|| 29 August 2021

Times Change in France

With Covid restrictions on travel, our Chic & Slim Special Correspondent Kat has not been able to travel to France as frequently as previously. One of the first email she sent after arriving for her most recent visit carried the subject line: Times Change. Below are her comments. Merci, Kat, for sharing comments and photo.

image: poster advertising Chantelle lingerie in shop window in Pont l’Eveque

I never thought I’d see the day when top French lingerie brand Chantelle saw fit to showcase a “plus size “model! The day has come!

I spotted this in the window of one of the upmarket lingerie shops in Pont l’Eveque (this town, with a population of about 4,500, has no less than five such shops, two beauticians and ten hair salons, all of which do a roaring trade).

As you know, I am less than enthralled by the “big is beautiful” brigade, which, in my opinion, has as much to answer for as the brigade which fetishises size zero.

When I scroll through the fashion sites on my newsfeed nowadays, a new trend has emerged, and it goes like this: six images of jeans/skirts/tops/dresses on size zero bodies flash by, and then - a size twenty makes its appearance, stuffed into a garment no sane person of that size would be seen dead wearing.

And I think: where have the normal people gone? The ones that have maybe gained a little weight over the years. but still remain within a healthy range, the ones who need to watch that neckline or that hemline, and cover up a little more as the years go by, but can still wear what pleases them and look good in it. Invisible.

Well, not to the people at Chantelle! Their girl is busty, sure, and curvy in the hip. She’s got a little tummy, as many girls do, but she’s also got a waist. You can see her collarbones. She looks quite tall, and is maybe a French size 42-44 (US 12-14). She is not a size 20. She is NOT FAT.

I think the French may have got it right again.