"Paris is always a good idea".
Audrey Hapburn

Guess what? I'm in Paris! Not for fun though... School business, ain't it (for fun I'd go a week earlier. Fashion Week, why'd you have to be a week???). So instead of extensive shopping, I'll be analysing and theorizing about museums and culture and old stuff. Yay. I'll shed some tears when we walk pass the Chanel store. But I'll just keep in mind that if I actually see the prices on those beautiful garments, I'll cry even harder (the so close yet so far away-effect). However, before going to Paris I'll need to get some stuff done. School stuff naturally. But also the more fun stuff, like: what should I wear that's practical but will also make Karl flabbergasted (before you know it I'm surrounded by the goodness I desire so much *sigh*).

Au revoir.

Thus with the French Files I'll document, or file if you like, my journey. Which sounds quite cheesy and deep... like "my journey I call life", but I guess that's basically the essence of a blog. Me writing about me in my spare time (like Benjamin Cook sort of said in episode 12 of Becoming Youtube: Why are you really doing this? For me. I'm basically writing down all these words for me... which makes me think about other stuff... maybe I should write a seperate blogpost about this. Yeah. I should do that. Will I do that? Well, we'll see, we'll see...). So lets go!

I believe that there are different types of ways one can get dressed. Hereby not talking about what someone puts on, but about how someone gets to the business of putting something on in the first place. I've settled down with 5 different types of dressers without an hierarchy. This means that the type of dresser you are can change by day. However I've noticed that everyone's got their preferences.

I, for instance, am an Emotional dresser. If I put something together the night before (The one day before dresser) I absolutely hate it the next morning. So for me it's going to be a great challenge of putting something together I'll still adore when on the road. I think this is also a good excercise to define the things I truely like and maybe turn this emotion into something a bit more steady.


To define which type of dresser you are, you can question yourself a few things which ought to correlate with one of the types stated below (if not, well, I'm sorry). Hereby you should assume that the dressing takes place on a normal/day-to-day/average day. Look at how you've organized the business of dressing itself. For instance, do you pull everything together an evening in advance? A week in advance? 10 minutes in advance? 1 second in advance? Every type is provided with a commentation, which is quite self explanatory, even if I say so myself.

THE CHAOTIC DRESSER
The chaotic dresser puts on whatever lays on the ground (or what she can define as clothing). She doesn't put much thought into the outfit and is often challenged with limited time. The chaotic dresser has to make key decisions under pressure.

THE EMOTIONAL DRESSER
The emotional dresser puts her outfit together in the morning. Her dressing rate is inconsistend and decissions are based upon the mood she's in. The emotional dresser faces often frustration when she can't find what she wants and can turn into the chaotic dresser as time pressures her (the socalled f*ck it-effect).

THE ONE DAY BEFORE DRESSER
The one day before dresser is self explanatory. She coordinates her outfit the day before she's going to wear it. This often gets done the night before, so she's ready to get up and put everything on without too much hassle the next morning (hereby not talking about the night of creation).

THE PLANNER
The planner is an expansion or exaggeration of the one day before dresser. She plans her outfits a week before wearing it. This routine often gets put together on Sunday and overlaps often until the Saturday (Sunday being a lazy day). The planner knows what to wear every day, but is less adapting when faced with changes.

THE FUNCTIONAL DRESSER
The functional dresser gets dressed with a certain special purpose. She takes into account the situation she's heading into and dresses appropiately. You can for instance think of going out (dressing up) or going for a run or naturally having a lazy Sunday (I love lazy Sundays. I wish every day was a lazy Sunday).

Why, you might think, is it important to know what type of dresser you are? Maybe it isn't that important (like you know, not forgetting to pack your toothbrush and medicines), but it is something one could think about so one could get the better of it. Yes, one could do that. You've got this Dutch saying about how you can only do something if you know what that something is -quite literally: if you want to know the size of an elephant, you've got to measure him up. Because by measuring you'll know ("meten is weten"). And I'd dearly like to know what kind of dresser you are... *smirks deviously*

Love,
Dominique