The Vault Abroad with Marlo Pulliam
Written by: Marlo Pulliam
Bonjour mes amis! Je m’appelle Marlo et j’adore la mode! I chose Paris as my study abroad location because it’s the fashion capital of the world (what could be better), the food (best in the world), and the culture (I minor in French at Wisconsin and here I get to study photography, fashion, architecture, cuisine, and cinema). The culture of independence for Parisians is an inspiration for me—I love that they all have their own passions here. It’s always been a dream of mine to live in “la ville de l’amour” at some point of my life, d’accord pourquoi pas maintenant!
To divulge, it’s no secret Parisians possess incredible contour and eyes for fashion. My initial perspective was that they only wore black and I could only pack such; a hard pill to swallow for someone like me because I love wearing color and mismatching patterns. Thankfully, the fashion here is so diverse. The only thing that does stand true to my predispositions is that everyone always dresses nice, no sweats nor workout wear. This is something I particularly love because you can never be overdressed when you show up to show out; you merely just fit in. I was talking to a friend about the American informality of sweats in public and how when you dress up people have a tendency to comment on it, but here it’s the opposite.
Whether you like fashion or not, everyone makes an active decision on what they wear each day based on their closet filled with their preferences and personalities. For me, getting dressed up is a form of bonding—a conversation starter—and gives you a little insight into someone’s character. First impressions are so important and personal style is a big part of that. In Paris, dressing up is ingrained in their society as a social standard; it’s a faux pas to not look presentable in your day-to-day life. However, even though people don’t dress on trend in Paris, being a fashion capital they are the culture to make the trends. My favorite way to get style inspiration for Parisian streetwear is to sit at a cafe and people-watch.
The French love the arts and that’s where most of their inspiration comes from, so I’ve been integrating myself by going to museums every week. My favorite so far is the La Musee De L’Orangerie: Monet’s Water Lilies because it makes you get in touch with your emotions. The whole room surrounds you and the silence is awakening. You become grounded and flashbacks of joy and sorrow embrace you. During different seasons or different times of day, it gives off a different ambiance. It makes you self-reflect—as any good piece of art should. Going to these museums has made me realize that the Parisians are very in tune with their emotions. They express their feelings through art, music, and fashion which I believe is the most beautiful way possible.
Surprisingly, makeup is not a priority but looking chic and original is. Monochromatic outfits, mismatched patterns, contradicting textures, or structures of outfits will constantly catch your eye as you walk the streets of Paris. Layering is a very common craze within the Parisian fashion trends. That being said, every single jaw-dropping outfit is simply a work of art. Unlike Madison, you want to stand out in a crowd for having a bold and one-of-a-kind outfit, and that’s how you get noticed— in a good way. An easy hack to dressing stylishly is the sandwich method: two things that go together on the outside—whether hat and pants or top and shoes—and in the middle something random or fun and ... voila!
To embrace the Parisian culture of creating your clothing exhibition of couture, you can explore curated vintage at high-price boutique collections, but with a good eye and a little more time, you can find the most amazing pieces for minimal cost in smaller vintage stores. I’ve had the most luck with that in the 4th Arrondissement—-the Marais. They also have very reputable flea markets every weekend, (similar to Madison’s Farmers Market but much more luxurious) where you can find little trinkets, jewelry, and clothing vendors! Europeans value quality in clothing over quantity, which is different from the United States because even the cheapest markets are not at the same price value as the US. However, you will find pieces that last a longer time and people will hold onto them forever—Paris is all about buying items with more intention.
This is a beautiful sentiment to me because your pieces hold more meaning to you, and promote the idea of sustainability and repurposing clothing instead of letting it go to the landfills. America holds 11.3 million pounds of textile waste each year which is a disturbing quantity. In Paris, there are so many sustainable brands including one of our own: Henri Clarke’s @THR_thericestudio, where he repurposes clothing with his unique twist! To lean into the cultures of repurposing and sustainability, I am starting a curated vintage label @missmarloscloset where I will be reselling the unique pieces I find that are collectibles, for you to cherish forever. This semester our theme for The Vault is sustainability, so please be conscientious, do your part, and research about how and where you shop. Bisous my fashionistas! <3
Edited by: Lauren Veum & Max Bublik
