Just something I've heard over the years from people who I know that have spent time in western Europe. The local population in general dresses for success as they say. Now the younger generation may becoming more Americanized but the older generation still dresses better than the average American does on a normal weekend.
I pulled up a YouTube video of three girls walking down Rue Montorgueil on Thursday June 1st 2009. Other than normal jeans and students with backpacks most of the people during that few block walk on an average Paris street looked pretty nicely dressed for the area. BTW those who were wearing jeans those pants looked pretty new or were dry cleaned over thrown in a cloths washer. They were not faded or ripped as I see everyday on the street around me.
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