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junedesilva

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January 21, 2018

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Culture, Fashion, France, French, Language

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Bérets…do you?

Like them? Wear them? Associate them with The French? It was this headline that caught my eye:

‘Berets, Unapologetically French And Unapologetically Chic’ (Elle UK).

No surprises there, with the inclusion of the words French and Chic!

I’ve written before about stereotypes associated with France and the French, including wearing striped Breton tops, carrying baguettes and, of course, wearing berets. Over the years, I’ve seen very few French people wearing berets ( although I have seen plenty of striped tops and baguette carriers!!) and on those occasions I have they’ve tended to be sported by older gentlemen!

Bérets have been around for a very long time. Depending on which source you read, the béret can be accredited to Noah or the ancient Greeks but the ‘modern’ beret is said to have originated in the Basque region.

I asked my youngest son what he associated with the word ‘béret’. He came up with worn by ‘the military and pretentious artists (!).’

He’s probably right up to a point. Picasso, Marlène Dietrich, Faye Dunaway and so many other painters, actors, singers have been pictured wearing berets. Whether this makes them pretentious, I have no idea! There are many other celebrated beret wearers. Too many to mention in one blog post!

The beret has also been used to symbolise revolution; as worn by Che Guevara for example.

My first encounter with a béret was as part of my Brownie uniform. Haha! Luckily, I don’t have any photos of me wearing, what I considered to be the most hideous outfit. For someone with olive skin, a brown dress, accessoried with touches of yellow, did me no favours at all!

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I managed to find this image on Pinterest. It is almost an exact replica of my Brownie uniform. I believe that the Brownie uniform is much more practical now.

What about bérets as a fashion item? I must have been scarred by my Brownie Uniform Beret as I have never worn one since I was eleven. Apparently bérets are back in fashion. I know for some people they have never gone away. Penny, who writes the blog:

http://frugalfashionshopper.co.uk/french-style-and-two–berets/

wears a beret (and other hats!) with aplomb. Do have a look!

I’m actually thinking that I might be brave and try a beret. I’m sure I’ll be able to find one in charity (thrift) shop. I’ve found a video that might help me with styling my béret:

Sadly, there is only one historic beret factory left in France: Laulhère. The Laulhère company has become something of a French institution… It’s the last remaining factory producing distinct and 100% homegrown French berets, which it’s been doing for 200 years. Having survived the threat of bankruptcy, the company is now growing and its berets are even worn by princesses and movie stars.

I’m looking forward to hearing from all those beret wearers out there!

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junedesilva

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January 4, 2018

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Blogging, Fashion, France, Music, Toulouse

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Fancying France: looking ahead

Photo by Myriams-Fotos. Pixabay

Happy New Year! Bonne Année!

I don’t make New Year resolutions. Do you? But I do have some plans for my blog. Before moving forward, I thought it might be interesting to look back over the last year of Fancying France.

Just to clarify, I am not a professional blogger – as you may be able to tell! I’ve always enjoyed writing and this blog fulfills my creative side. This blog is not my business, it is written purely for pleasure – mine! Although I have to admit that nothing thrills me more than knowing that someone else has taken the time to read my ramblings. A mega thanks, too, for all the comments I have received. This is one of the most delightful aspects of blogging, connecting with other people, all over the world.

Top three posts of 2017: in reverse order!

The SPA Carcassonne https://wordpress.com/post/fancyingfrance.wordpress.com/2946

dog rescue

An Indian…in Toulouse! https://wordpress.com/post/fancyingfrance.wordpress.com/211

C’est chic…?!

https://wordpress.com/post/fancyingfrance.wordpress.com/2717

blog

This post has had many more views than any other I have ever written, since I began this blog. Interesting!

Blogging plans for 2018? I must update my ‘about’ page. This was written when my dream was to have a home in France and now we do! I really should get a new (better) profile photo too.

I tweet and pin! What next? I’m thinking Instagram. After all, it’s important to keep learning and trying new blog related things. Do you have any recommendations?

Currently, I’m starting each morning with a cup of warm water and lemon and trying to drink more water but I’ve had these intentions so many times before that I’m purposely not calling them resolutions!

I’d love to know any NY resolutions you may have, blog related or otherwise.

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junedesilva

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December 20, 2017

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Celebrations, Culture, Fashion, France, French, Paris

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French Perfume Commercials – oui ou non?

Has anyone else noticed the weird and, not necessarily, wonderful perfume adverts that abound on television at this time of year?

I’ve written before of my love of fragrance:

https://fancyingfrance.wordpress.com/2017/08/01/fragrance/

but this love doesn’t always extend to some of the bizarre perfume commercials that are all over our screens at Christmas.

By the very nature of perfume, it is difficult to convey its essence without actually smelling it! I have read descriptions of perfumes which describe them beautifully but when you actually get to try them they may not live up to expectations.

French perfume adverts are particularly ‘over the top’ in my opinion. Although it’s not only the French ones. Gucci Bloom, I’m talking about you!

Many of these fragrance commercials feature celebrities. My favourite perfume, of the moment, is ‘La Vie est Belle’. Julia Roberts is the star of the advert for this fragrance which is set in Paris. Neither of these facts have any effect on my perfume choice. I actually sniffed the fragrance on someone else, liked it and decided to see if it would work for me. My ‘research’ (looking on Debenhams website) tells me that the ‘stunning glass bottle’ , which contains the perfume, represents the shape of Julia Roberts mouth. Really?? I had no idea.

Another perfume commercial, also shot in Paris, is Coco Mademoiselle which stars Keira Knightly. It involves her riding on a motorbike through the empty streets of Paris – that must be a first! I mean empty Parisian streets, of course! Without getting into too much deep analysis, I imagine that KK is representing a strong, powerful, independent and beautiful woman. Is the inference that if we buy this perfume, we are demonstrating our similar characteristics? Or am I overthinking this?!

Finally, I’m singling out the latest Jean Paul Gaultier perfume: Scandal. This is a relatively recent advert which – guess what! – is located in Paris. The story, behind this commercial, is of Madame la Ministre. She works for the government during the day and parties (or worse?!) in Pigalle at night. My research tells me that this perfume ‘embodies day and night’ and that the star of this commercial is a Hungarian model. I have yet to try this.

There are so many other perfume adverts I could have included but three are probably enough for one blog post!

What do you think? Do perfume commercials encourage you to try or buy? I’d love to know…

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junedesilva

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October 31, 2017

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Culture, Fashion, France, French

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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder…

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder….

Do you agree?

This phrase was the focus of a recent lesson with my advanced English conversation class. We had been talking about stereotypes and cultural similarities and differences.

The well-known expression, has been accredited to Plato and Shakespeare, amongst others, but it was Margaret Wolfe Hungerford who is widely acknowledged as coining the saying in its current form.

Not long ago, this YouTube clip popped up on my Facebook feed, thanks to Diane who writes this great blog:

https://ouiinfrance.com

This clip showcases 100 years of beauty in France. Which was your favourite clip? I found it difficult to select only one but if you forced me, maybe the 1920s…most of them have their merits.

There are also lots of stereotypes around French beauty. You only need to search the internet to find all kinds of information about how to look like a French woman. Red lips? A bob haircut? Tousled Hair? How would you describe French beauty? In my opinion, French women wear less make up (huge generalisation?!) or maybe they are experts at applying a natural make up which, as we know, takes ages to apply!!!

So, back to my class. We concluded that beauty is very much based on culture. I was reminded of a previous post I wrote:

https://fancyingfrance.wordpress.com/2016/03/10/french-women-dont-have-facelifts-beauty-standards-around-the-world/

I included a video clip of journalist Esther Honig. She sent her photo around the world and asked for it to be retouched according to the beauty standards of a range of countries. The results are fascinating. Clearly, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, according to their culture.

I’d love to know your thoughts. I had some fantastic responses to my post on ‘French chic’. I’m sure you’ll have opinions on beauty!

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junedesilva

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September 26, 2017

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Culture, Fashion, France, French, Language, Paris, Toulouse

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C’est chic…?!

Well, hello lovely readers! I do hope there are still some folk reading this blog. It seems to have been an awful long time since I wrote my last post. It’s mainly a question of life getting in the way – especially where family is involved.

Anyway, I’ve been planning this post for some time and it’s mainly thanks to one of my favourite bloggers, Catherine https://atypical60.com/ She is a very funny, feisty and opinionated American blogger who happens to have a French husband. She loves France, too and has some interesting thoughts about French style.

Why chic? ‘Chic’ is a word that is bandied about a lot but what does it actually mean? I decided to do some research via the dictionary.

Here’s what I found: ‘elegantly and stylishly fashionable’.
“she looked every inch the chic Frenchwoman“

And there’s the rub. Is this a myth, a stereotype or the truth? Chic is an adjective often applied to French women and you only have to look on Pinterest, for example, to see countless boards telling us ‘How to be Parisian’ or ‘How to dress like a French woman’.

blog

But, as someone who has a home in France, I have to tell you that not every French woman is chic. I love people watching and I am on the look out for some local chic French women so that I can take their photo and put them on this blog, assuming they don’t mind! Unfortunately, I haven’t spotted any yet… I think this is because there is not a lot of money in the area where we live and perhaps all the chic people are at work… If we go to the nearest city, Toulouse, there are lots of chic and stylish people around but there are also lots of people who are less so. Toulouse is a university town and has a feeling of affluence, so perhaps this is the reason.

I believe that ‘chicness’ – is there such a word? – varies considerably from town to town, place to place, country to country. I know of Italian, Spanish, Brazilian, Indian (I could go on) women who are incredibly stylish. There are even some in the United Kingdom!! JOKE…

But, I would suggest that there is a classic look that we ascribe to French women; including simple black dress, white tailored shirt, trenchcoat, striped top … Ah, striped tops. We all know of my love of the striped top!

photo (1)

https://wordpress.com/posts/fancyingfrance.wordpress.com?s=breton+tops

But is this accurate? Anecdotally, when I was working as a primary languages consultant, in the UK, I was observing a French lesson and I heard one of the pupils comment that I must be French because I was wearing a striped top! Vive les stéréotypes!

While looking at the original definition of chic, I decided to look at synonyms for this word. What should appear but ‘stylish’? If you put ‘French style’ into a search engine, page after page are available to tell women how to dress like a French woman. I’m sure this advice is all very helpful should that be your goal but, as far as I am concerned, it is more important to find one’s own style, whatever that may be. I feel I’m going off on a bit of a tangent here…

As a more mature woman, I do get fed up with being told what I can or can’t wear because of my age. Not that I take any notice! A subject for another blog post, perhaps?!

As I’m beginning to ramble and this post risks turning into a dissertation, I’ll finish by saying that there are certain French style ‘icons’ whose style I do admire. These include Coco Chanel, Catherine Deneuve, Françoise Hardy, Juliette Binoche, Ines de la Fressange but there are many other style icons I could name who are not French.

I’d love to know your thoughts about French style and French ‘chicness’ ! Is it a myth, a stereotype, a generalisation or the truth?! Do please share!

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junedesilva

Posted on

August 1, 2017

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Culture, Fashion, France, French

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Fragrance…

…Or is it Perfume?

I love perfume. I have for as long as I can remember. A spritz of perfume can cheer me up, transport me somewhere else and bring back happy memories. It’s part of my identity.

Do you have a signature perfume? What do I mean by this? My closest friend has a perfume that she always wears. Wherever I am, if I get a whiff of this scent it makes me think of my friend. For me that’s a signature perfume. I don’t have a true signature perfume – yet.

My earliest perfume memory is Aqua Manda which was around in my teenage years. I remember it as spicey and oriental. While ‘researching’ this post, I discovered – to my surprise – that Aqua Manda is available again, mainly on line.

The next perfume that really struck a chord with me was ‘Biba’. How I loved this perfume! I was lucky enough to work in the large Biba store, as a temporary retail assistant, when I was a student. I was so disappointed when this perfume was no longer made. Interestingly, there are several Pinterest boards which are dedicated to the Biba brand.

I then experimented with several different perfumes including: Obsession, Opium and Poison. The names say it all! I loved them all but lots of people didn’t as they found them overpowering, heady and heavy. My students used to say that they knew if I’d recently walked down the school corridor!

For a long time, Oscar de la Rente was my go-to perfume but currently it’s La Vie est Belle. How long will this one last?

To me, France and Perfume are synonymous. Think of Chanel No 5, for example. An iconic French perfume. There are so many other famous French perfumes that you might fall asleep if I mention them all!

And, what about perfume for men? My youngest son has already discovered his signature fragrance; Bleu de Chanel. A great choice, in my opinion. As he’s twenty, this might change, of course.

I have never visited – yet – Grasse. This town, in the South of France, is famous for its perfume industry. I’ll add it to my list!

One of the most interesting and unusual books I have read is ‘Perfume: The Story of a Murderer’. The author is Patrick Süskind. Set in eighteenth century France, it tells the story of Jean – Baptiste Grenouille. It’s a dark, disturbing read but certainly original.

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The book was made into a film, starring Ben Whishaw. It’s not for the faint hearted and received very mixed reviews but I found it to be a compelling if challenging watch.

This post seems to have rambled on quite a lot already and there’s so much more I could say about perfume but what I’d really like to know is whether you have a favourite or signature fragrance. Or perhaps there’s a perfume that you really can’t stand. Either way I’d love to know!