Jeanne Damas: Elements of Style

jeanne damas wearing sunglasses and a black dress

Journalist and influencer Jeanne Damas built a business and a brand on her personal style: easy, breezy, more fanciful and less urban than someone like Emmanuelle Alt: a Parisian, of course, but a Parisian whose grandparents own an old stone house in Avignon….

Damas grew up in Paris’s decidedly non-fashion-y 12th arrondissement, where her parents owned a bistro. (They’ve since gone on to open a different restaurant, Philou, in the 10th, which is amazing.) She’s graduated from It Girl-ness to found Rouje, which expertly channels her whole chillaxed vibe, both through the brand itself and via collabs with brands like J. Crew. 

If you’d like a sense of who she is, buy her book, In Paris: 20 Women on Life in the City of Light, written with French journalist Lauren Bastide (the woman behind the excellent, and mostly but not entirely en françaisLa Poudre podcast). Or consider one of the style keys below: high-waisted, straight-leg jeans; French market bags, cropped cardigans, or most devastatingly of all, romantic midi dresses. 

For shoes, click over to this piece covering a huge range of her picks — and for sunglasses, see here. And as always, affiliate links below. 

1. High-rise, straight-leg jeans

Is there a better way to wear jeans? The higher rise is the perfect complement to all those cropped cardigans, and creates such a lovely proportion with tucked-in tops. 

Bella Jeans

Quince

Brut Jeans

Sézane

Germain Jeans

Rouje

Perfect Vintage Jeans

Madewell

2. Flirty midi dresses

To be fair it was hard to choose between midi-length skirts and dresses; ultimately the dress was just more satisfying. Bonus points for the polka dots, which are well represented below. 

Amber Pleat Jersey Dress

Boden

Shyla Dress

Reformation

Fitia Dress

Sézane

Bambina Dress

Revolve

3. Fuzzy little cardigan

So cute and so easy to wear. The Fair Isle-y one on the left is more of a departure than the others, but it’s just so cute with those high-rise (bootcut?) jeans. 

Fair Isle Cardigan

Madewell

Sylvain Cardigan

Sézane

Rib-Knit Cardigan

Other Stories

Cotton Oxford

Free People

4. Straw market bag

A summer staple in the South. The cheaper versions will give you all the look for (way) less, but you’ll get more wear from the pricier ones. 

Straw Tote Bag

Gap Factory

Square Bag

Rouje

Leather Handle Tote

Anthropologie

Maia Bag

Sézane

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