Polish Your Poise with Madame Chic: Lessons in Everyday Elegance

Written by Jennifer L. Scott

Narrated by Amy Rubinate

Just step out your door today and you will notice that poise is a rarity in our wired, fast-paced, and unmannerly world. As uncivil behaviors like flip-flops at Broadway shows and digital oversharing proliferate, this timely book reminds us of the quiet power of behaving with dignity, kindness, and grace. Jennifer L. Scott's Parisian mentor, Madame Chic, embodied poise, and not just with the good posture, stylish attire, and natural manners that made her extraordinarily elegant. She also demonstrated steady assuredness and graceful calm in everything she did, from interacting with her family and receiving guests at home to presenting herself in public. Jennifer passes on the lessons she learned as well as some of her own hard-won wisdom, addressing topics such as proper attire at social events, good grooming, communication skills, hospitality and being a good guest, our interactions with neighbors and strangers, role models, self-discipline, and self-image.



This inspiring book, full of practical tips and ideas, is certain to start a new conversation about the timeless art of poise.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Oct 27, 2015
• ISBN: 9781494588403

Jennifer L. Scott

Jennifer L. Scott is the creator of www.dailyconnoisseur.com. A self-published sensation online before it was scooped up by a publishers worldwide, LESSONS FROM MADAME CHIC is her first book. She lives in California with her eccentric husband, adorable daughter and distinguished chihuahua. See www.jenniferlscott.com

Reviews for Polish Your Poise with Madame Chic

[Rachel · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great book if you really want to learn how to be feminine, classic, and timeless!

[My Teaching Box · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Was really fun to hear this audiobook. Feels like a very good refesher to her first book, which was life changing for me. I admire how practical the book was written.

[carrie pratt · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great information that is truly helpful and transformative and fun story telling! Loved it and will read her other books!!

[askelmore · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Best for: People who like etiquette books and who are looking for a quick read.

In a nutshell: Author continues to stretch the semester she spent in Paris into a lifestyle brand.

Line that sticks with me: “Also think (and pause) before you speak.” Seriously, I need to be reminded this daily.

Why I chose it: I’ve been picking up a lot of fairly heavy books lately. Even though I didn’t like her previous book, I felt like giving it another chance.

Review:
Books like this can be challenging to review. On the one hand, there are some great tips in here that I will be working to incorporate into my actions to improve my life. On the other, I find the writing stilted, and some of the tips needlessly conservative if not a bit classist (and, in a couple of cases, casually and likely unintentionally racist). I’m also still fascinated by the fact that these tips come from a six-month period the author spent in Paris a good decade ago at least.

The tips that will be useful, to me, are reminders around things like posture and how I interact with other people. I think the way she chooses to share those tips is thoughtful and applicable to life. And she has taken care this go round to point out that one can still carry oneself well regardless of body shape or size, or of access to funds. I appreciate that.

However. Her idea of what denotes poise wavers on the edge of being overwhelmingly white. Her examples of laudable and poise-filled films are overwhelmingly white, as is her list of celebrities to admire (save Denzel Washington). She also makes an ignorant comment about twerking. It seems as though she didn’t submit the book for sensitivity reading.

She also has, in my opinion, a misplaced distaste for cursing. I refuse to sign onto the idea that people should remove the words ‘fuck,’ ‘ass,’ and ‘shit’ from their vocabulary if they don’t want to, and I don’t believe they have any less poise than someone who says “gosh darn it.”

I think my reviews of her books are likely overly harsh because this is a genre I’ve spent so much time reading. I think that many people will find this book entertaining and useful, and there’s nothing wrong with that.