As the allure of French style seems to remain mysterious for a lot of people, I recently read a post in « Who What Wear » underlining a French rule of thumb I wasn’t really aware of…
It says:
« Essentially, if you’re wearing a longer dress or skirt, opt for heels, and if you’re sporting a miniskirt of mini-dress, wear flats. This little trick will ensure your outfit proportions are always on point, and that you’re showing just enough skin. »
Well, except for the « No Go: miniskirt + high heels », I wasn’t really aware of this « French rule »…
Let see in detail what it says
Rule n°1- « If you’re sporting a miniskirt of mini-dress, wear flats« .
At my opinion, it all depends on of how mini is your cloth. In fact, if you wearing a short or a really mini-mini skirt, always forget high heels. It looks classier and cooler and avoids, in any case, to make you look too hoochie.
As I already wrote about the very essence of French alluring, dressing sexy and chic at the same time is one of the keys!
(all clothes and shoes featured are from www.LaRedoute.co.uk, 30% off your first Style account order, using coder STYLE)
But if for different valuable reasons, you don’t feel comfortable with flats, you do have other options, like
A pair of flat thick soles
Kitten heels or low square heels
For the little longer above-the-knee dress, either flats or heels will do
(clothes and shoes are from www.LaRedoute.co.uk)
Rule n°2- « If you’re wearing a longer dress or skirt, opt for heels »
Well, I also agree with this rule but I will add: « it’s not that simple! »
In fact, with a long dress, both flats and heels can work.
And to help you making your choice, it’s not even about the style of the dress…
This boho dress can be worn with heel boots
When this other boho dress perfectly works with flats…
Just be careful about the dress cut: flats shoes are not really flattering if you wear a long straight one…
Except if you can see the legs, like here… (love this combo)
(clothes and shoes are from www.LaRedoute.co.uk)
Another case where it’s highly recommended to wear heels: the below-the-knee and the midi dress/skirt.
as you can see flats don’t really work with midi dress
Heels always look nicer in that case!
(all clothes and shoes featured are from www.LaRedoute.co.uk, 30% off your first Style account order, using coder STYLE)
And now, if you want to adapt all the French dressing rules to your morphology and clothing style, you can easily learn how to achieve « effortless French women style », even if you don’t live in Paris!
Up to 60% off Women’s, Men’s & Kids Clothing at La Redoute
Thankyou for this, it was really helpful as always. By the way, I have saved a fortune since buying your training programme. I now know exactly what shapes and colours look good on me so I don’t waste any time or money on clothes that may not suit me. Because I haven’t bought nearly so much as I normally do, I have been able to buy myself one or two really beautiful (and expensive!) pieces of clothing.
Well, thank YOU Naomi for this feedback. This is exactly what the Training Program is all about: dressing chic without breaking the bank! I’m so happy that you had the opportunity to verify that it works for you! Congratulations!!
With mobility problems – I do not have a choice of heels or flats – if I wear any heel it is a very small heel – can I still wear long dresses ????? Please …………….
Love this article – very helpful – maybe I just need a bit more help – combining – age and mobility and shape……….
Dear Denise, of course, you can wear small heels with long dresses. As a matter of fact, long dresses allow you to wear all kind of heels. If you have mobility problems, my advice will be to choose heels that give you stability and steadiness as wedges or thick soles. But they don’t have to look like medical shoes either ;) I send you few links so you’ll see what I have in mind: https://www.bocage.fr/femme/chaussures-femme/sandales-compensees.html?hauteur_talon=132%2C134 ; http://mellowyellow.com/en/new-collection/new-collection/derbies-loafers.html ; http://www.mauricemanufacture.com/fr/20-collections ; http://mellowyellow.com/en/escarpin-babelo-noir-15567.html; https://www.bocage.fr/isla.html ; https://www.bocage.fr/mocassin-larimor.html.
I am so happy to have found you on IG and now voila, here I am on your blog site. I love this article because I am going to Portugal next month and reading these guidelines really gave me food for thought on what to bring for each outfit. Merci mon amie.
Merci à toi Karen! ♥
Cecile, your blog posts are lovely. I just started following and am really enjoying what you have to say. Fashion magazines periodically swing back from excess to the classic and say things like « The return of ladylike or classic chic. » I think this kind of chic is always there and women with confidence in knowing who they are and what works will be comfortable staying there. Thanks for such lovely ideas for keeping it fresh. Bisous!
Merci beaucoup Shannon !