Uniforme parisienne

I was clicking through pages on the Internets today and I stumbled across this article in the NY Times Style section:

http://runway.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/04/starting-the-summer-in-paris/?ref=fashion

The article is pretty much all about how summer fashion in Paris is "inventive," etc. and the author follows in the grand American tradition of slobbering over Parisian style simply because it is Parisian. My favorite bits in the article are when she cites the plethora of ballet flats and flat sandals as evidence of "inventiveness" and breathlessly describes the outfit of a middle-aged parisienne dressed all in black. All-black in a city (a bloutfit, if you will)? Linen, shorts and flat sandals for summer? Inventive, I tell you. Truly unexpected.

True, French women are undeniably chic with their touseled hair, cool denim and classy accessories. True, you can get away with certain things here that might be questionable in much of the U.S. (harem pants, onesies/rompers/playsuits, joutfits). But I have been saying it all along, people: French women all dress the same. One French woman on the streets of small-town U.S.A. probably would seem truly interesting and fashionable in her understated silhouettes and carefully combined neutrals. But you walk around Paris for a few months and you realize that they all have the same stuff. Each age group of parisienne has its own acceptable set of shoes, handbags, jeans and sweaters. If you lived here, you'd probably dress like that, too. It's not inventive, it's uniform. And here's the best part - Parisian teenagers are actually trying to dress like us as much as we're trying to dress like them. Hence the overabundance of Abercrombie & Fitch and NY Yankees gear.