I'm French, and This Is How I Do Street Style

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(Image credit: @sabinasocol)

Is the street style game influencing how I dress? I’d like to talk to you about my perspective on the whole street style game and how it really affects the way I dress and feel.

Even if I’ve been working in the industry for many years, I’m actually kind of a newbie in the fashion week circles. I used to be an intern or a junior at magazines, so I never really got invited to things. As my influencer career (yes, it’s a career now) and journalist job are growing, I get invited to more things than I used to. I’m really happy about it, but I’m also discovering a whole new world from the inside with its codes that I used to watch with a little bit more distance.

Over time, my perspective on dressing up for fashion shows has sort of changed. To be totally honest, when I was younger, I used to think that the “fashion circus”—as Suzy Menkes has called it—consisted of girls changing in between shows and coming up with crazy outfits to get street styled was not my thing. But I totally changed my mind. Fashion week schedules can be so overwhelming that I now really understand how dressing up, changing outfits 10 times a day, working along with the brands (and the photographers), and wearing total looks to the show is actually a true way of showing that you have perspective on all this and more importantly that you like to have fun and feel good about yourself. And isn’t that all that really matters?

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(Image credit: @sabinasocol)

With that in mind, I’d also like to point out the fact that knowing I’ll (probably) get photographed influences my outfit choices. One of the photographers that I often see outside shows said to me recently that he “liked my style because I didn’t dress up in order to get photographed.” But that’s not entirely true! Getting my picture taken is not my goal, but I do like to be more playful with my outfits in circumstances like fashion shows. Like I said before, having fun and feeling good about yourself is the most important part. Now, would I wear a total pink look on a day-to-day basis? I’m not sure (although I might). But I’m totally fine with going to the playful side for these occasions.

As for French girls, I feel like they also play the “fashion circus” game. Of course they’ll wear a look from a brand—the only difference is I believe it’s mostly done with this French touch of je ne sais quoi. It’s not necessarily super done or perfect and it’s not necessarily a total look. Just their own style and vibe with a little twist (in French, we would call that a clin d’oeil, which translates as a winky face). It’s simply alive and flawed, which is good, in my opinion. After all, fashion is not that serious.

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(Image credit: @sabinasocol)

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Sabina Socol
Contributor

Who’s your style icon?
I don’t have just one. I’m a sponge when in comes to style icons and get inspired by my entourage, the girls I follow on Instagram, famous actresses like Catherine Deneuve.

What are your 5 favorite people to follow on Instagram?
Alexandra Spencer @4thandbleeker for her amazing taste and style, and her brand @realisationpar, for the clothes of course and the cool art direction. @leandramedine and @pandorasykes, I just love their input on fashion and their sense of humor. And @c__l__o for inspiration and their beautifully curated selection of images.

What’s the fashion essential you can’t live without?
A pair of high waisted blue jeans.

What’s your desert island album?
Jungle