Les Premières Dames: France's Improbably Chic First Ladies (SLIDESHOW)

France: the great nation that gave us berets, wine, nasal sounds and Coco Chanel...and a collection of chic first ladies to admire. This Bastille Day, grab a croissant and celebrate the Premières Dames that transformed the Elysée Palace. From domestic deity Yvonne de Gaulle to supermodel Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, click through this style retrospective to learn a little bit about these seven women who make us adore la France.

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Yvonne de Gaulle

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Wife of Charles de Gaulle, president from 1959-1969 Placed an emphasis on family and is well-known for saying, "The presidency is temporary -- but the family is permanent."

Or look through Carla's closet with her top twelve first lady looks.

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Comments

[clarendon67]

Claude Pompidou looks like a man in drag.

[lmvd3]

Are we sure Claude Pompidou is a woman??? I have strong doubts.

[HC4BO]

First of all, how many gosh d@rn years can a person have the Presidency in FRANCE ???

Secondly, I see Sarko LOVES his women to LOOK a certain way ... Current wife looks like a younger version of the second wife ...

Last, but not the least, Princess Diana is GORGEOUS !

[squander123]

I'm not sure what the exact system is for French Presidents, but many countries don't have term limits for their major political posts (look at Margaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister from 1979-1991). They do, obviously, have to stand for re-election at the given times during that period, but they can do that for an unlimited number of times: the principle being that if people want them out, they can vote them out!

[BlueZoo]

These photos show us the evolution of first ladies from the frumpy 1950s to the present. Countries of the world appear to be electing younger leaders now and we will be seeing more and more younger women and men in powerful positions. The best part is these are couples of not only style but also substance! The 21st century will indeed be different!

[ElsaIndy]

It is nice to see the pictures of France's First Ladies since we rarely see their pictures.

[jozzie]

Carla is the new improved version of Cecilia. She's also lots richer. Sark really likes that model.

[MintysMom]

I think she is pretty, but she dresses like a 12 year old.

Of course, I wish I could have some of her clothes and fit in them. Her knee length dresses would go to my ankles.

[PresidentRobertBooth]

Why are the "improbably" chic?


They are French.

Of course they'd be stylish

[ReesieKitty]

lol, that's what I thought! Why wouldn't they be??

[Feanor]

Quelle surprise.

[klondiker]

Okay, sorry to be picky about this, but I have stopped clicking through these slideshows because it is SO annoying when the page has to re-load for every picture. What was wrong with the old way of doing slideshows??

[PoliticalAmazon]

They changed the "dot" system, which we had before, to Satan's system, which we have now.

Politcs still has the dot system.

[jozzie]

If you click on the blue "next" button is works better.

[squander123]

I've been thinking the same thing! Every now and then the good old 'dot' system reappears, and I think they've learned the error of their ways, but then no, it's back to this awful new system. I've also stopped clicking through most slideshows now (including this one). Come on HuffPo, it wasn't broken, unfix it!

[fame]

They're French. Of course they're chic!

[mairs]

Well what do you know.....Yvonne de Gaulle in a sleeveless dress. What do the tr 0 //s have to say about that?

[mairs]

So I have to ask, why is it improbable that French First Lady's have been chic?

[PoliticalAmazon]

I appreciate the fact that they have another article on Carla Bruni, since she has such a wonderful sense of style, but I don't quite get what the comparison is supposed to be about, since it compares Carla Bruni, First Lady in 2009, with women First Ladies from decades ago, when styles were completely different.

"A" for effort for posting this story, "C" for content.

May we have another article on Carla Bruni's style? I'm sending this one back to the ktichen--it's not quite done yet.

[Bafun]

they did the same with the US First Ladies, comparing Eleanor Roosevelt and Michelle Obama's styles!

[ReesieKitty]

For their times, each of these ladies was very stylish. Context.

[Cakey4814]

Another article on Carla..

[Charmed]

Carli looks like the daughter of the 2nd wife....maybe it's the checkbones.

[noudidnt]

yep

[nancy50]

Ouch! I'm sure Madame Attias appreciates that remark (snark).