Feel Beautiful Instantly

Bonjour Parisians-of-the-Soul,

A couple years ago I was at Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference in Austin, Texas, and a mutual friend in Switzerland, an expat transplant from Mississippi, insisted that I call up her best friend Mayanne, a textbook editor and Paris-lover. Over a half a dozen of the best margueritas on the planet, I got to know Mayanne Wright. Today, she is my neighbor on the eastern side of Paris and we often share Paris stories.

I invited Mayanne, an avid blogger on the joys of living in the French capital, to share some of her feisty insights with my readers on paris-anglo.com. And, voila... Here is the first of hopefully many. Mayanne calls this Feel Beautiful Instantly, and it´s about an experience that even I have not yet had the joy of trying. Welcome Mayanne to PARIS ON MY MIND.
David Applefield

Feel Beautiful Instantly

"Go ahead, try it on," insists Mme A. "You will feel beautiful, instantly."

Madame´s husband hands me a black and silver brocade corset. Selling these beautiful armatures is his business. Already, I can´t breathe. The thing must weigh two pounds! I start to pull off my t-shirt, but then look around, suddenly aware of the bright light, the sheer curtains on the front bay window, and the man in the room.

They´re only breasts, I scold myself. So what if they droop a little.

I pull the top over my head and extract each arm from a long sleeve. Damn! I´m wearing a practical American bra, not a lacey French one. Oh well, too late now. I shed the potentially offensive underwear and grab the corset. I pull each side toward the other just above the navel. Two inches of skin remain exposed between the metal hooks. I suck it in, pull again, harder. Metal scrapes metal, but doesn´t hold. I grit my teeth and try again, and again. Sweat breaks out on my brow.

"Let me help you, chérie," says the Corset Seller. "You don´t mind if I call you chérie?"

"No, not at all," I manage. But who cares? Just get this damn thing fastened.

In one deft move he hitches the middle hook. Then he clips in the bottom ones.

"Excuse me, chérie, but now you must adjust your breasts.

Great. I reach in and move each one into what seems like the right position. He fastens the top three hooks.

"Voila! Now the laces."

I turn around. The iron maiden closes over the top of my hips, my waist, my breasts, then back to my waist.

"How´s that? Tighter?"

What the hell. "Sure." I can still breathe. I channel my inner Scarlett and cling to an imaginary bedpost.

He pulls and ties the laces, turns me around, and steps back.

"You are magnificent! Look in the mirror."

Amazingly, I can walk with ease. But, who is that woman in the mirror? I gaze at her from different angles. She tilts her head back, laughs. I meet her eyes. They glow.

I turn to Mme A. and she smiles.

"Did I not tell you? Tu es belle!"

We can thank Madonna and Live Role-playing Games for the return of the corset as a fashion item. I never imagined that I might wear one out in public, and not as a costume, but I have. The corsets sold by La Forge du Grand Nain are indeed lovely, and guaranteed to showcase women as the beautiful creatures they are. For more information, please see: http://www.laforgedugrandnain.com or http://www.facebook.com/laforgedugrandnain

From David Applefield´s "Paris on My Mind"

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