What Parisians are wearing for la rentrée & other things that inspired me this week #17

This week’s newsletter is open to everyone thanks to Weekday. 🤍

Bonjour everyone! If you’re in Paris around this time of year, you might start bumping into a very specific little word more and more, mumbled by all the tanned Parisians coming back from their summer vacation: la rentrée. I have to admit it took me a year or two to really get what la rentrée was all about. Like most non-French commoners, I was looking for a more explicit equivalent of “back-to-school” or “back-to-work”—but, hélas! The French would never attach any feeling of obligation or chore to an already bothersome experience, sticking instead to this more elegant and much more open-to-interpretation disyllable.

In case you were wondering, for the French la rentrée means literally just that: the return. The return from a (hopefully!) blissful summer break, but also the return to an everyday life that isn’t necessarily divided into strict chunks of vacation and non-vacation. You return to school or to work, yes, but you also return to your home, your neighborhood, your friends, all the little rituals that you’ve worked so hard to build—things that hopefully leave you feeling just as happy and fulfilled as those ten summer days off.

My own rentrée started rather early this year—for the first two weeks of August, it felt like I was the only person left in the city. This meant lots of Hot Girl Walks™ around the park and lowbrow movie nights (yes, I did watch Spider-man), with plenty of free time in between to really notice the season changing. One early Parisian morning, I decided to swap Buttes-Chaumont for one of my favorite gardens in Paris: the Jardin du Palais Royal. With my aesthetic €6 cappuccino au lait d’avoine in hand, the sun still shining but a light breeze calling for a sweater in the shade, and all the beautiful crisp leaves scattered everywhere you looked, you could easily forget we were still in the middle of August:

But—we are still in the middle of August, and although I’m very much a fall person (like most of us romantic souls here on Substack), I don’t want to rush it too much. Because if there is one time of year when we can mix two very distinct seasons without looking like we’ve lost our minds, this is probably it. I’m thinking long denim with flip-flops, trench coats with bare legs, long sleeves with bomber jackets and strappy sandals… it’s the one little window when we can start dipping our toes into all the fall fashion we’ve been feeling so nostalgic about, while still holding on to our summer favorites for a little longer. And then, of course, I’m thinking about all the other, non-fashion-related Parisian things that come with the two seasons overlapping: having a latté glacé with a warm pain au chocolat, sipping a chocolat chaud while sitting outside on a terrace, having a moelleux au chocolat with a scoop of vanilla ice cream… Okay, these are mostly food-related things, but oh well, that’s basically 80% of the Parisian experience, right?

That’s it—give me my trench already! I’m officially curious to see how Parisians react to this seasonal duality, which means… time for a little on-the-ground investigation. Shall we?

On y va!

1. This really was a 50 Shades of Blue summer and I’m pretty sure that the blues aren’t going anywhere this fall. I still hadn’t seen it on a bag though, until an evening walk around Buttes-Chaumont gave me the evidence I needed:

2. As you’ve probably guessed by now, I’m keeping my eyes peeled for ways to bring blue into fall, and pairing it with darker pants and a fun print to break up those big blocks of color could be an excellent way to go:

3. Putting my theory to the test! Fashion Substack has completely converted me to barrel trousers these past few months, so I got disproportionately excited when a chilly Parisian morning finally gave me an excuse to wear this great black pair from Weekday (with the perfect inseam for us taller gals!). And how great does it look with that T-shirt in this very Aegean Sea-inspired shade of blue?

I’m also very into the relaxed and boxy feel of this striped long-sleeve—love how it looks with just a tiny pop of blue peeking out around the collar! (A great way to revamp any kind of long-sleeve/sweatshirt really!)

4. There is nothing that screams *fall in Paris* more than a beige trench and it really does seem like there’s a particularly high concentration of them in bookshops. Maybe everyone’s already stocking up on their rentrée stationery?

I always love one with a slightly baggier, oversized fit—it makes the classic shape feel much fresher. This car coat has exactly that, including a warmer lining that makes it appropriate for the colder months—it’s also reversible for when you want to funk it up a little!

I’m thinking you could flip the sleeves to show the other pattern, or even layer it over a blue striped shirt with the sleeves peeking out, like that dreamy fall outfit Alice Pilate photographed during CPHFW:

5. Speaking of shirts, they’re probably the ultimate rentrée piece alongside the trench, and you’re probably already looking for fresh ways to style one (I know I am!). A Parisian-approved idea? White denim, with a bolder bag in brown or black to anchor the look. Voilà some real-life inspiration from two Parisians who look like they came straight out of the same mood board:

6. And if you want to play a little more with patterns, take inspiration from this Parisian, who I also want to nominate as the queen of la rentrée, judging by the sheer number of bags, totes, and other kids essentials surrounding her:

7. Red, much like blue, is definitely going to stick around next season, and I’ve already started seeing Parisians work it into their fall wardrobes. I loved this slouchy long-sleeve with the sporty shorts + flip-flops combo we all loved so much this summer:

Or you can swap your flip-flops for your trusted black ballerinas (love the glove-like style of these!) and your boyfriend’s track jacket:

8. Okay, while looking at my camera roll and spotting all these pops of red (they really keep coming), I realized just how much I love white against red:

While putting my Weekday looks together, I also realized that we’re onto a very easy rentrée formula here: a colorful top like blue or red as a base, with dark bottoms as a clin d’œil to fall and a lighter trench/bomber to tone it all down:

9. And then, I also love the cleaner white version as a base, paired with a très classic pair of black ballet flats that show just a hint of skin:

You could also easily swap the white tee + beige jacket combo for a beige long-sleeve:

10. Alors, it doesn’t get much more typically Parisian than this: a fitted floral ’90s-inspired top, a big, lush red tote, a nicely fitted pair of straight-leg denim, and a classic open-toe sandal with red nail polish for that little extra sexy touch:

11. A pop of suede red plus a little fringe is a great way to vamp up the classic jeans-and-top formula for a little ’70s twist:

12. After a brief pause during this summer’s non-stop heatwaves (please tell me we’re done), suede shoes are slowly making their comeback, including the Parisian-adored clog version. Spotted on this fearless woman cycling through Paris in a tight denim pencil skirt—as if doing it in heels wasn’t challenging enough already.

13. Is this the ultimate going-out outfit for this transitional season or what? A mini dress with long sleeves for the late-night breeze, a bag—or sorry, a baguette!—in an unexpected pop of color, finished off with the perfect pair of sexy wedge sandals. Très, très stylé.

14. One of the things I looove about my Parisian building is that we have a little communal étagère downstairs where people leave books and other household items they no longer want. It often makes for a nice little distraction while you’re waiting for the elevator, but you can also find some real gems! A few days ago, Ways of Seeing by John Berger happened to be sitting right there—a book I’d been wanting to read for ages and, completely coincidentally, the exact one Emily Kirkpatrick and Jessica DeFino picked for their book club this month! 100% recommend—at a time when we’re constantly consuming and producing images, it feels more relevant than ever.

15. And since we’re on the whole seeing-and-being-seen theme, here’s a very fun (albeit slightly more vain) activity for next time you’re here: taking a picture of your outfit in front of one of the city’s many hidden mirrors! Did you know there’s a whole Instagram universe dedicated to finding and sharing the addresses of the prettiest ones all over Paris? Once you’re in on the secret, you’ll suddenly start seeing the same mirrors popping up on your feed. And here I was thinking everyone was just randomly stumbling upon these dreamy little photo spots.

My favorite ones? 28 Rue du Bac in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the most popular spot thanks to a perfect Haussmannian backdrop and 11 Rue Bachaumont, a mirror where Jeanne Damas regularly takes her OOTDs, right next to her boutique:

[Editor’s note: Most of these outfits were photographed during the first two weeks of August, before this past week’s surprise heatwave hit Paris again—hopefully that was our final round because I just can’t anymore.]

Et voilà, that’s all for today—I hope you enjoyed this little fall fashion preview! I don’t know about you, but I really can’t wait to see what the streets of Paris have in store for us this season. I’m sure it’s going to be très très stylé!

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Bisous et à bientôt,
Frosso