Garance Doré.
Today, Garance Doré wrote one of her longest blog entries ever. No, it was not about pocket squares, or Scott Schuman, or a cool way to cuff one's pants; it was about how moving from Paris to New York gave her a muffin top.
[At first] it was cute to be the only Parisian at a table of New Yorkers. They would watch me rip another piece of bread off, order a glass of wine and a dessert and ask me what was the secret of those Parisians who stay thin despite such a devastating diet.
And I’d just laugh saying that everyone in NY is just too skinny, that they have to live a little and no, I don’t work out at all cause I have so many other fascinating things to do in my life. Like smoking a few cigarettes, just to name one. And I’m perfectly fine with my little muffin top, thank you. I was perfectly happy that way.
This whole little game went on for a while just like that.
Until, actually, my muffin top took on a mind all its own. I swear, I couldn’t get my skinny jeans to button. There, all of a sudden, I started to shut up. I stopped being smug at lunch. I saw it right there. I gained weight. I gained weight like I’d never gained weight before.
So Garance did some soul searching and came up all the usual points, like how New Yorkers eat in restaurants too much, and our portions are huge, and how all the hormones in our animal products can't be doing anything for our waistlines. Her most disturbing discovery? "Not only were we getting fatter — the fat seemed softer. Yeurk."
Yeurk indeed. Doré doesn't come to any real conclusions about her own changing body image, except to say that she'll be writing more about it, so we've got that to look forward to:
Stuck between the obsession of skinny in New York, my overly relaxed Parisian attitude, and the pounds that keep adding up behind my boastful smile, it was maybe time for me to ask myself questions about my lifestyle… And look at myself in a mirror.
Oh my gaaaaaad. Life’s tough.
To be continued!!! Big hugs!
Regardless of her own struggles, is "New York skinny" really that much skinnier than the celebrated physiques of fashion industry folks anywhere else? Or perhaps it's the high-maintenance way that they maintain their thinness (SoulCycle and juice fasts) that distinguishes "New York skinny" people from those elsewhere (or, presumably, from naturally skinny people who happen to live in New York).
N.Y. Skinny vs. Paris Skinny [Garance Doré]
Read more posts by Charlotte Cowles
Filed Under: body issues, garance dore, scott schuman, the bloggers, the sartorialist
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