In the narrative construction of "Parisian women", their good birth and good upbringing become the guarantee of good taste, and thus capture a large number of foreign followers. "French women are directly associated with power, information and core knowledge," Pfeiffer explains. Alice Litscher, a teacher at the French Fashion School (IFM), also said that the "Parisian woman" would wear it, while hoping to show an intellectual side, which is in line with the image of the aristocratic lady who presided over the salon of literature and art in the Renaissance.
But inside and outside the book, the "Parisian woman" is a collection of contradictions. Ina de la Vlasange advises readers to "buy only one pair of shoes, but it must be a good pair of shoes", but this has not stopped her from co-branding with Uniqlo to launch a number of low-priced items; Caroline de McGregor distinguished Parisian women in her book by their "fuckable" (original word: fuckable) attributes, which did not prevent her from later playing the feminist card; Rouje, a clothing brand founded by Jenna Dama, takes the Paris route, but according to the French "Liberation" reported that the clothes are not manufactured in France and do not meet the nearby environmental production model.
In other words, their job is to create and translate the "French lifestyle" that others want to see. In Pfeiffer's view, this is actually an expression of "orientalism" in reverse.
In this process of self-alienation, fashion brands also play a role in promoting. Bobbi Brown has a lipstick called "Paris Red", L 'Oreal has a "Saint Germain Carmen" lipstick, Saint Laurent has a perfume called "Paris, I Love You" and Lenore Ritz has a perfume called "Love in Paris"...... Paris and the "Parisian woman" became the key to the consumer's wallet, explained French brand sociologist George Lewi: "Over time, the" Parisian woman "became a myth. Associating this image with the brand immediately injects a lot of implicit value into the brand."
In the just past Paris September fashion Week, the "Parisian woman" is still the protagonist. Chanel took the light-colored SLATE roof of Paris as the main stage of the show this season to highlight the modern fashion and elegance of the "Parisian woman". On the day of the show, French comedian Marie Benoliel managed to sneak into the show and walk down the runway on her own, where she was spotted sharing the stage with the models and was later persuaded to leave. In the center of the stage, "others" and "Parisian women" confront each other, this "farce" set by the metaphor, will become the future direction of the French female landscape?
【 Conversation with Alice Pfeiffer 】
Cover of Je ne suis PAS Parisienne (I Am Not a Parisian Woman), Stock.
Parisian women are the objects of special gaze
The Paper: The book has 11 chapters that document your struggle to reintegrate into life in Paris, portraits of different types of women in France, how they are presented in the mass media, and Parisian men. What parts were the hardest for you to write about?
Alice Pfeiffer: The two chapters that were the most difficult to write were the ones dealing with French Arab and black women. Am I qualified to speak on behalf of a minority woman whose life experience I don't have? I've been thinking about this for a long time. The other chapter is more difficult to write because it relates to my personal experience. In order to understand my relationship with the Parisian woman, I needed to revisit my family history.
I thought of my grandmother, who wanted so much to be a "Parisian woman." She was Jewish, from a poor family, and lived in France before emigrating to Britain in the 1950s. During World War II, when anti-Semitism was rife, the Nazis would check who was Jewish and ship them off to concentration camps. These people would measure women's noses and ears, and Grandma was also measured, but not classified as Jewish. She's considered a proper French white, and she's very proud of it. In fact, this is a kind of self-hatred, which may also be the dilemma faced by many women at present: without mainstream recognition of society, they blindly belittle themselves.
This story of grandma left a deep impression on me. Without this episode, I might not be who I am now. Two generations later, I too was searching for myself and defining my relationship with the "Parisian woman," but I knew it would never be like my grandmother.
In my opinion, "Parisian women" is an extension of Paris and part of the city's travel package, essentially the same as the Eiffel Tower, Macarons and so on. In fact, women living in Paris do not become fat, but as the object of special gaze, they need to pay extra attention to weight. They are afraid of getting fat, afraid that they have not mastered the rules of the game in this city, and they unconditionally accept these invisible chains that make them fear. They are constantly self-policing and willingly obeying this system of rules. In his book Discipline and Punishment, Michel Foucault pointed out that fear is the most effective tool for self-control.
Thepaper.cn: What's your relationship like with the "Parisian woman"?
Alice Pfeiffer: I was depressed, but now I don't care. Whether it is "Parisian woman" or not, I have long since moved beyond the symbolism that the label carries. It's a luxury to live in Paris and be able to say no to these social paradigms. Many are far from free from these constraints.
The Paper: The audience of "Paris Woman" mainly exists in countries outside France, so what is the difference between the French and British and American media's evaluation of this book?
Alice Pfeiffer: For people living in Paris, the book tells the truth. I've been told that the whole "Parisian woman" and "French style" thing is particularly absurd, and thank you for writing a book about this phenomenon; Others said, but why has it taken so long for someone to write about it? But the media outside France sighed that this was not true, and felt particularly shocked. The Times, for example, ran an article saying I had told the truth.
The Paper: How do the spokeswomen of Parisian - Ina de la Vlasange or Jenna Damar - comment on the book?
Alice Pfeiffer: They come from wealthy families, and now they make money on the Parisian Woman, the business model is Parisian woman. They know the rules of the market, master the game, and succeed in winning the market. Jenna Dama is just one of them, and there are thousands of "Parisian women" behind them. I don't know what they think, but they wouldn't be happy if I wrote a book criticizing them.
Beauty as defined by the dominant class of society
The Paper: It feels like you're a whistleblower inside the system.
Alice Pfeiffer: When I wrote this book, I wanted to say two things. First of all, I don't have a problem with Parisian style, but I want to get to the bottom of this myth and explain the rules and logic behind it. "Parisian style" is beautiful, but only for a few women. Long curly short hair, how to create "lazy wind"; No boyfriend, how to put on boyfriend shirt or boyfriend jeans; Size 40 or 44, how can you wear the relaxed feeling of oversize. Secondly, I hope people don't get so obsessed with Paris, there are many great cities in France, such as Marseille or Bordeaux.
Thepaper.cn: The myth of "Parisian women" has become popular because everyone believes that French women have good taste. Where does this impression come from?
Alice Pfeiffer: It has to do with the intellectualization of fashion in Paris. Only by understanding information and metaphor from the philosophical level can we truly understand clothing, which is the noble aesthetic. The civilian aesthetic, by contrast, is always associated with emotion, comfort, or laughter. French women are elegant, but this elegance is aristocratic, bourgeois, that is, in the eyes of the dominant class of society. Most of this aesthetic comes from the intellectual class, as if only intellectuals and thinkers have the power to define beauty.
Her navy shirt, once worn by soldiers, later came out of a polo shirt, which was shocking at the time, but relied on culture and concept endorsement, and later business got better and better. Moreover, Chanel, who was much like a tomboy herself, incorporated this idea into her clothes. "Tomboys" (garconne) are free to wear pants and cut their hair short, smoking cigarettes and driving cars, which has become a popular fashion trend.
Paris fashion refuses to be elegant in the conventional sense, French women like to play with traditional fashion rules, compared to haute couture, they prefer vintage pieces, because the former is very expensive at a glance, the latter is impossible to guess the price. To intellectualize fashion, it's all about the symbolism behind it. Sometimes, without this guidebook, people may not know what is beautiful.
"The aesthetic of one place should not be imposed on others."
The Paper news: "Parisian women" themselves are not representative, and it is unfair to other women in France. However, for Chinese women, "Parisian woman" represents freedom, freedom, independence and confidence and other life attitudes, from a certain level, very enlightening. Isn't that the positive aspect of being a Parisian woman?
Alice Pfeiffer: Is this instructive, or does it reflect their willingness to submit to Western "dominance"? If you think that there is only one kind of elegance in the world, and this "elegance" or the French aristocracy defined, this is not non-Western self-deprecation? I think the Chinese have their own interpretation of elegance, and the history and story behind it will also be interesting. The current history of fashion, which is really the history of white European fashion, does not include everyone. Each country has its own fashion history, and it can be more interesting to discuss aesthetics together. The aesthetic of one place should not be imposed on others. Plus, Paris is at the top of the global chain of aesthetic disdain, and now everyone is always using Paris as a gimmick, but also a strategy to make Paris the only fashion capital in the world.
The Paper news: In China, after the "Dolce & Gabbana incident", the aesthetic domestication of the West to the East has become a topic of media attention, but this does not seem to have affected the "Paris woman".
Alice Pfeiffer: It's important to think about things like why we have infatuations and how people who are infatuated with them deny their own history. France is the only country in the world to establish a haute couture brand certification, and other countries should also do a better job of showcasing local craftsmanship. Made in France is popular in countries like China and Japan, but these countries should do a better job of exploring their own culture and showing its subtlety and complexity.
The Paper: Is the status quo that Paris dominates the world fashion being challenged?
Alice Pfeiffer: France has a rich history, but the current lack of vitality, Paris fashion houses are dominant, and profit from the image of Paris abroad. "Parisian Woman" Ina de la Vlasan sold millions of books on how to be a "Parisian woman", which also cemented the dominance of the Paris fashion house. In fact, the buyers of Paris haute couture are mostly from abroad, and there are few Parisian consumers. It's okay to lean against a tree for shade, but don't forget that fashion is all about making history every moment. I don't know if Paris's dominance of fashion will change, but it should.
Thepaper.cn: Why is there no mention of Asian women in France in the book?
Alice Pfeiffer: I didn't set out to write about all minority groups, I only mentioned the groups of women I had worked with in my previous work, which was subjective. There is also a lack of representation of women with disabilities. It is true that the French media rarely read about the life experiences of Chinese and Southeast Asian women in France, but this is an interesting topic that may be added later.
