THE passage of time may mellow some people, but it does little to alter their sense of style. Consider these self-assured Parisians, captured basking outdoors on a recent autumn afternoon. Sure, most have abandoned the brashness of youth for a more reticent look. But each is assertive just the same, spiking a muted ensemble of ivory, taupe or gray with recklessly high-contrast touches: a scarlet muffler, a saucy fedora or a genteel cardigan in an incongruously girlie shade of pink.

One woman relieved the monochrome severity of her gray-on-gray suit with a coat in a houndstooth check. Another spiced her cream-colored jacket with henna-tone hair and tiger-stripe harlequin shades.

Call hers an expression of Gallic chic. Or a fearless assertion of character.