Paris: Un certain regard

When I looked at the visual style of Parisiennes, I realized there is only one look I have not seen replicated here. You can walk through any upscale neighborhood in a large European or North American city and see the jeans/boots/jacket, the sexy dress/heels/big hair, the preppy cardi/narrow pant/ballerinas; there's a universal upscale mall look, the InStyle Effect.

I began to people-watch only for what I do not see at home, and my eye began to notice one particular look that I couldn't define. When I was at my beloved scarf and textile boutique Wolff et Descourtis, the owner gave me the key when she referred to one scarf's colourway as "plus strict".

The manner of dress (and as a precedent, thinking) I began to appreciate is strict. The look is worn by women over 35, and entails precise, demanding tailoring, the best fabrics, a base of neutrals (no bright colours), pattern usually tone on tone if any, each piece revealing idiosyncratic, subtle details.

There is humour, but it's a fleeting smile, not a giggle. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy was fluent in the look, but it's a touch bohemian for her current role, so she kicks it up a notch or two with shots of colour and St-Laurent rich-lady flourishes.

It is not CDG or Yoji, not Eskandar, not decontracteé; the items are close to the body, with evident construction and conventions like buttons, and the buttons will always be mother of pearl or horn. Nor is it classic jolie madame dressmaking, there's more far more wit and modernity.

Searching for an example, I found this Riser Goodwyn dress (from eLuxury), but on the Left Bank it would be worn with pale blue wool Wolford tights and blue-grey low heels of exquisite cut and construction. The bag would be an aubergine portfolio. An interesting earring, a cuff bracelet, or an antique brooch on the cuff, for strict is not cold or masculine.

The boring black tight and shoe shown would kill the dress, and leads me to wonder whether Americans just don't speak this language.

The skirt length is to the knee or 2-3 inches below, lending a timeless look. The designers who occasionally reach for strict (Donna Karan comes to mind) kill it by hacking off skirts at the thigh and committing careless tailoring.

Here's a coat that's strict, a Smythe "Holiday boyfriend jacket" (from net-a-porter, the best online illustrative strict source I can find at 4 am. which is when I'm waking these jetlagged days). At this price ($680) the quality would probably be disappointing, but the intent is there.

And this Limi Feu top (from Anastasia, $490) embodies strict's use of pattern achieved by texture.

Strict looks like you have nine things hanging in your closet for a given season, and each is perfect.

Naturally, if you wear strict, it's all you wear, there's no schlumpadinka shadow wardrobe for running to the hardware store on Saturday afternoon.

Elderstrict is the 70-year-old woman shopping at the epicerie beneath our apartment in a camel coat of subtle herringbone over matching camel skirt in the same tone, but lighter fabric. What saved this from a society look (in Simon Doonan's typology) were the deep, soft pleats in the skirt, her ecru tights, and her khaki booties piped in tomato red.

Would I wear this look? In my large, multicultural Canadian city, yes, though I know most people, accustomed to mass-market dictates, would find the clothes a touch odd, indefinably challenging. I find myself reaching for my stricter pieces, hoping to evoke the particular spirit of the women I watched.