My Own Madame Chic Experience and What I Took from It
Two decades ago I was a naive working class teenager from a fairly rural area of the USA who managed to somehow befriend a university gent from Scotland. When I was 16 he actually came over to visit me. Then next year and 2 years after that, when I was 17 and 19, I went to visit him and his family in Scotland.
The other day I started reading Lessons from Madame Chic: 20 Stylish Secrets I Learned While Living in Paris by Jennifer Scott and realized I had my own sort of Madame Chic experience in Scotland!
Lady S (she wasn't really a Lady as a title, like Lord and Lady or Duke, Duchess, Dame, etc, but her husband does hold an MBE!) was a poised, soft-spoken, kindly countenanced Highland beauty. She welcomed me warmly, was a gracious hostess, and I always felt like she wanted to take me under her wing and polish me up a little. Try as a might to not be a "stereotypical American," I unfortunately was. I had virtually no lessons in etiquette other than parroting some polite phrases, had little idea of how to handle a multi-course formal dinner, and didn't have the social skills, breeding, or quality education to really get in on conversations. What their son saw in me I don't know!
I saw their way of life and yearned for it, but felt woefully inadequate and didn't know how to go about gleaning from Lady S other than observing her.
Even so, my observations proved fruitful. I realized this when I was making my husband's breakfast this morning and warmed his plate on the electric burner before dishing up his omelet. Lady S warmed our plates. I remember helping in the kitchen for a simple dinner of soup and tomato grilled cheese sandwiches, and she, with a serene smile on her face, placed her plates on a rack above her vintage range, telling me that she would warm the plates. I was fascinated that the range had a plate warmer and even more fascinated that people warmed plates! At home we just grabbed our favorite plate out of the cold cabinet and plopped our food on it cafeteria style. To make the loving intention to warm plates before arranging a meal beautifully, even a simple one as soup and sandwiches, really spoke to my heart.
21 years later, I warm my husband's plates and think of Lady S so very fondly. Like Jennifer, I lost contact with the S's of Scotland. I did find out where their son works and I know they moved from their Inverness home some time ago, but I never contacted them. I was an ignorant lass and parted ways abruptly (and unintentionally rudely) when I met my now husband. I'm ashamed of how I behaved, but I honestly had very little social etiquette upbringing (and some toxic religious teachings) and didn't know any better.
Despite our sour parting, I hold very dear memories of my time with the S's of Scotland. Happy Hogmanay, dear ones!
Jennifer Scott, The Daily Connoisseur's Platforms
Website
YouTube
Instagram
I saw their way of life and yearned for it, but felt woefully inadequate and didn't know how to go about gleaning from Lady S other than observing her.
Even so, my observations proved fruitful. I realized this when I was making my husband's breakfast this morning and warmed his plate on the electric burner before dishing up his omelet. Lady S warmed our plates. I remember helping in the kitchen for a simple dinner of soup and tomato grilled cheese sandwiches, and she, with a serene smile on her face, placed her plates on a rack above her vintage range, telling me that she would warm the plates. I was fascinated that the range had a plate warmer and even more fascinated that people warmed plates! At home we just grabbed our favorite plate out of the cold cabinet and plopped our food on it cafeteria style. To make the loving intention to warm plates before arranging a meal beautifully, even a simple one as soup and sandwiches, really spoke to my heart.
21 years later, I warm my husband's plates and think of Lady S so very fondly. Like Jennifer, I lost contact with the S's of Scotland. I did find out where their son works and I know they moved from their Inverness home some time ago, but I never contacted them. I was an ignorant lass and parted ways abruptly (and unintentionally rudely) when I met my now husband. I'm ashamed of how I behaved, but I honestly had very little social etiquette upbringing (and some toxic religious teachings) and didn't know any better.
Despite our sour parting, I hold very dear memories of my time with the S's of Scotland. Happy Hogmanay, dear ones!
Jennifer Scott, The Daily Connoisseur's Platforms
Website
YouTube
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