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Tuesday 15 November 2011

Taking My Boobs to France

       When I went on a school trip to France in 11th grade, the (rather strict, and not at all French) French teacher who led the trip felt a need to relentlessly prepare us for the world of thievery and judgment that was supposedly France. Among her vendettas? “I don’t want to see any cleavage! Cleavage is not acceptable in French culture! Not an inch of skin!”
           
              Frankly I still have no idea if this is true or not; I suspect not, and I’m pretty sure there are prudes in every culture who dislike seeing cleavage on total strangers. But at the time, I didn’t want to make waves or send the wrong impression, so I packed my most hideous, frumpy clothes. I simply didn’t own anything that I felt cute in where I could guarantee NO glimpse of cleavage. Even in a well fitted, FULL-CUP bra, there always seemed to be a few inches escaping. So I only packed clothes in which I felt uncomfortable and unattractive.

                 I also brought a selection of hideous scarves, which I tied around my neck to hide any errant cleavage that might escape. I love scarves now, but back then I didn’t know what kind to buy or how to tie them, so the overall effect was quite unfashionable. Now I look back and regret taking the teacher so seriously; no one else took her seriously. I wish I’d had the courage to pack the clothes I felt the happiest in, even if my boobs were hanging out, because it would have felt extra-nice to feel beautiful in France.

             My flatmates and I just booked tickets for a trip to Paris in January. As we did, I felt a thrill of excitement knowing that this time around I'm old enough to make my own choices about how I present myself. I'm going to pack the clothes I feel the most comfortable in, and yeah, that's probably going to include a little bit of cleavage.

5 comments:

  1. Ciao, Hi there
    Ahaha . . .so funny :)
    so come and visit instead Italy & Sicily . . .Cleavage is Welcome in the country of Amore!
    You have a Great Blog and You're Meravigliosa. . .Cheers, Molti complimenti per la tua Bellezza.
    Ciao dall'Italia
    Greetings from Italy by fellow Artist Aurè

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  2. Have fun! I never had any problem on any of my trips to France and that was during my college years where I'm sure I was probably showing too much cleavage to the bane of all the prudes in the world.

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  3. Hey! I'm French and live in Paris and I can guarantee that it is utterly not true. The bra offer is not that great though. "Big cups specialists" go all the way to a... G cup! All the H+ bras are coming from foreign brands.
    Have fun during your trip and let me know if you want me to send you names and addresses of shops.

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    1. Another reader here, also going to Paris shortly, please post those shops, I'm not finding them very easily (36G here, so definitely not going to find that size just anywhere).

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  4. Thanks everyone! I'm excited to go for lots of reasons.

    Aureart, I have always wanted to visit Italy. And any country where cleavage is welcome is my kind of place!

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