Exposed: The big fat lie that all French women are chic. And thin.

THE truth is out - French women are not thin, gorgeous and sexy. One woman reveals what's really hiding under that little black dress.

Costume Institute

AT LAST, theories about French women being thin, gorgeous, aloof and sexy - traits always associated with our fairer European sisters - have been debunked.

In a devastating report that will send shock waves around the cafes of St Germain and deflate puff-up croissants the world over, quintessentially chic, natural and understated French woman are actually as normal as us Aussie chicks.

Writer Peggy Frey has finally shattered the 'French woman are perfect' myth, the one that has left many women with average inadequacies for years.

Yep, the mystique that French women live these tantalising lives full of joie de vivre and je ne sais quoi is a great big con.

Far from sexier, thinner and blonder than us mere mortals (how can being 'from a country' define your waistline and sex appeal anyway?) Ms Frey went about finding out more about the sartorial workings of our Franco-femmes.

And the answer? They're totes faking it.

Ever since Mirielle Guiliano penned that book French Women Don't Get Fat, millions of females deduced they would never be as chic, as rich, or as thin as 'them'.

But like the good investigative reporter she is, Ms Frey has shed light on this Great French Fake-Off.

In French news source, Le Figaro, Ms Frey says that considering almost half of French women smoke, it's hardly surprising their appetites are dormant.

In fact, whenever I've been walking the rues of Paree, I've always been struck by the amount of French women smoking a pack usually before hacking up a gob-full of phlegm. Way to up the glamour stakes gals!

And what about the lashings of luscious, lace lingerie all French women are meant to possess?

Well, Le Figaro quotes from a study that shows just 97 euro (around $141) is spent by French women on sexy undies as opposed to their American counterparts who spend up to five times more.

And as for those relaxed, not-trying-too hard blonde highlights featured on mon Cherie? They're not from a recent trip to the Cote de Azur, but straight from a bottle via a favoured local hairdresser, whose name she will never, ever divulge.

As for food, French women are not slaves to the kitchen or masters of their grandmother's favoured old recipes. It's either a microwaved treat or a trip to the local McDonalds, with France one of the biggest consumers of Maccas outside of the US.

Coupled with this, a recent study found that around 1/3 of all French women are overweight and are the biggest consumer of anti-ageing products in Europe.

According to Le Figaro and Ms Frey, the secret of French women is "to do everything falsely: [they are] falsely coiffed, falsely dressed, falsely fatal".

Yep, so it seems this 'all French women are chic' schtick is just one big marketing con.

Perhaps it's time for Australian women to stand up to these 'fakers', because we may not have been born with the 'chic gene' at birth, but hey, we're doing OK!

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