.jpg)
All products featured on Vogue are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.
All products featured on Vogue are independently selected by our editors. However, we may earn affiliate revenue on this article and commission when you buy something.
Have Kendall and Kylie Jenner and Selena Gomez been googling “French-girl style”? Lately I’ve been noticing celebrities using their trips to Paris to wear almost a parody of the city’s aesthetic—or at least the stereotype of it. No, they’re not wearing berets and Breton stripes (yet), but when Kylie went to Paris in May, her newly minimalist and undeniably chic wardrobe made headlines. The reality star turned beauty mogul wore a series of black and white looks from a litany of brands that could make up a quiet-luxury style guide: Alaïa, Bottega Veneta, The Row, Ferragamo. She looked good!
But then, Selena Gomez walked out for the paparazzi in two looks that appeared to be ripped from the French Girl Aesthetic page on Pinterest. First, gamine black trousers, a black sleeveless turtleneck, a little black sweater tied around her shoulders, a black cloth headband (very Brigitte Bardot), and black sunglasses. Days later, she emerged again in a belted black trench coat and Mary Jane heels. Bien sûr. Finally, Kendall was spotted in Paris in a fit-and-flare cream minidress, black pointy-toe heels, a brown Hermès bag, and—stay with me here—almost the exact same cloth-headband-and-sunglasses combo as Selena. It’s slightly more subtle than whatever Emily Cooper is doing on Emily in Paris, but it still is overflowing with the self-conscious elegance that Americans in particular ascribe unto the French.
Now, before the Parisians come for me and say that this is not real French style, I know. I don’t think that real French people take to the streets every day in gamine little flats and Alaïa dresses. If the Instagram account @ParisiensinParis is anything to go by, denim and loafers play a much bigger role in the regional style than cloth headbands. Truthfully, Selena, Kendall, and Kylie look much more like they are cosplaying Audrey Hepburn, a not-French actor who starred in many stylish movies set in Paris: Charade, Paris When It Sizzles, and Funny Face among them. The latter literally centers around a woman who flits around the city with a celebrated photographer, changing into various Givenchy ensembles along the way. Now that is what I think Kendall, Kylie, and Selena are channeling here more so than actual Marais residents.
While the wardrobes (the Hermès bag, the Bottega dress) are not actually widely attainable, there is something relatable about these celebrities dressing up in this kind of pseudo–French girl way to go to Paris. Who among us has not dressed to match the locale on a dream vacation? Let he who has not donned a puffy white shirt and a flowy maxiskirt to drink an Aperol spritz and pretend they’re in Lake Como cast the first stone. It seems that not even the wildly famous Americans are immune from a desire to make their European trips look like a movie. Stars—they’re just like us!
Shop Kendall Jenner’s mini moment, below.
Shop Kylie Jenner’s quiet luxury looks, here.
Shop Selena Gomez’s simple, yet striking looks, below.
