What's Wrong With Being an It Girl?

"In the simplest terms, an It Girl is a young woman with good looks and beautiful clothes who becomes a fixture of the public sphere by virtue of being herself. It Girls are not socialites, who agitate for relevance and power. It Girls, known to those in the know, just are. Consider the actor Edie Sedgwick, who, during her association with Andy Warhol and his New York scene, brushed shoulders with some of the biggest stars of the '60s."

"In Europe, Sedgwick's counterpart was Jane Birkin. Like Sedgwick, Birkin was spindly, came from money, and turned heads anywhere she went. Unlike Sedgwick, she eventually achieved full-blown stardom: Barely 18 years old when she began modeling in fashion magazines, Birkin worked in film, music, and theater for more than 50 years. Still, her career has often been discussed under the indiscriminate umbrella of It-ness."

"Perhaps that's because her name, bestowed upon Hermès's most coveted handbag, is more famous than many of the songs she sang and movies she starred in. But that's not how a new biography, It Girl: The Life and Legacy of Jane Birkin, wants us to think of her. In the eyes of its author, Marisa Meltzer, seeing Birkin as just an It Girl is an impediment to appreciating her as an important artist in her own right."

An It Girl is a young woman whose looks and wardrobe make her a visible public presence simply by being herself. Some It Girls, like Edie Sedgwick, influence style without achieving household-name status. Jane Birkin combined similar physical presence with a long career in film, music, and theater spanning more than fifty years and became especially celebrated in France. Her name, attached to a coveted Hermès handbag, often eclipses her creative output. Attempts to locate a powerful, concealed professional ambition in her life frequently find little evidence. Her enduring appeal often rested on remaining famous for being Jane Birkin.

Read at The Atlantic