I finally leapt into the twenty-first century last week, when I joined Facebook. As a joke I thought: wouldn’t it be funny if Colette and Anaïs Nin are on here, so I searched for them — and they are! I joined the group of Colette and Anaïs’s “fans” — I look forward to many intense, detailled web-conversations about these wonderful writers!
One of the pictures of Colette on the site actually isn’t her at all, but Polaire — they did look alike, so it’s a common mistake. Polaire became famous when Colette’s first book “Claudine à l’école” (Claudine at school) (then published under the name Willy, Colette’s husband) was adapted as a play. Polaire first played the naughty, sapphic schoolgirl on stage in Paris in 1902. Colette later played Claudine as well, but even Colette, Claudine’s creator, maintained that Polaire was the original and best Claudine.
Polaire cut her hair to ressemble Colette’s daring, curly bobbed mop, and Willy liked to dress them alike so he could parade his “twins” to scandalise fashionable society. Colette’s memoirs describe her feeling of utter shame as the trio enter a restaurant and there is a sudden hush as all eyes are on them — she is horribly aware of the “ugly thoughts” that Willy’s “twin wives” inspire in the shocked spectators.
You can also tell Polaire and Colette apart by Polaire’s beautiful large, dark eyes (she was Algerian), and tiny waist. If you choose to believe the rumours, she could tighten the laces on her corset until her waist measured only 14 inches (35 cm). That’s half the circumference of the average woman’s waist in today’s loose, corset-less society!
On confond souvent les photographies de Colette avec ceux de Polaire — en fait, c’est assez facile de les separer: Polaire avait de beaux yeaux sombres (elle était Algerienne) et une jolie taille toute petite.
Polaire had the short hair first—Colette cut hers for many reasons,one of which is that Polaire was becoming too popular to suit the Willys. Also,Colette was not the one who suffered from the attention directed their way upon entering the theatre,not a restaraunt,it was Polaire.
Hello Pam, thank you for your comment.
It’s wonderful to know that there are other Colette obsessives out there — I mean that as a very high compliment! I suppose Colette, Polarie and Willy would each have had their own perspective on the incident. I would be very interested to know where you’ve read about Polaire’s experience of the Willys? I have definitely read about how mortified Colette was — although it’s true that, when she was older, Colette did seem to change her view about previous events and opinions. Please feel free to email me (click on the envelope at the top of the page) if you’d like to discuss Colette and Polaire in more detail!
I’d like to know where you read about Colette’s mortification.
There is a passage in ‘my apprenticeship’ in which Colette describes an incident at a theatre when she.Polaire and Willy were being stared at by the other patrons. Polaire doesn’t want to go along with the game b/c she can ‘feel’ the patrons thoughts—that she and Colette are lovers—and is repelled. Colette says her years of training as Willy’s wife made the situation tolerable to herself.
I am using a computer at the public libray ,which will not allow me to use the email link. You can email me at pamchrlsptts@aol.com. I am always interested in discussing Polaire and the Willys. I am presently researching Polaire and her life so if you have anything about her,let me know.
Hello Pam and Satrah,
Polaire did write an autobiography (in French of course) approximately 1932. I forget the title but have it saved somewhere. I have also discovered a new website dedicated to Polaire with more documentation and photographs than I’ve seen on her in quite a while (http://www.polaire-1900.com/). For years the same five or six photos of Polaire have circulated on the Internet. This new web-site is full of fresh material and the author seems to have done quite a bit of homework.
The book “Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette” (Ballantine Reader’s Circle) by Judith Thurman contains a fair amount of material on Colette’s relationships with Polaire and WIlly.
In taking a quick look at web-sites on Polaire they reported that she had a 13 inch waist, 14 inch, and 15 inch! It would be curious to go to contemporary French magazines and newspapers and see what the actual articles said. It also strikes me as a funny coincidence that Anna Held also advertised a small waist, 14 inch I believe {I’m writing this without my notes}, and she would advertise that she could fasten a man’s shirt collar around her waist (I believe that the stunt was actually a creation of both her and Ziegfeld).
In addition the public often confuses Polaire, Camille Clifford, Evelyn Nesbit and Anna Held. Primary source materials are the way to go here.
Take care
Hi Vespera,
Thank you so much for the Polaire website – very interesting, and beautiful photographs!
I have Judith Thurman’s biography – isn’t it wonderful! (Very opinionated – which makes me wonder how objective her interpretation of events is – but that makes for excellent reading.)
The Polaire website very firmly rejects any unseemly speculation about Polaire’s relationship with Colette, and puts all the “blame” on poor Colette… but realistically, 100 years later, none of us can ever really know. Being a romantic, I like to imagine that there was a little flame of admiration at least…
I am a wee bit sceptical about all these claims of women having a 14 inch waist – how did they manage to breathe! Imagine climbing stairs, let alone any more energetic activity…
Thanks again for visiting!
Sarah
What website is this ? I am always looking for new Polaire sites so I hope this is one I’ve not sullied with my presence.
Tight lacing requires years of training. If you had been put in a corset in your early childhood,you could do all sorts of things with your waistline,too,although Polaire’s was tiny even by the standards of the day. Yas,it would have been a challenge to do any number of things—that’s why swooning was so common,hyperventilating being a side effect of corsetting. One of the reasons women corsetted themselves so tightly was as to symbolise they didn’t have to work hard or exert themselves. Instead,they enjoyed (?) a life of leisure and sat or reclined all day,embroidering,perhaps even reading,doing anything that didn’t require real affort. Obviously,working class women didn’t have this luxury so tightlacing was a culture signifier of caste.
Polaire and Colette did not have a sexual affair. If they had,Colette would have said so. Polaire had male lovers and protectors,never female. Perhaps she and Willy had a fling but that is a mystery,shrouded in the mists of time. Colette and Polaire were actually in competition—-of the ‘keep your friends close and your enemies closer’ variety. Colette admired Polaire’s ability as an actress but once she got her own stage career off the ground,she dropped Polaire and had little to do with her there after.
So how’s your writing ? Are their excerpts that I can peruse somewhere in cyberspace ?
Here’s a link you might not have seen:
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Lights/8473/polaire.html