Last updated: July 8, 2026ยท๐Ÿ”„ Product links checked and unavailable products replaced with current alternatives for 2026.ยท By Serdar

Outfit Guide

Emily From Emily in Paris Outfits Guide

Two looks, one very confident American in a city that is not always sure what to make of her.

Lily Collins Netflix Style
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Quick Answer: Emily’s outfits mix American prep with French tailoring, and the two looks below cover her most requested pieces.
  • Plaid Long Blazer with Shorts Set (essential)
  • Button Down Purple Cardigan (essential)
  • Red French Beret
  • Pointed Knee High Boots
  • Plaid Mini Skirt

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.

Looks Included2 Looks
DifficultyEasy
VibePreppy Parisian
Cost$90โ€“$220

Emily’s Plaid Outfit

Emily in Paris plaid outfit infographic showing matching plaid blazer and shorts set, black shoulder bag, white sports bra, red beret, and black low heel pumps

Plaid Look Items

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Emily Cooper Emily in Paris Netflix
  • 1 Plaid Long Blazer with Shorts Set (essential)This is the outfit. The blazer and shorts are cut from the same fabric, which is what makes it read as a set instead of two separate plaid items that happen to match. Get the sizing right in the shoulders since a boxy fit changes the whole silhouette. Skip the set and buy a plaid blazer alone, and the look turns into a plain office jacket.
    See on Amazon
  • 2 Black Shoulder BagKeeps the plaid from being the only thing going on. A small black bag with a short strap works better here than anything oversized, since the outfit already has a lot of visual noise.
    See on Amazon
  • 3 White Sports BraWorn as a visible base layer under the open blazer, not hidden. A plain white one with a wide enough band to sit flat under the lapels is what you want. A lace or patterned one will show through and fight with the plaid.
    See on Amazon
  • 4 Red French BeretThe color pop that keeps the outfit from reading as an office uniform. It also tends to slide around on straight hair, so a couple of small pins on the inside band will save you from adjusting it all night.
    See on Amazon
  • 5 Black Low Heel PumpsCheck your closet first. Any plain black pump you already own will work here, no need to buy new ones just for this look.
    See on Amazon

Emily’s Cardigan Outfit

Emily in Paris purple cardigan outfit infographic showing button down cardigan, white poplin shirt, plaid grey mini skirt, knee boots, pink bag, and neck scarf

Cardigan Look Items

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Emily Cooper Emily in Paris Netflix
  • 1 Button Down Purple Cardigan (essential)This is the piece people will recognize. A bright, slightly oversized purple cardigan buttoned most of the way up does the job. A thin, fitted cardigan in the wrong purple shade will just look like a work sweater.
    See on Amazon
  • 2 Pointed High Heel Knee BootAdds height and cuts the sweetness of the cardigan and skirt combo. Break these in before wearing them for a full event. Knee boots that are stiff at the ankle get uncomfortable fast if you are standing most of the night.
    See on Amazon
  • 3 Long Sleeve Poplin White ShirtWorn under the cardigan with the collar left out. A plain white button-down works fine, it does not need to be a specific brand or cut.
    See on Amazon
  • 4 Pink Handbag Shoulder Bag SetAdds a second color to a look that would otherwise be purple, white, and grey. A small pink bag on a short strap keeps it from feeling flat.
    See on Amazon
  • 5 Plaid Grey Mini SkirtA second pattern layered under a solid cardigan is the part of this outfit people underestimate. Go with a smaller check pattern than the plaid look above so the two don’t visually compete if you’re recreating both.
    See on Amazon
  • 6 Narrow Neck ScarfOptional. Tie it on the bag handle or loosely around the neck. Leave it out entirely if you’d rather keep the look simpler, it does not change the outfit’s identity either way.
    See on Amazon
Emily Cooper from Emily in Paris walking in a black and white gingham plaid blazer and shorts set with a red beret and black cross body bag

How to Style Emily’s Outfits

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.

Emily Group Outfit Ideas

Group Idea: Agence Grateau

Emily, Mindy, Gabriel & Sylvie

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.

Emily Mindy Chen Gabriel Sylvie Grateau

Group Idea: High-Fashion TV It-Girls

Emily, Blair, Cher & Maddy

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

Emily, Snow White, Clary Fray & Marla Mabrey

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.

Emily Snow White Clary Fray Marla Mabrey

Group Idea: The Famous Emilys

Emily Cooper, Emily Fields, Emily Thorne & Emily Prentiss

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.

Emily Emily Fields Emily Thorne Emily Prentiss

Group Idea: Statement Pattern Enthusiasts

Emily, Mabel, Cher & Blair

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.

Emily Mabel Mora Cher Horowitz Blair Waldorf
Emily and Camille from Emily in Paris sitting on an outdoor bed on a Paris street, Emily in a purple top and purple heeled boots

Emily Outfit DIY Tips

Building the Look on a Budget

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.

  • Plaid blazer set: worth buying as a matching set. Two separately bought plaid pieces rarely match in scale or color.
  • Purple cardigan: thrift stores are full of these. Look in the sweater section before buying new.
  • Beret: cheap ones exist everywhere in October. Spend the extra few dollars for one that actually holds its shape.
  • Boots and pumps: check your closet first.
  • Bags: any small bag in the right color works. Skip buying a “designer style” bag just for one outfit.

Playing Emily at the Party

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.

  • Take a photo of literally anything and caption it out loud before posting it, even if you’re just talking to your friends.
  • When someone asks how your French is going: “I did Rosetta Stone on the plane, it hasn’t kicked in yet.”
  • Overcommit to a compliment about the venue’s decor or food. Emily finds everything in Paris “so romantic.”
  • If someone questions your outfit choices, that’s your cue, not a problem to fix.

Emily Outfits Guide: FAQ

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.