French Women and their Lingerie by French Essence

I am an avid reader of French Essence. I want to share this latest article with you. It is about French Lingerie!!!

First let me introduce you to Vicki Archer, creator of this lovely blog.

 She is an Australian writer who lives in both London and the South of France. Vicki and her family took on the challenge of buying and moving to an abandoned olive farm.

I adore her blog and enjoy her portrayal of life in France.

She has written 2 books.  My French Life and French Essence

Check out her list of French Films and sign up to follow her adventures in France.


I agree completely with her outlook on lingerie and her view of most women's relationship with lingerie. An interesting perspective. I hope you enjoy this.

french women and their lingerie... 

by Vicki Archer

I read somewhere yesterday that French women are the biggest buyers of lingerie.... What does that mean? Other than that women in general love their pretties, it simply means that some women like lingerie more than others. There are all sorts of assumptions made from this data about nationality and sexiness...a difficult one to determine and not one that I am going to run with, however....

What I do know is that for French women lingerie is a staple in their wardrobe. Pretty underwear is not something that is at the bottom of the shopping list or neglected like a long overdue manicure. Lingerie is as important as the well cut dress that covers it. Lingerie is part of the ensemble; like the handbag and heels, it all has to work. One of the reasons I know that French girls are big spenders on lingerie is that in every village, town and major city there are more lingerie boutiques than any other. In our small village there are several boutiques selling top brands of lingerie. These boutiques are the ones that seem to endure despite seasonal trade and downturns in the economy.

Lingerie is a win/win purchase and maybe French girls have that figured out. Emotionally, if we feel good on the inside then we feel better on the outside. This is something we all strive for and this same logic should apply to how we dress. Knowing that what is underneath is just as fabulous (if not more) as what is on show gives a spike to the morale and a boost to the confidence....and we all know that confidence is the key to looking fabulous and appealing to others. Dressing is so often not about ourselves; women dress to please the loves in their lives or more often than not their girlfriends. Lingerie does not have to be exclusively for others, it doesn't have to be about our partners, lingerie can be selfish. Wearing gorgeous underwear should not only be for seduction, lingerie should be a weapon of self esteem.

Buying underwear is a bit like buying jeans we need to be in the best mood, we need to have time and we need to be forgiving of our flaws. French girls are not perfect, they have lumps and bumps like the rest of us, but perhaps they are kinder to themselves. Our bodies will never be as we want them, that is a curse (rightly or wrongly) that women live with, but wearing pretty lingerie is not reserved for the perfect body; pretty lingerie can be worn by all. In France I have noticed that the most exquisite pieces of lingerie come in all sizes and unlike fashion, underwear does not enforce unspoken rules about who can and who can't. There is a sense of liberation in knowing that you can buy exactly what you like in the size you need; French girls know this, we should too. xv








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