Lessons in French Dressing From Bérangère Claire

story Chioma Nnadi

Last week, a member of the style department who shall remain nameless showed up dressed as a French lady to a Halloween party hosted by two Parisians. Needless to say, in a roomful of bona fide French folks, the irony was not hitting. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what keeps us running back to designer Bérangère Claire every season, but it definitely has something to do with that deceptively simple je ne sais quoi of French dressing. She manages to reinvent the classics, adding sweet exchange student staples to the line—an easy plaid mini here, a crisp white button-down there—with every season. And her fall 2009 lookbook of crazily nonchalant French kids is enough to inspire some of us to practice our best French face and re-up for next year.