What I Learned About Clothing in Paris

Packing for Paris, I decided to pack clothing that would fit easily into my suitcase. What I was not prepared for was the hottest weather event I had ever experienced in my life.

This year, Europe has been hit with one canicule (heat wave) after another (as of this writing, they are experiencing their fifth canicule of the summer). These temperatures are not normal. While I was in Paris, people shared their thermometers showing temperatures reaching between 130-150 degrees. Inside my apartment, it was around 118 degrees.

Paris historically has mild temperatures during the summer. Many of the residential buildings in Paris are designed to lock the heat in during cold winters. They’re not built to handle extreme heat.

On day two of the heat wave, I realized I had packed all of the wrong clothes.

Plastic is Not the Answer

I tend to purchase clothing that’s classic, comfortable, and within a reasonable price range. I decided to pack yoga pants, T-shirts, a couple of dresses, and some easy pieces that could be dressed up.

Boy, was that a mistake.

When the first canicule hit, I realized that everything I was wearing trapped the heat in because of the synthetic fibers in the clothing. The only time I got relief was when I wore a cotton dress.

Much of the clothing you will find in stores these days is made from some form of synthetic fiber such as polyester, nylon, acrylic, and elastane. Wearing these fibers during the canicule made me absolutely miserable.

When I realized I had brought all of the wrong clothes, I decided to plan a quick shopping trip the second the heat subsided. My mission was to find clothing with natural fibers like cotton, linen, and silk. Luckily, I was in the right city to do that.

Thrift Stores Were My First Stop

After seeing multiple posts on Instagram about thrift stores and flea markets across Paris, I decided I’d take a gander through one of the shops when the weather cooled down.

I found a shop on the Left Bank called Les Sales Voleurs St Michel. Depending on the day of the week, you can get items from 1 euro on up to 4.5 euros. Surprise!!! They had really nice stuff.

With Matthew in his stroller, parked along the wall in the shop, I went through their racks with the mission of looking for cotton, silk, and linen-based clothing.

I found a denim dress and a bunch of shirts for three euros a piece. I also found a dress to wear during the colder months. Even though I knew I was shopping for emergency clothing, I decided to choose pieces that could be curated into my wardrobe back in the US. I wanted pieces that would last a very long time.

Also, this is Paris. I wanted to make sure I was adding French clothing that would elevate my wardrobe.

I stopped into another thrift store closer to the Seine and walked out a few minutes later. They had a secondhand top from Old Navy that they were selling for 60 euros. I honestly laughed and walked out. Not all thrift stores are built alike. The cool ones have amazing prices where you can find gems. This store was trying to overprice a shirt I could buy on sale in the US for $8 brand new. In a thrift store, $3 tops.

I chose to thrift because I liked how France has been pushing people to become more sustainable. Seeing how Paris has created green spaces throughout the city to help cool the surface temperature, and learning how clothing waste is a huge issue, it just made sense to look for sustainable clothing. I did not want to contribute any more to the fast fashion problem.

Why buy new when a thrift store can have exactly what I am looking for at a much cheaper price? I would be saving a piece of clothing from the landfill.

But Let’s Not Stop There

Seeing how beneficial it was to switch to natural fibers, when I returned to the US, I headed to my local Marshalls and scoured the racks for cotton and linen clothing. I checked every single tag to make sure each piece was made with natural fibers. I walked away with a number of items, especially linen.

Sure enough, a heat wave hit New York City, and those linen shirts and dresses became a godsend.

Linen and cotton are breathable fabrics and don’t trap in the heat like synthetic fibers. So while I was standing on the subway platform with the temperature inching up to 120 degrees, I did not suffer as much as I would have.

Do You Ever Wonder How People Can Wear Suits in the Middle of Summer?

One of my friends buys her suits with silk lining, especially the pants, because it keeps her cool, especially when a stressful work environment could cause her to break out into a sweat. She swears by the silk lining in her clothes.

I shared with her how the silk lining in my Christian Dior suit jacket kept me cool when it was hot outside. It made me appreciate my designer purchases over the years.

Now, before you exit out of this post thinking that I am about to make an unrealistic suggestion, I am going to let you in on a little secret.

I buy my Christian Dior from The RealReal. My oversized men’s suit jacket was $50.

I have a lot of men’s Christian Dior dress shirts and suit jackets from The RealReal. That’s the trick. I didn’t buy womenswear. I bought menswear. Even my Christian Dior wool winter coat was from the menswear collection. I snagged it for under $200.

The shirts I picked up for $20 were silk or cotton.

I seek out high-end, well-made clothing that is built to last. These pieces are the staple items in my closet. When I invest in pieces, I keep in mind that I want them to be around for the rest of my lifetime. This is something I learned from French women years ago. Buy the luxury items that you can wear over the course of your lifetime, not the ones that are simply trending.

Buying vintage means you don’t have to break the bank to be stylish. Focus on purchasing classic styles that have stood the test of time. You are looking for stylistic longevity.

If you grow tired of it, you can either repurpose it, pass it along, or resell it.

Who says you have to buy it new in order for it to be an investment?

Thrifting vs. Buying New

There are plenty of clothes on this planet right now. There is no need for overproduction, because much of that clothing winds up as waste in landfills all over the world.

Instead of creating such needless waste, you could take something old and create something new with it (or style it differently). You also don’t have to spend a lot of money for things when you can find what you are looking for secondhand.

A Celine t-shirt costs over $500 new. I picked one up for 3 euros. It’s vintage and people remark that it was an awesome find. You can get the same shirt they’re selling new through reputable reseller sites and save a few hundred dollars.

Truth be told, I have always valued the pieces I’ve found in thrift stores over the new stuff. What is someone else’s trash is someone else’s treasure.

How My Wardrobe Has Changed Since the Canicule

I did not go home and empty out my closet of all clothing that had synthetic fibers. That would defeat the purpose of what I learned in Paris. Instead, I added pieces made from natural fibers, because I did not truly appreciate how important they were until I got hit with a canicule.

The next time Matthew and I head to Paris, I plan on packing differently. The fun thing I discovered after I purchased only linen, silk, and cotton clothing in the US: everything I found was similar to what a French woman would wear. Perhaps they knew all along.