Long time readers will know how much I adore French style. There’s nothing more fun for me than setting myself up for a little bit of style spotting. And this trip was no exception. Thankfully I had plenty of opportunities to watch the world go by – and I was very excited by what I noticed. I certainly came home with some new style inspiration – something I’d been sorely missing after two years of lockdowns.
In case you’re also needing a little French style inspiration, I thought I’d share some of what I noticed. And while I’m at it, I’ll give you an idea of my ‘packing for the south of France’ wins and losses. There’s a bit to share here, so let’s dive right in.
Style – What I Noticed On This Trip To The South Of France
Now before I get to my style observations, let me do a quick recap on where and when we travelled. We headed to the city of Nice and the nearby town of Beaulieu-sur-Mer for the last week of September and the first week of October. The switch from high season to shoulder season is generally a good time to travel. This is due to the fact that you can combine good weather with more budget friendly prices. And this year, we really did get the best of both worlds. Apart from one rainy day, we were treated to ridiculous amounts of sunshine. So much so that the beaches were still packed with locals and travellers alike soaking up the last wave of summer.
Given the warm weather, white jeans were everywhere. This mirrored what I’d noticed the last time we were in the area. Ditto white sneakers. And the Louis Vuitton resurgence is seemingly still in full swing.
Pastels were also popular, especially in dusty pink and sandy tones. I love how often French style colour palettes match the colours of the region. The pinks and sands and stones blended perfectly with sun drenched colours of the French Riviera. Button down shirts were very popular, especially in floral prints. I also saw a lot more denim than I remember seeing last time we were in France. And as usual, the denim I did see was dressier rather than casual.
One of my favourite outfits that I noticed was worn by a woman who was probably a couple of years older than me. She’d teamed sandy jeans with an oversized white shirt, a beige LV handbag and sparkly beige sneakers. The whole ensemble looked fresh and classy. And it was perfect for the seaside lunch she was enjoying. Unfortunately, despite stalking her table a little obsessively, I couldn’t work out what brand her sneakers were. Safe to say I’ll be keeping an eye out for something similar though.
Packing For The South Of France – My Wins
Based on the above, I was very happy that I’d spent some time finding white jeans that were right for me. I’d set myself the challenge to hunt them down after our last visit to Nice in 2019. But I can’t say I found the process easy. I tried on many pairs of jeans. But thanks to lockdowns preventing in-store visits and the fact that many designers seem to ignore consumers who prefer their attire to be opaque rather than see-through, I also returned many pairs. In the end, it finally occurred to me that maybe I should go to my favourite denim brand Paige, where I managed to pick up the perfect-for-me pair. They were on high rotation, as were the wide leg denim trousers I’d packed.
The other win I’d pay myself was packing two light sweaters. The weather was so warm that I didn’t need the two long sleeved shirts I’d packed. But the evenings were cooler and so the sweaters were handy over my short sleeved layers, as was my leather jacket.
And My Big Fail
Like I mentioned earlier, the weather for our trip was almost unseasonably pleasant. We had almost non-stop sunshine for our entire visit. I say almost because on the day we arrived Nice was experiencing its first decent rain in months. The weather was still warm, but it was bucketing down for much of the afternoon.
As the old travel adage goes,“There’s no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing.” Now, I was well aware that it may have been raining when we landed. I’d been watching the long range weather forecast for weeks. Despite this, I somehow forgot to pack my hooded, rainproof jacket. And while some would argue that there’s no such thing as ‘bad shopping’ in France, I did slightly begrudge losing some of our time trudging around looking for an emergency raincoat. Especially when I had a perfectly awesome one hanging in my wardrobe at home.
So here’s this week’s big packing tip. Regardless of when you’re packing for the south of France, throw in that raincoat. They’re light, don’t take up much space and will save you time and money when you get an inevitable rainy day.
I’d love to know – do you have any wins to share when it comes to packing for the south of France? And have you ever wished you’d packed a rainproof jacket? Let me know in the comments section below.
And until next time – au revoir.
Please note – This is an unsolicited post and no compensation of any kind has been received from the brands named in this post.
