If Paris is the European epicenter of fashion, the week I just spent there should serve as a reliable predictor (or reinforcement) of styles to embrace.
Defining Paris trends by a decade, we’re living in the ’90s again— though the people sporting such styles weren’t around to do it the first time. For them, it’s all new, which brings a breath of fresh air to the extremely wide-leg and baggy jeans seen on every rue and avenue, down the alleyways and along the promenades.
While elements of grunge seem to dominate the closets of Parisian youth, it’s still Paris—the city has a responsibility, it seems, to bring a reasonable amount of polish. Take, for example, the waitress waiting tables at a sidewalk bar in Montmartre—kept warm by an oversize gray hoodie and wearing the baggiest of jeans, sneakers, and a messy bun, she completed her ensemble with perfectly coifed bangs, eyeglasses with expensive-looking black frames, and a few strands of petite pearls peeking out from the sweatshirt’s collar.
The pearls were unexpected, and for me, the most memorable accessory—not the classic single strand but what appeared as two rows of seed pearls (or the like), semi-concealed by the ties of her hoodie rather than displayed prominently at the front of her top. Consider myself in the market for a strand of baby pearls, I guess.
Pearls, however, did not really look like a trend in Paris (it was their unexpectedness that makes them so alluring), but ear and body jewelry was. Ears lined with huggie-style hoops were everywhere, as were hoops in noses and eyebrows. If grunge is back, so too is its facial piercings, and the style is not confined to only the youngest jewelry wearers. For retailers, that might mean stocking up on hoops and studs plus, if you’ve got the clientele for it, an assortment of piercing jewelry. And for unpierced customers, offering a selection of ear cuffs lets them in on the trend of hoop-style earrings all the way up and down the ear.
My observations of those strolling the sidewalks of Paris were often restricted to their ears, as many were clad in chic coats and sometimes even gloves. Even so, there was plenty to see. Among older passersby, I noted a prevalence of oversize stud and button earrings, many of them opaque—I saw a killer pair of organically shaped earrings that I took to be carnelian, and I also spotted jade pieces more than a few times.
What I didn’t see: big, dangling types of earrings, like chandeliers or lines, and larger-circumference hoops. Perhaps they’re not entirely absent in Paris—such styles might be considered more suitable for the evening or festive events, and many of my sightings occurred in the daytime, during the workweek.
As for a non-jewelry observation, I noted an abundance of American (presumed) tourists in leather pants. If denim begs for diamonds, leather calls for…what? Fill in the blank, and you might just have your holiday best sellers.
Top: Initial huggie earrings in 14k yellow gold with diamonds, $2,200; Jonne Amaya
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