AU REVOIR TO ALL THAT
MODEL OUDEY EGONE
WEARS HEAD-TO-TOE
SAINT LAURENT BY
ANTHONY VACCARELLO.
PHOTOGRAPHED BY
JONAS UNGER. FASHION
EDITOR: BENOIT BETHUME.
Click. Click. Click.
That’s the sound
of millions of American women
tapping on web links with
headlines that read, the french
girl’s guide to x, where X is
whatever mystical Gallic property
you prefer. Frenchwomen
don’t get fat! They wake up with
impeccable bedhead! They meet
their lovers in insouciant-yet-
polished ensembles like the ones
in Hedi Slimane’s Celine spring 2020
show, that paean to the discreet
charm of the ’70s-era French
bourgeoisie. We, les américaines,
can’t get enough. What’s their secret?
we wonder—and on we click.
Since the dawn of the Republic,
American women have looked
to the City of Light for beauty,
fashion, and lifestyle cues. The
Belle Époque aesthetic that
Nicolas Ghesquière referenced at
his Louis Vuitton show this season
is the same one that dazzled
Gilded Age heiresses ordering
Charles Frederick Worth gowns by
the dozen. And when a windswept
Brigitte Bardot was unleashed
upon the world in 1956’s And God
Created Woman, the idea of the
relaxed Parisienne—with a heavy
fringe and a felineBEAUTY
Naturel
Instincts
The archetype of the
effortlessly chic
Frenchwoman who
ages gracefully may
be just a Gallic myth,
writes Maya Singer.
BE AUT Y>18 8
178 MARCH 2020 VOGUE.COM
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Fa s h i onCultureBeaut y