Get red lipstick, blue jeans, a white shirt, knee-high boots, a trench coat, and a bike; you’ll capture the true spirit of a French girl. The singer and actress Jane Mallory Birkin embodies all of that. She was more than a style icon; she was a soul-inspiring figure, gaining recognition for her effortless wardrobe. Grazia Daily UK once said that the secret to Jane’s sartorial success lies in the confidence she carries herself with. “Rather than opting for glamorous ensembles worn by the starlets of her era, Birkin made well-fitting jeans, shirts, and t-shirts her go-to choices. Jane Birkin, the truly French girl was one of the first actresses to inspire a French androgynous style, infusing the most casual outfits with her doe eyes and long brunette locks.”
When the hashtags #frenchbeauty, #frenchgirlstyle, and even #frenchnailstyle surpassed 23 million, 371 million, and 21 million views on TikTok, Generation Z adopted Jane Birkin’s lifestyle. InStyle Australia mentioned that the French girl aesthetic has been gaining popularity since the mid-2000s, fueled by books like “How To Be Parisian Wherever You Are,” Pinterest boards featuring black and white images of Jane, Tumblr blog posts on “The French Girl Aesthetic: How To Get The Look,” and the early days of Instagram. It’s an aesthetic that has never faltered, with its smudged red lipstick, “natural” skin, Bridget Bardot-inspired hair, and effortless “I-just-woke-up-like-this” street style. It possesses a certain je ne sais quoi, which, as Anne Berest describes in “How To Be Parisian,” allows you to wear black bras under white t-shirts and insists that “if you only own one sweater, make sure it’s cashmere.”
“So, when it comes to TikTok and the platform it provides for the French girl aesthetic/myth, tread lightly and embrace only the worthwhile aspects. One example is its emphasis on imperfect beauty, an aesthetic that rejects Autotune and Facetune. As one content creator put it, ‘French women embrace the virtues of jolie-laide. They do not believe in perfection. Instead, they believe in the beauty of imperfections and tend to exalt authenticity.”
Serge Gainsbourg with Jane Birkin the truly french girl and daughter.
The authenticity of a true French girl, inspired by Jane Birkin, is tied to love and being loved, consuming art and culture, and living a memorable life. This matters more than an aesthetic. Lovely Jane Birkin the truly French girl taught us to live and be continuously inspired until the end of our lives, and there’s nothing more important than feeling good about ourselves, exuding the scent of confidence in being true to who we are. We will miss her, but by carrying her wisdom with us, we know that a truly French girl is not defined by glamour but by authenticity, freedom, and reality.