La Mode

As a girl from the Midwest, I'll be the first to admit that I'm not really into avant-garde fashion. Or even just fashion, period. Sure, I watch "Project Runway" when I can. I take note of Stacy and Clinton's clothing advice for short girls in "What not to Wear." But more often than not, I'm a plain old tee-shirt and jeans kind of gal.

Now that I'm in Paris, one of the fashion capitals of the world, I see some unusual and often beautiful clothing that I would be curious to wear or at least try on. I could go on forever about the shoes alone. And I would love all of these items even more if they were somewhat affordable...sigh....

On the other hand, in such a city of high fashion, I am exposed to some very...well, let's not beat around the bush...UGLY, UGLY styles. Here, the the 1980s are once again in full swing. Everywhere I see the skinny jeans (aka tapered jeans) that are unflattering on everyone but the thinnest girls. Fine. I can deal with that. I can even think that the brightly colored stockings, leggings, tunics worn off the shoulder, big chunky belts and jewelry, and unlaced hightop basketball shoes are fun. Amazingly, the Euro-mullets no longer faze me.

What has really thrown me for a loop are the Hammer pants. Yes, as in MC Hammer. My, my, my, my. I can hardly count the number of men and women I've seen wearing these billowing pants, often buttoned at the ankles, the crotch hanging down to their knees. I even saw a girl wearing acid-washed denim Hammer capris. I stared at her shamelessly while silently cursing myself for not having my camera. This is the closest image I could find:

Why, dear French people?? WHY ?

Perhaps the worst thing about this new trend is that I very likely will see it reproduced in the Midwest within the next few years. And quite possibly paired with Uggs. Sigh.