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Original poster

Brigitte Macron

153 replies

NotSuchASmugMarriedNow1 · 13/07/2017 20:13

Isn't she just fabulously stylish and cool for a 64 year old.

As a 50 year old, what can I do to try to emulate her ?

OP posts:
DownHereInTheHorridHouse · 16/07/2017 10:51

There are some absolutely disgusting comments on this thread.

To get it back to how it started - I think she's a breath of fresh air. She looks fantastic but also, as an earlier poster said, she comes across as 'purposeful.' I could imagine having a conversation with her (if my French had ever progressed past 'a small pot of extra strong mustard from Dijon') as she oozes confidence and an interest in things.

I am completely the wrong shape for her clothes - getting back to S&B - but, I look at her and think, maybe . . .

Hoppinggreen · 16/07/2017 10:57

I think she looks too thin and too orange with over bleached hair.
I also think her skirts are too short
Not age related, I would think that if she was 24 rather than 64

SerfTerf · 16/07/2017 11:13

Let's be honest; whatever she does she'll be damned.

The schoolboy romance thing, you mean?

Floisme · 16/07/2017 11:16

What is this thing about short skirts? In all the photos I've seen, they're either on or just above the knee. Some of you are starting to sound like my Auntie Betty circa 1967.

SerfTerf · 16/07/2017 11:18

We probably expect more elegance because she's French @Floisme , which isn't really fair, it's true, but it IS noticeable that she ignores the midi trend and rarely wears trousers.

Floisme · 16/07/2017 11:27

True but why do I get the sense this isn't about keeping up with trends? I know the sound of pursed lips when I hear it.

nina2b · 16/07/2017 12:12

Hoppinggreen

I think she looks too thin and too orange with over bleached hair.
I also think her skirts are too short
Not age related, I would think that if she was 24 rather than 64

I agree. Too many are assuming - wrongly imo - that the criticisms directed towards her here, are ageist. I think they are merely criticisms of her choices. If she was 30 and looked too blonde and too orange in skirts that are unflatteringly short, I would be just as critical.

WinifredAtwellsOtherPiano · 16/07/2017 12:28

I think she's got a very specific problem, because her husband is by her side looking his age, so whenever she looks her age people do a slight double take, (because an age gap that way round is rare) and then they remember the schoolboy thing. So it's always in our minds in a way that (say) a very messy divorce or accusations of poor parenting or Bullingdon club indiscretions aren't.

Floisme · 16/07/2017 12:29

If she was 30, you might say, 'I don't think that skirt length/ hair colour suits her'. I find it hard to believe you'd be using words like 'Ugh'.

SerfTerf · 16/07/2017 12:55

I'm neither pursing my lips nor saying "ugh" @Floisme, I promise.

I do somewhat resent the continuing social pressure to dye myself bright orange and wonder why people do it, but I've coped for twenty years and will struggle on without pursing lips at the orange people.

I just feel a bit heart sunk that rich French women with fashion houses clamouring to assist them are ALSO perpetuating the orange/peroxide "ideal". I don't think it's a very women-led aesthetic.

Floisme · 16/07/2017 13:08

That wasn't addressed to you, Serf. I've not noticed you shuddering at the short skirts (I've still to see any evidence that they're higher than just above the knee.) And the 'ugh' remark wasn't from you either. So apologies if I've given that impression.

I have a vested interest in this topic as I'm close in age to Macron and I guess I hoped it might be possible to have a sensible discussion about how you can still enjoy your clothes when your body is seriously beginning to let you down. But it seems not. (Again this isn't referring to you - I think your posts have been perfectly reasonable and thoughtful.)

SerfTerf · 16/07/2017 13:35

Oh sorry. Reading too fast Smile

Floisme · 16/07/2017 14:42

I agree with you that Macron's aesthetic isn't my style either. But she's at a stage in life when everything about her appearance will be changing. She's also in a strange position in that she's not a politician - her role is.... well I'm not really sure what it is and, because powerful men tend to hook up with younger women, she doesn't have many role models, other than Camilla PB and Nancy Reagan. I defend her right to experiment and get it wrong sometimes.

Anyway I think it's time for me to step away from this thread because, although there are some thoughtful and reasonable posters, I'm not engaging with people who shudder at the sight of a 60 year-old knee or who can't talk about it without resorting to butchering terminology. Hopefully we can hook up on another thread. Smile

ScrumDinger · 16/07/2017 14:50

I think she looks fine aside from the hair which seems to overwhelm her whole look, and the fake tan.

buggerthebotox · 16/07/2017 15:13

I'm 7 years younger than BM. I agree with everything flo has said.

I don't much admire BM's style either but I really dislike the flaming she's getting here from some posters. It's as if being a mature woman in the public eye is a fashion crime in itself. Perhaps she should hide herself away with her knitting and a mug of cocoa.

EmmyInTheSticks · 16/07/2017 15:19

She isn't playing it safe which is quite refreshing for a first lady - I had expected her to be very demure and chic. I have found French woman generally play it safe and classic but she doesn't at all.

I don't really look at her and want to emulate her look but she often looks striking, very fashionable and she has fantastic legs.

ZaraW · 16/07/2017 15:43

I don't think she looks great her style is very dated. I admire Iris Apfel she has amazing style and no plastic surgery. Diane Bob Furstenburg is someone who looks fabulous and as far as I know hasn't had any surgery.

whatiswrongwithyou · 16/07/2017 15:44

I havent read all the thread, but what I think when I look at the recent pictures of her... typical French ideal that we are fed; thin, stylish and elegant. When in reality what she looks like to me is far from elegant, bordering on skinny and older than her years. She could be amazing and a real style icon, but she's trying too hard to conform and it just doesn't work.

sodablackcurrant · 16/07/2017 16:05

People (women) in the limelight will always attract comment, mostly by other women, and some of it can be quite bitchy too. Envy, jealousy what is it?

I think she looks fantastic. If I look half as good as she does when I get to that age I will be delighted.

sodablackcurrant · 16/07/2017 16:07

Oh and you do realise that most French women are thin, and eat very little to stay that way. Good for them I say.

I wish I could emulate their appetites sometimes!

ppeatfruit · 16/07/2017 16:40

Come over here and see the women in my Fr. village soda out of a road of 10 I suppose only 3 are slim and some of the fatter ones are enormous , men too. There is one of us who is skinny but she smokes like a chimney with a nicotine coloured face to match.

sodablackcurrant · 16/07/2017 16:49

@ppeatfruit

I know I was generalising. I should have said Les Parisiennes! They have so much to compete with.

We had a little place in Nice for ten years or so, and loved seeing both the thinnies (who ate lambs lettuce and nothing else) and the ordinaries like ourselves who enjoyed the plat du jour whatever the feck it was! Free entertainment.

But those down South are great, it is les Parisiennes visiting (they are loathed BTW), who are more visible for their antics.

Great times. I just adore people watching.

Thetimestheyareachangingnow · 16/07/2017 17:01

SerfTerf

No I wasn't referring to her early romance with E Macron. I think they've (probably) proved that they are soulmates (for want of a better word) and wish the world would stop bosom clutching about it.

I meant she's damned because she's an older woman - not Daily Mail nipple fodder.

sodablackcurrant · 16/07/2017 17:15

I hate to say it, (nothing about her appearance, take note), but I think she is his beard.

Look up Beard on Urban Dictionary/Wiki and get back to me.

Just felt like being a bit wicked today sorry. Will crawl back to my hovel soon.

provider5sectorzz9 · 16/07/2017 17:25

blimey, I never knew that was what beard meant Shock