Styling: French Countryside Part One
As we enjoy the French countryside in northern Burgundy, I get to enjoy my closet here and “go shopping” in my own wardrobe. I packed up some things that no longer fit and hung up my linens to de-wrinkle. I love the process of putting away the cozy sweaters and then airing out the dresses and skirts from the plastic vacuum bags I find necessary in both Paris and here!
The style here in the quaint towns and villages, and even the bigger city of Auxerre is definitely more casual and low-key than Paris. Similar to any bigger, posh city in the States with its own inherent style versus smaller towns in differing areas, it is all about the slower-lifestyle here and working, everyday folks. It is still France, though - little cotton scarves, women in espadrilles of all heights and basket bags reign supreme. I try to utilize my fun, smaller, maybe a bit quirkier bags here as well, and not my nicer, designer bags as people just don’t carry those here. There are hardly any tourists in my area, but some in Auxerre along the Yonne river in houseboats, as that is a major pastime here in the summer. So, it is definitely a different vibe than the stylish South of France or even the bigger areas of southern Burgundy with the expensive wineries people flock to.
So, that being said - I really love finding gems in my closet and drawers to blend in with the locals a bit, but I’ll always have a unique flair, because, well - that’s just me!
Photos of me: @lapresqueparisienne with my iPhone 15 pro
This is just a cute navy, white, and butter yellow floral dress from Monoprix, aka the French Target. I got this a few years ago, and funnily enough that butter yellow is a bit of a micro trend right now, who knew? Oh wait, we all did because colors always “come and go.” The straw hat is a Zara clearance find several years back also, and lives here in Burgundy for easy outside walks and runs to the grocery store. I added the Sézane Fetiche belt which I love as an all around nice waist belt for dresses and skirts.
For an easy week in the countryside, I pulled together some styling ideas based on this color palette. Linen is a staple here and I enjoy the easy, wrinkled look - it never bothers me. I will do additional ones, ASAP with other fun combos.
Butter Yellow/Navy Wardrobe Edit:
floral dress with yellow and navy
yellow linen short suit with self-belt, shorts and DB blazer
light denim SS popover
navy linen crochet SS top
tan cotton paper-bag waist ankle pant
Accessories:
navy satin slides
basket bag
box clutch
tan or sand colored belt
navy and cream summer weight scarves
Basics to Add:
white/cream and navy t-shirts
cropped denim
additional sandals/belts
sneakers
Here are a few ways to style these pieces:
I generally loathe the self-belts that come with bottoms or dresses BUT you can utilize them in fun ways as seen above like, swapping into shorts or tying as a loose neck scarf. It can really bring up the versatility of a small amount of pieces without seeming too conformist or neutral! Everything effortlessly coordinates and THAT is what we are going for.
