French Style!
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luvmelots1983
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just_me said:
It absolutely does! It's almost as if, even if they're not perfect, they dont seek to be.... they make the most of what they have and dont feel the need to fix it via cosmetics, surgery, etc.
I'm sorry if I gave you the impression I wanted to know what teen fashion in Paris was; like you, I draw inspiration from ladies in their twenties (after all, I am 23!).
I'd like to dress well, but not too old for my age; I definitely dont like taking myself too seriously. Thanks so much for your post
- I think I got your point: spend the time, and spend it well. Don't look overdone... and most importantly, dress for yourself and look your best? Did I get it?luvmelots1983
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Someone on this thread mentioned this book earlier- I think it was Virginielle, but forgive me if I'm wrong- Two Lipsticks and a Lover.
Anyhow, I found this article online (the sunday times online) and it's got an article by Helena Frith Powell who wrote the aforementioned book. It's got loads to do with french style, so I thought some of you might enjoy it.
From The Sunday Times
April 15, 2007
A touch of the oh-la-las
Why do French women always look so chic? Helena Frith Powell uncovers their best-kept beauty secrets
I live close to a small town in southern France (population: 7,464), where there are 19 hairdressers, five beauticians and four lingerie shops. This should tell you something about the priorities of French women. When I first made an appointment at one of the 19 hairdressers, I told my French friend Anne that I was going to get my hair dyed. “Ssshh,” she said, looking anxiously around the cafe to make sure nobody had heard me. “You can’t tell anybody that. C’est pas normale.”
French women are notoriously secretive when it comes to sharing their style and beauty secrets. Looking good and ageing well are an essential part of daily life, but they are a part that women don’t want to share with anybody else. “I like a nice car,” Anne told me, “but I don’t want to know how it works, or how its bodywork is kept in tiptop condition. It’s the same for women: we should look great, but why do we have to tell everyone how we do it?”
Anne goes to the salon twice a week to get her hair done (I found out because I asked the hairstylist — obviously, there was no point in asking Anne). Whenever I see her in town, she says she is on her way to a meeting, but I would wager that the meeting is to have her eyebrows plucked or some of her nonexistent cellulite massaged.
Since I moved here six years ago, I have been amazed by how good French women look. Okay, not all of them — in my village, we do have the slippers-and-pinafore brigade (it’s not a good look) — but the vast majority are groomed from their heads all the way down to their toenails. Just looking at the lotions and potions on sale makes you realise there is more to this French seduction lark than a pair of suspenders. The chemists sell more creams than medicines; creams to make your thighs thinner, creams to make your breasts firmer, creams to make your face smoother, and so on.
While I was researching my book on French women, one lady did admit that looking good can be a full-time job. “By the time you've got down to your toes, it’s time to start at the top again,” she said. “Sometimes, it all becomes a bit much, but it’s not part of our genetic make-up to just let ourselves go.”
Part of the reason it takes so much time is the French philosophy that even if the devil is in the detail, so is much of the pleasure. They start in the places they hope will be seen last. French women even follow fashion when it comes to what my children politely call “your parts”. Right now, the fashion is for cropped hair in those “parts”. Just so you know.
Anne is as likely to share her secrets as she is to do the school run with a chipped nail. But maybe because I’m not French, and therefore not seen as competition (what threat could an English woman possibly pose?), I have managed to prise some top beauty tips that are guaranteed to make you more seductive than ever before from other French ladies.
Breasts
My friend Nicole says the way to keep breasts pert is to douse them in cold water every morning. “Put a flannel in some ice-cold water, then wring it out and place it on your breasts,” she says. “It is much more effective than any cream for keeping them firm.”
Buttocks and thighs
French women swear by cellulite creams. In fact, they swear by anything that keeps them trim, but doesn’t involve exercise. According to Brigitte Papin, the health and beauty editor of Madame Figaro, one in three supplements sold in French chemists are slimming aids. When I told Papin I didn’t believe in anti-cellulite creams, she said I was “so British”. So I tried them. I tried Clarins Total Body Lift (£30; 0800 036 3558) during the day and L’Oréal Body Expertise PerfectSlim gel (£10.99) at night. After three months, I’m still sceptical, but if it gives me thighs anywhere near as smooth as hers, I’ll keep it up.
Spas
A French woman will give her body an annual service by checking into a spa. Edith Cresson, the former prime minister, prefers a thalassotherapy spa on the Brittany coast, where she goes every year for eight days “to unwind and look after myself”. Cresson says she has four beauty treatments a day and comes out glowing. This approach is clearly popular: there are 13 thalassotherapy spas in Brittany alone (www.allo-thalasso.com).
Hands and feet
“My top tip for seductive hands and feet is to rub cream into them as often as you can. There’s nothing more unsexy than flaky feet,” says Manon, a Parisian friend who swears by the Body Shop’s Peppermint Cooling Foot Lotion (£7). “Once a month, I cover my hands and feet in cream and then wrap them in clingfilm for the whole night.” I have yet to try her tip (maybe it’s the clingfilm that’s putting me off), but I have tried the Metrospa hand and foot facial at Richard Ward’s salon in London (020 7730 1222), where your extremities are treated to microdermabrasion (normally reserved for the face) before a pedicure or manicure. This process removes the top layer of skin, leaving your hands and feet soft enough to caress or be caressed.
Body moisture
Another tip for all-over-smooth seductive skin from Nicole is to put on body moisturiser after your shower or bath without completely drying your skin first. This locks in moisture much more effectively.
Face
Sylvie Tellier, a former Miss France who now runs the Miss France competition, uses Biafine as a face mask. This cream is traditionally used for minor burns and rashes, and every French mother has it in her medicine cabinet. “I love it,” she says. “It makes my skin glow and is really hydrating.” Stock up on your next trip — Biafine is only available in French pharmacies (www.biafine.orthoneutrogena.com).
A tip from Laurence, the mother of a friend, is to sleep in a moisturising mask the night before a big date. Be sure to exfoliate beforehand, so it is really effective. Laurence also told me her mother used to drink a lot of camomile tea to reduce the muscular tension that causes dark circles under the eyes. And, of course, it helps you to sleep.
Make-up
Yves Saint Laurent said: “The most beautiful make-up on a woman is passion, but cosmetics are easier to buy.” French women don’t believe in overdoing the cosmetics: seduction is all about being naturally sexy. They are big on what they call “le no make-up look”. According to Marie-Pierre Lannelongue, the fashion editor of French Elle, English women take the opposite approach: “It’s like, ‘Look at me, I’ve made such an effort.’ You would never get a French woman doing that. For us, less is more.”
If you want to be seductively made up à la française, go easy on the blusher, use a good base such as Chanel Teint Innocence (£21; 020 7493 3836), a little mascara and some lip gloss. Of course, your lip gloss goes with you everywhere. A French woman always thinks about looking sexy, even if she is just walking the dog. When I met Ségolène Royal, who may possibly become the first female president of France this month, she had three things with her: a notepad, a pen — and lip gloss. The most alluring gloss I have tried is the volumising LipFusion XL Micro-Injected Lip Plump (£38.30; www.skinstore.co.uk).
Perfume
Coco Chanel was once asked where you should spray scent. Her response? “Wherever you want to be kissed.”
The same could well apply to a French woman’s entire beauty regime. She takes care of every part of her body and face so that she’s ready to seduce anybody from her husband to the Duke of Westminster. And who wouldn’t want to do that?
Anyhow, I found this article online (the sunday times online) and it's got an article by Helena Frith Powell who wrote the aforementioned book. It's got loads to do with french style, so I thought some of you might enjoy it.
From The Sunday Times
April 15, 2007
A touch of the oh-la-las
Why do French women always look so chic? Helena Frith Powell uncovers their best-kept beauty secrets
I live close to a small town in southern France (population: 7,464), where there are 19 hairdressers, five beauticians and four lingerie shops. This should tell you something about the priorities of French women. When I first made an appointment at one of the 19 hairdressers, I told my French friend Anne that I was going to get my hair dyed. “Ssshh,” she said, looking anxiously around the cafe to make sure nobody had heard me. “You can’t tell anybody that. C’est pas normale.”
French women are notoriously secretive when it comes to sharing their style and beauty secrets. Looking good and ageing well are an essential part of daily life, but they are a part that women don’t want to share with anybody else. “I like a nice car,” Anne told me, “but I don’t want to know how it works, or how its bodywork is kept in tiptop condition. It’s the same for women: we should look great, but why do we have to tell everyone how we do it?”
Anne goes to the salon twice a week to get her hair done (I found out because I asked the hairstylist — obviously, there was no point in asking Anne). Whenever I see her in town, she says she is on her way to a meeting, but I would wager that the meeting is to have her eyebrows plucked or some of her nonexistent cellulite massaged.
Since I moved here six years ago, I have been amazed by how good French women look. Okay, not all of them — in my village, we do have the slippers-and-pinafore brigade (it’s not a good look) — but the vast majority are groomed from their heads all the way down to their toenails. Just looking at the lotions and potions on sale makes you realise there is more to this French seduction lark than a pair of suspenders. The chemists sell more creams than medicines; creams to make your thighs thinner, creams to make your breasts firmer, creams to make your face smoother, and so on.
While I was researching my book on French women, one lady did admit that looking good can be a full-time job. “By the time you've got down to your toes, it’s time to start at the top again,” she said. “Sometimes, it all becomes a bit much, but it’s not part of our genetic make-up to just let ourselves go.”
Part of the reason it takes so much time is the French philosophy that even if the devil is in the detail, so is much of the pleasure. They start in the places they hope will be seen last. French women even follow fashion when it comes to what my children politely call “your parts”. Right now, the fashion is for cropped hair in those “parts”. Just so you know.
Anne is as likely to share her secrets as she is to do the school run with a chipped nail. But maybe because I’m not French, and therefore not seen as competition (what threat could an English woman possibly pose?), I have managed to prise some top beauty tips that are guaranteed to make you more seductive than ever before from other French ladies.
Breasts
My friend Nicole says the way to keep breasts pert is to douse them in cold water every morning. “Put a flannel in some ice-cold water, then wring it out and place it on your breasts,” she says. “It is much more effective than any cream for keeping them firm.”
Buttocks and thighs
French women swear by cellulite creams. In fact, they swear by anything that keeps them trim, but doesn’t involve exercise. According to Brigitte Papin, the health and beauty editor of Madame Figaro, one in three supplements sold in French chemists are slimming aids. When I told Papin I didn’t believe in anti-cellulite creams, she said I was “so British”. So I tried them. I tried Clarins Total Body Lift (£30; 0800 036 3558) during the day and L’Oréal Body Expertise PerfectSlim gel (£10.99) at night. After three months, I’m still sceptical, but if it gives me thighs anywhere near as smooth as hers, I’ll keep it up.
Spas
A French woman will give her body an annual service by checking into a spa. Edith Cresson, the former prime minister, prefers a thalassotherapy spa on the Brittany coast, where she goes every year for eight days “to unwind and look after myself”. Cresson says she has four beauty treatments a day and comes out glowing. This approach is clearly popular: there are 13 thalassotherapy spas in Brittany alone (www.allo-thalasso.com).
Hands and feet
“My top tip for seductive hands and feet is to rub cream into them as often as you can. There’s nothing more unsexy than flaky feet,” says Manon, a Parisian friend who swears by the Body Shop’s Peppermint Cooling Foot Lotion (£7). “Once a month, I cover my hands and feet in cream and then wrap them in clingfilm for the whole night.” I have yet to try her tip (maybe it’s the clingfilm that’s putting me off), but I have tried the Metrospa hand and foot facial at Richard Ward’s salon in London (020 7730 1222), where your extremities are treated to microdermabrasion (normally reserved for the face) before a pedicure or manicure. This process removes the top layer of skin, leaving your hands and feet soft enough to caress or be caressed.
Body moisture
Another tip for all-over-smooth seductive skin from Nicole is to put on body moisturiser after your shower or bath without completely drying your skin first. This locks in moisture much more effectively.
Face
Sylvie Tellier, a former Miss France who now runs the Miss France competition, uses Biafine as a face mask. This cream is traditionally used for minor burns and rashes, and every French mother has it in her medicine cabinet. “I love it,” she says. “It makes my skin glow and is really hydrating.” Stock up on your next trip — Biafine is only available in French pharmacies (www.biafine.orthoneutrogena.com).
A tip from Laurence, the mother of a friend, is to sleep in a moisturising mask the night before a big date. Be sure to exfoliate beforehand, so it is really effective. Laurence also told me her mother used to drink a lot of camomile tea to reduce the muscular tension that causes dark circles under the eyes. And, of course, it helps you to sleep.
Make-up
Yves Saint Laurent said: “The most beautiful make-up on a woman is passion, but cosmetics are easier to buy.” French women don’t believe in overdoing the cosmetics: seduction is all about being naturally sexy. They are big on what they call “le no make-up look”. According to Marie-Pierre Lannelongue, the fashion editor of French Elle, English women take the opposite approach: “It’s like, ‘Look at me, I’ve made such an effort.’ You would never get a French woman doing that. For us, less is more.”
If you want to be seductively made up à la française, go easy on the blusher, use a good base such as Chanel Teint Innocence (£21; 020 7493 3836), a little mascara and some lip gloss. Of course, your lip gloss goes with you everywhere. A French woman always thinks about looking sexy, even if she is just walking the dog. When I met Ségolène Royal, who may possibly become the first female president of France this month, she had three things with her: a notepad, a pen — and lip gloss. The most alluring gloss I have tried is the volumising LipFusion XL Micro-Injected Lip Plump (£38.30; www.skinstore.co.uk).
Perfume
Coco Chanel was once asked where you should spray scent. Her response? “Wherever you want to be kissed.”
The same could well apply to a French woman’s entire beauty regime. She takes care of every part of her body and face so that she’s ready to seduce anybody from her husband to the Duke of Westminster. And who wouldn’t want to do that?
luvmelots1983 said:Thanks so much for your post
Yes!!
Just enjoy life.. you know.. yourself..and it will show...
luvmelots1983
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^you're welcome to all who said thank you. Cheiby, I'm probably going to buy the book; if it's not one that I feel compelled to keep for reading in the future, I'll be more than happy to send it to you. Otherwise, Ebay's always an option. 
luvmelots1983
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Another article I found on www.focusonstyle.com by Sharon Haver
How to get the ooh la la chic French fashion street style ...
classic pieces with the right amount of off-handed edge!
French chic… What to wear in Paris
While the chic women of Paris do wear casual clothing, the real sophistication comes from how they put it together. They don’t suffer from the same dimwitted arrogance as badly dressed Americans who wear sloppy sweats, dumpy shorts, beachy flip-flops, or athletic sneakers as their implicit right to be dressed ‘comfortably’ at all times. Parisians, for the most part, wear well-fitting clothes that suit their frame. You’ll barely see a mademoiselle who is stuffed à la saucisson into a size too small jeans or drowned in a droopy camp shirt. The French understand the magic of a good tailor and proper fit, and so should you. It’s amazing how you can fake extravagance when something fits just so.
They also understand the power of quality. Europeans usually don’t suffer the same fashion victim overindulgence as Americans do and feel compelled to buy every trend simply because it is in style. They buy what suits them in the best quality that they can afford. French chic is not a matter of having it all, but a matter of having the best of all that you need. Fashion is like food for the Parisian. You don’t go to a massive supermarket and load up on super-sized containers of all the groceries that you can cram into your SUV. You buy fresh ingredients from small, specialty shops and carry them home— less is more discerning.
-
Roomy handbags that's never overtly glitzy, just enough glamour to be chic fro both day and night.
How to get the ooh la la chic French fashion street style ...
classic pieces with the right amount of off-handed edge!
French chic… What to wear in Paris
While the chic women of Paris do wear casual clothing, the real sophistication comes from how they put it together. They don’t suffer from the same dimwitted arrogance as badly dressed Americans who wear sloppy sweats, dumpy shorts, beachy flip-flops, or athletic sneakers as their implicit right to be dressed ‘comfortably’ at all times. Parisians, for the most part, wear well-fitting clothes that suit their frame. You’ll barely see a mademoiselle who is stuffed à la saucisson into a size too small jeans or drowned in a droopy camp shirt. The French understand the magic of a good tailor and proper fit, and so should you. It’s amazing how you can fake extravagance when something fits just so.
They also understand the power of quality. Europeans usually don’t suffer the same fashion victim overindulgence as Americans do and feel compelled to buy every trend simply because it is in style. They buy what suits them in the best quality that they can afford. French chic is not a matter of having it all, but a matter of having the best of all that you need. Fashion is like food for the Parisian. You don’t go to a massive supermarket and load up on super-sized containers of all the groceries that you can cram into your SUV. You buy fresh ingredients from small, specialty shops and carry them home— less is more discerning.
-
Roomy handbags that's never overtly glitzy, just enough glamour to be chic fro both day and night.
C'est la classique… ahhhh it even sounds better in French! Parisian chic comprises of classically cut fashion worn in an unexpected, yet perfectly elegant way. There is that certain extra design twist or precise flourish that makes each piece special but never trite or tired. And what gives these classics their special does of French chic style power? It’s the off-handed way in which they are put together. A beautiful dress coat is worn with jeans and a simple T-shirt, along with a luxurious handbag and rich scarf to create an understated elegance that can take you to almost any kind of situation in style. If a French woman does wear sneakers, they are leather tennis shoes, designed to be more of a sports-inspired shoe rather than a gym necessity.
Hairstyles are
never overdone or complex. Makeup is always natural, even when lips are a bold scarlet. There’s an expert sense of undoneness that makes every detail more clever but never tricky and without ostentation. Almost as if you are too busy to glance in a mirror, yet have your sense of style so ingrained that you don’t have to. Or, at least give that impression. Never looking as if you neurotically belabored over each and every facet of your total ensemble. French style appears to be very second-nature, yet extremely deliberate in its nonchalance.
There always seems to be a ubiquitous
trend in the air, but it is never trendy, simply modern. On my recent trip to Paris, it was all about flats- boots, that is. Wherever you looked, French women glommed on to this red hot, but classic style of slightly Equestrian-influenced flat, knee-high boots and each made her special mark with her interpretation of this trend gone wild. Skinny jeans neatly tucked into flat boots or a shorter skirt, dark tights, and flat boots. Barely a high heel in sight and certainly not a pair of flair leg jeans. Occasionally, ballerina flats replaced the boots. It is all about the long lean look topped by a proper coat, a clever piece of jewelry, and a fabulous knit scarf. For a dressier look, a little black dress adds punch and never looks predictable or showy.
You don’t need to be in Paris to master the élan of French chic. First you need to understand the art of nuance and then you can
get the look anywhere. While I was visiting my best friend and disco trivia cohort who moved to Paris to report on French trends for EyePreferParis, and we did what we do best together—shop. After decades of friendship, we were both shocked that my only purchase in Paris was a pack of Missoni-esque space-dyed socks at Muji and not my usual haul of too many shopping bags to get on a plane. I already had my French shopping fix at home with goodies from Hermes, Martin Margiela, Barbara Bui, and Paul and Joe.
But French chic, is really not about designer labels and more about
how you put it all together. It is about starting out with the right pieces that you can mix and match to wear anywhere. And, not obsessing about it. Have the poise to feel elegant yet slightly off-beat, polished but not glitzy, and self-confident enough to understand that the true meaning of chic is very individual.
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SophieKawaii
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Reading this thread I really start to feel sorry for American women, especially for the stylish ones. 
Party.in.Paris
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^what do you mean?
I actually see a lot of girls wearing this kind of boots here in Paris lollemeray said:
luvmelots1983
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^To be honest, Lemeray, I wasnt so thrilled about the bag either; I kind of thought it looked like one of those bargain bags you get at forever21 for a one-time-use night out. But the boots, though I dont love them, do make sense as being very European/Parisian this season. The reason I say that is a friend of mine is married to a Parisian guy and they went to visit last month. One of the pictures they brought back was of him with his mom.... and she's wearing a black dress, stockings and boots like those. Apparently, according to Alice (my friend), boots like that are everywhere: equestrian-esque, hard leather, generally brown with some buckles... it's all the rage now.
I would've posted the picture of my friend's mom's outfit, but I wasnt sure I was allowed to. It's fantastic though; she's probably 50, looks 35, has a great figure and looks so stylish!
I would've posted the picture of my friend's mom's outfit, but I wasnt sure I was allowed to. It's fantastic though; she's probably 50, looks 35, has a great figure and looks so stylish!
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SophieKawaii
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Party.in.Paris ~ i mean in most articles French women supposed to be the chic ones while American women are mentioned as the opposite. It's like a stereotype..
Also when it comes to "French woman" most ppl imagine a fashionable, well dressed, pretty lady while when it's about the "American woman".. well..
(ps.: i'm not American nor French
)
Also when it comes to "French woman" most ppl imagine a fashionable, well dressed, pretty lady while when it's about the "American woman".. well..
(ps.: i'm not American nor French
)stilettogirl84
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Yeah- It is
the pics with that article are bad, but the advice in it is great
the pics with that article are bad, but the advice in it is great
luvmelots1983
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^I agree, kind of. I like the first 3 pictures... they make sense as being very classy, chic and Parisian (if I'm not wrong, the designers are French too - the dress is Catherine Malandrino) but I dislike the last 3 pictures... well, the bag more than anything. It just looks....... cheap.
I wish I could see what they (writers) mean when they say "mix and match" with unique pieces. In the article above, they mention how chic-ness is acheived by "how you put it all together" and the use of "one of a kind" pieces. I get that... but I wish I could see some ensembles, you know? To give me an idea of what kind of pieces are considered chic, or even how it's put together.
I feel like these articles give us "a,b,c,d,e" all the way through to "y". They forget the "z" at the end... it just feels unfinished. Like they list out all this stuff, and there's all this advice but no finished product or examples and images. Am I making any sense?
I wish I could see what they (writers) mean when they say "mix and match" with unique pieces. In the article above, they mention how chic-ness is acheived by "how you put it all together" and the use of "one of a kind" pieces. I get that... but I wish I could see some ensembles, you know? To give me an idea of what kind of pieces are considered chic, or even how it's put together.
I feel like these articles give us "a,b,c,d,e" all the way through to "y". They forget the "z" at the end... it just feels unfinished. Like they list out all this stuff, and there's all this advice but no finished product or examples and images. Am I making any sense?
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I keep seeing American women being brought up, in contrast to the French, as being either incredibly lazy and living in sweatpants, or as being overdone and trying too hard to be in style. Which is it? 
The truth is, it takes all kinds to live in America. There are both these women, and many more--in between--or far out.
The more I hear about it, the more I think it's a bunch of BS. Panzies. I don't consider shamelessly trashing whole countries to be very chic. But that's just me.
The truth is, it takes all kinds to live in America. There are both these women, and many more--in between--or far out.The more I hear about it, the more I think it's a bunch of BS. Panzies. I don't consider shamelessly trashing whole countries to be very chic. But that's just me.
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