Nowadays, the term ‘It Girl’ is over-used in most fashion/lifestyle magazines and in the media in general. The problem is that it’s associated with so many different people and in so many different contexts that it has become very confusing and hard to say what an ‘It Girl’ really is. Looking it up online isn’t any help either, there are hundreds of different definitions and none of them are accurate –at least, not 100%.
The Oxford English Dictionary describes it as ‘a young woman who has achieved celebrity because of her socialite lifestyle’; Collins Dictionary’s definition is ‘a young woman who is well-known because she goes to the most fashionable places and events and knows famous people’; and Wikipedia states that an ‘It Girl’ is a ‘young woman who possesses the quality ‘It’, absolute attraction’. In my attempt to find a fair definition, I came across the worst thing I have read in years: “Notable It Girls are Gwen Stefani, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Nicole Richie, Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé Knowles, etc.” ARE YOU KIDDING? This is a perfect example that the internet is not the most trustworthy source of information, especially if the words ‘It girl’ and ‘Paris Hilton’ are in the same sentence.
It might be tricky to tell what an ‘It Girl’ is, but I will tell you what it is not:
This is definitely NOT what an ‘It Girl’ looks like
Wearing tracksuit bottoms, Ugg boots, carrying a Chihuahua on one hand and a Starbucks Frappuccino on the other– in other words, a Hollywood celebrity- is the complete opposite of what an ‘It Girl’ is (even if the designer tracksuit and the Ugg boots are worth a grand!) Real ‘It Girls’ don’t need an army of stylists to dress them up like dolls, in fact they don’t need any stylists because they possess an innate elegance and they always look chic and effortless at the same time. They are not fake-boobed, fake-tanned, Chihuahua freaks. Thus, 99% of Hollywood celebrities are totally dismissed -Sorry!
We all know that American fashion is a bit, well Americans just like to show off the price of their outfits. There’s too many designer brands, too much jewellery, original styles and personality are pretty much non-existent, and let’s be honest, most of the time the result is quite tacky. Elegance, class, and a real sense of fashion is on this side of the pond, and so are most (but not all!) of ‘It Girls’. It’s the so-called ‘European Charm’.
The media has set two ways of approaching modern ‘It Girls’:
1. The good and posh girl
Source: handbag.com
This includes Poppy and Cara Delevingne, Margherita Missoni, and Olivia Palermo as an American version. The ‘Crème de la crème’ of socialites are normally related to royalty or aristocracy, or in many cases just rich, posh daddy’s girls. Having a fortune certainly helps with being a fashion icon. Now you might think, ‘but these girls wear designer brands just like Paris Hilton! And she’s a rich daddy’s girl too! Then, why can’t she be an ‘It Girl’?’ Well, judge for yourselves…
You either have it, or you don’t. And in my opinion she clearly doesn’t! It doesn’t matter about the designer brand or how expensive your outfits are if you don’t have any fashion sense. For me, Paris is the epitome of lacking-in-elegance. Also, not everything is about fashion. An ‘It Girl’ possesses that magnetism, poise and ‘savoir faire’ …
2. The wild child
Sources: Popbee.com, fashionbite.co.uk
The ‘good girl gone bad’ category includes girls like Pixie Geldof, Alice Dellal, and Daisy Lowe. Usually kids of rock stars have been in the spotlight since they were born. They all try hard to look like they couldn’t care less, and be wild and rebellious. It’s funny how they pretend to be messed-up kids given their wealthy prep school background. You might be thinking ‘Hey, Kelly Osbourne is a wild child, daughter of a rock star (kind of) and been in the spotlight since she was a child, then why is she not an ‘It Girl’?’ Again, judge for yourselves…
Source: masderisa.com
As a matter of fact, ‘It Girls’ tend to be pretty and fairly skinny, and in my opinion Kelly Osbourne just doesn’t cut it. Poor Kelly, it’s not her fault, it’s in the family genes.
Having said all that, none of the girls in the abovementioned groups is an ‘It Girl’, at least in my opinion. Being the ‘daughter or granddaughter of’ should not be enough to be an ‘It Girl’, in fact what have these girls achieved for themselves? It is quite unfair that they get careers in fashion or television just because of their surname. I mean, would Peaches have made a career in journalism if her surname wasn’t Geldof? Would Alice have made a career in fashion if she wasn’t a Dellal? They have the money and the contacts but they surely lack the essence of what an ‘It Girl’ is?
‘It Girls’ are strong, independent women who draw everyone around them in with their magnetism. They are somehow mysterious and attractive in their own way. They have a unique and original style; they look chic and elegant in any situation but always effortless. Because they don’t need to put any effort into their look, they possess the ‘It’ quality, which is something that can’t be learned, it’s something that you are born with. Their most important feature is their personality. An ‘It Girl’ doesn’t follow the trends, she sets the trends! These women are incredibly successful in their careers, everything they have they’ve earned themselves, and their careers have been built from scratch. Now that you know what the essence of an ‘It Girl’ is, I’ll show you my own choices of modern ‘It Girls’:
Sources: guardian.co.uk, twenty7thing.com, blogwow.tumblr.com
Alexa Chung, Vanessa Paradis and Chloé Sevigny meet all the requirements to be an ‘It Girl’; trendy, arty, talented, successful, unique, original, strong, attractive and mysterious. They have that ‘je ne sais quoi’ that is so appealing, and they’ve achieved successful careers without the need for being related to aristocracy, or having famous parents.
Remember: a term that was originally used to describe women like Clara Bow, Marilyn Monroe or Audrey Hepburn, cannot be used to describe the Nicole Richies and Paris Hiltons of the world. And if it is, then something’s going wrong!