Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is none too pleased that clothing maker Pardon is using a nude photo of her on a tote bag without her consent, and she’s seeking $167,000 in damages, which, if she wins her claim, would be donated to charity. The bag features a silk-screened version of a 1993 photograph taken during Bruni-Sarkozy’s modeling days. (A print of the photo sold for $91,000 in April.) A speech bubble coming out of the nude First Lady of France’s mouth reads, “My guy should have bought me Pardon!” Bruni-Sarkozy is protesting Pardon’s use of her image without her consent and for commercial gain, as the company sells the bags for around $4 and gives them to customers who make purchases in their stores.

The September issue of Vanity Fair features French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy on the cover, looking as effortlessly glamourous as ever wearing a classic white collared shirt, jodhpurs, and leather riding boots. Writer Maureen Orth spoke with Carla, and also met President Nicolas Sarkosy (who told her, “I am happy like nev-air.”), and the first lady seems absolutely charming. While some may think their whirlwind, three-month romance was too rushed and the relationship couldn’t possibly last (she didn’t even vote for him in the last election), we think it just might work, and here’s why.

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy’s latest album Comme si de rien n’était is the number one album in France, beating out Coldplay’s Viva la Vida in its first full week on sale. Now, Carla was famous before she married French President Nicolas Sarkozy, but she was by no means at the same level as Miley Cyrus, at least when it came to record sales. She still isn’t anywhere near as popular as Miley, but we’ve been checking up on the Amazon.com sales ranking of her last album, No Promises since the moment we heard she and Nicolas got together, and it is clear that getting involved with him has helped her career. Keep reading for a chart showing how her sales ranking has dropped (that’s a good thing) since getting with Nicolas in December.

• Life lesson from The Golden Girls: Socializing with friends and family can improve cognition and might prevent dementia in older women, according to a study in The American Journal of Public Health. [Medical News Today]