Style: That Certain Parisian Je Ne Sais Quoi

There is a very funny piece in this morning's Times Online penned by Lisa Armstrong entitled "Why French Women Don’t Get Old". As the title suggests, Armstrong expounds on Parisian women, their style and their approach to aging but the article also contains astute observations about French cultural attitudes and habits that are spot on.

I've excerpted some of the funnier bits but I highly encourage you to read the entire piece:

On French society:

"Yes, it tolerates a refusal among its citizens to clean up after their horrible little rat-dogs that makes the wearing of open-toed sandals hazardous, fosters a service industry that thinks that service is a degrading mark of bondage and seems to delight in ganging up on Britain, then claiming the moral high ground."

On French women retaining their sexiness as they mature:

"Cougars? The French have been celebrating them for centuries. For this alone I love them. And the older I get, the more I love."

and

"While Rush Limbaugh (aged 59) was asking Hillary Clinton in the run-up to the 2008 primaries whether Americans would “want to watch a woman get older before their eyes on a daily basis”, Claire Chazal, the fiftysomething French news anchor, was starring on the cover of Paris Match with her 32-year-old boyfriend."

On the marriage of braininess and sexiness:

"While Church and State are separate in France, attractiveness and braininess aren’t. And maintaining one’s attractive powers is merely good, pragmatic sense. Simone de Beauvoir wrote that 'one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman'. Remaining visibly, sexually, professionally a woman is a lifetime’s work."

Hear! Hear! While you're reading this article dear readers, I'll be making my way to St.Pancras Station to hop on the next Eurostar to Paris. Au revoir.

Sincerely,

The Luxe Chronicles

Comments

[Silent Storyteller]

Great article, it is very very true..

Bon Voyage!