Parisian women (Parisiennes) are famous for their confidence, their beauty, their elegance, and their approach to life, art, and fashion.
This image of Parisian elegance and confidence is a bit stereotyped. It’s a bit cliché. It’s pretty thin and white-washed. And it’s a bit watered down.
Parisiennes, just like their city, are complex and a bit gritty. They do not in any way shape or form exist on this Earth to make you happy. This anti-people pleasing approach (people displeasing?) can really throw off American tourists because Parisiennes don’t go out of their way to be ‘friendly’ or accommodating. Anyone who’s been shopping in Paris knows what it’s like to have an employee tell them exactly what size they are or are not. “C’est pas votre taille.” “That’s not your size.” They don’t need your approval and won’t flatter their way into getting it from you.
What is it about Parisian women that has inspired countless books, movies, and perfume advertisements? That ‘je ne sais quoi’. This intangible quality – a sense of mystery, even – Parisian women possess is a multi-billion dollar industry that sells accessories, clothes, and other beauty products to people around the world who want what Parisiennes have. They too want to feel confident, mysterious, beautiful just like the advertisements promise.
Here’s the secret: You can’t buy Parisian confidence.
Parisian confidence doesn’t come in a perfume bottle or a designer purse. This is pure, uninhibited, unaffected confidence. It’s hard to define. It’s intangible. It’s inherent to each person no matter what clothes they wear or items they buy.
Materialism and capitalism fuel this grand myth that you can buy your way into feeling self-confident. That new pair of shoes, the latest handbag, that thing. That’s the thing that will, at long last, make you complete. Until the next trend comes along, that is. And there always will be another trend.
There will always be something you can buy to temporarily feel whole. This kind of joy, this confidence, self assuredness is temporary because it’s based on externalities. It doesn’t bubble up naturally from within, a spring of ease and self worth uninhibited by worldly possessions and the latest trends.
At the end of the day, Parisian women are confident because they are comfortable in their skin. Or, in French, bien être dans sa peau.
Parisian women know their worth. They know their beauty and their value. They’re honest, edgy, creative and worth imitating.
Do you agree?
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