Outfit Guide
Two looks, one very confident American in a city that is not always sure what to make of her.
Emily Cooper works in marketing and gets sent from Chicago to Paris to bring an American perspective to a French firm that did not ask for one. The single most recognizable part of her look is the pattern mixing, plaid against plaid, bold color against a neutral base, usually finished with a hat or bag that has no business matching anything else she is wearing. The show is a Netflix production created by Darren Star, and Lily Collins earned a Golden Globe nomination for playing her (Wikipedia). Recognition is broad. This is one of Netflix’s most watched original comedies, and the outfits get recreated online every time a new season drops.
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The plaid blazer set is the first thing anyone will register, so make sure it fits through the shoulders and doesn’t gap at the button. If the beret sits too far back on your head instead of angled, the whole outfit reads as a school uniform with an accessory problem instead of an intentional look. For the cardigan version, the purple has to actually be purple under the venue lighting, not the muddy lavender some listings show in photos but ship in a different shade.
Emily documents her own outfits constantly, and she isn’t shy about changing her mind mid-post. She once turned a caption about falling in love with herself into one about being lonely in Paris within the same afternoon, which tells you more about her than any of her actual lines do. If you want a scene to channel at a party, that flip from confident to unsure and back again is closer to the character than the outfits alone.
Order the beret and the boots early
Berets from costume and fashion retailers vary a lot in stiffness and size, and knee boots run small in half sizes more often than regular shoes. Both are the kind of item you want to try on and adjust before the actual event, not the morning of. If either arrives wrong, you need the days in between to exchange it.
The mixed plaid patterns need a plan
If you’re combining pieces from both looks instead of sticking to one, two different plaid patterns in the same outfit usually looks like a mistake rather than a style choice. Keep the plaid to one look at a time. If you want a second pattern, add it somewhere small, like the scarf, not on a second major piece.
Group Idea: Agence Grateau
Excellent group if everyone commits to their character’s actual color story instead of just “French chic” in general. Emily’s mixed prints, Mindy’s bold color, Gabriel’s plain chef whites or button-down, and Sylvie’s monochrome tailoring read as four distinct people the moment you stand next to each other, and anyone who has seen even one episode will get it instantly.
Group Idea: High-Fashion TV It-Girls
Strong if your group can each actually build a distinct silhouette instead of all defaulting to “cute outfit.” Blair’s headband and prep, Cher’s plaid and knee socks, Maddy’s slip dress glamour, and Emily’s mixed patterns are different enough that the group works as a fashion lineup rather than four similar looks with different names attached.
Group Idea: The Lily Collins Wardrobe
Might work, but this only lands with people who already know Lily Collins played all four. At a general party, expect to explain the connection more than once. It’s a fun concept for a group that likes trivia-based costumes, less so for a crowd that just wants instant recognition.
Group Idea: The Famous Emilys
Might work, but the connection is the name alone, not a shared look or genre. One person in a plaid blazer, one in Rosewood prep, one in a revenge-plot blazer, and one in an FBI suit reads as four unrelated costumes until someone explains the theme out loud. Fun for a name tag icebreaker, weak as a visual group.
Group Idea: Statement Pattern Enthusiasts
Might work, but two of these characters are already covered in the group above, so this only makes sense as a separate post concept, not something you’d run alongside the other group at the same party. The genuine hook here is the pattern-and-coat detail rather than the characters themselves, which is a narrower angle than most people will pick up on without context.
Both looks are built from pieces most people can find secondhand or already own in some form. The blazer set and the cardigan are the only two items where the specific piece actually matters.
Emily narrates her own life out loud, usually into a phone. That’s the easiest thing to copy and it doesn’t require memorizing a single line from the show.
Pick one of the two looks in this guide rather than mixing pieces from both. For the plaid look, the blazer and shorts set is the item that carries the whole outfit. For the cardigan look, the purple cardigan does the same job. Everything else just supports whichever piece you pick as your anchor.
Yes, mostly because the show keeps producing new seasons and Netflix keeps pushing it, which means the look stays in circulation instead of fading like a lot of 2020 references. It also helps that the styling leans on pieces, plaid blazers, statement berets, knee boots, that were already trending before the show and haven’t really gone away.
Two lines get quoted the most. The short one is her season one reaction to a rainy day in the city: “Paris is weeping.” The other is a bit more self-aware, from a moment where she is called arrogant for not speaking French and replies that she is “maybe more ignorant than arrogant.” Neither is a deep line, but they capture how the show writes her.
Emily Cooper is played by Lily Collins, who earned a Golden Globe nomination for the role in 2021 (Wikipedia). She also played Snow White in Mirror Mirror and Clary Fray in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.
The plaid look is bold and structured, built around a matching blazer and shorts set with a red beret. The cardigan look is softer and more mixed-pattern, built around a purple cardigan over a white shirt with a plaid mini skirt. The plaid look photographs as more of a statement. The cardigan look is easier to wear for a full evening.
One look is enough. Pick whichever silhouette actually suits your closet and your event. Doing both at once just means you’re carrying a spare outfit around all night for no reason.