Glamour Girl
The verdict is in. And not surprisingly, given the sophistication of the French and their appreciation for beauty in all its forms, the woman the general public voted for as The Most Elegant Woman in Paris is not some 20-something gamine or 30-something bombshell, but a cool, chic, gorgeous, and oh-so-French older woman: former model and continuing muse Inès de la Fressange.
Age 52 and still going strong. You can read about it in this rather snarky and bizarre account in The Independent, or in this article from Time magazine (headline a little confusing—the article was written in January, and Fressange’s birthday is in August, so she’s now 52).
Here’s Fressange during her modeling days:
And today in modern garb:
The French (and Italians) have always been able to appreciate older women—un-Botoxed, un-face-lifted, un-Restylane-filled. So it’s no marvel that they chose Fressange as the epitome of beauty. In 1846, the Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz famously advised American feminist Margaret Fuller to “frequent the society of Italians” in order to conquer her inhibitions about feeling “ugly” (she did—and took up with a handsome Italian aristocrat with whom she had a child).
Glamour Girl is exactly one month to the day older than la belle Inès, so she’s feeling particularly smug. Apropos of which, she was recently surprised to find out that she’s supposed to be insulted by the term “cougar.” Fair disclosure: I’ve never seen the TV show Cougar Town starring Courteney Cox, so I don’t know if maybe that has something to do with it. But just on the face of it, what’s so bad about being called a cougar? It’s a sleek, strong, beautiful animal. Sounds like a compliment to me. But all my girlfriends assure me that no, it’s an insult.
I’m reminded of a colleague from back in the days when I was a legal secretary, between my sophomore and junior years at college (I took a year off to work). Her name was Cathy C______. She was in her 50s. I remember her regaling me with stories about young guys—very young guys—coming on to her. I can still see her rolling her eyes and sweeping her hand: “Oh, younger men. Psssh! They’re so easy. They’re not even a challenge.”
I was transfixed by her tales. I was only 19. What did I know?
Seems like appreciation for older women has always been around. Perhaps it’s just been more under wraps in certain cultures than in others. Maybe now, with cougars and panthers and the likes of Inès de la Fressange prowling about, more women will be inspired to embrace their age and be proud of it, rather than apologize for it. After all, better a cougar in the light of day than a lizard hiding under a rock.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 10/23/09 at 09:23 AM
