"The great danger for an American woman married to a Frenchman is to become too French. To assimilate too much of another nationality weakens you. Though on the surface I might not seem to be 100 percent American, I have tried to remain as shaggy inside as possible."
So said Pauline de Rothschild (1908-1976), style icon, fashion designer, hostess, and author.
what a great comment! perfection.
ReplyDeleteHow perfect a quote for this picture, it is the first of her I have seen where I might believe it, can I say adorable looking. It reinforces we are never quite what we affect to be. thank you.
ReplyDeleteOh, so true. I am multi-cultural, but have kept my American character in tact. This is so affirming to me.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mary
This is charming but 'shaggy' is the last sort of epithet I would associate with American women. I kind of know what she means .. or do I?
ReplyDeleteI, like everybody else, I guess, have always loved the photos of her apartment (I think they call it a "set")in the Albany in London. But I was always struck by the distincly non American aescetic approach- almost spartan and spare, despite the magnicient things it contained and the glorious finishes. If I recall, she slept on what appeared, by its size at least, to be a Louis XVI camp bed- magnificent to behold, but hardly inviting to repose in. Her Americanism must have manifested itself in other ways.
ReplyDeletePerfect match. words to photo..
ReplyDeleteI would be willing to marry a rich man from France and assimilate his money. American character? no problem; being from every venue it plays on any stage. Leave that puzzle (the erosion or education of American character in Europe) to Henry James. Shaggy? Ha. Pauline's got her PR soundbite down.
ReplyDeletePauline de Rothschild! When I was a young woman, her name conjured visions of beauty and originality. Billy Baldwin adored her. I remember that Vogue, under Diana Vreeland, featured her home in the South of France, showing her hundreds of table settings. She kept a journal of her luncheon and dinner parties so that she would never repeat the same table. "Shaggy" is not an adjective I would every ascribe to Baroness de Rothschild!
ReplyDeleteApril of Just Verte
As a Swede who is now also a new American, I adore the opportunity to take on this new country,it's customs & beliefs. But I would never erase my heritage and will always feel very Swedish.
ReplyDeleteDo you think, if I share this quote with my American friends who have married those of other nationalities and now raise their children as though they are solely those other nationalities, that they will take offense? :-)
ReplyDeleteSuch a perfect statement!