Emily in Paris Outfits: How to Wear the Show's Style Codes in Real Life

How to dress like Emily in Paris, in short: build each outfit around one saturated color or one bold print, add a second color or pattern that clashes on purpose, and finish with a statement accessory, such as a beret, a bow or a jewel-toned heel. Those are the codes behind the Emily in Paris outfits that costume designer Marylin Fitoussi has built over five seasons: bold color, pattern mixing and strong contrast. Off screen, they work best two at a time rather than all at once.

With the sixth and final season arriving on Netflix on December 24, this guide decodes each code, explains what Sylvie and Mindy do differently, and turns it all into outfit formulas for the office, dinner and a winter weekend, with the pieces from top houses we would wear.

Emily in Paris outfits: the style codes, decoded

Netflix describes Fitoussi's approach to Emily as bold color, clever pattern mixing and strong contrast, in its feature on the Season 5 costumes. Variety's report on Fitoussi's book, Emily in Paris: The Fashion Guide, sums the wardrobe up as clashing color, prints layered on prints and maximalism. The same report gives a sense of scale: roughly 15,000 pieces in the show's costume showroom, and as many as 100 pairs of shoes ordered to find the right one for a single outfit.

Color: let the coat carry it

Patricia Field, then the show's consulting costume designer, told Variety in 2022 that she saw Emily as a chance to make a character more colorful and optimistic than most fashion at the time. On screen, that means several bright colors at once, clashing on purpose. Off screen, the coat is where color earns its keep. From November to March it is the piece everyone sees, and one saturated coat over black, navy or cream reads as a choice rather than a costume.

Pick the red to suit your skin. Blue-leaning reds such as crimson, raspberry and cherry flatter cool undertones and look sharpest with black and navy. Orange-leaning reds such as tomato and poppy suit warm undertones and look best with camel, cream and brown. Hold the coat near your face in daylight: if your skin looks gray, try the other red. Construction matters as much as color. Double-face wool or wool and cashmere holds a clean shape, whether A-line, straight or cocoon, and a clean shape is what makes a bright coat look expensive; a thin wool in a loud color looks cheap in a way it would not in navy. Valentino Garavani, whose red is a house signature, is the place to see how a bright coat looks when the cloth and the cut are right.

• Red coat, cream turtleneck, black straight trousers, black loafers: the most wearable version, and it works at the office.
• Pale pink coat over a crimson knit: the clash that looks intentional, because both colors lean cool.
• Green coat, navy sweater, gold earrings: color without shouting, for work.
• Ochre or mustard coat with chocolate brown: warm on warm, softer than red.

For more colors and shapes, browse our designer coats, and for a deeper red, see how to wear burgundy.

Print mixing without the costume

Print on print is Emily's most recognizable code and the easiest to overdo. Mary Katrantzou, a designer known for dense, colorful prints, has been a recurring source: Variety's 2022 rundown of Field's favorite Season 2 looks includes a Mary Katrantzou dress in the fourth episode, in an outfit full of pattern and color, and Netflix notes a Katrantzou floral dress on the gondola in Venice at the end of Season 5. For Season 5, Fitoussi told Variety she found that the actresses in 1950s Italian films wore a great deal of black-and-white polka dots, and the dot became the season's signature; Netflix's guide to the season's Italian style also points to coordinated sets, mini dresses and jumpsuits.

Four rules keep a mixed print looking like a decision:

1. Share one color. A navy dot and a navy paisley belong together; a navy dot and a coral floral need a third piece that carries both colors.
2. Change the scale. Pair a small print with a large one. Two prints at the same scale fight for attention.
3. Let one lead. Put the bigger print on the bigger piece, and keep the second to a blouse, a scarf or a shoe.
4. Anchor with a solid in the strongest shared color, usually the coat or the shoe.

Three ways to put that into practice:

• For the office: a navy polka-dot midi skirt, a navy-based paisley silk shirt and a navy cardigan over the shoulders.
• For dinner: a rose-print blouse with a black dotted skirt, black tights and a black pump, with black tying the two prints together.
• For the weekend: a dotted blouse under a tweed jacket, where the dots and the tweed read as two textures of pattern.

The beret and the statement accessory

No single piece is more tied to the show than Emily's red beret. Critics mocked it, Variety reported, yet Fitoussi says she still sees red berets at the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, worn by visitors who also copy Emily's gingham coats and bold accessories. The trick to a beret in real life is placement and color.

• Wear it back and to one side, so it frames the face rather than sitting flat across the forehead, which is where it starts to look like a costume.
• Match it to your coat or your shoes, not your top: a burgundy beret with burgundy loafers, or a navy beret with a navy coat.
• Choose felted wool, which holds its round shape; a thin beret collapses.
• Keep the hair simple: worn down, or in a low knot at the nape, so the beret has its own outline.

A beret, a bow or a jeweled buckle all do the same job: one detail that tells you the rest was chosen. Houses such as Roger Vivier finish a wool beret with a jeweled detail, which adds a second point of light; for more styles, browse our designer hats.

Tweed and tailoring: our bridge between Emily and Sylvie

The show's style runs on contrast between characters as much as within an outfit. Field told Variety in 2022 that Emily's colleagues, mostly French and older, let the costume team set an American style against French chic, and she described Sylvie's wardrobe as “classic French chic.” In the Season 2 finale, Sylvie wore a silver Christian Siriano suit that Fitoussi paired with a green top. Field also said the aim that season was to make Emily a little more sophisticated and professional without losing her signature style.

Our suggestion for dressing between the two is a tweed jacket, a styling idea of ours rather than a costume credit. It is structured like Sylvie's tailoring, and its texture and color let it do some of the work that a print does for Emily. Look for a jacket that ends at the high hip, with a shoulder seam that sits on your shoulder, and wear it over a fine knit or a silk blouse, never a thick sweater, which pulls the fronts apart.

• A red tweed jacket, black turtleneck and black trousers: halfway between Emily and Sylvie.
• A pink tweed jacket over a white T-shirt and straight blue jeans: the weekend version.
• An ivory tweed jacket with sequins, over a black slip dress: a holiday party.

The houses to know here include Balmain, whose tailored tweed has strong shoulders and gold buttons, Oscar de la Renta for dressier, embellished versions and Celine for a darker, sharper take. For more, see our designer jackets.

Heels with a point of view, and when to wear flats

Emily wears heels where most people would not. Netflix reports that in the third episode of Season 5, Lily Collins chose Aquazzura heels to go with a turquoise jacquard dress and coat by Huishan Zhang for a long night of filming on stone streets, even though flats were on offer. The same season brought flat shoes, more trousers and even shorts, which Fitoussi linked to Rome's cobblestones and the chance of scooter rides.

In real life, the statement is in the detail rather than the height. A pointed toe does much of the lengthening a high heel would, so a 50 to 75 millimeter heel still looks polished and is far easier to walk in, and a slingback keeps a low heel looking dressy. Put the interest on the shoe itself: a bow at the heel, a square buckle, a satin rose, a jeweled buckle, a patent cap toe. If you will be on cobblestones, choose a block heel or a pointed flat and save the stiletto for the car-to-restaurant evening.

• A crimson slingback with navy tailoring: the color does what a print would.
• A tweed pump with a patent toe, worn with jeans: a nod to the classic two-tone shoe.
• A jewel-toned satin pump with a jeweled buckle, worn with black trousers or dark jeans: color and sparkle on the smallest piece you wear.
• A red patent pump with a black dress: the Parisian classic; Christian Louboutin's red-soled pumps are the obvious choice.

Browse every heel height in our designer pumps.

Emily in Paris style guide: dress like Emily, Mindy or Sylvie

Field's descriptions of the main characters in her 2022 interview with Variety make a useful style guide. Mindy's wardrobe is vivid, glamorous and upbeat, Sylvie's is classic French chic, and Julien's is fashion-forward and bold.

Two more credits show the range of the wardrobe. In Season 2's finale, Emily wore a red dress from the H&M collaboration with Giambattista Valli, which Field said Fitoussi picked. In Season 5, Netflix points to a brown-and-white print jumpsuit by Diane von Furstenberg at the end of the second episode, worn with big sunglasses and Emily's new short bob.

To build a full Emily look around a piece you already own, ask our AI stylist to put together a colorful outfit for the office, a dinner or a weekend in the city.

Season 6: what Netflix has confirmed

Season 6 is the last. According to Netflix's Tudum, it arrives on Christmas Eve, December 24, and takes Emily to Greece and Monaco, with Paris still in the mix. Season 5, which premiered in December 2025, took her to Rome and Venice and earned two Emmy nominations, for contemporary costumes and contemporary hairstyling. We will not guess at the Season 6 wardrobe before it airs. If you are dressing for a Paris trip of your own this season, our guide to what to wear in Paris in winter covers the weather, the walking and the dinners.

How we chose

We did not try to copy specific outfits from the show, and the tweed jackets are our own suggestion rather than a costume credit. We chose pieces from top houses that carry each of Emily's codes in a form you can wear: coats in saturated colors with enough structure to hold their shape, polka dots and prints that combine by the rules above, tweed jackets cut close to the body, heels with a detail, most of them at a walkable height, and berets in felted wool. Every piece was checked against its product photographs for color and pattern, and none is pre-owned. As pieces sell out, each module refills with similar ones.

Frequently asked questions

Who designs the costumes for Emily in Paris?

Marylin Fitoussi has designed the costumes for all five seasons, according to Netflix, and has been nominated for Emmys for her work. Patricia Field, known for Sex and the City, was the show's consulting costume designer when Season 2 aired. Fitoussi's book, Emily in Paris: The Fashion Guide, came out in December 2025.

When does Emily in Paris Season 6 come out?

Netflix says Season 6, the final season, premieres on December 24. It takes Emily to Greece and Monaco, and Paris remains part of the story.

What designers does Emily wear?

Credits confirmed by Netflix and Variety include Mary Katrantzou (a dress in Season 2, episode 4, and a floral dress on a gondola in Venice at the end of Season 5), an H&M collaboration with Giambattista Valli (the Season 2 finale), a Diane von Furstenberg jumpsuit (Season 5, episode 2) and a Huishan Zhang dress and coat worn with Aquazzura heels (Season 5, episode 3).

How do I dress like Emily in Paris without looking like a costume?

Use two of her codes at a time, not all of them: a colored coat with one print, or a print with one statement accessory. Keep the base neutral, keep the shapes simple, and let one piece lead.

Does Emily wear a beret?

Yes. Her red beret is one of the show's best-known pieces; Fitoussi told Variety it was criticized at first and is now copied by tourists in Paris.

What colors look most like Emily in Paris?

Bright, saturated color, often two or more clashing shades at once, with black and white for contrast. For Season 5, black-and-white polka dots became the signature print.

Keep reading

• What to wear in Paris in winter
• How to wear burgundy
• How to wear leopard print
• What to wear in Paris in spring
• How to find your personal style