Summary

Pages 218 - 223—“On French Women, and Whether They Get Fat” begins with an essay in which James describes how a shopping trip with a French friend “led…to a whole new philosophy about shopping and, beyond that, about dressing” (218). In the department store, James immediately noticed that she and her friend, Sylvie, approached buying new clothes in radically different ways. While James slung an “armful of clothing” into the dressing room, only to reject all of it, Sylvie selected one suit and examined it with great care, engaging in “a lively forum with a number of store clerks as well as a few other customers” (219). As James watched in amazement, Sylvie continued to closely study the suit. It fit beautifully and looked fantastic on her, but she ultimately rejected it because, after meticulous...