WHAT DO YOU WEAR?

Here in France, there seems to be one line of fashion and people follow it. I’ve frequently come across young people in heels, wearing a lot of make-up and with carefully combed hair, even when they’re not going anywhere special. Maybe there is one image that lots of people are aiming for.

Perhaps it is just from my experience, but in England young people can wear anything and everything these days. There are many fashions to be followed, including the ones in the high street shops, but following no particular fashion at all is also okay. For the young people of Britain any hair colour, style and shape have the potential to be liked. You can wear what you want – even if you don’t wear it with high street style. Your style is your choice.

Two of the ladies I have lived with here in France have been helping me to learn to knit. The first one is a knitting-machine! She learnt to knit because she and her sisters had to knit socks and gloves during the war, or they would have been very cold. Making quilts, knitting accessories and editing clothing have even become more popular among young people in England today.

As I worked at a charity shop this morning and bought myself two items of clothing for 3 euros in total, I wondered why young French people don’t seem to dress themselves more from such shops. One student at school here said to me that she thought it was a shame – she’d noticed that being able to wear whatever you want allows you to express your personality through your clothes. I wonder how ideas of fashion will continue to develop here.