THE FASHION FACTOR

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A very small child (three years old, maybe) stands next to his sister. He is a cute little fellow with cornsilk blond hair and cheeks pink from the cold. He wears a toboggan on his head, black knit. Around his neck is a gray and green knit scarf, carefully wrapped, tied, and tucked black wool peacoat. He is wearing dark wash, slim fit jeans and little black tennis shoes that are more for fashion than function. To put it simply, he looks like a perfect little china doll.

His sister, who looks about eight, has dark, thin, very straight hair - long, layered, and with bangs that she lets half-cover one eye. She is wearing a pink scarf, also carefully wrapped, tied, and tucked into her intricately seamed, gray-green coat that falls to mid-thigh. Underneath, her black jeans could easily pass for leggings. They are ticked into her knee-length boots that lace up the back.

The two children are standing in the metro next to their mother. The boy holds the pole in the middle of the car tightly. The girl, too cool for such a thing, stands leaning against the row of seats, one leg crossed over the other. The mother stands with the same posture as her daughter, leaning against the metro doors. Her dark, thick, wavy hair flows over her oversized, gray, loose-knit scarf (big knit scarves like this are called “cache-nez,”, or “hide-nose” in French) that is wrapped several times around her neck from collarbones to chin, the ends carefully tucked under the scarf instead of being tied and dangling down. She is wearing a knee-length dark purple trench coat and black leggings ticked into black boots with high heels and pointed toes. She holds a very expensive-looking leather purse that matches her coat.

In the seat against which the little girl leans is an elderly woman. She looks to be in her 70s, but she, too, is perfectly put together. She is wearing an elegant black winter hat that contrasts with her white porcelain skin. Her face is perfectly made-up, accenting her eyes and cheekbones. Her aquamarine cache-nez partially hides the neckline of her black, nicely fitting winter coat. She has on a black knee-length skirt, pantyhose, and very stylish, cleverly disguised orthopedic shoes (yes, even orthopedic shoes are made stylish in France). She has a gray leather purse that sits in her lap.

Why am I describing these people to you? Just to show you typical French (winter) fashion…and its ageless quality. In France, you can easily enter a clothing store and find a teenager and a woman in her fifties perusing the same rack or admiring the same scarf or pair of shoes without it being inappropriate or embarrassing for either party. Voilà, quoi!

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