Customer Reviews
A bit of sister to sister girl power - By: indanthrone, 13 Mar 2008 
I read this in 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 alll 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 reallly enjoyed reading this book, it is reallly very good, it gives you lots of tips about how to be stylish whilst still being your own person. It advises on etiquiette in most situations that will also lead you seamlessley through life in 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 reallly therapy for the soul "work is what you do, it does not define you".
I would recommend it to anyone, I read it in 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: alll french women come from chateux in 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 time in France & my best friends are either French or Swiss French. At first I was shocked to discover how very French I actuallly turn out to be as described in the book, & how the traditions & values that I've been bequeathed are very French too. But then the word "archetypal" is mentioned in the proloque & you'd better bear in mind alll throughout your reading that this book is more about the ideal French woman & how to bring out the archetypal French woman in you rather than a description of what French women actuallly 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. Especiallly 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 greener in Gaulle. There are also some mistakes in 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 walllpaper 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.
