Bellefleur Lingerie Book Club: All You Need to Be Impossibly French by Helena Frith Powell. Discussion Two

We are loving your comments on Discussion One!  Feel free to continue to post on older post as we move on to the next discussion question. 

Chapter Three, The Secret Weapon, brings up a topic we find ourselves discussing in the shop regularly; your underwear can set the tone for the day.  Here are a few of our favorite quotes from different French women in this Chapter:

 

"If your underwear isn't right, nothing else is."~ Chantal Thomass, French lingerie designer

"If I start with a good base, the I know I will dress well...If I want to seduce, I wear a certain ensemble, if I am filming and have to be comfortable, I wear another."~ Sylvie Tellier, former Miss France and TV personality

"It may not be seduction of someone else...for a French woman this can mean the seduction of herself, to feel good about herself and happy in her skin."~ Odlie Morvan, director of underwear at Galeries Lafayette

Have any of you ever experienced a time when you felt like wearing a matching set or a garter belt changed your mood and made you feel more confident?  What do you think correlation is between a women's self awareness, the way she communicates with her environment, and what lies underneath her clothes?

all images via Bellefleur Lingerie Pinterest

Mad about Fortnight

 

Since 2007, Mad Men has been reminding us how stylish the women of the 1960s were.  Although we won't take those silly little men thinking they run the world anymore- we'll take the hair, jewelry, clothes, and or course THE LINGERIE!  Happy Season Six!

 

 

 Here our a few of our favorite vintage inspired pieces from Fortnight modeled by one of lovely Bellefleur models. This stunning bralet and panty set currently comes in pink, mint, black, and peach- LOVE!  This must have over lace black slip will surely get their heads turning. 

xx Bellefleur

Bellefleur Lingerie Book Club: All You Need to Be Impossibly French by Helena Frith Powell. Discussion One

Welcome to the Bellefleur Book Club!  With every book, we'd like to post a few thoughts and questions we have been contemplating here at the shop.  Please share your own thoughts and feelings on this forum.  Each book will span over a two months and over the course of those two we will post 4 discussion questions.  So here we go....

In Chapter Two, Zen Exercise, the topic of exercise is raised.  In several cases the idea is implemented that American women exercise and French women move.  Here is a bit from Sylvie, one of Helena's French friends from Montpellier:

"I just move," she tells me. "If it's a choice between stairs and life, I take the stairs. I get up earlier in the morning so I can cycle to work instead of driving. Moving is part of my everyday life."

Several women in the book say that their idea of exercise includes chasing after their children, cycling, shopping, and even sex. Is this "physical culture" the secret to why most French women stay so  fit and slim? Maybe so.

What do you think of the difference between the way French and American women diet and exercise?  We would love to hear your thoughts....xx.