Classic or Avant-garde
Find your own way of dressing through Parisian aesthetics
INTRODUCTION
Which style do you prefer?
A Classic look that allows trench coats, ties, and slacks to blend into the city through ease and pattern.
An Avant-garde look that updates everyday wear by changing the proportions of a denim jacket, striped shirt, and wide pants.
What we use is clothing that is familiar in both cases. Yet the impressions differ greatly because it is not just about what you wear—it is about what you keep and what you change that makes the difference.
In this comparison, we do not decide which is better. The goal is for you to find the elements you are drawn to from the two looks, and bring them with you into your next outfit.
| CLASSIC OR AVANT-GARDE? | CLASSIC | AVANT-GARDE |
|---|---|---|
| Starting point | Trench coats, ties, slacks | Denim, shirts, wide pants |
| Parts to change | How the fit, patterns, and accessories connect | Length, width, and how the garments appear |
| The flow of the gaze | Connect smoothly from top to bottom | Create contrast between the upper and lower body |
| How to create individuality | Layer information within a monochromatic palette | Add variation to proportion and structure |
| If you are trying it for the first time | Loosely tie the belt of the coat | Pair a short outer layer with a long bottom |
WHY PARIS?
Parisian character is not determined by the origin of any single item.
Trench Coat Classical yet practical—the balance is an essential element for expressing a distinctly Parisian look.
Meanwhile, Paris is a city that has repeatedly refreshed its ideals of beauty, as symbolized by the Paris collections. A sense of freedom that lightly crosses the boundary of gender; the beauty of vivid color and contrasting styles coming together harmoniously.
Tradition and innovation. The atmosphere that naturally embraces both is what shapes Paris fashion.
What has made this city’s fashion truly interesting is not tradition alone, nor novelty alone. It is the way it has accepted clothing born from different cultures, and chosen what to keep and what to change.
This time, let us take a closer look at specific styling, drawing inspiration from Parisian aesthetics.
PARIS CLASSIC｜THE ART OF SOFTENING
Refine tailored clothing into a state you can move in
The basic set of trench coat, shirt, tie, and slacks carries a tension that is close to formalwear.
In this look, rather than distorting its shape, it creates space between the clothing and the body.
The long trench coat does not cinch the waist strongly; together with wide slacks, it creates long vertical lines. Because the collar, front placket, belt, and pleats retain an elegant, refined look, the overall effect never feels vague even with added ease.
Another highlight is that the pattern is not reduced, yet it still appears calm.
A Christian Dior patterned shirt and a printed tie that evokes the look of a newspaper page. By layering distinct motifs—checks, landscapes, and text—we limit the palette to shades of black, white, and ecru.
Not by reducing the amount of information, but by setting rules for color. That is why, when you close the coat, only the pattern remains at the neckline; when you remove it, the entire shirt appears—such changes do not look excessive either.
The finishing touches are handled by accessories.
Unify an HERMÈS casquette, leather gloves, and GUCCI sunglasses within the range from beige to brown. The gold chain of the HERMÈS Alcazar bag and the hardware on your wrist are coordinated as well.
With a large coat, pair a small bag; for multiple patterns, match with limited colors. It is not about making everything understated—by organizing the balance of emphasis and restraint, you preserve a sense of refinement.
| CLASSIC STYLE MAP | The role in the LOOK. | If you want to try it with clothes you already have, |
|---|---|---|
| A long coat. | Create soft vertical lines. | Do not tighten the belt strongly—only neaten the collar. |
| Wide slacks. | Ease the tension of formal wear. | Leave the crispness with center creases. |
| Patterned shirts and ties | Add depth without increasing the number of colors. | Limit patterns to two, and keep them within the same color range. |
| Leather accessories. | Connect the colors and elegance of your whole look. | Match either the bag and belt, or the shoes and watch. |
From here, what you should take home is not the idea of assembling the same brands or the same items.
When wearing elegant clothing, do not make everything rigid and orderly—only loosen the fit. When using patterns, do not reduce the number of them; instead, align the colors. With just these two adjustments, natural breathing room appears between formal wear and everyday life.
PARIS AVANT-GARDE｜THE ART OF SHIFTING
Change the proportions of familiar clothing.
The starting point here is a pale denim jacket, a blue striped shirt, and an ivory wide pant.
The items themselves are familiar, but they are combined with unusual lengths and widths.
Keep the jacket short, and set the shirt cuffs and pants to be long. By making the upper body look smaller and the lower body look larger, you can see the proportions shift—not only in the outfit, but in your body as well.
When wide pants are still, they can also look like a long skirt; when you walk, the left and right legs and the slits come into view. It blurs the classification—whether they are pants or a skirt, menswear or womenswear—depending on how you move.
In the 1980s, even the garments presented in Paris by Rei Kawakubo, Yohji Yamamoto, and others challenged the Western standards of the body and beauty through different proportions and free layering. Vogue looks back on this period as one when clothing was treated as an idea and existing conventions were reconsidered.
However, this outfit is not a straightforward reproduction of that history. Instead, the thinking behind it has been translated into everyday wear today.
Keep the clothing light with pale blue, white, and ivory, and unify them in black: Ferragamo bags, CHANEL sunglasses, and Maison Margiela tabi boots.
Black is not just an accent color; it is a frame that gives boundaries to the freely moved lengths and widths.
Limit the places where you change the silhouette to the sleeves and pants, and control everything else with shared colors. That is exactly why, without making every item eccentric, sculptural dressing still works within the everyday setting of the city.
| AVANT-GARDE STYLE MAP | The role in the LOOK. | If you want to try it with clothes you already have, |
|---|---|---|
| A short jacket. | Make the waistline look higher. | Choose outerwear whose hem ends at the waist. |
| Long cuffs. | Change the proportion of the arms. | Let the shirt cuffs show from beneath the outerwear. |
| A wide, substantial bottom. | Make the shape and classification of your legs feel ambiguous. | Substitute with hakama-style pants or a long skirt. |
| Black accessories. | Stabilize light tones and free-form shapes. | Coordinate with black: a bag and shoes, or glasses and shoes. |
What you should take as a reference here is not the search for special kinds of clothing.
Change the length of one area of the clothing you usually wear: make the cuffs appear longer. Add a black bag to lighten-colored clothing. Even just those small adjustments can make a familiar combination begin to look new.
CLASSIC VS AVANT-GARDE
By narrowing down what you communicate, the impression remains even stronger.
Two when placed side by side, the biggest difference is not the amount of decoration.
A trench LOOK uses many elements—pattern, tie, hat, gloves, and a bag. Even so, it appears calm because there is continuity in the colors and the silhouette.
A denim LOOK holds back on decoration itself. Still, it looks striking because there is a clear contrast between the short upper portion and the larger lower portion.
| Where to compare | CLASSIC | AVANT-GARDE |
|---|---|---|
| Movement of the gaze | Flow continuously from top to bottom | Switch between the upper and lower body |
| How to create individuality | Edit patterns, colors, and accessories in fine detail | Change the lengths, widths, and opening styles |
| Your relationship with your body | Create breathing room inside the clothing for movement | Use clothing to change how the body proportions appear |
| The role of accessories | Connect the entire look smoothly | Create a clear boundary across the whole outfit |
| Points to note | Do not increase the number of colors too much | Do not increase the number of places you alter too much |
What you learn through comparison is whether you are drawn more to “connection” or “difference.”
Do you want to coordinate colors and accessories down to the details? Or do you want to shift one silhouette element and change the overall impression?
There is meaning in placing these two side by side: the idea that intuitive preferences can be translated into concrete methods.
FIND YOUR ENTRY POINT
From your preferences for clothing, there is no need to decide who you are. When you check where your eyes are drawn, the next outfits you should try become clear.
| What you are drawn to | What to try next |
|---|---|
| A soft, elongated silhouette | Match the width of a long coat to wide-leg pants |
| A neck area layered with patterns | Pair shirts and scarves in the same color range |
| A sense of unity in leather accessories | Match your bag and shoes, or your belt and watch |
| Short outer layer and long pants | Create a clear difference between the upper and lower lengths |
| Long cuffs or slits | Emphasize only one place: the sleeve, collar, or hem |
| Contrast between pale tones and black | Place black on two of the three—face, hands, and footwear |
HOW TO TRY
| LEVEL | CLASSIC | AVANT-GARDE |
|---|---|---|
| EASY | Loosely tie the belt of the coat | Pair a short outer layer with a long bottom |
| STANDARD | Add one spot of pattern and coordinate accessories in matching tones | Add one place of either long cuffs or a slit |
| HIGH-END | Layer patterns within the same color range, coordinating even the hardware | Control the entire look with black accessories while shifting the proportions |
BETWEEN CLASSIC AND AVANT-GARDE
You do not have to choose just one of them—you can also combine two methods.
| Foundation | Add an element | A transformation that comes to life |
|---|---|---|
| Trench coat and slacks | Let long cuffs show from the sleeve opening | A structured sense of unease adds interest to a impeccably neat look |
| Cropped jackets and wide-leg pants | Coordinate leather accessories in brown | Bold proportions soften and fall into place |
| Patterned shirts and ties | Shorten the outer layer | Where decorative detail and new proportions coexist |
| Layering in pale tones | Pair it with a small classic bag | Light color palettes enriched with refined delicacy |
Perhaps you will find your own way of dressing right in between.
A style that is uniquely yours is not something you can fix into a single name.
What Paris Classic shows is how to wear well-tailored clothes with softness.
What Paris Avant-garde shows is a way to change the ratio of everyday wear and present it in a new light.
One approach preserves the form to soften tension. The other keeps the clothing but shifts the premise.
By selecting elements drawn from different styles and adjusting them to suit your body, your lifestyle, and the clothes you already have on hand, your own style takes shape.
If you would like to further explore a style that is truly your own.
Two ways of dressing learned from London culture (PUNK or Y2K) ➔ Two ways of dressing learned from New York values (PREPPY or STREET) ➔
