The Wonder of Less is More: What We Can Learn from a Chic Family in Paris

Formality is often equated with discomfort in a consumerist society. Jennifer L. Scott was astonished to find the opposite during her time as an exchange student in France. She arrived at her host family’s Paris apartment with habits of sloppy dress and casual snacking, only to discover a deeper joy in the heightened formality and discipline practiced by her host family. This experience changed Scott’s life.

The “Chic” family, as she nicknames them, lived in a small apartment with a tiny kitchen, a single bathroom, and a clothesline that lined the hall. Those of us who live in a culture that prizes square footage and luxury amenities might scratch our heads over how a family of aristocratic heritage would feel perfectly content under these conditions. The genius of Scott’s books and videos is to show that limits can be healthy and even elevating—a lesson learned firsthand from her Parisian hosts. The Chic family “took tremendous enjoyment from the small pleasures in life and… appeared to have mastered the art of living well.” Refraining from excess, the family was free to recognize what was essential and to approach ordinary activities such as eating and dressing with artfulness and delight. Such is the essence of chic.

When Scott’s host mother, “Madame Chic,” kindly informed her of the family’s longtime tradition of closing the kitchen after their three-course nightly meal, Scott learned a lesson that today’s diet and fitness gurus are now embracing: it is good to know what a healthy hunger feels like. Scott says she began to relish her hunger—which was not due to being underfed, but rather from not snacking—as a new, unfamiliar sensation, a sign that she was getting back in touch with her body’s natural rhythms of appetite and satiety. Similarly, exercise was a natural activity for the Chic family, woven into the ordinary activities of each day. They managed to eat rich, multi-course meals every day and enjoy an aperitif every night without any trips to a gym or binge dieting, all because they walked everywhere and refrained from the illusory comforts of snacking.

The living and dining rooms of Famille Chic were “austere” as Scott describes them, lacking any overstuffed chairs or sofas. Rather than a high-tech stereo, the Chics had only a vintage record player to play their nightly classical music. Their material simplicity fostered the joy of conversation and conviviality—ideal in rooms where humans eat and visit together. The living room had only four antique arm chairs, positioned to face each other, and “a tiny, dated television, which they rarely watched,” and “it was tucked away in the corner.” Scott concludes that this arrangement curbed temptations to snack mindlessly while watching television. Readers of James Clear’s Atomic Habits might be reminded of his injunction to cue the environment in a way that helps nurture good habits and curb bad ones.

This formality and economy carried over into how the Chic family dressed. They always looked elegant, despite wearing certain items of clothing more than once per week. Their wardrobes, though spare, were of higher quality and better fit. The beauty and economy of their clothing inspired Scott to develop a system called the “10-Item Wardrobe,” which she teaches in her books, videos, and courses. Scott’s system focuses on building a wardrobe around high-quality core items, whether they be dresses, pants, tops, or shoes. Even blue jeans are incorporated with deliberation, for these too can be major players in a chic wardrobe, just as they were in the elegant dress of Famille Chic.

One sees a theme emerging: a well-ordered formality may feel strange at first, but it has the power to increase happiness over the long term by focusing the mind and heart on essential activities performed with thoughtfulness and style. Formality is not the same as rigidity or frugality, though it may involve saying no to certain choices and purchases. Formality is a set of principles that points to and guides towards the expression of beauty and quality in daily life. Formal living encourages the kind of concentration, discernment, and discipline that Scott glimpsed in Madame Chic, and yet it brings greater joy than does a mindless consumerism that prioritizes comfort over all else. I look forward to learning more from Scott’s insights in years to come.