Customer Reviews
A bit of sister to sister girl power - By: indanthrone, 13 Mar 2008 
I read thisin a few nights & loved it. I felt like it was a great girly chat with a female friend. A little bit of gossip a chat about fashion & beauty. Wash it all down with a sense of humour. Nothing to fear or get uptight about.
This book is fantastic! - By: Ms. D. C. Williams, 12 Mar 2007 I really enjoyed reading this book, it is really very good, it gives you lots of tips about how to be stylish whilst still being your own person. It advises on etiquiettein most situations that will also lead you seamlessley through lifein England.
It advises you about how to keep slim & yet enjoy life. How to be stylish & yet keep things simple. It has one quote that is really therapy for the soul "work is what you do, it does not define you".
I would recommend it to anyone, I read itin 4 days but that is because it is hard to put down! It is excellent value, my Mum & sister have queued up to read it next!
Useful if you are american - By: Dee, 26 Jul 2006 
The author of the book is american - & yes it makes a difference.
An awful lot of her "observations" are about europeans: the history, travel etc. Still more of her "thoughts" are very stylised: all french women come from chateuxin the country & have tiny but beautiful apartments overlooking the Champs Elyses.
I thought that two lipsticks was a much better read...
The usual French stereotype - By: Carol Haemmerli, 16 Nov 2005 
My origin is half French, I spend most of my timein France & my best friends are either French or Swiss French. At first I was shocked to discover how very French I actually turn out to be as describedin the book, & how the traditions & values that I've been bequeathed are very French too. But then the word "archetypal" is mentionedin the proloque & you'd better bearin mind all throughout your reading that this book is more about the ideal French woman & how to bring out the archetypal French womanin you rather than a description of what French women actually are like. Though many of my friends & acquaintances fit into the French girl description, I know scores of French women who are nosey, frumpy, tacky & gauche as anybody under the sun. Especially if you've never been to France, don't be misled: this book is full of the typical prejudices & stereotypes about the French women as seen through the gawking eyes of the American outsider who thinks the grass is always greenerin Gaulle. There are also some mistakesin the book, like ascribing Madame de Pompadour as Louis XIV's lover (she was Louis XV's) & the fact that other women reviewed as favourite French girls (Anaïs Nin, Catherine de Medici, Marie Antoinette or Pauline de Rothschild) are not even French. Anyway, the book makes interesting beach reading. The prose is feisty, fast-paced & you'll find the book hard to put down.
La Vie en Rose-tinted lunettes - By: Lulu, 26 Jul 2005 
A generous & graceful tribute from an American girl to her French friends. Ms Ollivier wants us to celebrate the very best of French style, poise & worldliness & gives us examples of their best exponents. She tactfully minimises the less enchanting aspects of everyday French life, such as flowery wallpaper on every possible surface including doors, truly dreadful plumbing, & habitual irritability. Instead she praises French fashion, both the classic variety & its quirkier offshoots, suggests some very good films to watch, books to read & food to eat (and, of course, cook), & gives us a sensitive insight into national attitudes to life & love. The result is a delight for anyone who enjoys France. But do read Madame Dariaux first - Elegance or Men or both - for the real thing.
