'I’ve got a new BlackBerry,” says Rachida Dati, who’s frowning at it as I’m ushered into her panelled office in the 7th arrondissement, of which she is mayor, reports The Daily Telegraph.
“And it’s a catastrophe. I keep sending messages to the wrong people…” At that moment the “damn thing” rings and the 47-year-old quickly excuses herself to the caller, ringing off with a “bisous, bisous”. Then she looks up and smiles. This throws me off. It’s not just the smile – which is warm and full of human curiosity – and the kisses, but the admission of techno-incompetence and the absence of the battle-cry red lipstick that has been her trademark.
Then there’s the jeans. Sarkozy’s former justice minister – now a member of the European Parliament and running for Mayor of Paris in 2014 – is wearing jeans. They’re tight and designer, showcasing long, ultra-slim legs, but they’re not what I expected from a woman whose “bling” taste in clothes has been relentlessly charted by the media.
“Dati the political pin-up” has been used as a stick to beat dowdy female politicians with in England, and also by Dati’s adversaries in France, where the Dior dresses, fishnet tights and Paris Match photo shoots were seen as confirmation that she shouldn’t be taken seriously.
“Here, as soon as you dress in too feminine a fashion, you get criticised,” she shrugs. “I get criticised all the time. People aren’t used to seeing powerful or political women looking feminine. I think it also bothers the men because their subconscious is a little sexualised.” So the criticism has nothing to do with the looks that have both helped and hindered her over the years?
“No, no. Until I became a minister, I was never told that I was pretty or not pretty. If you’re just beautiful, it’s easy to get rid of you. Far more troublesome is to be feminine and have a temperament. So wearing stilettos is still a problem and if you put lipstick on, it means you’re not credible as a woman. But I’ve never changed. It’s part of my identity.”
Read more of this report from The Daily Telegraph.