What’s behind the mythical ‘French Girl’ look? Attitude, and a balance of the chic and the cool, like Camille Cottin’s character in Call My Agent on Netflix

The French Girl trope exists for a reason. She doesn’t follow a code, but knows what suits her – such as timeless basics set off by a bold scarf or bag

Most of all it’s about being herself, say industry experts – her clothes never wear her. But don’t believe the look is effortless – far from it

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Much of the appeal of the French Girl style trope goes beyond the clothes. Photo: 24s

Annie Brown

Published: 3:15pm, 22 Feb 2021Updated: 8:46am, 24 Feb 2021

Corrected [10:38am, 23 Feb, 2021]

[10:38am, 23 Feb, 2021]
The founder of Maje is Judith Milgrom, not Milton

It’s difficult to think of a more mythologised style trope than that of the “French Girl”. Who is she?

Well, she’s model Caroline de Maigret with her perfectly undone hair and skinny jeans. She’s va-va-voom like Brigitte Bardot and Catherine Deneuve. She’s Jane Birkin with a basket bag (Birkin is of course English, but practically more French Girl than an actual French Girl), and a French Vogue editor smoking between shows during fashion week.

Her only make-up is a perfect red lipstick. She wears ankle boots and a little top she found in a flea market while cycling with a baguette. She reads Proust over dinner and carries her grandmother’s vintage Chanel bag.

She’s all of these things. And none of them. As a French fashion designer once told me, he’s “never met this so-called French girl”.

Caroline de Maigret is seen as the quintessential French Girl.

Of course, anybody who has been to France knows that not all French women look, act or dress the same. The stereotype of the French Girl pays little mind to the melting pot of races, cultures, body shapes and sizes, ages, hair textures and more that exist in Paris (and beyond!). Also, taste is subjective.

And yet the French Girl looms over business, fashion magazines and pop culture like the ghost of Coco Chanel. Look at poor Emily Cooper from Netflix show Emily in Paris, who made the catastrophic error of trying too hard to look French, which is pretty much the worst thing you could do (other than attach an Eiffel Tower charm to your bag).