For those of you that don't know about the soldes...France being the interesting country it is actually has government regulated sales twice a year. Yeah, you read correctly. The government regulates how often stores can have sales. Wouldn't want to encourage competition you know. Any way, the sales time is now! There are a three weeks in January and then three in the summer. Yes, it's true, the government tells them when they can have huge sales. Wouldn't want to get all capitalist and just run your business the way you want to now would you?
One of the things I really like about the Soldes is that each week there are bigger price cuts. So now things are on sale for 20-50% off, but next week they will be a little more, then the final week it's just bananas!! Here is the best part though, the part that makes me glow from the inside of my left ventricle all the way out to the tips of my slightly dry hair...I'm the perfect size for the sales. That's right ladies. You know how in the states all the 8s, 10s and 12s are GONE by the time things go on sale? Well here it's the 0s, 2s, 4s and 6s that are all sold out first. HA! It's like a Nordstrom's shoe sale and I have a size 6! I actually have a 7.5 so all my sizes in the real world are sold out. :-/ But here I can buy tops and sweaters and coats until the very last day. I have yet to try on pants in this country. Very few of these women have hips and an ass so I am relatively certain mine would explode out the rear pockets. I have great tops though!
So if you are thinking about coming to France to visit...come week after next when things are 75% off. They are practically paying you to take things home! I don't really need anything, but there is this one really cool store I might have to check out. I will keep you all posted on any fantastic purchases...
Showing posts with label fashion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fashion. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Thursday, September 18, 2008
1999 Called....
...and they want their baggy pants and man undies back!
These cool cats were on the train this past weekend from Paris to Lille. I cropped their faces to protect the innocent and avoid a lawsuit. I love people that can walk around in something completely different than the rest of the world and not be self conscious. I don't think I could pull this look off. Maybe because I never really understood this look. The "check out how big I can wear my pants are and please also notice my underwear, they are clean" look. I don't get it, I thought men would want to show how big and manly they are. Not that they can't find pants that fit. To me it mostly says "these are my big brothers pants and someday I hope to be able to fit in them!"
NO, I don't think everyone should dress the way I do. I think that would be boring. So if any of you out there are actual wearers-of-baggy-pants-that-show-underwear, you keep sporting your style my friend. Keep the world colorful, wear some fun undies for us. I like the plaid idea...hey, maybe it's growing on me now that I think about it.
Truth be told I am probably in one of these guys' blogs wearing a brightly colored shirt. I stand alone in Lille and wear my bright colors (occasionally) while others wear their black, grays and browns. I too like to be a little different.
As I finish this post I find myself less disliking the clothes and more admiring their attitude. I should be less self conscious about what I choose to wear. Why is it that I don't dress how I did in the US? Seriously, not once have I donned a baseball cap, shorts and tennies and left the house. The times when I do wear a bright shirt I wear black boots so calm it down a bit. I wear black shoes 80% of the time just like the rest of Lille. I guess I don't want to feel like I'm sticking out in the crowd. Ewe, I sound like a lemming. Oh man, I hope everyone doesn't jump off a bridge...
Tomorrow I am wearing color. And I'm not wearing black shoes. I'm a rebel.
These cool cats were on the train this past weekend from Paris to Lille. I cropped their faces to protect the innocent and avoid a lawsuit. I love people that can walk around in something completely different than the rest of the world and not be self conscious. I don't think I could pull this look off. Maybe because I never really understood this look. The "check out how big I can wear my pants are and please also notice my underwear, they are clean" look. I don't get it, I thought men would want to show how big and manly they are. Not that they can't find pants that fit. To me it mostly says "these are my big brothers pants and someday I hope to be able to fit in them!"
NO, I don't think everyone should dress the way I do. I think that would be boring. So if any of you out there are actual wearers-of-baggy-pants-that-show-underwear, you keep sporting your style my friend. Keep the world colorful, wear some fun undies for us. I like the plaid idea...hey, maybe it's growing on me now that I think about it.
Truth be told I am probably in one of these guys' blogs wearing a brightly colored shirt. I stand alone in Lille and wear my bright colors (occasionally) while others wear their black, grays and browns. I too like to be a little different.
As I finish this post I find myself less disliking the clothes and more admiring their attitude. I should be less self conscious about what I choose to wear. Why is it that I don't dress how I did in the US? Seriously, not once have I donned a baseball cap, shorts and tennies and left the house. The times when I do wear a bright shirt I wear black boots so calm it down a bit. I wear black shoes 80% of the time just like the rest of Lille. I guess I don't want to feel like I'm sticking out in the crowd. Ewe, I sound like a lemming. Oh man, I hope everyone doesn't jump off a bridge...
Tomorrow I am wearing color. And I'm not wearing black shoes. I'm a rebel.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Interesting facts about France, Part I
Well, it's Monday and I feel like I'm at least taking baby steps ahead with my life. As you may have read, Friday was frustrating. I didn't update the blog, but about an hour after I posted I finally got a response from the company I have been talking with in London. I wanted to actually post the three sentence response I got, but the email has that little disclaimer about privacy. So here is a summary:
"We are having problems with the work permit situation. I don't think we are going to be able to get you a permit. If you lived in the UK we would definitely hire you!"
The good thing is that this is neither a surprise nor a disappointment. I'm just glad that at least now I have an actual answer. I love to be able to check things off of a to do list. My next steps are to research what I need to do while in the US to get married here and to sign up for French classes in June.
The rest of the weekend was great. We didn't do much, but maybe that is what made it so fantastic. We went into town Saturday and shopped a little, which brings me to a few of the observations I was talking about earlier. Today I would like to cover two thing; 1) The French Paradox and 2) France; a Casual Chic Country.
Before I moved here I would hear about this "French Paradox". This is the uncanny, nay irritating, fact that French women eat good food, drink wine/beer, smoke and still live long lives and are thin. Is it genetics? Maybe it is the fact that they don't eat fast food and that cheese and wine are good protein/carb pairings. Or they only eat one meal a day and the portions are smaller. Or maybe every time they eat the great food and drink the great wine/beer they run to the toilettes and heave. I don't know, but the truth is that every time I see someone over weight I have the strangest pull to walk close to them and see if they are speaking English. I can't help it, but I do it almost all the time when I'm out alone. I even look for clues like maybe they are carrying a book or a magazine in English. So far I have not heard them but I know soon I will. I figure this is good practice for when I am offered a job as an international spy (the good kind of spy fighting for justice and all).
The "French Paradox" thing leads directly into the next observation; "France is a casual chic country". Most of the women are thin, so they can all wear cute clothes. I have been here 3 months and have yet to see one pair of cotton sweat pants on anyone. Seriously!! I just returned from shopping at Carrefour which is almost exactly like a Super Walmart, and you know what...no sweats. Everyone here dresses up. Maybe sweats are so unattractive that stores refuse to sell them because they don't want to be responsible for casualizing (made that word up) France. Maybe people only own nice clothes, maybe athletic shoes are expensive. I just don't know. The footwear alone amazes me. At any given time 70% of the entire female population that are wearing shoes (all ages taken into account) in Lille are wearing a pair of black or brown boots, 20% are wearing heels or flats with hose, and 10% are wearing Converse tennis shoes (Converse are huge here and like $75 USD a pair). I'm actually not complaining about this, it's kind of nice to see all the folks wearing cute clothes. Those of you that know me know I wear boots all the time, sometimes I even bust out my cowboy ones just to add a little originality. Plus, at least I don't feel like I'm in Walmart, even though I might be.
Later this week I will cover such thrilling topics as "Franco-American TV" and "France is closed on Sundays". I'll also let you know how things progress in my quest for a life in France.
"We are having problems with the work permit situation. I don't think we are going to be able to get you a permit. If you lived in the UK we would definitely hire you!"
The good thing is that this is neither a surprise nor a disappointment. I'm just glad that at least now I have an actual answer. I love to be able to check things off of a to do list. My next steps are to research what I need to do while in the US to get married here and to sign up for French classes in June.
The rest of the weekend was great. We didn't do much, but maybe that is what made it so fantastic. We went into town Saturday and shopped a little, which brings me to a few of the observations I was talking about earlier. Today I would like to cover two thing; 1) The French Paradox and 2) France; a Casual Chic Country.
Before I moved here I would hear about this "French Paradox". This is the uncanny, nay irritating, fact that French women eat good food, drink wine/beer, smoke and still live long lives and are thin. Is it genetics? Maybe it is the fact that they don't eat fast food and that cheese and wine are good protein/carb pairings. Or they only eat one meal a day and the portions are smaller. Or maybe every time they eat the great food and drink the great wine/beer they run to the toilettes and heave. I don't know, but the truth is that every time I see someone over weight I have the strangest pull to walk close to them and see if they are speaking English. I can't help it, but I do it almost all the time when I'm out alone. I even look for clues like maybe they are carrying a book or a magazine in English. So far I have not heard them but I know soon I will. I figure this is good practice for when I am offered a job as an international spy (the good kind of spy fighting for justice and all).
The "French Paradox" thing leads directly into the next observation; "France is a casual chic country". Most of the women are thin, so they can all wear cute clothes. I have been here 3 months and have yet to see one pair of cotton sweat pants on anyone. Seriously!! I just returned from shopping at Carrefour which is almost exactly like a Super Walmart, and you know what...no sweats. Everyone here dresses up. Maybe sweats are so unattractive that stores refuse to sell them because they don't want to be responsible for casualizing (made that word up) France. Maybe people only own nice clothes, maybe athletic shoes are expensive. I just don't know. The footwear alone amazes me. At any given time 70% of the entire female population that are wearing shoes (all ages taken into account) in Lille are wearing a pair of black or brown boots, 20% are wearing heels or flats with hose, and 10% are wearing Converse tennis shoes (Converse are huge here and like $75 USD a pair). I'm actually not complaining about this, it's kind of nice to see all the folks wearing cute clothes. Those of you that know me know I wear boots all the time, sometimes I even bust out my cowboy ones just to add a little originality. Plus, at least I don't feel like I'm in Walmart, even though I might be.
Later this week I will cover such thrilling topics as "Franco-American TV" and "France is closed on Sundays". I'll also let you know how things progress in my quest for a life in France.
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