Parisian Chic (Or Not)

My sister's friend Leigh, who is living (and blogging) in the south of France, had this to say about the unattainable Parisian chic:


Looking Parisian is no easy task.  Nonetheless, I decided it was worth a try.  Now that I’ve tried, I’ve learned that it isn’t worth the effort.  No matter how much black, how much leather, how uncomfortable the shoes or elegant the scarves, Americans look like Americans in Paris.  If they are attempting to pass as French, then they look like Americans in a Halloween costume.  “Wasn’t that silly holiday of theirs in the fall?” they whisper as we wobble past in navy striped shirts and high-heels.

And so, although I wish I could wear this and get away with it:

I'm sporting a vintage dress that I found in Berkeley last spring:

Oh well - I'm embracing the American-in-Paris thing.  Foreigners are sexy to natives, right?  Though when I lived in Paris I dated a Brit, so what do I know...