All You Need to Be Impossibly French: A Witty Investigation into the Lives, Lusts, and Little Secrets of French Women

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
The allure of the Frenchwomansexy, sophisticated, flirtatious, and glamorousis legendary. More than an eye for fashion or a taste for elegance, the French je ne sais quoi embodies the essential ingredients for looking and feeling beautiful.

With wit, whimsy, and wonder, British expatriate Helena Frith Powell uncovers the secrets of chic living in All You Need to Be Impossibly French, a cheeky guide to releasing your inner Frenchwoman. Delving deep into a mysterious realm of face creams, silk lingerie, and shopping- as-exercise, Powell reveals how French women stay impossibly thin and irresistibly sexy by achieving the maximum effect from the minimum amount of effort. Forget diet and inspiration books and style guidesthis is all you need to embrace the wisdom of French living, and learn how to turn every day into la petite aventure.

Customer Reviews: Read 26 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

La vie francaise n'est pas pour moi December 17, 2006
133 out of 138 found this review helpful

As a fan of the language, I like to read anything about 'la vie francaise' that I can get my hands on. Especially about the women. I have always heard about how chic, well groomed, witty and incredibly slim they are. In "All You Need To Be Impossibly French", Helena Frith Powell gives insight into the "lives, lusts and little secrets" of french women. As an ex-pat from England, Frith Powell approaches the subject from an outsider's perspective, which I enjoyed. She spills the beans in a delightful way on everything to fashion (french women are never seen in sneakers), to diet (eat less but good quality) to exercise (they don't - they may do yoga or walk but that is about it). It all sounds charming for the most part - but Frith Powell also sheds light on the nastier side of french women - according to her, most french women are "out to sleep with your husband/boyfriend", they are extremely competitive with other women, do not enjoy close female friendships nor do they like to work. I am not sure if I can totally believe this blanket statement, but my sister, who has been living in Montreal for over a decade (I know it is not France, but it is very 'french') claims that Frith Powell is correct in her assessment. So, although I love the whole concept of the chic life of french women, if what the author purports to be true is an actuality, then I would rather have my trustworthy girlfriends, my faithful husband, my work and my extra 10 pounds. That being said, this was a great book and a quick read. I got through it in one day flat.

3 out of 5 stars

Not my ideal role models April 3, 2007
71 out of 85 found this review helpful

The book was a quick read. While I totally agree with the author that French women are more elegant and eat healthier, there are other areas of their life that did not impress me.

I could not excuse the mothers who did not bring their children to the author's child's birthday. It may be a cultural thing, but I don't think it was very nice to stay away and disappoint a child because they did not feel like coming.

Clearly France is a different place. And the women come from a background where certains aspects of life are no match for ours.

My biggest complaint was that the title makes you think that you are going to learn to live like a French women. But you don't. You only learn that French women buy fancy underwear, condone extramarital affairs, do things when they feel like and that the most important thing to them after having a baby is to not look like you had a baby.

I got the impression that French women are intellectual, but also shallow and self indulgent. That truly may not be the case, but it is what the author makes it seem like. The best person in the book, the most real person, was a behind the scenes young woman at a fashion house who was not elegantly dressed, had a soda in her hand and was not pencil thin.

We could use a reality check on how we look and what we eat. That, however, is the only thing I took away with me from this book. It was interesting to learn about life somewhere else. But I am not eager to emmulate French women.

5 out of 5 stars

Utterly charming, fascinating view into another culture's female... December 10, 2006
66 out of 67 found this review helpful

perspective. Of course there is the typical and expected good advice to maintain daily good grooming habits, that daily attention is MUCH better than a major overhaul as well as incorporating movement into daily life rather than scheduling "exercise" as a separate part of life. What was most interesting was the tremendous social/cultural differences highlighted between British/American and French women. Rather than endless praise for their enviable chic, the author notes it comes at a high price of constant competiveness with all other women over every tiny part of life, never trusting in the faithfulness of a partner and never really relaxing and enjoying the company of a female friend. Also the quotes that start each chapter are perfect little "bon bons" or "bon mots". An excellent read to learn more about modern European life-- to keep you intellectually fascinating as well as making yourself more
visually stunning.

3 out of 5 stars

Amusing bit of froth, but that's all June 12, 2007
37 out of 39 found this review helpful

This reads like a typical article in Cosmo (the Doxy's Digest) puffed up into book length. Frith Powell is witty, and occasionally sharp-eyed. She doesn't mince words about the Frenchwoman's self-absorption, competitiveness, and lack of interest in female friendships; these qualities come across as quite cold. But Frith Powell also blathers on obsessively about the Frenchwoman's thinness, disciplined cultivation of her appearance, "waxed legs," perfect haircuts, and all the other surface adornments whose fault is just that: they're surface. Frith Powell adds that Frenchwomen regard their intellects as further tools of seduction. Frith Powell's own intellect seems all over the place, as she adds a number of dubious (or sometimes just plain false)historical details about long-dead Frenchwomen to prove her theories. The writer Colette, for example, did not "dance drunk on tables" in her sixties. By that time she had severe arthritis and would have had quite a problem clambering up there. Nor did Colette "marry her son-in-law." She had an affair with her stepson, which is bad enough, but not quite the same. Frith Powell makes a number of other careless mistakes. If she was going to bring up these examples, she should have bothered to get them right.

4 out of 5 stars

Very consistent with my personal experience and observation January 17, 2007
19 out of 24 found this review helpful

This book is fun to read, especially if you have had some exposure to the French people and culture. The author's description of French women's style and attitude is very consistent with my observation. I married a French man after dating him in the U.S. for about a year. I then visited France on three trips for 2 to 3 weeks each. My MIL also came to visit us twice for 4 to 5 weeks each time. I was surprised by the way she conducted herself (being close to 60 but dressed like 20), but was glad that she seemed friendly initially. However, things turned horribly wrong when she came to visit in 2005. To keep a long story short, my MIL became extremely hostile to me when she was trying to get our landlord's attention. The zealous and determination she's shown in her pursuit of male attention is extraordinary. Before she became hostile, she used to tell me stories of her life, about how all men desire her, how all women (everyone except her mom and daughter) are jealous of her, how her second marriage was ended because of jealousy and etc. I can write a book about my bitter experience but it won't be fun to read.

I'm glad the author took the time to report her personal experience and interview with many French women. I have encountered only a few in my husband's immediate family, but the author's description is quite accurate. I like French women's sense of style and healthy diets, but I will never put so much emphasis on beauty and seduction.

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