Marmot Max Loves Shopping for Shoes

When Americans think of France, we generally think of excellent food.  But we also think about FASHION.  Fashion is the art of creating clothes and accessories that make people say Ooo-la-la!

A number of places are centers of fashion, but none quite like Paris.  Because Paris is home to many creative artists and has access to trade routes where cotton, silk and wool, leather and dyes are located, it has to be considered the world capital of fashion.  New Yorkers and Milanese can lodge their complaints here.

Sometimes, fashion can look a little silly, but in Paris it is as big and important as the Eiffel Tower!  Fashion week in Paris is bigger than the Superbowl in the US.

Fashion critics and people who buy for major stores worldwide attend Fashion Week and the shows are very extravagant and go almost nonstop.

Where oh where could Max wear THIS?

While some things may look silly to us, fashion critics and buyers have come to expect some crazy and shocking things.  Fashion designers don't expect to sell these over the top designs, but they want to show how creative they really are.

One of the most important forms of fashion is shoes.  Women in Paris go crazy for shoes, from the subtle:

To the serious:

To the silly:

There are many, many shoe stores in Paris and they all have elaborate window displays.  If you don't watch where you are going, you might run into women stopped to admire shoes!

Fashion is a multibillion dollar industry for France and Paris takes its fashion very seriously.  Some things may seem silly to us, but the more you learn about fashion, the more you understand.

Except for Max.  He looks good in a fur coat and a beret!  Ooo-la-la!