I'm from the US, but lived and traveled in Europe for quite a few years, and I can't ever remember hearing the term "Chalet Girl".
Of course, the last time I *lived* in Europe was 1994, and I don't travel in high-class Chalet-staying circles, so perhaps it's a newer and/or more money-associated term?
Does everyone in the UK know the term, pretty much?
I'm from the UK and know the term 'chalet girl.'
Buildings termed 'chalets' are available not only to high-class travellers but also for budget holidays. I'm not wealthy but have stayed in a chalet before. Many holiday parks in Europe have chalets where you can stay.
I'd say it's not a money associated term, and it's definitely not new. Everybody i know knows what a chalet is. Hope this helps :)
I'm from the US and I've never heard that term used here.
shareI was trying to think if I had heard the term before, but then I realized that I do not even know how to pronounce it. English is such a strange language.
It begins with a Cha so it could be a ch sound like "chocolate" or a sh sound like "charlatan" or "chef".
It ends with let which could make the sound let like "regret" or "amulet" or it could sound like lay as in "ballet"
So confused over something that I am pretty sure I have never heard in my life.
Edit: Forgot to say I haven't seen the movie yet, but that should be obvious since the sound would be giving away once it is said in the movie.
Chalet is French. It's pronounced 'shalè'. The 'ch' as in chef, the 'a' as in bad, and the 'let' as in the e in pet. So that makes shalè. However, I can imagine English native speakers pronouncing it 'chaley', like the ey in hey.
shareChalet is French...yes...but rhymes with ballet. "Sha-lay"
And yes..we have this term in the US. Perhaps it is only used around ski towns although it is an architectural style as well.
As for "Chalet girl" this is a common enough job in mountain resort communities.
I've never heard the term (I'm from the UK), I didn't even know it was a phrase.
shareWe took a chalet holiday with Moving Mountains in Steamboat Springs, CO and we had chalet girls (& boys) cooking us breakfast and dinner and helping with everything. It's not quite like in this movie but it's an awesome way to take a ski vacation.
shareChalet Girl is the usual term for British girls 'doing a season' and working in a low-paid job at a ski resort, chamber maid etc, usually for one of the UK-based tour operators.
3 x X Games Snowboard Gold medal winner Jenny Jones is probably the most true to life example of a chalet-girl-turned-champ!
Chalet. Rhymes with ballet.
Chalet girls are usually very upper middle class girls called Georgia or Annabelle, who spend a season at a ski resort. They work in chalets, which are upmarket properties hired out to one family or a group travelling together for a week or two during the season.
The chalet girl is resident in the chalet throughout the season and does general housekeeping and cooking for the families who stay. During her time off she can ski, flirt with ski instructors and laugh very loudly with her chalet girl friends in coffee houses during her free time.
There used to be a tradition of sending girls to Switzerland to attend a finishing school. Here they would learn flower arranging, how to cook dinner party food and have some help with their personal grooming.
The finishing schools seem to have largely disappeared but the chalet system to have taken up the slack. The chalets are mostly rented out to upper middle class families and the girls can practice baking lovely cakes and also network among other middle class families which helps in the procurement of a suitable husband.
I hope this makes things clearer
You might find this article useful - very thorough on chalet girls:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/mar/08/chalet-girl-the-real-story
don't think so.
shareThe word chalet itself is originally to describe traditional houses in Swiss. I lived in France at the moment and the word chalet is used oftenly and it doesn't refer to only high class housing though.
I never heard the term 'chalet girl" but I think it refers to the housekeeper which in this film is a girl (or two in fact).
"When you give up your dreams, you die."
very uncommon in the us, very foreign concept
shareI've lived in Colorado for over 23 years within an hour of the Summit County slopes and have never heard the term at all. In this area there are Yurts built out on the long overnight cross country trails but you pack in your food and cook for yourself.
share[deleted]
[deleted]
Being from the US (and Texas no less where it does not snow), I have heard the term "chalet". It's just another term for a winter house. But in the context of skiing/snow retreats. I've never heard it used when speaking about something else.
I had never heard about the whole Chalet Girl thing but like most Americans that's not unusual. That's like aupairs or people who become deck hands on mega yachts. Most Americans would consider those kinds of jobs beneath them so of course it's not common for our girls to go off to work as housekeepers or maids. Especially middle class or upper class girls.
That being said though there is a blog written by a "chalet girl" that made the rounds in the glossies recently. It's written by a woman in a 'confessions of' type scenario. I believe it was in UK Cosmo and I read about it in Vice. It's a blog turned book. By her accounts being a chalet girl is mostly an excuse to spend your days skiing and your nights doing massive amounts of drugs and alcohol and *beep* everything with two legs. It's really doesn't sound that "upper class". It sounds like something teens going to uni or on Spring break would do (but this girl is in her 30's so its actually just sad).
Here's the article on Vice. I'm sure you can google if you want to read the blog http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/belle-de-neige-ski-underbelly
Not clever enough for a signature
http://movingtoparisforallofthewrongreasons.blogspot.com/