Keira Knightley & Madame Figaro | French Women Love Lingerie | Mark Abrahams

Keira Knightley wears a profusion of sensual parfaits in her Mark Abrahams editorial for Madame Figaro France’s Feb 5, 2011 issue. She is joined in the same issue by another editorial ‘Accords Parfaits’ by Laurent Humbert. The model is unknown — and I’ve searched in response to comment below.

Most lingerie experts agree that French women of every age and socio-economic status spend about 20% of their clothing budgets on beautiful lingerie in a wide range of prices.

Unrelated research indicates that about 18% of all womenswear sales in France are for undergarments. In England and America, our more provincial mentalities have us spending about 10% of our clothing budgets on lingerie.

All my research confirms that the French woman’s attitude about being sensual at every age is tied to research about female sexuality. A 2007 survey by the European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and Reproductive Biology found that 33% of British women in their late 40s and 50s don’t believe an active sex life is important.

Among French women 90% said an active sex life is a key component of their wellbeing. American women are more aligned with the Brits, saying they would rather read a book or watch TV than have sex.

Now for the obesity rates. Cutting through all the clutter and arguments about Paris vs the countryside, and New York vs Nebraska, and — yes French women in aggregate have gained a pound or two in the last few years — the aggregate BMIs of French women at every age are vastly lower than the BMIs of British and American women who insist that we are stressed and can’t stop eating.

Smart Sensuality women everywhere believe that sensual living is vital at every age. Even masturbation is a great stress-reliever and brings with it many of the health benefits of sexual activity with a trusted partner.

There is no doubt in my mind that negative ideas about sex and also aging in women, deeply grounded in religious attitudes and the national culture, are tied to obesity rates in Britain and the US.  Anne

via TFS