The Parisian Style: A Rising Trend on Instagram. Real Creativity or Just Copy-Paste? A Breakdown!

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They are taking over Instagram, with hashtags like #parisianstyle, #alafrançaise, #howtobeparisian, and #frenchstyle illuminating the Parisian style from feeds to stories, and through reels. This niche target attracts attention with its aesthetic, rapidly increasing follower counts. Let’s explore the trend!

The New Face of Instagram: Less Spontaneity for More “Creativity”

Originally created to share photos of everyday life with spontaneity, Instagram has changed its content-sharing focus significantly over the past few years.

With higher quality content, we now favor polished posts over spontaneity. Photos with perfect framing and lighting, well-crafted staging and edits, all set to trending music from around the world.

By developing tools that promote creator profiles, Instagram has given the platform a new face.

This new face has led to a more strategic and marketing-oriented approach from its users. From a simple photo-sharing platform, we have now transitioned into an extremely powerful tool to build a community and gain visibility, enabling users to derive financial benefits. And many have understood this and wish to seize the opportunity.

Thus, content creators have started targeting niche subjects, such as van life, vegetarian recipes, pottery, or #parisianstyle. These themes allow them to create engaged communities, providing interesting reach and quickly fostering growth on their accounts. This is how accounts with fewer than 10k followers have skyrocketed to over 50k in just a few months by embracing the Parisian style.

But What About #howtobeparisian?

In 2014, Anne Berest (novelist), Caroline De Maigret (model), Audrey Diwan (writer), and Sophie Mas (film producer) released their book/case study, How to be parisian, wherever you are. A deconstruction of the quintessential Parisian style, both in fashion and lifestyle. Indeed, the French woman, and more specifically the Parisian woman, inspires beyond all borders. She is idolized, always imagined as elegant, a woman of character, seductive, perched on her heels, with a beret tilted as she fetches her baguette from the baker…

Two years later, Jeanne Damas, fashion influencer and writer, launched her own ready-to-wear brand. Rouje.

A brand conceived as an ode to women and the Parisian spirit. Pieces with a vintage touch that embrace women’s bodies with sensuality, allowing their elegance to shine through. From perfectly cut jeans to floral dresses, she has won the hearts of true Parisians and those dreaming of living in the capital.

And for the past few months, the Parisian style has been spreading on Instagram through carousels and reels!

What #ootd for a Parisian Style?

So, what outfit to wear to feel like a Parisian woman?

As we scroll through the trend feed, we see an abundance of berets, silk dresses, hair bows, heels, cigarette pants, trench coats, small bags, and other gold jewelry… With notable touches from Chanel, Jacquemus, Louis Vuitton, Dior…

The Parisian style is illustrated by wearing refined and elegant pieces throughout the day, with beautiful brands to add flair to the outfit. All sprinkled with a bit of vintage, and let’s face it, a touch of cliché, reminiscent of the series Emily In Paris…

With a well-defined aesthetic, many brands are eager to collaborate with these profiles to showcase their products. From hair accessory brands to dresses, hotels, or even flower bouquets.

The Parisian Style: More Than Just an Outfit, a True #mood

Brasserie tables, coffee stains on a newspaper, and crumbs from croissants scattered around a Chanel bag… Beyond a simple fashion style, the Parisian style is primarily a global mood, the #parisianlifestyle.

A carefully crafted aesthetic based on different criteria, namely:

• The outfit 
• The accessory
• The place
• The attitude / action 
• The music 

The Accessory of the Parisian Style 

Although the outfit is the main element of the Parisian style, it is only complete with the right accessory!

To know, either:

• The baguette 
• The croissants
• The newspaper
• The flowers
• The Kitsumé coffee cup
• The hot chocolate from Café de Flore
• The macarons, La Durée mug 
• The Angelina mug 
• The essentials for a picnic, not forgetting the vintage cups
• Bonus: old cars or boats with polished wood

In conclusion, a mix of different accessories, most of which fall into the category of “French clichés”, enriching this ambiance and aesthetic “à la française”.

The Ideal Place to Showcase Parisian Style

To build this aesthetic, the choice of location is crucial. They can be categorized into: cafés and brasseries / streets, squares, and views / parks and gardens / museums / luxury brands. Each of these places reflects a elegant Parisian atmosphere, playing on the “postcard” spots typical of Paris.

The cafés and brasseries:

• Café de Flore
• Angelina
• La Durée
• Kitsumé Café

Streets, squares, and views:

• The booksellers along the Seine and other bookstores
• The digicodes of building entrances
• Place des Vosges
• The covered passages
• Place de la Concorde
• The rooftops of Paris
• Rue de l’université
• Avenue du Camoen
• Metro entrances

Parks and gardens:

• Jardin du Palais Royal, with the Buren Columns
• Jardin des Tuileries and its green chairs around the fountains
• Jardin du Luxembourg
• Jardin de Bagatelle

Museums:

• Musée Rodin
• Palais Galliera
• La Bourse du commerce

Luxury brands:

• Avenue Montaigne
• Place Vendôme

And to add a bit of elsewhere to this Parisian style, an address outside Paris attracts everyone longing for this aesthetic… Etretat. Indeed, its cliffs have never witnessed as many falsely staged picnics as in recent months! Its bucolic setting makes for a perfect backdrop, we must admit!

The Attitude of the Parisian Style

This aesthetic is based on the staging of a Parisian ambiance, à la française, where everything is meticulously arranged. To know, we forget the natural aspect, and we strike a pose!

Walk slowly, embodying the spirit of a fashion week, hair movements, gazing into the distance with a hint of aloofness… This is the attitude depicted of the Parisian woman, serving cafés and hot chocolates in slow motion.

An attitude also put to service in reels, very cut, showcasing different outfits. Another trend that has recently taken over Instagram.

The Typical Music

One does not go without the other. How to depict Paris without the tune of Edith Piaf or an accordion? With the success of reels, more and more people enjoy creating little scenes that promote the Parisian style. Thus, sweet melodies like La vie en rose wrap around your news feed.

The Parisian Style: An Aesthetic That Charms, But Can It Be Dull?

Our take on the trend is twofold…

At first glance, we find this aesthetic pleasant to behold. It brings a touch of softness and marks a moment that feels suspended in time. Some posts take on the appearance of paintings, allowing for a break in a sometimes chaotic and aggressive feed. We thus discover a beautiful face of Paris, reminiscent of a film where everything is elegant and dreamy.

However… There isn’t enough reality and a bit too much copy-paste.

Indeed, the staged Parisian style remains an idolized vision, aligning with the clichés that foreigners may have about Paris, feeding into the Paris syndrome.

Moreover, all this staging and these unnatural attitudes strip away the spontaneity of these posts. However, it’s worth noting that spontaneity on Instagram is unfortunately no longer in vogue…

The point that makes us lean away from this trend is its somewhat dull aspect. Indeed, all the individuals creating content in this niche, who wish to be creative in their posts, quickly end up reproducing photos already taken and shared by others.

Thus, after seeing dozens of similar posts and reels, with the same angles, outfits, accessories, actions, croissants, and hot chocolates at Café de Flore, or Kitsumé mugs, the same picnics on the cliffs of Etretat… We feel a sense of déjà vu… Although pleasant and soft to see, we crave novelty, uniqueness, and a bit more originality in creativity… Here’s the challenge we throw to all these creators with Parisian style. Surprise us!

Now, if you spot someone in the Jardin du Palais-Royal with a beret, croissants, and a bouquet of tulips under their arm… You’ll understand that a hashtag #parisianstyle will soon be under an Instagram photo or reel!