The French girl aesthetic is forever covetable. Twinning with at least two strangers every Saturday night? Not so much.
I confess: I love the ‘French girl’ trope as much as the next woman. The perfectly imperfect hair. The perennially wine-stained lips. That incredibly specific brand of effortless chic (“oh this old thing?-- I just threw it on”). I understand the allure and I, too, cannot resist it. I, too, count Anna Karina and Jane Birkin among my foremost sartorial touchstones. I, too, scroll through Jeanne Damas’ sun-soaked Instagram more times than I’d care to admit. I, too, sitll lust over that Jacquemus mini dress. And that’s why it’s hard for me to admit that, perhaps, French girl style has reached its digital saturation point.
This summer, the French girl look is paramount: a short scroll through any social media feed can leave one dizzy with visions of wicker baskets, tie-front blouses, button-down dresses, and silk slip skirts. The proliferation of French girl chic can be attributed in part to a small number of independent womenswear labels, including Jeanne Damas’ Rouje and Alexandra Spencer’s Réalisation Par, that have masterfully captured and distilled the Parisienne cachet into a tightly-edited selection of signature summer dresses. Thanks to a little social media prowess and the uncanny ability to translate ‘je ne sais quoi’ into ready-to-wear, these brands have garnered a legion of devout followers around the globe. Rouje dresses now fly off shelves at the rate of Supreme box logo t-shirts. One would be hard-pressed not to spot a handful of women wearing ‘The Alexandra’ during the typical East Village jaunt. The aesthetic is still enviable, however, twinning with at least two strangers on any given Saturday night is decidedly… not.
Luckily, the waters of global e-commerce are not for lack of many equally insouciante alternatives to the Parisian woman’s favored summertime staple. We’ve taken a deep-web dive so you don’t have to. Here are the best dresses of the season.
