Dress
The traditional dress of France is heavily regional and was always changing. France is and has been a leader in the fashion industry for some time so clothing trends in the country have been in constant motion. None-the-less, there are some historical clothing items that are widely recognized and often times considered to be "traditional clothing" although most of them were never widely worn across the entire country as it is today.
In generally, the women of France historically wore long dresses, while the men wore pants and shirts. Many stereotypes of this dress comes from the region of Alsace, where women generally wore a loose-fitting blouse with a wide skirt or dress and a large bow or hat in their hair; the shirts were generally white, but the dress could be in any color as black, red, and purple seemed to be popular. For men black pants of knickers with a white shirt, red vest, and black hat was the traditional outfit of Alsace. The Breton shirt, which is a simple white shirt with thin blue horizontal stripes, was also common in areas as was the beret.
Today the Breton shirt and beret can still be seen, but the dress is much more varied than this. Fashion is king in Paris and the clothing styles are always changing, which leads to a significant amount of diversity. As a visitor to France try to dress fashionably, but not in a way that you stand out. Also dress for the occasion as churches require long pants and more conservative dress, while on the other extreme little clothing seems to be the norm on the southern beaches (although you should still put some clothes on when you leave these beaches). Although, sunbathing naked or women sunbathing topless is only permitted in certain places so always be sure to know where this is allowed before doing so. Lastly, France has banned the covering of one's face in public so any facial covering is illegal, including the Islamic niqab.