Messy French It Girl (2024)

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An offshoot of the French It Girl aesthetic, The Messy French It Girl aesthetic is a more modern take on the effortless charisma of the French It Girl.

This block quote from Dion the Taurus^[1] on Youtube, sums up the Messy French It Girl quite nicely.

"The messy French It Girl has an effortless elegance that you love about the classic French It Girl, without the stripes and berets.

The Messy French It Girl will go out and share a cigarette with the rockstar girlfriend, but will skip the 4 AM bedtime and hangover and instead meet you at 10:30 for an eight dollar café au lait.

The Messy French It Girl's best friend is a model off duty, but that extreme dieting, all black wearing life is too rigid and somber for her ever-curious and spontaneous life.

The Messy French It Girl loves how [the] coquette embraces femininity but [would] rather stick with ivory creams and beiges than baby pinks.

The Messy French It Girl wakes up early but arrives late, has a cigarette with her Dom Perignon on her balcony, and loves matching her boyfriend's white button down with her Chanel pumps.

She's a beautiful mess always put together but never perfect. She's a ruthless heartbreaker and a hopeless romantic. [She is] effortless, tasteful, sparkly, but always understated; [she is] a quiet elegance married with a sprinkle of chaos and edge."

History[]

Just as the French It Girl aesthetic embodied western francophilia in the 60’s & 70’s, the Messy French It Girl embodies francophilia in modern times. Though the French It Girl aesthetic made a comeback around 2014, and is still considered a popular style of dress today^[2] , younger generations do not connect with it very well. The popularization of darker aesthetics, along with effortlessly chic aesthetics (such as model off duty, etc.) made the so-called “perfect storm” for the Messy French It Girl to arise.

The resurgence of The French It Girl trend illustrates the way fashion trends have a tendency to cycle back and appeal to newer generations, this of course, results in potential high profits for brands. The style intersects in many ways with both the Rockstar Girlfriend and Coquette aesthetics, as it has a grungier version of the traditional, lighter French It Girl look. This edgier version can be seen as the nighttime version of the classic daytime French It Girl style.^[3]

Key Motifs[]

• Leather jackets
• Black blazers (preferably oversized)
• Lacy lingerie
• Night/slip dresses
• Knee high boots (preferably black or red)
• Patterned black/red tights
• Silky, luxurious fabrics
• High end French luxury brands (Chanel, YSL, etc.)
• Sunglasses
• Smudged eye makeup
• Red lipstick
• Messy hair
• Nude or red nails (almond acrylic nails)
• Cigarettes
• Classy alcohol
• Tailored jeans
• Mary Janes
• Fur coats

Music[]

• Lana Del Rey
• TV Girl
• Francoise Hardy
• Amy Winehouse
• The Smiths
• The Marías
• La Femme
• The Neighborhood
• Arctic Monkeys
• Vendredi sur Mer

Key Figures[]

People that are considered style inspo for the Messy French It Girl aesthetic include:

• Lily-Rose Depp
• Emily Lind
• Kate Moss
• Carla Bruni

Gallery[]

Criticisms[]

As with most aesthetics born through TikTok, the aesthetic most often excludes people who are not young, upper-class, thin, white women. It also idealizes the "Heroin Chic" body that rose in popularity in the 90's and 2000's.^[3]

References[]