Ines De La Fressange: French Women Are Arrogant, Ignore Fashion (PHOTOS)

Model and designer Ines de la Fressange, 52, embodies the French and feminine ethic of je ne sais quoi. And she shared her own theory on French style with the Independent UK.

"In England people follow fashion much more than in France," she explained. "I imagine Bridget Jones working in an office and dying to go and buy a pair of shoes at lunchtime, you know. French women have a kind of arrogance. It's: 'I ignore fashion, I do my own thing.'"

And Fressange knows about doing her own thing. Last October, readers of Le Figaro crowned her the most chic woman in France, even ahead of first lady Carla Bruni.

"I was very proud, of course, but my daughters were all giggling because they think of me in front of a pile of dishes screaming that I have nothing to wear."

Fressange has always kept a light-hearted attitude about fashion, once greeting Anna Wintour after changing into the same suit and dark glasses as the Vogue editor...and Wintour laughed. Although she called modeling boring, she did return to the runway last year at Jean Paul Gaultier's couture show.

"People were happy to see that Gaultier likes old ladies too," she said. "There he was showing that he likes all kinds of women. I think people were clapping for that too, to show that it's possible to be fine at 51, as I was then, without botox."

Check out Fressange's French chic:

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Comments

[haroldbolton]

06:53 AM on 02/03/2010

I am a huge fan of hers

[Emma Johansson]

02:26 PM on 01/08/2010

What's wrong with doing your own thing?

[deepfreezevideo]

03:59 PM on 01/06/2010

If that is 52 years old I might have to consider moving to France...with my gorgeous wife of course.
Maybe it will rub off on her. She is 44 and still quite ravishing but it must be something in the water over there.

[GrownupStewie]

05:24 AM on 01/06/2010

I think this allusion that the french are well dressed is something that needs to be examined.
Having been to france a few times, I have to say that they are fairly well dressed. But they arent original at all. There is one color that everyone wears in France, and I mean EVERYONE, and its Black. The only people who wear color are those from other countries. All those bright sundresses you see in the picturesque small villages in france? British woman. The reason France is so well dressed is because everyones entire wardrobe consists of Black, so everything always matches and goes together. They also always wear traditional staples in clothing. Classic pieces that always look good together. That Black top looks great with that black skirt, and that black trench looks great over it, pair that with black 4 inch heels and your in business! The only other colors that would be brought in by chance are white and red. White top, Black pants, red shoes...or black top, white skirt, red bag...change the variation in any way and it will look good. It does get painfully boring though. I would take the carefree style of dress that is seen in the Netherlands, America or England over that is France. At least you get suprised by it. When everyone looks great in the same outfit it gets tiresome.

[UnePetiteParisienne]

05:39 AM on 01/06/2010

I was born and bred in Paris and I still live here today (after living aborad for a while) and it is absolutely false to say that Frenchwomen dress only in black. We do love ou red, lime-green and purple just as anybody else, thank you very much !
We just don't tend to go for th full-out Bozo-the-clown vibe, that's all ...
Plus, you should be aware that it is very difficult to match black with black (it's never the same black) and if frenchwomen were dressed like Sicilian widows, I think I would have noticed.
Now of course any self-respecting Parisienne does have one perfect LBD (little black dress) which is a staple of any decent "garde-robe" but the point is to know how to accessorize and wear it differently each time...

[Bafun]

10:04 AM on 01/06/2010

Don't forget navy blue!

[deepfreezevideo]

04:00 PM on 01/06/2010

French and petite too? You must be fighting the guys off with a large stick.

[Abner Dwight]

04:51 AM on 01/06/2010

2nd Photo has Lagerfeld in it.....

[Bafun]

10:13 AM on 01/06/2010

Of course, she was his "muse" until she became France's "bust of Marianne". He was so jalous of her success. He couldn't accept that she was successful without him. He is a such laughing stock.

[katielady]

03:58 PM on 01/05/2010

Best to be oneself. Find what you like and what you receive complements... and voila.. only one thing to pick on... botox does not make one look younger.. it is not a filler.. it paralyzes some muscles and when used in the eyebrow region, limits frowning... but doesn't make wrinkles go away...

if you have reached a certain age, these lines can be deemed character...

[Emucrat]

02:45 PM on 01/05/2010

Good. There is nothing more st.upid than a person who follows fashion instead of trying to find her/his own style.

[BustersGirl]

03:21 PM on 01/05/2010

I definitely agree with that!

[Bafun]

11:28 AM on 01/05/2010

"in front of a pile of dishes screaming that I have nothing to wear." I doubt she had to wash a lot of dishes in her life.

[UnePetiteParisienne]

12:40 PM on 01/05/2010

Well, I happen to live in Inès' neighbourhood and I can see her shopping in jeans and sneakers, picking up her daughters, eating at small local cafés etc... She has always looked rather low key & simple to me.

[Bafun]

01:57 PM on 01/05/2010

low key and simple doesn't mean to wash the dishes and to clean the house.
I can also imagine her sneakers and jeans are exclusive designers ones. But it's Ok she has a lot of money and she deserves it. Entre nous, je suis sure qu'elle a une ou deux employees de maison et un lave-vaisselle.

[shuffleoff]

10:34 AM on 01/05/2010

Perhaps not the brightest light in the room but she is still the most beautiful...

[deluk]

08:09 AM on 01/05/2010

Nonsense, the French are a nation of well dressed clones with very little individuality..

[UnePetiteParisienne]

08:53 AM on 01/05/2010

If you want to go down that road (of sweeping generalizations), then I guess one could say the English are a nation of badly dressed clones with a propensity to binge-drinking and bad teeth ...
C'mon...You surely know better ..

PS : my apologies to my British friends, I actually love you guys ! and I read somewhere recently that british kids actually have the best dental health in a survey of western nations ... which i)actually proves my point about the worth of many clichés and ii) probably also proves that universal health care has its advantages

[quindy]

11:13 AM on 01/05/2010

Disagree on dental care. They have free dental care that doesn't translate in best care. My son's British dentist checked him twice a year and proclaimed him fine, only to be told by US dentist that he has cavities. That was quite shocking.

[deluk]

12:18 PM on 01/05/2010

You're right stereotypes are useless.
ogue.com’s Best Dressed of 2009
1 Alexa Chung, TV presenter
2 Audrey Tautou, actress
3 Sarah Jessica Parker, actress
4 Cheryl Cole, X Factor judge
5 Dannii Minogue, X Factor judge
6 Emma Watson, actress
7 Sienna Miller, actress
8 Diane Kruger, actress
9 Freida Pinto, actress
10 Kate Moss, model
11 Lady Gaga, singer
12 Lily Donaldson, model
13 Leighton Meester, actress
14 Michelle Obama, US First Lady
15 Angelina Jolie, actress
16 Georgia May Jagger, model
17 Anna Friel, actress
18 Olivia Palermo, TV star
19 Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, French First Lady
20 Beth Ditto, singer

7 out of 20 in Vogues best dressed list are British, so, lets forget the stereotypes.

[quindy]

11:11 AM on 01/05/2010

I'll take them anytime over obese people over here.

[GrownupStewie]

05:13 AM on 01/06/2010

depends on where you live, I live in Santa Monica, there are no obese people here.

[Jonathan Bart]

06:05 AM on 01/05/2010

She is just so gorgeous!

[Sloane7]

01:50 AM on 01/05/2010

Wow. She looks amazing.

[lee4713]

10:21 PM on 01/04/2010

I've always loved her comfortable and realistic approach to style and fashion and I've kept several articles in which she described her approach. It's so great to see her flourishing in the industry after all these years. Take that, Karl Lagerfeld!

[juicyju]

10:10 PM on 01/04/2010

La vie es bonne, there should be more 51 year old models! Gawgeous :)

[PresidentRobertBooth]

04:59 PM on 01/04/2010

My love of French women continues.

[chrisberge72]

05:44 PM on 01/04/2010

cosign

[StoryTime]

01:12 AM on 01/06/2010

Hear hear, oops I meant HERE HERE!
Sorry for my poor english ,)))

[UnePetiteParisienne]

06:24 AM on 01/05/2010

Let's be realistic here, few 50-something women (French or otherwise) look as gorgeous as her...
At 35, I sincerely hope I will look half as good ... .
Being a rather curvy redhead, I will definitely not attain the impossible chic of Inès, but guess I am also an "arrogant" Frenchwoman (in her meaning of the word) as I'll do it in my own way.
The thing is Frenchwomen learn early in life (from their mothers, grandmothers, aunts ...) that not every fashion trend is meant to suit YOU and that one has to cherry pick fashion (as much as Bushies cherry picked intelligence ...) for things that will flatter you. Plus we are not obsessed with being "perfect" from the tip of coiffed hair to the end of manucured hands.
Also, I believe we are helped by French men, many of whom know that a woman can be beautiful AND desirable even after the ripe age of 30 ...and that a few wrinkles can be attractive because they also mean that you have lived (you know : be a little in the sun, drink, eat, make love). Come to think of it, most European men don't necessarily want you to be this stereotyped perfect blank screen to project their fantasies that I often find the be an absolute norm of "beauty" in the US.

[PRINCECHARMED]

08:03 AM on 01/05/2010

Interesting! Fanned!!!

[sjones66]

10:46 AM on 01/05/2010

And that is one reason why I love France and feel that women are much more empowered and valued there than they are here. Even the ads in the metro show a real diversity of "beauty" -- meaning there is no one ideal, but an appreciation of individuality.