More from Paris!

I was unsure whether to publish the following photos with the main article yesterday. Then I had another look. The following three images perfectly capture the effortless nature of Paris, don't you agree?

The only way to get around Paris! They were just crying out for a photo to be taken, unfortunately you can't see that all three riders had helmets matching their respective Vespa.

This picture doesn't give the scene the justice it deserves. Wearing an all black suit with fabulously pink socks and a scarf with gentle pink running through. He looks so relaxed, I had to take a sneaky snap.

This man was fascinated by the abandoned scooter just left of the shot. It was the three different check prints that caught our eye; along with his wife's check jacket too (just seen on left).

Street style in Paris

You can spot a Brit anywhere. It’s our charming awkwardness; our delicate self-awareness; our orderly queuing; and, when in Paris, we are the ones trying to outshine the locals.

Catching the Metro you are constantly glancing around to spot that effortless Parisian style. But don’t. As soon as you begin scrutinising every Pierre et Lucie you will lose sight of the very thing you are looking for.

Parisian style is in the nonchalance, in the swagger and the distracted way they put themselves together. Not just that though, it’s the gentle details that give their outfits finesse; the French respect good tailoring as we Brits respect a bargain. If there is one secret to take from the French capital’s inhabitants, it’s to only ever buy for quality, not your purse.

Don’t let me try to explain their mystery, let them do it themselves. Here is a collection of my favourite fille et garcon I found whilst perusing the streets of Paris.

Poor girl was trying to cross the road but I grabbed her.

Christened by a friend as 'Olivier' (and her "perfect man ever, ever") he seemed confused as to why he should be blogged, "I'm just going to work!". But, oh Olivier, it's your jacket and the pristine tailoring.

Here is Alix, it was the grey and dark sand shades that grabbed me. How the coat and boots match but slightly off-colour together, and the separation by the grey.

We named this chap 'Laurent'. I loved his genuine surprise when asked if I could photograph him; then again, maybe it was just shock of seeing an English girl run at him.

Here is my poor first victim. Sat in a cafe after exploring Montmartre sans map, she sauntered past. Cue my sprint down the road trying to find her, followed by some dithering French attempt on my part. But it was worth it, for the jacket if nothing else.

Fall in line as fashion takes a heavy handed beating

If you’re sick of the non-colours that this season promises to throw around then you’ll give a sigh of relief to know that juxtaposing the barely there fleshy neutrals are hard hitting combats. It seems that winter’s military boot trend was testing the water for a full blown explosion of khakis and earthy tones led by the must-have spring coat.

This thing caught my eye yesterday when I was perusing the racks in the Lancaster Topshop and I spent a good 10 minutes working out whether it was worthy of me ‘investing’ £65 of my [loaned] English pounds and weighing up how many of my physiological needs I could get away with sacrificing for a couple of weeks. I settled for a sensible conclusion (for the first time in a while) that splurging on that coat would give me no satisfaction at all and I’d find it more soul-enriching and morally invigorating (yeah I know, but it did take a hell of a lot of internal conflict to get there) searching high and low for a thriftier, more aged replica.

That’s really what this trend’s all about… the more authentic, the better. Stick to the age-old trick and team old with new and vintage with high street, it’s the best way of pulling it off and maintaining the bank balance. And it’s worth it when you put in the searching effort to find the needle in the haystack! But if the idea of donning something that something may have died in sends shivers down your spine then the second feisty trend is centred around warrior-chic.

Ripped, figure-hugging leather is a daunting prospect to even the exhibitionists amongst us, so before you get ahead of yourself and look to Princess Xena as a muse take the trend’s key points into consideration. It’s all about attitude and adventure, with open toed shoe-boots, more masculine lines (shoulder pads are yet to be shunned from the catwalk) and plenty of armour-mimicking metallics set against classic black. One thing I’m definitely going to have to start getting used to is this idea of the leather skirt being a wardrobe staple… apparently owning one will help you in times of fashion crises as it’s versatility is (so I’m led to believe) endless. Although honestly, I think that the only thing it’ll be good for is making the embarrassing wet patch a thing of the past, and quick sit down during an interlude in the April showers that little bit more bearable.