As someone who really loves accessories, it wasn’t a challenging assignment for me to study the accessory tendencies of French women. Specifically, I was looking for the accessory trends they don’t wear. I get the impression that French women like what they like and certain trends just don’t fit in with their aesthetics. Now, of course, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t exceptions and that all Parisian women have the exact same aesthetic (they don’t). It just means that there are some clear similarities when it comes to the accessory trends they do and don’t favor.
Here in the U.S., accessory trends currently lean heavily toward throwback ’90s and YTK styles. Parisian women don’t seem to be taking those trends quite so literally, but they are dabbling in them a bit. Scroll on to find out which accessory trends they’re very much on board with (according to my unrelenting Instagram scrolling) and those they’re skipping for now.
The colorful summer camp jewelry that’s become so popular this year hasn’t been widely adopted among Parisian women. They’re opting for a more classic trend: pearls, which they’re wearing in every form.
I’m not sure why this is, but the bucket hat trend, which has been widely embraced by American and Scandi girls among others, isn’t one that I spot so much among French women. Baseball caps, on the other hand, are a hit.
Although the stereotype of a Parisian woman in skinny jeans, a Brenton top, and ballet flats endures, they don’t really wear ballet flats all that much—quite the opposite, in fact. I’m seeing tons of examples of them wearing bold colorful heels as of late.
While scrunchies and claw clips are of the same era, claw clips is the one that’s really caught on among Parisians. Perhaps it’s because they can use them to create a French twist? (Sorry, I had to.)
French women love the effortlessness of a straw bag, whether they’re in the city or by the sea. On the flip side, those puffy bags that have risen to fame this year haven’t caught on in the least among them.
