So I just wanted to talk about converse sneakers a bit more. I feel like they're commonly perceived as grungy in America, or maybe a little off beat. For instance you would wear them with jeans and a vintage t-shirt or even a sweatshirt. Basically you wouldn't dress them up. But I'm posting right now in order to liberate this perception and say that YOU CAN dress up the converse! It doesn't have to be that sneaker that you paint the house in, or sip Starbucks in while reading "Best American Essays" as you casually kick your feet up, or wear to play practice because everyone else is. This sneaker is stylish. Wear it with a skinny jean and flowered blouse tucked in with a belt. Or try it with an argyle sweater and cuffed sleeves, a raincoat and a scarf. I wore my converses one day with a tucked in flowered blouse and I noticed that I was getting some weird looks. So I asked my boyfriend what he thought of my outfit and he said, "Well its confusing. You're dressy on top but then punk on the bottom." I said, "It's not confusing its European! God." So don't hold back and wear UGGs instead of converses one day because you think your outfit is too sophisticated for them. I ask you to try it. Experiment. Because its not confusing, its European.
Funny how it's "weird" to Americans to wear converses with a nice top but completely normal to wear expensive UGGs with sweatpants.
ReplyDeleteI admit I used to associate Chucks with punk simply because I first bought them when I went through a misguided punk phase a million years ago. But they have definitely made a huge comeback in a different way.
Maureen--The site is really good, smart and funny and looks great. You might want to try to broaden the nature of your posts a little if you can, just so the ways you're approaching the idea of French fashion feels interesting and varied and surprising. In meantime, though, really impressive. I may have emailed you about this, but my 8-year-old daughter, who wears a pair of brown high-top Converse and who's been a little down on things of late, saw that you were saying that fashionable French women wear them and it made her feel very good about herself.
ReplyDeleteI love the converse! I am more of a boot/flats wearer myself but I totally embrace the converse becoming more widely accepted and worn in the states. They give such a cute flare to any old outfit and make a completely different statement when worn with a dressier outfit. Ignore your bf and rock the blouse and cons!
ReplyDeleteI'd say that converse have been a staple of the elegant, literary and artistic crowd in america for years. Especially when you put them with sun dresses.
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