As I type this article, I am listening to Françoise Hardy, basking in a sixties fantasy. I am wearing tailored jeans, a striped cotton t-shirt and a red lip. This effortless look was heavily inspired by the ‘French Girl aesthetic’ that has gained immense popularity due to Instagram, Tumblr, and Pinterest’s portrayal of the style. I am myself, guilty of buying into this ‘aesthetic’. On a surface level the ‘French girl’ style appears to be much more sustainable than the fast fashion of other western countries, it seems more cost effective, and is a timeless and elegant way of dressing. Nevertheless, underneath the surface, the ‘French girl’ style is an inherently classist aesthetic.
Much like the United States and the United Kingdom, there is an idolization of icons and events of the past within French culture. The ‘French girl’ aesthetic is based on the hardcore worship of icons of the past, specifically Bridgette Bardot and Jane Birkin. Both women had an elegant more comfortable wardrobe compared to the tight dresses of the 1950s. Both often wore trousers or jeans, flat shoes, and cardigans. Bardot was a sex symbol of her time and was admired by so many. However, despite her great fashion sense, is idolising a racist and misogynist really the best approach to take in 2021? Bardot came from a very bourgeois, devout Catholic family, living in a seven-bedroom apartment in the lavish 16th arrondissement of Paris, not far from the Eiffel Tower. Bardot is an avid animal rights activist, and the founder of an animal foundation with the aim to stop the killing of all animals for human gain. However, Bardot has made Islamophobic comments for which she was condemned by French courts and made to pay substantial fines. Between 1997 and 2008 she faced French judges five times for "incitement to racial hatred". On the last occasion she received a €15,000 fine. The reality of the aesthetic is that the inspiration is outwardly racist, yet, still celebrated by the community which adopts the style.
The aesthetic is not just about clothes, it is about personality and how one holds themselves. The ‘French girl’ is intellectual whilst still maintaining a cool persona, she is romantic, yet mysterious. This reeks of misogyny. Time and time again women are told they must subscribe to an ideal to gain male approval. The ‘French girl’ persona encourages this. The ‘French girl’ is also white, almost always thin and heterosexual. The conditions one must meet to ‘pull off’ the ‘French girl’ style are much too specific and exclusionary. The ‘French girl’ style works for those who suit the brand, but what about those who don’t? Beauty Blogger Fatou N’Diaye, @blackbeautybag, comments:
"Previously French media showed only one type of women. She was white, beautiful, thin, and bourgeois. For many years people like me have worked to change this image. Even being born in France and therefore French, I didn't feel represented in the beauty canons imposed by our magazines and TV. For me the beauty made in France is multiple: It represents all the French women that are black, white, Arab, Asian, Indian. Whether tall, thin, small, fat, straight hair, frizzy or curly, we are all beautiful and unique."
Hopefully, this highlights a change in the perception of ‘French Beauty’. However, from an outsider’s point of view the same ideal is being sold time and time again. Vogue magazine itself home to a ‘French girl’ fashion section featuring Jeanne Damas and five articles on the first page about Bridgette Bardot. Thus proving, that there is a lack of change amongst international perceptions of French beauty.
The common denominator between both Jeanne and Bridgette, as well as body type and ethnicity, is an upper-class background. Most of the time the ideal ‘French girl’ is only able to be who she is with the support of a wealthy family. After all, how can one afford Chanel shoes, go on holidays to Cannes, and party with rich people all whilst working a fulltime job, paying rent and putting food on the table? This dream which many young women aspire to is just that, a dream. It is impossible for anyone to keep up this lifestyle without assistance from a rich family.
The pros of the ‘French girl’ aesthetic are, that it encourages a more sustainable way of living as the ‘French Girl’ style puts an emphasis on buying vintage clothing. With that being said, dressing in this way is polarising to many. Women like Jeanne Damas are not buying dresses from charity shops, they are wearing family heirlooms that have been passed down generations. This is why they always have vintage designer clothes as they have affluent families to inherit them from. Therefore, it is extremely difficult for working-class women to dress in this style as they have no means to buy these pieces. What the ‘French girl’ aesthetic creates is a further divide between the fashionable middle or upper-class ‘French girl’ and the average working-class French woman who is all too often excluded from the media’s conversation.
The ‘French girl’ style is an extremely exclusionary aesthetic built on old money ideals. It idealises the white woman and glamorises both anorexia and smoking. Whilst it is great to take inspiration from icons of the past it is important to know the social and cultural effects of expressions of fashion and understand the problematic history behind said trends. As someone who loves the styles of both Jane Birkin and Bridgette Bardot, this article was not written to discourage one from taking inspiration from the past. Instead, it is important to understand and talk about the privileges these women had that made their style so timeless. Hopefully, there will come a day when the ‘French girl’ aesthetic is not exclusionary, and until that day comes, we must be conscious of class divides within the fashion industry and continue the conversation. Then and only then will we find ways to make fashion more accessible yet sustainable.
Bridgette Bardot
Fatou N'Diaye
Jeanne Damas
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