American women wear underwear. French women wear lingerie.
French women seem inherently more confident in their bodies, able to embrace the sensuality of life and love. What’s their secret?
Lingerie
I may not be of French descent and I don’t know if growing up in Montreal had anything to do with it, but I have embraced beautiful lingerie for as long as I can remember. And that’s why I was so excited to discover a feminine unique brand native to South America which I brought back to sell in Canada for several years.
Yet, even though I tend to wear t-shirt bras, running bras and even yoga bras when need be, nothing shouts “I’m a sexy woman” more than when I put on a lacy, silky undergarment. We don’t even know if men really appreciate it but just the fact that we have something sensuous underneath our outerwear that makes us feel special is good enough.
Did you see the parade of young, sexy women with perfect bodies strutting the Runway for the annual Victoria’s Secret fashion show the other night? It was the first time I’ve watched it and it was amazing! It was filmed in Paris with Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars as guests and the backdrop was pure fantasy and the girls were seamless in their not necessarily seamless undergarments. These chosen few are really top-notch in their category and the ones who exhibit more personality will surely go on to excel in the magic model kingdom. But it is not reality as we know it, and on a more somber note it’s probably why many young women become anorexic or bulimic in comparison. These girls work out non-stop just so you know. 
But moving right along….
A Toronto native by the name of Kathryn Kemp-Griffin is the author of a new book entitled “Paris Undressed.” She moved to Paris with her husband in the 90’s and now also runs lingerie-themed tours of Paris. She found that in North America comfort was an excuse for a lack of aesthetics.
She realized that after moving to Paris, that lingerie could be something more. The idea is lingerie should be about activating the senses, not fixing perceived flaws.
Paris Undressed goes behind the seams, combining cultural references, expertise, and practical advice to inspire every woman to reconsider her underwear drawer.
Last week when I put on one of my sweaters only to find several small holes and one fairly large hole I decided “no moths, no more!” I will never use moth balls because they smell horrible. My grandmother’s chest of drawers used to reek of them. Even though they do the trick – NO way! I roll my sweaters with pretty lavender sachets in a box containing cedar wood chips. After this I went through my sweaters one by one and found another three that have holes. So now I’m desperate. And through experience I know that if you’re lucky enough to find someone to mend them you might as well buy a new one because it’s expensive. So I called my friend Colleen because a) she has a lot of cashmere and b) I don’t have Martha Stewart’s phone number and this was the next best thing because c) she seems to know a lot about a lot and d) when she discovered that moths had eaten her favourite cashmere housecoat she called the moth exterminator people (she recommends Mat Neale from *Pest Solutions in Vancouver) who sprayed her whole house with a non-toxic substance that killed those little suckers dead. Apparently they also have pheromone moth traps.
I just watched it with my film buddy who I met at VIFF. 
This film is not about garbage, it’s about making the best of the junk that surrounds you.
Girl Who Would be KING on Life, Style and INSPIRATION. 
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