THE EIGHT WARDROBE STAPLES EVERY FRENCH WOMAN SWEARS BY
No matter how many articles there are about Scandi chic, the glamour of Italian “La Sciura” nonnas, or minimalist Carolyn Bessette–alike New Yorkers, no nationality is quite as sartorially aspirational as the French. Jane Birkin may have been British-born, but along with Coco Chanel, she came to epitomise French style, and we still aspire to her look today.
The current French muse du jour is Jeanne Damas, the coquettish Paris-based founder with a 1.5 million-strong Instagram following devoted to her style.
A decade ago, she smartly channelled that enthusiasm into a fashion brand of her own, Rouje. Like Damas herself, its offering is uncompromisingly feminine and unmistakably French. It’s about as close as you can get to selling je ne sais quoi.
Here, she shares the eight wardrobe essentials every aspiring French woman should own.
Ballerina shoes
If there’s one shoe every self-respecting French woman has in her wardrobe, it’s a ballerina. “I have, like, 50 pairs of ballerinas. I love ballerinas,” Damas says. “For me, it’s the most chic thing.”
For a non-fashion person, they might seem a little traditional and staid, she notes, “like for a bourgeois woman in the 16th arrondissement”. For her, though, they’re a second skin: “I see them more in a Brigitte Bardot or Jane Birkin way, really delicate. They go with everything, with jeans, with a dress, with skirts. They’re really comfortable, like my equivalent to sneakers. I never wear sneakers.”
Her collection extends beyond her own brand offering, although she insists: “At Rouje, we have the perfect ones.” Also populating her collection? “I love vintage Chanel. Repetto, because they are super classic and soft. And New York label Maryam Nassir Zadeh.”
She’s less keen on Mary Janes, a style the French refer to as “Babies”: “They’re really British. I prefer real ballerinas.”
The perfect jeans
“I’m obsessed with jeans,” Damas admits. “I love them when they’re not too high, not too low [in the waist]. I prefer a straight leg, blue denim, very classic.”
Her preference in fit has changed over the years, though. “Before, I used to wear really fitted jeans, but since becoming a mother, I need comfort in my life,” she says. “So I’ve worn them a little bigger over the past three or four years, and I think it’s more chic. It’s like clothes in general – when you have a bigger sweater or coat, it can bring a certain allure and chic.”
Trench
Damas swears by a good trench coat, because it’s an outfit in itself. “It is an absolute essential,” she says. “I love the allure of a trench. Last autumn, I wore one for three months straight.” Now that it’s spring, she’ll return to that formula.
Don’t feel you need to stick to basic beige, though. “I have a leopard one that I love,” she says. It’s from Rouje, naturellement, the “Gerard” style (£410, Rouje). Another go-to is a “fake black” trench from Toteme. “It’s really big and oversized, with an exaggerated storm flap at the back. It’s really chic with ballerinas and a beautiful bag.”
Wrap dress
The perfect wardrobe needs a wrap dress, Damas insists. She’s been wearing them since she started borrowing her mother’s clothes as a teenager. “I never follow trends,” she says. “I’ve always loved a wrap dress. It reminds me of a Monica Bellucci kind of woman, really feminine, and it’s very easy to get dressed and undressed.
“It’s timeless, you know, you can never be wrong with a wrap dress, even if it’s not fashionable – it’s just timeless for me.”
She likes a pattern on her dresses, and all of the prints at Rouje are drawn by hand in-house. “Sometimes the inspiration comes from a series or film, or it can be a vintage dress, or even just a painting. It comes from everywhere.”
Lipstick
“I never go out without something on my lips,” Damas says. “Even for sport or the school run, even if I don’t wear foundation or anything on the eyes, my lips are always dressed.”
Like most lovers of a bold lip, she has an array of colours from different brands, with different textures and formulations. Naturally, she has developed her own product, too. “In my bag is the classic palette. I love to mix my lipsticks, so I decided to create a palette with multiple colours.”
Also on her dressing table? “Dries Van Noten products – I collect them, I have everything. I like Chanel, too, the ink lipsticks, they are really soft in texture. My lip liner is from Victoria Beckham Beauty.”
Men’s jumpers
Damas leans towards men’s jumpers, some borrowed from her husband, others bought to share. “I like a bigger men’s sweater in cashmere, with a V-neck,” she says.
The one she’s wearing during our interview is in charcoal grey wool, and there’s no label inside. “It’s a perfect wool, like, it’s really masculine wool, and I love it. It’s really simple.”
A well-sized statement bag
Damas prefers her handbags to have no visible branding. “My business partner wants us to have logos. I’m always like, no, I don’t like logos,” she says. “It’s not good for business, but I love them like that.”
“I used to wear only mini bags, but since becoming a mother, I’ve opted for bigger bags. So we created the ‘Big’ bag, and it’s a bestseller. I never get bored of it. I have the brown and the zebra – because I like to keep things simple with jeans, it’s really important to carry a statement bag to add a little cool, a little drama.”
Jewellery
Damas doesn’t wear many necklaces, but she is wearing one today, during our interview, because it’s new. “I’m not used to it, but I love it,” she says. “It’s really beautiful. It’s from Lies Studio.”
She also wears an “Escargot” ring by Sophie Bille Brahe (pictured), given to her by her husband after they welcomed their second child. Otherwise, her jewellery collection is populated by her sister’s brand Louise Damas. “I have a lot of earrings from her. Some hoops, all my staple jewellery. Everything is made in a little atelier in Paris, it’s super beautiful.”
2026-04-07T12:00:54Z