Article by Meredith Keeve a.k.a. the Wandering Parisian

Smart Date Dressing. Intelligent and Appealing Choices for Optimistic Encounters or ‘Does my Anxiety look big in this?’

Hooray, you’ve got a date in the diary.

The person you met on line, or in the queue at the Supermarket has proposed a coffee or a drink, or gone way out on a limb and actually invited you to dinner.

As you agreed your mind began spinning with wardrobe worries and outfit anxiety.

So lets stay French, and exchange anxiety for nonchalance.

Immediately ELIMINATE any outfit you considered that didn’t seem like a perfect solution. Please do NOT choose anything that makes you wonder whether you look:

Too short, too fat, too thin, too busty, too pale – too anything.

The point is not that French women are not too short or too busty or too whatever, but rather they don’t ask the question. Instead, they quite simply choose to wear what they love. They love the simplicity of a white shirt, the voluptuous feel of satin lingerie, the comfort of a well cut trouser, the appeal of a belt that creates an hourglass figure. They have a favourite dress.

We know French women are sexy because they are confident. The confidence, certainly in large part, comes from knowing what they feel comfortable* wearing.

French women know about dressing for men

And they know a few basic rules about dressing for men.

• Men are uninterested in Fashion. (Or if they’re interested in fashion they’re uninterested in women.) Mostly.

So the fabulous Comme des Garcons, or Rick Owens-esque sculptural, modern, drop-crotch, asymmetrical pieces you adore are not for dates.

• Men like red. They like red dresses and red lingerie and other bright colors. Navy tends to leave them indifferent, and mostly they dislike grey or brown colours they find depressing, boring or matronly. Skip your neutrals. Which is not to say you couldn’t wear a neutral skirt with a bright top.
• Necklines are important. Deep necklines are a good idea IF you don’t have too much sun damage and DO NOT show cleavage. Low neckline does not mean nipple display. A generous décolleté is to hint at what might be there, not showcase it. A small amount of lace showing is absolutely acceptable.
• Wear a skirt. Yes, as antiquated as that sounds, men prefer skirts. And many women look terrific in skirts and have simply taken to wearing a uniform of trousers because they think its easier. So figure out a skirt, or a dress. If a pencil skirt works for you – fabulous. If not, find an alternative fabric or shape that does. Yes, control-top pantyhose are a good idea.
• You are NOT going camping, skip the tents. Some women who feel they are rounder than they would like may believe that coverage and camouflage are helpful. They aren’t. A man vastly prefers a 16 in an hourglass like form than a 12 in a tent.

*And let’s get our definitions straight – the French definition of comfort has little to do with elastic waists or rubber soled sandals. The French definition of ‘comfort’ relates to “I know I look great, put it on and forget it”.

Links to dresses featured:

Dress on left

Dress on Right

Meredith Keeve

Now a Personal Stylist, Meredith Keeve has worked in publishing, fashion, cinema, interior decoration and art in Paris, London, Miami and Toronto. Working as a wardrobe consultant with her French mentor, she learned to identify the ‘closet’ issues women face – the emotional/intellectual relationship to clothes and how clothing can impact and influence how a woman presents and perceives herself. MK chose to specialize in the 50+ customer, attuning her understanding of that customer’s particular needs and desires to determine and implement optimal wardrobe solutions for each individual, in every circumstance.

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