Contrary advice of Parisian women

Embrace your inner snob. Wear red with pink. Eat oysters at home and go to bed before midnight on New Year's Eve. That's just some of the advice meted out by four Frenchwomen in a new book on "how to be Parisian".

In their 240-page book, the four authors cover topics as diverse as bad habits, what to display on your mantelpiece, sulking, and how to wear a miniskirt.

According to model Caroline de Maigret and her co-authors, Parisian women never try to be friends with their children, work too hard on their appearance, and have overly white teeth.

They love navy blue with black, bags that don't match their clothes, and wouldn't dream of getting married in a "puffy meringue" dress, opting instead for a black or navy tuxedo.

When pregnant, Bloody Marys can be replaced by Virgin Marys, which are Bloody Marys without the alcohol, "but that's it - you're no saint". High heels should be surrendered only on "the day you walk into the delivery room".

When hosting a dinner party, the objective is to make it look effortless, no matter how stressed you are, and after politics has been discussed to redirect the conversation to Parisians' "second-favorite dinner topic: sex".

Faux pas include using corporate jargon, and having a wedding photo in your living room or more than two colors in your hair.

'Thoughtful girlfriend'

As for infidelity the golden rule is denial. "What is good for you is good for your relationship - basically you're just being a thoughtful girlfriend," they suggest.

In a cafe in Paris, de Maigret, looks every inch the stereotypical, chic Parisian.

But the 39-year-old, whose various jobs include being an ambassador for French fashion house Chanel, insists that the book is about dismantling - not fueling - stereotypes.

How to be Parisian Wherever You Are: Love, Style and Bad Habits, was co-authored with Anne Berest, Audrey Diwan and Sophie Mas and came about after de Maigret found herself being constantly quizzed about Parisian women on trips abroad.

"I was traveling a lot and was being asked all around the world about the Parisian girl. It was the only thing people asked me about," she said.

And while she hopes that the book, just published by Doubleday in the US and Britain, is fun and shows that Parisians can send themselves up a little bit, she also sees it as something of a self-help manual for the stressed-out modern woman.

She said she wanted to debunk the myth of the perfect Parisian woman.

"It is an illusion to think you can be all these women at the same time.

"That's what this book is all about, to explain that yes, you are this woman - but not all on the same day - and to tell women to give up running after an ideal," she said.

(China Daily 10/13/2014 page10)