It's time for tights. "Young man, you don't have the weight!"

An advertisement for tights in the metro: "Which one of us has the most beautiful shape?"

Rain, brilliant sunshine, thunderstorms, we saw it all yesterday. As the warm days grudgingly turn cold, eye-catching advertisements for tights are starting to appear. But after having spent a large portion of my life in the tropics, I'm still not convinced that winter is the best time to bare my legs to the frigid blasts of Arctic air blowing through the tunnels of the metro. Plus, the tights that I saw at Galeries Lafayette last year were way too sexy for my buttoned-down self. I don't think that there's anything in my closet that would go with the red ones!

Photo credit: Sara
What's in store for this winter? 


With lots of black lace and monochromes, it initially appeared as if the forecast would be rather grim. Nothing lighthearted, nothing frivolous...


But then I spied these colorful tights sticking out of the wall. With multi-hued leggings, it looks as if the long grey days of winter will be more cheerful. Even though I'm not going to wear turquoise tights, I'll be happy to see them on someone else.

The advertisement is a play on the words, "poids" (weight) and "pois" (dots) , "Young man, you don't have the weight!" 

Have you seen the movie, "Paris, Je t'aime"? If so, you probably remember the scene where an American tourist becomes involved in a conflict with a young couple in the Tuileries metro station after breaking the cardinal rule of "no eye contact".

Well, I had my own moment in the metro yesterday when the young man (wearing the white t-shirt in the photo) shouted across the train tracks to ask if I was taking a picture of him. Darn - so much for discretion! Hoping to avoid a scene, I reassured him that I was taking a photo of the advertisement behind him -- and not of him. Wrong answer. He turned around, read the slogan, laughed out loud and shouted that he wanted to be in the picture, too. By this time, we had attracted quite an audience on both platforms. Even the more sophisticated Parisians were probably wondering why the strange American woman was busy snapping photos of advertisements and young men. Thank goodness that I wasn't wearing a pair of red tights like these!

"I'm the most beautiful red light in Paris."

Comments

  1. the young man story is funny, and I can imagine the crowd watching the exchange. I don't though really understand the idiomatic phrase--my French isn't that good. Unless it's like, "Young man you don't make the weight" sort of like, you don't make the cut.

    "Faites" is from "faire"?

    I saw on Paris Breakfasts yesterday that she was chastised for shooting photos in Le Bon Marche--so be careful.

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  2. "You don't make the cut" would be a good translation. I was trying to think of something in English that comes close to the French, but it wasn't easy because of the French play on words. Plus, I'm not very good with idioms.

    Right - "faites" is from "faire".

    That's funny that you mentioned Carol because I had read her post and was thinking about it while I was in Galeries Lafayette. Even though GL is photo friendly on the ground floor because everyone wants to take pictures of the domed ceiling, I was still told that I wasn't allowed to take photos of the tights. The same thing happened in the Nespresso store the other day.

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  3. I love the story behind these photos! Too funny, and I own the turquoise pair! I think you'd look great in the red, Mary Kay :)

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  4. Allie, With your coloring, the turquoise tights must look fabulous on you! I think that I'll leave the red tights for other people, although I did just get a burgundy red trenchcoat so who knows... maybe red tights are in my future. ; )

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  5. That's a funny story, Sojoh. I also don't like to be caught taking photos or seeming to take photos of people. But, as you know, some people like the attention. When I was in Paris, some teenage local girls spotted my camera and requested that I take their picture. I obliged, of course.

    -nycgirl

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  6. Forgot to mention, love the tights!

    -nycgirl

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  7. Nycgirl, I had another funny incident at one of the food stands at the Marche des Enfants Rouge today. After I asked one of the cooks if I could take his photo, he asked to see it. Then he told me that I had to enlarge it (he demonstrated with his hands) and hang it on the wall of my bedroom. He was having a good time joking with me and winked at Stephane to get him to join in on the joke. Even though I assured him that I would follow his instructions, it was only after I left that I came up with some better retorts. It's a shame that I'm not faster on my feet - maybe I need to start wearing tights!

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  8. Ha, he sounds like a funny guy!

    -nycgirl

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  9. as a male I wear all colors of tights and pantyhose must have over a hundred pair love the feel on my legs plus the look of my legs when on just wear them under my pants when out in public is a shame but the closed minded people out there label a male wearing is silly hey us men have legs to the support the feel and the warmth on cold days is good better than those thermal underwear

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