Let’s start with the basics: One of the most commonly used French expressions is bien dans sa peau. Literally translated, it means to feel “good in one’s skin.” It implies freedom – the freedom to experience and enjoy your sensuality. Figuratively, it means feeling good in your body and in your mind. 

Thus, being bien dans sa peau doesn’t literally start in your skin or in your body. It starts in your head: Feeling good is an expression of an inner state of mind, which is predicated on having a rich inner life. In describing the sexy attributes of cultivating an inner life, famous French filmmaker Francois Truffaut hit the nail on the head when he described a woman this way:  “I love the way she projects two facades: a visible one and a subterranean one. She keeps her thoughts to herself; she seems to suggest that her secret, inner life is at least as significant as the appearance she gives.”

Having an arsenal of personal feel-good creature comforts goes a long way in cultivating that inner life and making one feel bien dans sa peau, which is why French women covet lingerie: It keeps them in touch with a sexy part of their own inner life. And it only stands to reason, coming full circle, that if you feel sexy on the inside, you’ll radiate that sexiness on the outside.

With that in mind, it's no surprise that French women don’t consider lingerie exclusively practical undergarments. They consider it an aesthetic expression of fashion and comfort that starts, truly, with the skin, and ends with a mindset. And that, dear reader, goes a long way in making you feel good in your own skin in every sense of the word.