The emigrant's destiny: The foreign country has not become home, but home has become foreign.
--Alfred Polger (d. 1955), Der Emigrant und die Heimat
Emigranten-Schicksal: Die Fremde ist nicht Heimat geworden. Aber die Heimat Fremde.
Between 2007 and 2009, I lived in Los Angeles after living in Paris for many years. My Paris blog (before and after my Los Angeles sojourn) is Rue Rude.
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So many people wear these here. Why? You have to admit they're hideous.
They're one of those styles, like Uggs boots* and pants falling down, that may not make it to France.
"It's the first time my kid's feet don't stink," said my sister. "They're anti-bacterial."
"You can eat them, you know," said A. "They're made of soybeans or something."
* which got their name from "ugly"
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In Paris, the purest virtue is the object of the filthiest slander.
–Honoré Balzac (1799-1850), in Scènes de la vie privée
À Paris, la vertu la plus pure est l'objet des plus sales calomnies.
Annual Geminids meteor shower (shooting stars!) coming this weekend, if it's not too cloudy out at night.
j'ai croisé un homme qui en portait des noires hier
Posted by: Laurence | 24 September 2007 at 07:01
Peut-être un touriste?
Posted by: Sedulia | 24 September 2007 at 07:12
Oops, sorry, translation of Laurence's comment: "I saw someone wearing black ones yesterday."
Posted by: Sedulia | 24 September 2007 at 07:13
Hi Sedulia! I'm sorry to report that the pants falling down has already arrived! I've seen my 17 year old nephew wearing them (but in more of a skinny jeans version, if you can imagine) and a member of my extended family, who must be about 13 or 14, was wearing a pair at a family function this weekend. I don't think it'll get as bad as the extremes over there though, thank goodness!
Posted by: Vivi | 24 September 2007 at 08:21
I can report that both have arrived in the South-West of France. The shops in Lacanau are full of Crocs and cheap imitations while the lycées of Bordeaux are making new rules about the number of centimetres of skin/caleçon that can be visible above the "waist" of baggy jeans.
Posted by: Lesley | 24 September 2007 at 08:55
Yep, I agree with the others, they've already been here for a while too. And UGG boots became popular in France about a year after they did in the US...and the sad thing is that even though they quickly went out of style back home, I still see girls wearing them here. Sometimes even in the middle of summer!
I also just went to visit the high school where I'll be teaching this year, and there was definitely no shortage of baggy pants either...sorry to burst your bubble!
Posted by: samantha | 24 September 2007 at 09:14
Ah, NON!
Actually, while looking for an illustration, I came across this funny link:
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7124448.html
It shows an invention to show the underwear, while making sure the pants can't fall all the way down!
Posted by: Sedulia | 24 September 2007 at 17:28
I don't suppose you saw this...
Posted by: David | 25 September 2007 at 18:30
I found myself reading your blog after an hour of internet. I would just like to say that I agree. They are, indeed, hideous. I spent summer in Los Angeles, but that is not where I saw them first. They were all over Florence at a Fashion Tradeshow weekend I spent there in winter. Haven't seen them in Paris (I won't add a 'yet' to the end of this sentence so as not to jinx anything). Nice blog, by the way.
Posted by: a | 27 September 2007 at 19:30