continue...
The French Portal ! All you need to know about France to plan your next touristic travel in France. Buy french products. Directory of Shopping Sites in France. French Made and French Chic.
Since the late 19th century when the rise of Haute Couture was dominated by Paris-based English tailor Charles Worth and French Jacques Doucet, French women have earned the distinction of being considered the best-dressed females on the planet. Despite the impact of giant American brands (GAP, Levi's…) Parisian "élégantes" still have an inimitable approach to putting themselves together.
French women buy far fewer clothes than Americans who are conditioned into acquiring clothes for key annual events. The French ladies are accustomed to starting out with basic (e.g. the little black dress) to which they add a special jacket or accessories.
Accessories - jewelry, shoes, scarves, belts, bags…- are used to update their personal style, season after season. Everything matches to create an effect that appears to have been effortlessly put together at the last minute with the very important notion that "less is more".
A fashion house can call itself as "Haute Couture" only if it meets criteria relating to fittings and presentations of collections. Since 1994, these presentations haven taken place twice a year in January and July at the Carrousel du Louvre (99 rue de Rivoli -75001 Paris).