Listen really closely. Do you hear her? It’s Kelly Clarkson…

“Some people wait a lifetime…for a moment like this.”

Me! I’ve waited for a moment like this.  

Hi, I’m Amanda, former blogger, current reader and the lucky lady who gets to chat with you today.

Back in our early days, Shana and I began blogging barefoot, uphill, through the snow. And let me tell you, it was the Wild West of the internet back then. We typed out our stories by candlelight, without any electricity or Instagram. No one survived that time. No one. It was either rickets, scurvy or the Google Blogger platform that became your demise. But if you somehow made it out alive, you rose to the top like Shana Fierce herself.

Exploring French Girl Style With Amanda: An Introduction

Now, I realize you don’t know me. Why should you trust me? You shouldn’t. I am not a fashion blogger. I am a human woman. But, as a fellow mortal, I’m hopeful that we can learn together. So if you’ll have me, I’d like to explore, discover, observe and learn some things.

This, my friends, is going to be a journey.

Like many of you, I realized that I had amassed an amount of clothing that was inappropriate for a small country. I rationalized this by giving my clothing away to friends. But the money, the waste, the environment, my husband’s constant side-eye, all of it, was weighing on me. I wanted something better, something more…

(cue my broadway solo number).

But everyone with their six-piece capsule wardrobes seemed…boring? I like trends. I like tulle. I like karaoke and Halloween and cats.

I mean…How do I approach this?

What was I really looking for with my wardrobe? I definitely didn’t care about what men thought about how I looked. Just ask my husband. I also don’t lead a very exciting life. Do I need tulle to go to Acme? (Maybe.)  

So I came up with three words for my goal wardrobe. I thought that if I could stick to these words, maybe I’d have something that I could work with:

Classic | Chic | Effortless

How To (Hopefully) Achieve Chic French Girl Style

My wardrobe is not those things. *See previous image* And I really WANT them to be. But isn’t putting in so much effort into being effortless, the ultimate paradox?

(This is the journey part of the journey)

So I did what every 40-something mother does: I went to TikTok.

As I scroll, I realize that I’m following and loving and staring at all of these French women. Like a lot of them. I study them like I’m studying Britney’s Slave 4 U dance routine.

Why are they so classic, chic and effortless? WHY?!

And so, at that moment, I decided that our journey begins in France. And also? When I ask why French women look so good, I don’t want to hear “je ne sais quoi”.

/ˌZHə nə sā ˈkwä/ noun: a quality that cannot be described or named easily.

How is that even a definition of anything? That’s literally the opposite of defining something. I want to know in real words! I want adjectives! I want answers! This? Gives me nothing. I should also clarify that when I say, “French,” I really mean a Euro-style of effortless cool. I don’t know if every image is French and if you come for me, I will deny all of it.

Through some exhaustive preliminary research of my own involving The Scientific Method and Pinterest, I’ve broken down The French Woman into five parts. I’m hoping the sum of these parts will give us some real answers.

1. Specific Denim

2. Color Palette

3. Hair/Makeup/Beauty

4. Shoes & Accessories

5. Fit, Proportion & Other Weird Qualifiers

Welcome, My Friends, To…

Our first exploration and deep dive into cool, effortless French style will be into FW denim. Look for my first post and join me for class. I’m hoping you’ll be the teacher because I don’t know what I’m doing here.

Let me know if there is any specific part of this style that we can learn about together!

Xo,

Amanda