Not sure if this is the kind of public recognition that will inspire me to get through another long-haul day at the BNF, but "effortless" is an accurate description of the outfit I'll be wearing. Fleece* may even be involved.
*A logo-less plaid Uniqlo fleece, not a billboard for a sporting-goods company, but still, fleece is fleece, Paris is Paris. Effort, in this context, would mean figuring out which combination of layers I have here could handle 54-degree weather more elegantly. I know it could be done with what I have to work with, but it would get in the way of checking if the good flan bakery is back from summer vacation and still making it to the library appointment on time.
I spent several weeks doing research in Paris in October 2004, where it was drizzly and around 50 degrees every day. I felt like I'd been invited to a dress party but somehow the dress code had been left off my invitation. With the exception of certain immigrant neighborhoods in the NE, every woman 15-30 was wearing a black wool coat, a colorful scarf, and either dark boot cut jeans or black pants, and boots. It was almost eerie. I was wearing not dark wash jeans, doc martens, and a red jacket, and I might as well have been wearing a sign, "I am not from here!" I eventually did acquire a scarf, more because it was cold rather than because I thought it would help me blend in.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about the uniform. This summer, women in the age range you mention must be in these sandals. Meanwhile, my sandals. In NY it's certainly possible to look from-elsewhere, but there's no one permitted outfit. In a (conformist) way, the Parisian model makes things easier for those dead-set on fitting in. One pair of $40 sandals later, you're in.
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