Saturday, May 14, 2011

An elegant culture

Another thing that one should mention when talking about the French culture is the importance of elegance in their life. French society is definitely a stylish society. Everything here marks grace, whether it be the way parents dress up their children or whether it be the way they decorate their home – everything shows sophistication.

I got an opportunity to visit many castles and cathedrals during my stay in France. Every city has a unique cathedral and every city’s existence is deepened by their history. Similarly, I got an opportunity to visit some of my friend’s house in Amiens and Paris and similar castle like graceful environment is reflected by the French homes. The furniture is well designed and small because French do not necessarily believe in buying big to impress others. Another perfect example of this can be seen by the way children are in France. From a small age they develop a sense of fashion, something that I found unique of this culture.

At a small age, parents dress their children in a very stylish fashion. By stylish I mean they would dress their daughters in jeans and small high-heeled shoes, gladiator shoes and skirts, jeans jacket etc. and their sons in, waistcoats and tight jeans pant, with party shoes. Basically something that is not over the top but at the same time is not very casual. Something that really caught me by surprise is that the French parents intake on dressing their children. They learn this sense of stylishness from their parents as a gift and they pass it on to other generation by adding more gracefulness into it. Sweat shirts, sweat pants, basketball shorts is not a proper uniform for school but a well fit pant with party style shoes, jacket, sweater or a blazer and scarf would be a perfect way to come to school. Refinement is definitely a valued trait in French family.

In terms of entertainment, children are not seen playing with electronics gadgets but engage themselves in outdoor activities like football and skateboard. And youth usually engage themselves in other activities like socializing with friends on a café or a bar rather than spending time on video games. A French society might appear to be more 'fashionist' than any other counterparts in Europe; however, they cannot be called a materialistic society but rather a elegantly decorated society.


The picture below shows a typical dressing style of the french children :)

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