Lessons From Madame Chic: A Californian woman's guide to harnessing Parisian style

Published: 13:45 EST, 22 March 2012 | Updated: 13:45 EST, 22 March 2012

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As a college student, Jennifer Scott was a laid back California good time girl for who moseying down a high street in sweatpants with a bag of sugary snacks was nothing remarkable.

But when she embarked on a year abroad in Paris, the petite brunette was exposed to a lifestyle that changed the way she approached her own life forever and now she has a book about her experience.

Lessons From Madame Chic: The Top 20 Things I Learned While Living in Paris is part tribute to the effortlessly glamorous Parisian way of life, and part tutorial for suburban women in America on how to emulate the French je ne sais quoi.

Lessons from Madame Chic: Jennifer L. Scott's book is a testament to Parisian lifestyle and instruction manual for American suburbanites

At the outset of her Parisian sojourn, Ms Scott, who is now a chic and perfectly turned out mother in Santa Monica, California, was initially shocked by the formality of her host families.

Nicknaming the matriarchs of the two households in which she lodged, Madame Chic and Madame Bohemienne, Ms Scott writes about how they influenced her transition from a 'potato chips out of the bag' kind of girl to one who took her meals 'with a knife and 'fork'.

Jennifer L. Scott's Lessons from Madame Chic: The Top 20 Things I Learned While Living in Paris

Reformed and refined: The author blogs about her French-influenced beauty tips from Santa Monica, California where she has also written her first novel

In a chapter entitled, Look Presentable as Always, she recalls an evening during which she horrified her host by strolling into the kitchen wearing the pair of ripped sweatpants she slept in.

Madame Chic, she remembers asked: 'Why would you keep them?' So, shortly afterward the young Ms Scott threw them out and replaced them with new pajamas.

JENNIFER SCOTT'S TIPS ON HOW TO BE MORE FRENCH

Ditch the potato chips on-the-go and sit down for a satisfying three-course meal
Throw away the sweatpants and invest in chic sleepwear
Curate your wardrobe and keep only ten key pieces for a season
Opt for a versatile and ladylike neutral-coloured manicure
Accept a compliment graciously to retain an air of mystery
Keep make-up simple with emphasis on eyes or lips but not both

Deciding that West Coast style was 'way too casual', she writes, 'was the first time I respected myself enough to realize I deserved to wear beautiful and feminine articles of clothing - at all time - not just during the day or on special occasions.'

From 'Le No Make Up Look' as characterised by Madame Bohemienne and countless French women who looked 'polished but not in an overt, contrived way', to the idea of a well curated wardrobe, Ms Scott has harnessed the very essence of the French woman for her American readers.

Before self-publishing her book, she began to impart advice to her peers through a blog she called The Daily Connoisseur - Explore the Fine Art of Living, which has received over a quarter of a million visits.

And despite its success and her soon-to-be released first novel, the Francophile still posts videos and offers tips on how to live in what she believes to be a sophisticated and refined manner.

This week she teaches her fans how to retain an air of mystery by accepting a compliment graciously and explains why a neutral manicure is a versatile and ladylike option.