The French people pride themselves on their sense of clothing style, and they do seem to have a natural intuition about how to wrap a scarf around their neck, "just so." In 1858 the first maison de haute couture opened in Paris and it took off from there. Sure enough, this marked the beginning of France's reign as the fashion capital of the world. Some haute couture designers of the twentieth century such as Coco Chanel, and Yves Saint Laurent are household names all over the world, even though most people cannot afford to own the clothes they make. Can you imagine that a single dress might cost twenty thousand dollars? Part of the reason is because many highly skilled craftspeople are involved in the creating of each and every handmade piece of clothing.

Of course, the world has changed, and there are shows not only in Paris every spring and fall, but also in Milan and New York, as well as couture designers from all over Europe, Japan, and the United States. Not only that, but some people dress somewhat more casually now in France and kids may wear sports clothes to school and other places. However, just as in other European countries, neither kids nor adults will walk around on the streets in athletic clothing or sweatpants, and with the exception of kids under ten years old, no one wears shorts except for at the beach.

Teenagers in France tend to wear lighter colors than American teens, but in general taste in colors depends mostly on the individual. There are always the fads that come and go every year of course. For example, recently everyone is crazy for red and wearing red Puma suede sneakers these days. Jeans and fashion tennis shoes are always popular with everyone. Since all French people seem to have an inborn confidence in their personal styles, even though teens do pay attention to la marque (the brand), in the end they will rely more on their own tastes than some American kids do. Kids may be limited in their clothing choices, though, since parents are involved in making those choices. And just as in the United States, some private schools have uniforms. Even so, most kids manage to develop a sense of their own style from a young age. Did you notice this from the video interviews?