“Emily in Paris” returned to Netflix for its second season with Emily finding out her best friend’s boyfriend, who she is in love with, decides to stay in Paris. This season amplified all the classic “Emily in Paris” tropes: affairs, loud fashion, unrealistic depictions of Paris and PR, picturesque locations, blatant disregard for French customs and complicated love triangles. No matter how cringy the show is at times, I still find myself coming back and binging the season in two days.
The justification for the fashion in the last season was that she was trying to fit in at work and in Paris by trying really hard with her fashion, while French fashion is more classic and simple. She always looked out of place but her look still made sense, somewhat. However, this season her looks are anything but “normal.”
Characters such as Carrie Bradshaw or Serena Van der Woodsen get away with over-the-top looks in everyday situations because their characters really love fashion and they want to express it. They are also shown spending a lot of money on their clothing to support their shopping habit. However, Emily has never said that she has a deep passion for fashion except when she explains to the French designer that she would go to the outlet malls to try and afford a small piece of his.
Her character and her fashion just don’t make sense. Mindy (Ashley Park) can also be seen wearing beautiful over-the-top outfits, but it makes sense to her character because she is the daughter of the Zipper King as well as an entertainer.
Emily’s clothing feels like they are wearing her instead of the other way around. It is a big pet peeve of mine when I notice the clothes more than the person, and I did this the entirety of the show for her. Not only does it not make sense for her to wear these pieces, but we also never see her shopping or spending money.
Costume directors Patricia Field and Marilyn Fitoussi justify the decisions by saying that it is meant to be a fantasy and to not think too logically about how she can afford all this. She adds, “It showed them that they could combine polka dots and stripes, throw colors together and not limit themselves. My motto, for this season and the last, has always been, ‘too much good taste is boring.’”(Vogue)
Overall, this show is fun to watch, but the fashion is getting crazier and more random by the season. I have seen pieces I want, but all the elements together in a look can get chaotic at times.
