Did you know Paris has its own version of blue laws?
And furthermore, did you know that it’s technically illegal for women to wear pants in Paris?
The fashion capital — which is known as much for Audrey-style cropped pants and boatneck tees as it is for trenches-as-dresses — has banned pants for women since 1800, when females wishing to dress as males had to show up to the police station to ask for permission before stepping into their trousers.
The Telegraph follows the evolution of the law in this article, which eventually allowed women to wear pants while riding a horse, and then a bicycle. The law was addressed again in 2003, but then Prime Minister Sarkozy refused to get involved, saying “Disuse is sometimes more efficient than (state) intervention in adapting the law to changing mores.”
Maybe that’s why Carla Bruni’s dressed so demurely lately.
