Jane Birkin: a master of French style even if she was born in London.

I don’t even love her vibe so much. What I love about Jane Birkin as an example of the genre is that there’s not much to see here on some levels: These aren’t prom queen good looks, you know? Which in my experience is the essence of French (via London) beauty: You just do the best with what you have. It’s more mystique and attitude than anything else. And anyone can have mystique and attitude. It’s the great leveler, attitude, and thank God for that.

To note: her long and/or layered necklaces (my fave is the one worn with the off-the-shoulder peasant blouse in the first color photo), simple outfits, the bangs, and how natural and easy everything looks.

I get that her allure is all about the pout and the big eyes, but my favorite pictures of her are at the end. I swear the percentage of photos in which she’s smiling — hugely — goes up and up and up as she gets older. Interesting lesson, there.

This photo, of this T-shirt, is basically every T-shirt Madewell has ever made to corner the market on the “perfect French T-shirt.” 

Superior necklace game going on here. 

Serious collar-popping at work.

Very excited about the necklace situation here.

The bangs that launched 1000 Pinterest bangs pages.

#goals for breastfeeding.

Such a totally different va-va-va-voom style here.

Are those leather pants? 

This is a ridiculous use of a basket.

So I’m not like so super excited about the glasses here. But.

How much happier does she look here than she does when she was younger? Also: love the incredible matching greige ensembles. Mothers + daughters FTW.

See our previous French Style Icon Encyclopedia entry: Emmanuelle Alt.