Le Petit Chaperon Rouge

vendredi 8 fevrier Le Petit Chaperon Rouge

Trying to spell all those petites in yesterday's post on Joie de Vivre reminded me I'm overdue for a le petit chaperon post at PB I seem to do one at least annually. French little girls get into their red ridding hood outfits from the getgo starting in the pousette.

And they never lose their attachment even when they are all grown up and gorgeous.

Of course RRH training continues in grade school at the creche...

I saw so many red riding hoods all over town in Paris of all ages.

At the annual sales/soldes there were aplenty.

Come rain or come shine (mostly rain) out comes the red coats.

Queen Bee of France, Ines de la Fressange has her own shortie version of the RRH look.

And what pray tell do all these French red ridding hoods eat? Gateaux rouge of course.

You might think this Red Riding Hood thing is a figment of my imagination, but you'd be wrong. This is a cultural phenomenon believe me, I kid you not. Wonderful N2 jewelry (with a stand in Galeries Lafayette and else in Paris has a whole series of RRHs plus wolves. With the 50% sales going on I fell victim. (see above) Gawd only knows if I'll ever wear the brooch I bought but it is adorable no?

Of course there is a French RRH DOG OF THE DAY.

Lastly I got thinking what would fairy tale expert Bruno Bettelheim have to say about all this.I found an eyeful of the net. Here's a taste to sink your teeth into over the weekend while Nemo rages: Bruno Bettelheim, in The Uses of Enchantment, examines the story of Red Riding Hood's trip as culminating with her loss of virginity...A Charming, "innocent" young girl swallowed by a wolf is an image which impresses itself The threat of being devoured is the central theme of "Little Red Riding Hood," as it is of "Hansel and Gretel." The same basic psychological constellations which recur in every person's development can lead to the most diverse human fates and personalities, depending on what the individual's other experiences are and how he interprets them to himself. Similarly, a limited number of basic themes depict in fairy stories quite different aspects of the human experience; all depends on how such a motif is elaborated and in what context events happen. "Hansel and Gretel" deals with the difficulties and anxieties of the child who is forced to give up his dependent attachment to the mother and free himself of his oral fixation. "Little Red Cap" takes up some crucial problems the school-age girl has to solve if oedipal attachments linger on in the unconscious, which may drive her to expose herself dangerously to the possibility of seduction.

Who knew? Bonne Week-end!