Parisian Parents

So, we all know that the family I work for are very, very posh.  To look at them you wouldn't really think so... The kids wear sensible clothes and the parents, at first glance, just look like average parents.  With my family, you have to look closer for the clues:

CLUE ONE: The parents clothes get sent away to be cleaned, then they arrive back through the door ready-folded in colour co-ordinated piles.

CLUE TWO: When I moved into my studio, there was a lot of stuff stored in shoe boxes.  Some of these shoe boxes were Chloe.  The rest are all from French shoe shops which sell pumps for over 100€.  And not just beautiful party shoes; a lot of the pictures on the boxes are just standard things like ankle boots.

CLUE THREE: The children do not wear hand-me-downs.  When the ten year old grows out of something, the six year old is not forced to wear it with the sleeves rolled up.

CLUE FOUR: They go away for every single school holiday and quite often just for the weekends.  Since I have been here they have gone to Normandy twice and Barcelona once.  Over Christmas they are going skiing.  In February they are going to New York and staying in a hotel overlooking Central Park.

CLUE FIVE: What I originally thought were cute, matching pink plastic macs belonging to the girls have, on closer inspection, turned out to be Burberry.  Actual Burberry.  For two little girls who are shooting up like weeds.

A lot of the other parents aren't this subtle.  Before moving to Paris I would never have thought to take fashion advice from a child.  Or a baby.  Or, to be honest, most people's Mothers.  But honestly...everyone here is so beautifully dressed!!  The Dads at the six year olds school are a prime example.  They lean one of two ways, either they are beautifully suited (Paul Smith or Armani suits, Hermes ties) or else they look like rockstars, complete with 200€ headphones and Alexander McQueen hi-top trainers.  Either way they smell edible.

As well as at the school there are the Ballet Mums.  Not many mums actually seem to show up at the ballet school, they prefer to send the Help instead, but the ones that do are definitely taking style lessons off Anna Wintour.  They all have that different-simple-dress-with-understated-matching-accessories-every-day thing down to a tee, which I suppose is good because it means that when your little darling performs their repertoire of irritating, attention seeking habits (including but not limited to: climbing up the side of aforementioned dress, flicking bits of puree at shoes) they are only ever going to ruin ONE outfit at a time.  Before I moved to Paris I always thought I was pretty well dressed, but I sit in that ballet hall and I feel like I've been shopping in Peacocks.

I don't get it!!  In England, even the posh parents at least look like parents!  What do they do when their child wants to play in the sand at the park?  Or spills food?  Or falls over?  Do the have Special Plastic Overalls stashed in their Vuittons for just such occasions?
No, they must just prod them with the ends of their Laboutins until the child stops and acts normal again.

Yep...sorry guys...

I just can't keep up this blogging stuff.  I am too lazy.  But I will try, because it makes my Mum happy and I still have two hours until I have to take the 6 year old to a birthday party.

SO, I have made a worrying and dangerous discovery...
There is a Kooples store 5 minute's walk away from my apartment.  And it's a really good one.  I found it when me and Chris were walking home from Victor Hugo over the weekend.  It has the most amazing blazer in the men's section, it is leather and wool with faux fur lapels :')  It's only 500€.  If I saved for 6 weeks I could afford it.  I wouldn't even have to stop eating because I get my food money on top of my wages.  Then again, if I stopped eating I could probably afford the blazer in 4 weeks...  I can't help it, I know that most people who wear Kooples clothes are probably tossers who take themselves a bit seriously but I love them (the clothes, not the tossers who take themselves too seriously).

The assistants in there were so nice as well!  I tried to go into the Kooples pop-up store in Printemps and the assistant basically followed us round, one pace behind, the whole time I was in there which I HATE because I am obviously not going to buy anything (I was wearing Topshop ffs...).  But in the Victor Hugo store it was just two blokes and they were lovely!  Then again, maybe this is because I was wearing more expensive clothes and looked like I might actually purchase the fabulous blazer rather than just trying it on to torture myself...

That's one thing I really like about the posh boutiques in Paris.  In London, if you walked into Chanel or Valentino, or even somewhere a bit cheaper like Vivienne Westwood, they would immediately total up how much your outfit cost and completely ignore you once they've worked out that you're not in there to buy.  Mostly they won't even bother saying "hello".  I don't know if it's just the weird compulsion the french have to say "bonjour" to everybody but as soon as you walk in, even if you are blatantly just looking, they say hello and ask if they can help you.  Then they say "merci, au revoir" when you leave, even though you've had your sticky, high street fingers all over their 1000€ dresses.  Then again, I think this non-threatening approach to designer clothing is going to be very bad for my bank balance once I've managed to save a bit!

One thing I'm really missing since leaving Cornwall, though, is second hand shopping.  I have been told that the charity shops in Paris are completely amazing and out-of-this-world but I'm yet to actually find one!  The closest I got was in Montmartre where I found a second hand shop selling a vintage Burberry trench, but it was still 200€ so not exactly bargainous shopping.

SO my mission before my next blog post is to find an amazing vintage market or similar.  Probably a job for next weekend...
Over and out until then ;)