What People Are Wearing in London and Paris

Scarves, midi skirts, alternatives to denim, and the world's most polarizing print!

Forgive me for not sending a dispatch from my trip! I was too busy walking 1,000 miles, eating 10,000 calories a day, and laughing it up with my best bud. We all need a break sometimes, right?

But don’t think I wasn’t mulling over the trends the whole time we were eating and walking and laughing and chasing our toddlers all over London and Paris! Jasmeen and I kept our eyes open, nudging each other when we saw a trend walk by and appreciating a well-put-together look on the streets. Here’s what we saw:

Leopard, Leopard, Leopard

Dear reader, I regret to inform you that the leopard print trend is overwhelmingly strong in London and Paris. We saw it on every article of clothing and most accessories, worn by the young, the old, the stylish, the clueless. We were shocked by how prevalent it was!

The strange thing is, we didn’t see it much at retail. We popped into many a store, and prints were generally something of a rarity. I do not recall seeing one leopard print item. But these folks are finding it somewhere! We joked that there’s a secret leopard store where the print is available in every category, and people are scooping it up by the armload.

As you may remember, I am leopard-averse, but here are a few items that do the print right:

Clockwise from Top L: Ganni is pretty much single-handedly making the best leopard across the board at the moment; love the skater vibe of these Topshop pants; leopard miraculously looking classy!; the shape of this A.P.C. bag is so nice; of course Proenza Schouler can make leopard look cool!

All Day I Dream About Adidas

The reign of the Sambas is going strong, and joining this style in its dominance are Gazelles and Adidas Originals. Adidas was everywhere, especially in London. As an Aquarian freak who has to be different at all costs, I would not let someone pay me to wear Adidas right now. It has saturated the market so fully that there’s nowhere for the trend to go but out.

Instead, may I suggest one of these sneakers/trainers as an alternative? I nabbed the New Balance before my trip and wore them nearly every day, so I can vouch for their comfort, and I love the style!

Clockwise from Top L: My New Balance 327s; love the butter yellow color and streamlined shape of these Rag & Bone ones; techy-cool On sneakers; the Proenza Vans give chic minimalism along with skate-the-state irreverence.

Side note: I was struck by how many people I saw wearing sneakers with trousers, skirts, or dresses. The Wrong Shoe Theory is real! But truthfully, in a walking city like Paris or London, sneakers just make more sense, so I think this trend is more about practicality than style.

Pants That Aren’t Jeans

Another thing that struck me on my trip was how many people I DIDN’T see wearing jeans. In the U.S., jeans are our default. Going out to a casual dinner? Jeans. Going shopping? Jeans. Running errands? Jeans. Even going to work - JEANS!

It was a nice change of pace to see people wearing pants other than jeans in a casual way. In London especially, I saw so many cool girls wearing tailored trousers with sneakers, and I also caught a few drawstring pants that looked great. Here are a few non-jean options to work into your wardrobe!

L to R: Paloma Wool drawstrings; people swear by these Madewell Harlow pants; these Everlane linen ones look comfy and flattering; IN LOVE with these color block drawstrings from DISSH!

Midi Lengths

I mostly had my hands full on this trip, as I was in full-on mom mode, but I did manage to break away in time to take this sneaky pic of a very chic woman in the Hampstead neighborhood of London.

The black and white palette! The mesh ballet flats! The oversized leather jacket! All so good. The shape and length of her skirt was something I noticed on many cool folks I encountered, and it made me want to snap up a skirt like one of these:

L to R: It’s all about the silk midi! This one is from Silk Laundry; this Halogen one is super affordable; slightly more dramatic A-line with this Rohe; can’t go wrong with Issey Miyake; more drawstring inspo from Leset

Silk Scarves!

This was very much a Paris thing, and Jasmeen pointed it out the evening we got there. The Parisians were very into their silk scarves, and they looked so feminine and romantic. As hot as it is in Albuquerque at the moment, I cannot imagine intentionally putting an additional thing around my neck, but I’m looking forward to testing this look out in the fall, especially since I recently unearthed this vintage YSL scarf I forgot I had!

Clockwise from Top L: Tory Burch Washington Square Park scarf - SO cute!; vintage Gucci scarf; vintage Hermes scarf; vintage YSL scarf

That’s all for now! Looking forward to jumping back into Resort trends next week!

xx,

Joanna

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