, it would be great to bring that especially to stay warm during the cool evenings.

kittenheels · Coach

Oh! I hope you have a wonderful trip. One of the best years of my life was the year I studied in Paris! I spent some time in Avignon and Provence too. It gets cool at night...so I would definitely recommend a couple of sweaters or shawls. Simple cotton or jersey dresses are really easy to pack and very cool and comfortable on hot days. I would definitely recommend some comfy ballet flats or some of the Taryn Rose flats to keep your feet comfy all day!