More reasons…

…to love Ines de la Fressange.

Although she sometimes wears heels, she prefers the fuss-free practicality of flat shoes, and is scornful of the way that “some people think that shoes are ladders. No man is going to say, ‘I would love you so much more if you were 10cm taller’. Women are suffering, you know. Elegance is about feeling nice, how can you feel nice when you have shoes that are like a prosthesis?”

She’s also frustrated by the fact that it’s “impossible to find a woman who is more than 30 years old in magazines. It’s like being older is hidden, there’s no one for women to identify with.”
~

All original content property of https://unefemmenet.wpengine.com

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 United States License.

Stay in touch

Sign up to be notified of new posts and updates from une femme d’un certain âge.

Affiliate links in posts may generate commissions for unefemme.net. See my complete disclosure policy here.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

22 Comments

  1. God bless that woman.

    I am sick of looking at magazines that act as if women over 40 are lepers and should be shunned. Some pay lip service and proclaim that fashion and style have no age, but they don’t back that concept up by using models of all ages.

    Even “More” magazine is guilty of this and their target readership is over 40! I never see fashion features of women past 50!

  2. That’s a great interview, Pseu — thanks for pointing me to it. Of course, it’s easier to get away with flats if you have, as Fressange says she does, an asparagus-shaped body. Some of us need other ways to imply length, and heels are one of the easiest.

  3. As a short woman I could use the height advantage but cannot comport myself graciously or comfortably in high heels, kitten heels are as high as I go.
    And yes, where are the 50 plus magazines? I saw Zoomer and I felt much too grey, how about a MORE LIKE US mag? We are boomers with the spending power, are we not the target market?

  4. I agree about MORE – I was excited when I saw the mag at the newsstand, but after reading MORE, they do seem to target women in their 40’s (who look like they’re 30). I don’t think you can really target women in their 40’s, 50’s and 60’s in one publication.

    I’m thrilled to see Ines speaking out against high heels, I think they’re a health hazard.

  5. Thanks for sharing – great interview. And I agree with Style Artisan, we rarely get to see an age range and even when magazines do run a special ‘age’ issue it’s usually a disappointment. Pah!

  6. I love Ines verve and her fashion sense. She and I are complete opposites in the figure department, but I still love to see how she puts herself together to get ideas for myself.

    As for heels, do I ever have a love hate relationship going on there. The last several years have been difficult for women who like heels in the 2″ to 3″ range. So many good styles are coming with outrageously high heels. At 5′ 2″ I look ridiculous in anything higher than 3″ max, not to mention I usually can’t stand or walk in them for very long. Yet I don’t want to spend my time in flat territory constantly either.

    Also, I stopped purchasing MORE magazine over a year ago. I miss Mirabella. Does anyone here remember this magazine?

  7. Isn’t she absolutely divine? She also has a reputation for great good manners and a sunny disposition. Oh, yes and she oozes charm of course.

    Bought two new scarves. Made me think of you.

  8. I love flats! Thank goodness there are more pretty ones out there (this written as I’m wearing a clonky pair of clogs, oh well).

    Ines is a wonderful role-model. I wish we heard more of this sort of clear-eyed realism from “former” supermodels on this side of the pond. (And by the way, where is Emme? I miss her!)

  9. Chapeau, Ines! Always elegant but natural, the Audrey Hepburn of our time.

    More doesn’t engage me and like Style Artisan I’m dismayed by their models. Remember Lear? Remember Mode, which was for size 12 up women? Rubiatonta, Emme was in that publication all the time.

    I have worked with the editors of major fashion and women’s magazines. They tell me the models are “aspirational” and I replied that I don’t aspire to looking like a starving 17 year old. IMO, they are not interested in anyone over 35 because that’s who will spend themselves silly.

  10. While I don’t do skyscraper heels, I also can’t abide flats. I just don’t find them all that comfortable. I do wish we’d go back to good looking heels in the 1.5″ to 2.5″ range; they’re a nice compromise.

  11. I glance at the magazines to catch the mood, but it is true; all the women there are slim and young. I have worn flats all my life due to my height ( 5 ft 10 ). Bullshit, I can´t hide my height, so why not make the most of it! I now feel very comfortable in 8cm heels.

  12. I only just subscribed to More magazine. I’ll see how it goes. I was hoping for fashion that is not sequined leggings LOL!

  13. I love her. Although, it must be said, she looks about ten miles tall and rail-thin even in flats. A slight heel does do wonders for my sense of being vertical as I get older and, sadly, wider.

    And I’ve never been a heel gal.

    About the magazines and women over 30. Too, too true. I don’t even look at them anymore. Hoorah for the blogosphere and Une Femme.

  14. More and more women in fashion appear to be going flat, and quite frankly having sen the size of Victoria Beckhams bunions recently she will wish she had too!
    The newspapers over here in England are very good on fashion for older women, Guardian, Sunday Times and many more take it quite seriously, the mag’s less so.
    What I tend to find is whilst they tackle age they rarely tackle different body shapes. Even the older models are very thin. I am looking forward to W’s body issue to see there take on it.

  15. Pseu, you find the best things in the fashion media, things I would never get to read if not for you. I, too, no longer subscribe to More, they have nothing inspiring or useful to say to me, so why? But I must say, I talked long and hard to myself about the need for some flat heels, or at least kitten heels…went into the store and the first pair I saw were leopard print pumps, with 4″ RED patent heels, and RED patent piping. “Hello Lover!”. No, I didn’t buy them (would have never worn them!) but the flats and kitten heels just lay there looking dull and despondent after those….no shoes for me that day!

  16. oh ines in all her wonderful self!
    i stopped wearing heels when i moved to spain. no specific reason other than it was a change.
    i always wear flats and rarely wear one inch “heels”.
    the wife of spain’s president wears flats on all occasions and so does carla bruni, but for different reasons.

  17. NanFlan, you are right – flats don’t provide any support. A SMALL heel is good.

    LaurieAnn, I do remember Mirabella, I was sorry to see it go away. There is a book by Grace Mirabella, “In and Out of Vogue” You might like that.