https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Mon, 25 May 2026 10:55:43 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing/page/2#post-1848722 Wed, 27 Sep 2017 17:48:14 +0000 Astrid 1848722@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I agree with those who said that reading these posts must be ridiculous for French women. European style (and of course French style) is as diverse as it is in other countries, as it is in the USA. One of my friends is French and she used to walk around in all black clothing, stompy boots and a fair bit of metal in her face. She lost some of the metal and and her biggest stompy boots in the meantime, but she is still as far away from the picture painted in those articles as I am and our styles are as different as day and night. </p> <p>Also agree with those who said that this "French style" is mostly seen in certain parts of Paris, same as the "cool Berlin style" is concentrated in certain places. Otherwise, it's a mix of styles and looks and sizes and that's a good thing. In the end it's all about selling an image to sell products. I just think it's sad that this also means that some ideas seem to lose their (at least to me) positive meaning because they are appropriated, like the idea of minimalism or simple living. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing/page/2#post-1848708 Wed, 27 Sep 2017 17:21:19 +0000 Kathleen 1848708@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I wish that I could find more blogs that represent a wider variety of women, who are more like me and my friends.&nbsp; Women who sometimes struggle to make it out of the house in the morning in an outfit that's clean because your child has been sick all night, let alone be posing bare legged in the middle of the street in January when it's 20F outside in the latest trendy pose.&nbsp; I would like to see more older women, and especially women of all shapes and sizes.&nbsp; I also want to see women in real, practical everyday outfits where not every outfit includes 4" heels that she is wearing only to take the photo.</p> <p></p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing/page/2#post-1848702 Wed, 27 Sep 2017 17:06:04 +0000 Emily K 1848702@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>The pose issue! &nbsp;I was reading a blog in which the author had gathered a number of fashion photos to illustrate her point. &nbsp;One of the photos was undated, but she observed that, based on the pose (the position of the feet, specifically), it was probably circa 2015. &nbsp;So, I guess the poses are sufficiently trendy and can be dated.</p> <p>I have stink eye for a couple of poses that I see all over Instagram and fashion blogs--fills up my Pinterest with stuff that is unexciting for me. &nbsp;In that case, I think the predictive nature of the beast is at fault--it keeps doubling-up on what it *thinks* we want to see. &nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing/page/2#post-1848636 Wed, 27 Sep 2017 12:29:10 +0000 Christina F. 1848636@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I might just happen to read a couple of bloggers who do it a lot, Sterling. I can see why you wouldn’t want every shot to be looking at the camera, so I’m probably just being unreasonable. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing/page/2#post-1848616 Wed, 27 Sep 2017 09:14:25 +0000 Anonymous 1848616@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p><b>Christina </b>-- I will have to pay more attention to the poses. &nbsp; I don't think I noticed the coyness or shyness. &nbsp;I'll bet I will from now on. &nbsp;</p> <p><u>On a side note</u>: &nbsp;This summer has been weird for me. &nbsp;I have spent a lot of time "waiting" for things and events. &nbsp;While I have been waiting I have been perusing the internet. &nbsp;It has been these past two and half months that I have encountered so many websites and articles that rankle. &nbsp;It could be my mood just as much as the content. &nbsp;Perhaps another day I wouldn't even notice or care.&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing/page/2#post-1848521 Tue, 26 Sep 2017 20:30:48 +0000 Style Fan 1848521@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Thanks for the link La Ped.&nbsp; There are lots of clichés about style.&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing/page/2#post-1848514 Tue, 26 Sep 2017 20:08:32 +0000 Christina F. 1848514@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p><b>Laura G</b> I'm tired of those pics as well. And, what's even worse to me about them: they all include pictures with their heads ducked down as if they're feeling coy or shy. You put pictures of yourself on the internet for a living. That's FINE, but stop pretending to be shy. I am thinking that must be some kind of feminine stereotype they need to live down to, that looking coy makes you prettier or something. PS-I&nbsp; don't mean people who do it for anonymity. I mean people whose faces and identities are known, and who are professional bloggers.</p> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing#post-1848512 Tue, 26 Sep 2017 20:05:24 +0000 Laura G 1848512@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>While we on the subject, *I'm* tired of "street style" pics that are a blogger who got dressed up and made up and then stood in the street so her boyfriend could take her picture.&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing#post-1848510 Tue, 26 Sep 2017 20:00:41 +0000 Anonymous 1848510@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I think you could be right, <b>Sal</b>. &nbsp;I was genuinely bored of the overused cliches and I was in a "mood." &nbsp;I'm going to change the title. &nbsp;Thanks for the tip. &nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing#post-1848508 Tue, 26 Sep 2017 19:49:16 +0000 Sal 1848508@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I think you chose the wrong thread title Sterling, it could be..</p> <p>Overused blog posts in fashion<br />I am so bored with cliche blogs</p> <p>I admit to admiring much of the French and European fashion I see, especially from our forum posters Skylurker, Anchie, Astrid, Karin, Harmonica and The Cat (and others I know....) &nbsp;But I do agree that there are some very lazy article relying on cliches or stereotypes.</p> <p>While there are some great NZ fashion designers and also some very stylish women here there is certainly no trend in international bloggers admiring our style..... </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing#post-1848499 Tue, 26 Sep 2017 19:18:17 +0000 Jenni NZ 1848499@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Thank you La Ped for that article. The poor woman! How horrible to be treated like that. I am much more aware of these issues as I have got older, of how people can be discriminated against. I think I had a sheltered childhood! It was pretty mono-cultural WASP at the time, NZ in the 1960s and 1970s. In my suburb anyway. I was not very aware of important stuff happening in the world. Just used to see "Hands Off Vietnam" graffitied in the city. And now my daughter has a Vietnamese American partner, so history has come along to meet me </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing#post-1848498 Tue, 26 Sep 2017 19:16:54 +0000 cindysmith 1848498@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>OMG Christina, I too fail to be amazed that those booties cost less than $100. I made the mistake of clicking some thing the other day about items that look more luxurious than they are, and I was left scratching my head wondering why I just wasted all those minutes of my life that I'll never get back. I FINALLY gave up on all of those 'must have' lists because I got sick to death with seeing<br /> *great black trouser<br /> *well fitted blazer<br /> *great white button up shirt<br /> *little black dress<br /> *trench coat<br /> *cashmere sweater<br /> *perfect black pumps<br /> *red lipstick<br /> and whatever other 2 items they threw in. Do you know how many of those items would see use in my closet? MAYBE the cashmere sweater, for the 5 days a year it's cold enough for that here in texas. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing#post-1848479 Tue, 26 Sep 2017 17:26:00 +0000 Adela 1848479@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Well, I rather like those articles and though I don't like generalizing, French women seem very stylish to my eye- but of course, not only them. <br />Angie, I love what you said. You are a very wise and mature person. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing#post-1848463 Tue, 26 Sep 2017 16:30:17 +0000 texstyle 1848463@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>So, I HAD to look up obesity in various countries just to see the facts and I found this casually on Wiki (I know it's not the end all source of info but other sites seem to back it up).</p> <p>So it sort of looks like actually there are more than just a few people in France who are considered overweight. Not at all like the US of course.</p> <p>Source: Wikipedia</p> <p><b></b>Obesity in France<b></b> is a growing health issue. Obesity in children is growing at a faster rate than obesity in adults.</p> <p>Based on World Health Organisation (WHO) data published in 2014, 23.9% of French adults (age 18+) were clinically obese with a body mass index<br /> (BMI) of 30 or greater. The data showed the incidence of obesity in<br /> French women in 2014 was 24.0% and among French men 23.8%. Overall adult<br /> obesity rates in France were significantly ahead of the Netherlands at<br /> 19.8%, Germany at 20.1% and Italy at 21.0%, but behind the United<br /> Kingdom and the United States at 28.1% and 33.7% respectively.</p> <p>Based on 2014 WHO data, France was ranked as the 122nd fattest country in terms of mean BMI for adults of both sexes, with a mean BMI score of 25.3.</p> <p> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing#post-1848459 Tue, 26 Sep 2017 16:19:52 +0000 Laura G 1848459@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I still fall for those articles, but I'm always disappointed--it's always yet another "capsule wardrobe". And I don't even wear black! I think the real problem with those articles is they're written by Americans, so they all just rehash the three or four things they notice about French (actually Parisian) style from the outside. Or worse, they just slap that "French" title on whatever they were going to write anyway.</p> <p>Really liked the article LaPed shared. Going to be a long, hard slog to change those attitudes, if experiences of marginalized people in the USA are any indication. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing#post-1848455 Tue, 26 Sep 2017 16:11:32 +0000 annagybe 1848455@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Also I actually felt more schlumpy traveling in Russia than France. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing#post-1848454 Tue, 26 Sep 2017 16:04:23 +0000 annagybe 1848454@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Also I have read that that the idealized French Style is limited to certain arrondissements&nbsp;in Paris, where the tourists and wealthy are.&nbsp;</p> <p>I wish I could find the source again. </p> <p>ETA, not the original but something</p> <p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/why-french-girl-style-is-fake-news-154536179.html">https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyl.....36179.html</a></p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing#post-1848449 Tue, 26 Sep 2017 15:45:32 +0000 texstyle 1848449@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>viva!!! I was just thinking of you yesterday and missing your posts. Glad to see you are still around.</p> <p>I went and read the article too. I hadn't really thought of the implications of someone overweight living in a culture where it was so out of the ordinary. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing#post-1848446 Tue, 26 Sep 2017 15:29:05 +0000 viva 1848446@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>La Ped, that article was really powerful. It does adds another dimension to the story of French style. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing#post-1848428 Tue, 26 Sep 2017 14:27:53 +0000 texstyle 1848428@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I have seen it a lot too - I guess it must say something about what "look" I'm going after. Many books on the topic as well, not just focused on the fashion, but the overall lifestyle of the French -- diet, walking, skin care, relationships, attitude about life, etc. I don't have a lot of personal experience with France other than a brief week visit to Paris, but I have watched a number of French foreign films. It seems that maybe it's an overall idealized European lifestyle thing that many people pine for and strive to bring into their own lives. Not all French women or European women have fantastic skin, thin bodies and great haircuts, but the illusion that they do is a great marketing angle for many. America is such a mixed bag of people, I don't think it's as much of an angle these days as it used to be maybe 40 years ago, but of course it is still being used. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing#post-1848422 Tue, 26 Sep 2017 14:02:03 +0000 Christina F. 1848422@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I am attracted to elements of what I'll call stereotypical "French Woman" style, but really my taste is a bit too colorful. The current variety of colors and silhouettes I see on the streets on NYC makes me happier than a world of black cigarette pants, navy trenches, and bretons would, though I like all these items and did aspire to that kind of style for a while. </p> <p>From what I have seen in my short time in Paris, a lot of French women have an innate sense of style that's actually not really easily reduced to the typical formula magazines spit out. It also transcends what they're wearing, a lot of the time. Magazines try to fetishize this as one achievable look, which of course means we're not seeing French women as people with a variety of lives and kinds of styles.</p> <p>And I'll co-sign as another person who hates current fashion marketing, especially in blogs. I feel like headlines are always trying to tell me how I'm going to feel about certain items, and I almost never agree. (Sorry, but I'm not "amazed" that those ten pairs of booties cost less than $100, and I'm not going to "die" over those 15 oversized sweaters. I guess I'm not the target audience for these things.) It's <i>basic</i>, as <b>Cindy</b> alludes to.</p> <p> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing#post-1848414 Tue, 26 Sep 2017 13:37:17 +0000 Angie 1848414@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Although I am off the forum for most of the day with a hectic schedule, a few thoughts here: <ul> <li>A gentle reminder to be sensitive about negatively generalizing about countries, nationalities and cultures. YLF is a global community which is one point, and I don't want people's feelings to be hurt. Discussion is good, but please keep it respectful. And second, people are individuals, and should not be negatively lumped into a group as La Ped eloquently put in her comment.&nbsp;</li> </ul> <ul> <li>There are wise and sensitive comments here already - which makes me proud.&nbsp;</li> </ul> <ul> <li>There is a lot that is overused, saturated and overkilled in the fashion world unfortunately. Words like "cool" and "edgy" come to mind right away. So are words like "obsessed", and " the perfect...". Marketing&nbsp;ploys can be annoying&nbsp;and even undermine our intelligence.&nbsp;Simply laugh at them, and move on if they aren't your cup of tea.&nbsp;</li> </ul> <b>Bijou</b>, you make me laugh.&nbsp;<b>Cindy</b>,&nbsp;thanks for the kind words. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing#post-1848413 Tue, 26 Sep 2017 13:33:37 +0000 Anonymous 1848413@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I agree to a point - but will admit to being attracted to those words when I see them . &nbsp;However, and this is key, it depends on the source. &nbsp;Crediblity is everything . &nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing#post-1848411 Tue, 26 Sep 2017 13:21:59 +0000 Anonymous 1848411@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p><b>Staysfit </b>-- It is good that miss those articles. &nbsp;It means you spend less time on the internet than I do. &nbsp;Healthier in so, so many ways.</p> <p><b>Bijou</b> and <b>Robin</b> -- I hadn't even considered what it must be like to be a French woman and have to live up to the label. &nbsp;I must have assumed it was purely marketed to the American consumer. &nbsp;</p> <p><b>Lyn67</b> -- tiresome and boring!!!</p> <p><b>Jenn</b> -- I used to read the articles ... probably for the same reasons you did. &nbsp;But there is a point of market saturation and I have reached it. &nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing#post-1848408 Tue, 26 Sep 2017 13:07:03 +0000 Anonymous 1848408@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p><b>La Ped</b> -- You are so wise. &nbsp;It was the "projected image of nonchalant perfection" I was thinking of when I first drafted this thread. &nbsp; I merely thought of it as a <u>tiresome</u> marketing ploy. &nbsp;I hadn't taken it to the next level of cruelty, denial, and exclusion. &nbsp;You always educate me and take me to the next level of evaluation. &nbsp; </p> <p><b>Cindy</b> -- Your soapbox rants are <u>always</u> welcome. &nbsp;</p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing#post-1848406 Tue, 26 Sep 2017 13:06:35 +0000 cindysmith 1848406@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Well, hypothetically, "French woman" style (or "French style", or "French shopping strategy") is a great idea. However, it's become so ubiquitous/ overused that it's become the new "pumpkin spice latte" or "keep calm and carry on". There's nothing wrong with any of these things, it's just the fashion/style media version of Lindsey Lohan's (or the Kardashians, or whoever is currently saturating the evening news) latest exploits being touted as noteworthy; "breaking news--Kim Kardashian got a haircut! Full report at 10!" I'm bored with the way things get served to us. The media will literally beat a dead horse until the earth beneath the corpse looks like the aftermath of warfare.</p> <p>Scandi style, shabby chic, Pantone's color of the year, Joanna Gaines of "fixer upper", minimalism, granite counter tops, slow fashion, whatever marketers think they can make a buck off of... It's all starting to become exactly like those donuts that CenturyLink arena in Shreveport used to provide for the stagehand morning break: refrigerator cold, stale, powdered-sugar or fake-chocolate coated, empty calories. As a stagehand, I had a love/hate relationship with those donuts: I needed the carbs to perform, but those donuts were not good (and neither was the coffee). I need clothes to keep from being arrested for indecent exposure, but I don't want some marketer telling me what I'm supposed to wear or how to shop.</p> <p>Sorry for the soapbox rant. I'll end on a positive note:</p> <p>What I like about YLF is the way each member here takes what the media is serving up and makes it unique, fresh, and personal. I like how Angie reports on trends and shows us how to take the trends and make them work for a variety of budgets, body types, style aesthetics, and climates. I like how everyone here can take something as overplayed as the "French wardrobe" and make me interested in it. I love how I can come here and see someone post about a "kitchen sink blouse" and I actually like the shirt on that member even though I've hated the ones I've seen on websites. I really admire the diversity, the individuality, the way we make the trends our own. So: well played, Fabbers. Well played </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing#post-1848402 Tue, 26 Sep 2017 12:32:35 +0000 LaPed 1848402@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I know exactly what you mean. I get these articles in my news feed too. I also get "Audrey Hepburn style" all the time. I assume this is because I'm perpetually shopping for black ankle pants and breton shirts. ;)</p> <p>I like to think I'm pretty good at tuning out marketing. The other day a librarian complimented me by telling me I looked very French -- I was flattered, but I'd also just read this article: <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/sep/10/gabrielle-deydier-fat-in-france-abuse-grossophobia-book-women">https://www.theguardian.com/so.....sophobia-b</a></p> <p>Reading this profile of Gabrielle Deydier, who's just published a book about being a fat woman in France, has really changed my thinking on French beauty culture, and America's deification of all things French (style, diet, parenting, etc.). That projected image of nonchalant perfection -- what if it's founded on cruelty, denial, and exclusion? </p> <p>This is not to bash France -- merely to question who benefits when we choose to elevate a notion of femininity that excludes and is unattainable for many, and then universalize that concept and assume it applies to everyone in France. I certainly don't like being lumped in with many common "American" stereotypes which are not reflective of who I am, and I suspect people in other countries feel the same.&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing#post-1848398 Tue, 26 Sep 2017 12:22:53 +0000 RobinF 1848398@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I think it just gives them something to talk about, a way to label a style. I think it would annoy me more if I were a French woman, being stereotyped like that. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing#post-1848395 Tue, 26 Sep 2017 12:13:44 +0000 Jenn 1848395@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I agree that the marketing term is overblown, but I rather like the articles. It's usually code for a type of unfussy style I can get behind. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-am-so-over-that-french-woman-thing#post-1848388 Tue, 26 Sep 2017 11:17:28 +0000 lyn67 1848388@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Yes, agree, this is rather&nbsp; a hype:-(. </p>