I have just finished watching the second series of Emily In Paris (Netflix’s frothy tale of a young American at large in the capital). The first series I was mainly interested in the cute rom com plot. I did pay attention to Emily’s outfits – mainly wishing I had the chutzpah (and the budget) to wear those sorts of outfits in my 20’s, but I did not really notice Sylvie beyond enjoying her Cruella de Vil, French boss persona. However this series for me it was all about the visual spectacle. The city, the fashion, the fashion, and the fashion.
I found myself wanting Sylvie’s wardrobe – all of it, and of course the places to wear it. Did I want her lifestyle too? Yes a little… she is deliberately portrayed as emotionally unencumbered, she has a husband and a much younger boyfriend – she is at one with her sexuality. You see her making some brave choices to be upfront about this relationship – there is a classic scene when the waiter assumes her lover is her son, and so she kisses him in front of everyone.. I do wonder a bit that we still need to make these points about what older women are entitled to do with their personal lives as forcefully as all that, however I guess its not unrealistic.
Circling back to her wardrobe though she maintains the perfect balance of sexiness, drama and sophistication. That terrible phrase mutton dressed as lamb – you would never think that about anything Sylvie wears. Her super fit body certainly helps too but its her attitude that carries things through. She also sticks to classics with a twist, in general lower hem lengths with a sexy split or a dress with cut out or asymmetric details. The fabrics and cut are also wonderful – they skim and highlight her figure.
After watching the series and reading the articles about her character like – https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-8851081/Emily-Pariss-sexiest-stylish-woman-57-French.html
I also realised I was feeling a bit better about myself and not being all that young anymore… Sylvie makes it okay to have some wrinkles, and to show off a body that while very toned clearly does belong to a normal 58 year old woman. She may have had some help here and there but if she has it is sufficiently subtle. She also makes it okay to enjoy wearing glamorous outfits that flatter her. Obviously she works in the marketing industry where more conspicuous style is important which gives her a bit more licence. However, my experience of the workplace was very different, and I always felt that the most important thing to do was to blend in. You need to look as much like everyone else as possible, should not wear clothes that stand out, and you should definitely not look at all sexy. But Sylvie is giving us permission to love our wardrobes, to wear them and to own how they make us feel, and if people admire us all the better. And for these reasons, we could all do with a bit more Sylvie in our lives.
Anyway I thought it would be fun to see if I could put together some Sylvie type outfits from what I have in my existing wardrobe. It was a little challenging – firstly because its been a few years since I really wore any formal workwear. In my most recent job I was working in tech which is very much dress down. Secondly – I also realised quite quickly that partly why Sylvie looks so fantastic is because of the quality of what she is wearing. Pretty much everything is mid to high end designer, unlike my outfits as you will see below.
If you are interested in actually sourcing the pieces she is wearing then of course that has already been thought of and here are a couple of websites to get you started, see
How to recreate Sylvie’s outfits from Emily in Paris season 2 and https://wornontv.net/emily-in-paris/sylvie/
In terms of what I am wearing – its a real mixture of thrifted and some classic old high street workwear pieces.
- Outfit 1 – black dress (old Zara), black sequin jacket worn over shoulders (charity shop), black t bar suedette block heel sandals (old M and S), stretch pink and purple belt (who knows c. early 2000s?.. :))
- Outfit 2 – Black YSL dupe bag (charity shop – £3!) blue dress (old Zara) black and white check coat (old Primark), shoes and belt as before,
- Outfit 3 – blush/black dress (charity shop), jacket, belt, bag and shoes as before
- Outfit 4 – copper shirt (charity shop) slouchy black trousers (Primark – last season), dark brown leather ankle boots (old Zara), faux leather belt (Amazon)
