I Asked Real French Girls About the Denim They're Actually Wearing

No matter how many DNA tests I take, I can't magically make "5 percent French" appear alongside my real, not as romantic, results. That's not to say channeling French girl fashion is off the table, though. What's the easiest way to unlock my inner (pretend) Parisian? The perfect pair of jeans, but since I'm not even the tiniest bit French, I reached out to authentic locals for the lowdown on denim dressing the French Girl Way.

Once Paris Fashion Week wrapped, and the street style stars that once flooded my FYP returned to their regular rotations, I caught a serious case of Fashion Month withdrawal. How was I supposed to function this fall without minimalists en masse to source for casually cool fashion inspiration? Thankfully, les filles françaises came to my rescue.

"I feel like it’s less of an 'aesthetic' and more of a way of being authentically yourself, and carrying that confidence," Léanne Ansar, a French-American content creator and the founder of the fashion brand Lansar, tells me. For the "no-frills type of everyday jeans that don’t look like you’re trying too hard," Ansar sticks to straight-leg Levi's styles, but she adores denim by Sandro and Rouje. (The latter is a Paris-based brand founded by Jeanne Damas, a fellow French fashion girl.)

Meanwhile, Camille Pidoux, a law student and content creator in Paris, rotates between Sézane, Seour, and A.P.C. in the denim department. However, she focuses more on the silhouette, the quality of the fabric, and "how easily I can style a pair with the rest of my wardrobe," compared to the brand.

"A big part of [the French girl aesthetic] is knowing how to mix casual and more polished pieces, like wearing a beautiful tailored coat with a simple pair of jeans, without ever feeling too dressed up," Pidoux tells me. "I don’t think there’s a magic formula for that famous 'effortlessly chic' energy—if you’re trying too hard to look effortless, doesn’t it kind of defeat the whole purpose?" That said, her everyday uniform features "a good pair of jeans, a simple knit, ballet flats, and a trench coat."

Because of their versatility, Pidoux naturally gravitates toward straight- and wide-leg jeans, as well as indigo and vintage-inspired, medium-blue washes for fall. While trendy dark denim "always feels polished, you definitely don’t have to stick to [it] just because the weather is getting colder," she says.

Now, I'm certainly not a Francophone, but thanks to my French girl denim fairy godmothers, strangers might not automatically assume I'm from the U.S. And that's all I could ask for. So, if you long for jeans that feel French-girl-chic, too, start by taste-testing the denim trends below.

Straight-Leg Jeans

To keep your denim "classic and natural" à la Ansar, consider straight-leg styles in goes-with-everything shades of blue. At Paris Fashion Week, this showgoer wore their ankle-brushing bottoms with other French girl favorites, including a white T-shirt, a brown bomber jacket, and statement Chanel stilettos.

White Jeans

The "no white after Labor Day" rule doesn't apply in Paris. At Fashion Week, it quickly became one of the biggest, and most surprising, street style trends of the Spring 2027 season. The white jeans wave was so influential, that designers like Gabriela Hearst and Stella McCartney continued the craze on the runway. It seems French girls prefer to pair them with something white on top, maybe a ribbed tank top or a slightly oversized T-shirt (both Parisian pieces in their own right).

Dark Denim

Jeans that make you say, "Wait, is that black or blue?" weren't new to Paris Fashion Week this season. French girls have been styling borderline black denim for years, long before Margot Robbie, Blake Lively, and more celebrities brought the trend to the states. This guest matched the moodiness of indigo-dyed denim with an earthy, fur-trimmed jacket and blink-and-you'll-miss-them ballet flats. The dark academia aesthetic is alive and well, I see.

Gray Jeans

White denim, dark denim, gray denim, oh my! French girls embraced every shade under the sun at Fashion Week, but a handful of trendsetters preferred charcoal-colored bottoms to any other hue. This guest layered them beneath Chanel's white Charvet button-down, as if they were a work-appropriate pair of trousers. Leaving the Oxford shirt untucked proved Ansar's "effortless" point. They didn't look like they were trying at all, let alone "too hard."

Ripped Jeans

What looks more "natural" than well-worn denim? Now, there's a trick to wearing ripped jeans like a French girl: they can't be too distressed, one or two holes will do the trick. Then, to elevate the vintage-looking pants, layer a basic button-down on top, but roll up the sleeves and pop the collar. And don't even think about plugging in your iron. That way, the rest of the outfit won't look so pristine.

Baggy Jeans

My definition of wide-leg denim is tame compared to French girl jeans. In Paris, the bottoms aren't just baggy—they defy gravity. Case in point: the voluminous pleated pair that would've looked overwhelmingly boho-chic if it wasn't for this fashion person's cropped blazer and quilted flap bag.

Skinny Jeans

On the opposite end of the French girl spectrum, skinny jeans are on the rise, too. While locals worshipped the cigarette and stovepipe-slim styles of yester-autumn, denim is more skintight than ever.

But having both baggy and form-fitting bottoms on this list proves what I've known all along: French girls aren't the less-is-more minimalists everyone assumes they are. Beneath the trench coats and ballet flats, they're risk takers with a wide range of silhouettes and styles in their wardrobes.