Earlier in the summer, I took the plunge and crossed a long-cherished goal off my bucket list: I spent an entire month in the south of France. Mid-May, I packed up my laptop and a breezy capsule wardrobe, boarded my EasyJet flight and took off on my working holiday of dreams in the idyllic Riviera.
In between sipping rosé on my balcony and cooling off in the Mediterranean Sea, I snapped into fashion writer-mode and paid attention to what the locals were wearing. And let me tell you, it wouldn’t take a keen-eyed, clothes-obsessed tourist like myself to notice the sheer volume of elegant coastal outfits on display.
Côte d’Azur style differs slightly from the Parisian aesthetic we know and love; not least because it’s usually several degrees warmer there. You can expect the familiar streamlined and trend-averse approach to dressing, but you’re likely to spot brighter palettes and lighter fabrics the further south you go. In general, ensembles are geared more towards a relaxed seaside culture than a busy urban lifestyle. Crisp whites, azure blues and rich tan accents characterised many of the looks I mentally filed for inspiration, with basket bags, silk scarves and cat-eye sunnies out in full force.
By my fourth week there, certain sartorial patterns had emerged, and I realised I was seeing some of the same formulas on repeat. After digging around on Instagram, I found six looks that capture the distinctive south of France style I’ll be trying to re-create for the rest of the summer. Keep scrolling to see the effortless outfit combinations that grabbed my attention over and over again.