Who Are You? What Back-to-School Fashion Choices Say

We use various ways to express ourselves. We either use words or we use other symbols. We make use of signals, we make use of gestures and we also make use of fashion to tell the world what we want to say. When we put on our clothes for the day, it is like we are declaring to the world our attitude for the day. This is the reason why it is so interesting to observe the back-to-school fashion preferences of people. The back to school fashion preference of a person shows who he will be for the whole term in a nutshell.

There are those people who wear practically the same thing they did in the last term. The bad thing about this is that this could be an indication of little to no personal growth in the past term. This could be an indication that the person did not mature in the past year. What could make this worse is if that person had been wearing the same fashion for more than 5 years. That could be an indicator of a serious problem.

The positive interpretation of this could be that the person has matured enough to have found his or her identity in life. This type of back-to-school fashion could indicate that a person is already perfectly happy with the image that he or she presents and that they feel no urge to change. It could also be an indication that the person has had a great past year and wishes to recapture that year.

There are people who exhibit great changes in their back to school fashion. There is also a good side and a bad side to this. The good interpretation of this is that the person has experienced an epiphany. A change in back-to-school fashion could be an indicator that a person has reached a new level of maturity and is ready to face the world with a new attitude. He or she could be declaring to the world that he or she is a new person, changed for the better and willing to tackle the world head on.

There is also a dark side to this change in back-to-school fashion. A person could have suffered from an event so cataclysmic that it required the person to reject his or her old personality entirely. A drastic change in back-to-school fashion could be akin to a person screaming, "I am not who I used to be. It will not happen to me anymore!". Not all changes are 100% good or 100% bad, though - life is rarely that simple!

There are students whose back to school fashion is based on what a certain group is wearing. The positive side to this is that it indicates social acceptance. A person who has this type of back to school fashion shows that he or she is sociable and knows how to make friends with at least a certain group of people. However, this could also be an indication of a lack of initiative. People who dress the way others do may do so because they don't really have any idea of what to wear. They let their groups decide their fashion because without the group, they really have no idea who they are.

So you can see that back to school fashion is a great indicator of who a person is (or thinks they are!)

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Shoppping for Women's Clothes in Paris

Paris has become synonymous with women's fashion. From the late 19th century, the world has looked to the City of Light for its fashion direction. To take home a piece of Paris fashion, consider the following:

Department Stores

Don't dismiss Parisian department stores as a source of fashion. They can be a great place to see a wide range of styles and designers - all under one roof. The larger stores even have a number of mini-boutiques representing the "big name" designers within the store.

* Galeries Lafayette - Built in 1906, this belle epoque multi-level shopping palace is as much fun to look at as it is to shop in. Each floor circles an atrium overlooking the bustling main cosmetics floor. The store specializes in women's clothing and accessories. The view from the tea shop on the top floor is worth the visit. The Galeries Lafayette offers free fashion shows on Wednesdays.

* Le Printemps - Located near the Palais Garnier, this huge store is noted for its household goods as well as its fashion. The store offers many services for American visitors, including shipping, translation, and a personal shopping service. Printemps offers several free fashion shows each week.

* Bon Marche - Located on the Left Bank, this stylish store was Paris' first department store. Designed by Gustave Eiffel (of Eiffel Tower fame), it is particularly known for its younger, slightly off-beat fashion.

Haute Couture

Since the late 19th century, Paris has been the undisputed Queen of fashion. Designers, such as Chanel, Dior, Givenchy, Balenciaga, and Schiaparelli have all contributed to making the Parisian Haute Couture industry the best in the world. More recently, Christian LaCroix and Karl Lagerfeld have helped to perpetuate that status. Many of the great fashion houses are located in side streets jutting off of the Champs Elysees near the Place de la Concorde.

Getting into a fashion show at one of the major houses can be difficult if you're not an A-list celebrity or have a seven-figure checking account. Your best bet is to enlist your hotel's concierge. (Remember to tip him well.) Failing that, most of the most famous houses have adjacent pret-a-porter (ready to wear) stores, where you can find manufactured versions (but still well-made and tailored) of the singular haute couture fashions.

Les Boutiques

The younger and more modern French designers have mostly opted to open their own retail stores and forego expensive haute couture operations. These stores, with names such as Sonia Rykiel, Thierry Mugler, and Kenzo are largely concentrated in the area surrounding the Right Bank fashion houses, along the Left Bank, and around the Place de la Victoire. Prices are still somewhat steep, but generally much less than those at the "big name" houses.

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