Before I went to France, my idea of one who sported the converse, was a tight jean wearing, lover of Dashboard Confessional, side-bang kind of guy/girl. But when I got there, I noticed that EVERYONE owned a pair of converses. Young or old, male or female, they all wore them. This basic footed essential really broadened my style horizon. I never thought that you could dress up a sneaker that was originally meant for the sport of basketball. But leave it to the French to borrow a mundane American trend and create something fashionable.
I will admit that my first attempt at Chuck Taylors was a bust. I tried pairing them with black leggings and a long plaid shirt and people asked if I was Avril Lavigne. After this failure I asked my French sister, Tiphaine, what she wore with her sneakers, and she told me the answer always began with skinny jeans. (I was so naive).
So a classic outfit would be converses with skinny jeans, a V-neck white tee, leather jacket, and decorative scarf. How different from the emo-kid. (I'm not a hater, Living in Your Letters is on my top 25 most played itunes).
I really like the language in this post-- about the French taking a mundane American trend (although some would argue with you there) and throwing it back in our faces.
ReplyDeleteAnd your sister is French! Did you mention that in the intro post and I just missed it? Because I feel like that is totally something worth mentioning!
And finally: I'm glad you posted a pic of the classic Chucks, but I would have loved even more to see a pic of you rocking them, especially in a get-up such as the one you described.