<p>Could one of you kind northerners please help out a Floridian whose son will be traveling to Paris next month on a school trip? I have no idea what weight jacket he’ll need for the weather there. I looked online and it says that the average high is 45, average low is 34. </p>
<p>He has a short leather bomber jacket that cuts the wind pretty well but isn’t all that heavy. And because it’s waist length, it would look weird with a fleece pullover underneath. We have a Burlington Coat Factory in town where I can probably find winter wear, or I could order online from Lands’ End or someplace similar. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>I’d plan on layering something. Chances are he’ll hit that cold rain that Paris does well. So fleece stuff with some sort of water-resistant jacket over it. You could probably pick up something at Old Navy for cheap that will do the job. Something he can ball up for on the plane…</p>
<p>Paris? What’s the number one clothing rule for Paris? You want to blend in and look semi-styly! Leave the tennis shoes at home or bring the Pumas or some other such shoe that will not immediately place you. Try getting on the Intl CC forum and asking them what’s trendy in Paris–for shoes and coats, LOL.</p>
<p>I suggest a black pea coat with the idea of picking up a trendy hat and scarf or two in Paris–but the kids might have soemthing different to say.</p>
<p>I visited Paris in February one year–for three weeks–and FROZE. I can be windy and bitter!</p>
<p>Really? My advice was based on the conversations of my sons and their friends. My oldest lived in London for a few months (where he hung out with a group of French ex-pats and had one French girlfriend and three French female roommates). My youngest is going to London in March for a few months. My two sons wouldn’t dream of wearing ‘trainers’ in Paris. And they would want to blend in with the Parisien kids–on the street and in the clubs.</p>
<p>My wife and son were just there, spending a little over a day there while returning from their lemur expedition in Madagascar. Every one of their shoes and boots had been left behind. The only thing they had were cheap Old Navy flip-flops. Their feet were frozen, so they put on wool socks and walked around the fashion district with just their “Socks and Flops.”</p>
<p>I told my wife to watch the Paris fashion scene in the near future… There may be a new style coming out… :)</p>
<p>Well, I was thinking it’s pretty hard to “blend in” when you’re in a school group. (Mobs of high school tour groups are everywhere in Europe - not all American, but all similarly “teenagery.”) And most of the teenage boys I see in Europe wear jeans and sneakers (even in Paris!). Although, even here, sneakers are looking less sneakerish these days (some kind of “urban thing” goin’ on there. It’s good!).</p>
<p>Either way, I can’t picture my boys suddenly trying to be Euro-fashionistas (or caring a hoot about blending in). They’d think I was nuts. And, truth be told, I’m way too cheap to buy them new stuff they’d never wear here.</p>
<p>I also suspect the high schoolers won’t be spending much time in the clubs with the 20-somethings. (Sucks to be a high schooler.)</p>
<p>Weenie, you’re right. These kids are all typical high school jeans and sneakers types. My son, at least, wouldn’t know high fashion if it hit him over the head. He’s rarely out of t-shirts and cargo shorts.</p>
<p>I’ll look for something waterproof with a fleece lining, then, right? I’ve seen jackets like that but they seem so light. I guess I still think of winter coats as heavy and bulky but now that they have fleece and thinsulate and stuff like that, there’s no need for all that padding.</p>
<p>We took our teenage girls to Paris last Feb. It never rained or snowed, but it was freezing (we are from Cal.) Not sure about boys, but the equivalent of jeans, Ugg boots, black wool pea coat, wool scarf, hat and gloves is what they wore and looked fine with the locals.</p>
<p>Cheers is right on. I guess it depends on if the kids want to blend in or stand out. Nothing screams American more than Fleece, baggy jeans and big white athletic shoes. There’s nothing wrong with being fashionable and wanting to fit in with your surroundings.</p>
<p>Mine was 18 when he lived in London. He went to clubs. The drinking age is 18.</p>
<p>The ‘sneakers’ the European kids wear are not really meant for sport–they are take-offs on the Puma sneaker that I mentioned above. Might be too fine a point but…it is something that kids talk about. </p>
<p>marite…Some French kids might still imitate hip hop–although the skinny stove pipe pant has replaced most of the sagging trousers thank God–but they haven’t imitated American kids with American brand t-shirts for several years now…has been my observation of all the European backpackers and friends of sons passing through. And they don’t wear thick running shoes, do they?</p>
<p>Jeans, jeans, and more jeans, or so it is in Florence. But the ‘sneakers’ are snazzy - gold and silver Nikes are the rage - everyone looks like winged Mercury. Black (not blue) peacoats (for women, occasionally white ones). Scarves of every possible description.</p>
<p>In Italy, drinking age is 16. The local kids, for the most part, don’t get drunk, but the English (and, to a lesser extent, the French and Scandinavians) fly in and get totally wasted.</p>
<p>I don’t recall the hip hop sagging trousers catching on in France; my nieces, when visiting years ago, went “ugh.”
Can’t really say much about boys’ fashions. My nephews are all grown, some with children of their own. I have a couple of nieces still in their teen-age years. They have a great dress sense without slavishly following fashion (one of them is a budding architect).</p>
<p>SBmom, et al: Clubbing on a high school trip?! I find that hard to believe. We’ve been to the jazz clubs in Paris. I must say I have never seen any high school tour groups…but hey, maybe some high schools know secret places. ;)</p>
<p>mini: There are plenty of drunk 16 year old Italians. They just aren’t in clubs or bars. (Too expensive.) Check out their outdoor hang-outs in the big cities, eg. Campo di Fiori in Rome for one.</p>
<p>Well, when I was there on a school tour (the summer between 8th grade & HS) we went wild. Discos, bars, you name it. You find them through the locals, not through your own tour.</p>
</p>
(Mobs of high school tour groups are everywhere in Europe - not all American, but all similarly “teenagery.”) And most of the teenage boys I see in Europe wear jeans and sneakers (even in Paris!). Although, even here, sneakers are looking less sneakerish these days (some kind of “urban thing” goin’ on there. It’s good!).</p>
;)</p>