Fashion

Natalie Portman Says French People Hate Shorts

by Arielle Dachille

Natalie Portman moved to Paris last year. Now, she has returned to America with some intel about the superior dress mores of the French. Turns out, they think your dungarees are totally stupid. In a recent interview, Natalie Portman says that effortlessly chic French people don't wear shorts. So, I guess this means that I shouldn't wear my bedazzled cutoffs on my next visit to the Louvre?

In an interview to promote her upcoming movie Knight of Cups, the Miss Dior spokeswoman told the Wisconsin Gazette that the city of light is an amazing place to live. Not like I'm exactly surprised, but good to know. Stylite caught a pretty stellar quote from the interview, in which the actress enumerates all the ways that Parisian life is better than American life. First of all: buildings are better. Secondly: bookstores are better. Thirdly: people don't wear super-gauche shorts. (Is that a subtle dig at our hot pants, Nat??) She said:

The city is so rich in terms of the architecture, the bookshops you find at every corner, the way everyone dresses so well. No Parisian ever walks around in shorts and even the children look very chic (laughs).

OK, so let's break this down. By correlating "dressing well" with "not wearing shorts," Portman seems to suddenly think she's too good for the national pants of her American ancestors— the dungarees. But all generalizations and short-shaming aside, Portman is experiencing her semester abroad moment.

You know, when an American decides that everything about European life is better after spending a handful of months living in Paris, Florence, or Madrid? Many of us have been there, so we have to understand. In many ways, it's totally true! But before long, odds are that she's gonna start missing the creature comforts of American life — like 24-hour pharmacies and pants that let your legs breathe.