I kept an eye on fashion and style trends on our journey, so here's what I learned on my vacation:
1. Nobody wears a suit or "professional" clothes as understood in DC or NYC. The style level here is far more relaxed and casual. Nothing has to match - so much easier to get dressed! Everyone wears colorful Keds-type sneakers or ankle boots. I guess my usual formal style environment applies only to a small subset of government bureaucrats, lawyers, and diplomats.
2. Not everyone's skinny, but everyone wears form-fitting clothes. No baggy jeans, sweats, sad sack suits, loose t shirts or shorts. No Deering Lake look allowed! People don't seemed ashamed that their bodies are less than perfect.
3. Women don't have to "dress their age" and became essentially asexual after 40. Leggings, tights, skirts above the knee, tank tops aren't off limits. So I felt good in my leggings and skinny jeans. No one at any age wore as much makeup as I usually see at home.
4. Short hair rules for women. Only in Amsterdam did I see many young women with long flowing locks. In France, women either had short cuts or long hair pulled back. The French female TV announcer look involved bright lipstick, glasses with bold dark frames, and short hair or ponytails - thankfully no blow-dried waist length manes. Hair color seemed strictly optional, and not necessarily natural-looking.
5. Men, on the other hand, tend to have longer hair at any age than we've been used to since the 1990s. No one had those military-inspired neatly trimmed hairlines required at home, and plenty had long styles that looked straight from The Hobbit movie. Earrings seem totally acceptable for men of any age.
6. No one wore bright colors except on sneakers even in southern France, but cobalt blue (like the shoes and jacket I packed for nicer occasions) is a major color this season. Yes - my fashion decision confirmed!
