Just why is it that we never see the French first lady, Brigitte Macron, commit a fashion faux pas? How is it that this 70-year-old grandmother can, for example, pull off black leather trousers, really quite short dresses, or a swimming costume for a cover shoot? With the King and Queen’s state visit in France this week providing yet another welcome opportunity for scrutiny of Madame Macron’s impeccable wardrobe, she always seems to exemplify faultless French chic. In fact, we’re calling it – with those impossibly toned, glossy bronzed legs, the power blow-dries and endless outfit wins, she’s starting to seem like “Brigitte Barbie TM”. In a good way. The explanation to the questions above can be found within the Mme Macron Venn diagram of style. The French first lady has at her disposal a long list of extremely cool and effortlessly elegant French style icons from which to borrow all manner of trademark looks and ripped-up rulebooks (French women adore a broken fashion rule). This Venn diagram features some of the heroines of French-girl style, from film stars Brigitte Bardot and Catherine Deneuve to rock-chic fashion editor Carine Roitfeld, to the most iconic French fashion plate of all, Coco Chanel, with Brigitte Macron standing in the middle of it all, assimilating all of their signatures and making them her own. Sensuality, age defiance, and lots and lots of leg are at the core of it. Who would have thought that you could say that about a first-lady Barbie? So what exactly are the components of the ultimate Venn diagram of Brigitte chic? 1. Carine Roitfeld Bare-legged, kohled eyes, teak-tanned – the superficial similarities between “Brigitte Barbie “and the former French Vogue editor-in-chief, Carine Roitfeld, are plain to see. (Note: that pulling off this formula requires innate French insouciance and je ne sais quoi in order to avoid looking like a superannuated Towie star, as we Brits inevitably would be given the same treatment.) Of course, it wouldn’t do for Mme Macron – at least in her public-facing guise – to go the full rock’n’roll Roitfeld, all femme fatale black leather pencil skirts, lace tights and dresses slashed to the thigh. But Roitfeld’s influence is still clear to see: just a year younger than Brigitte Macron if the ex-Vogue editor says it’s fine for grandmothers – as they both are – to wear towering heels with (some way) above-the-knee skirts, douse themselves in bronzer, and scaffold their eyelashes with whacking great shelves of black mascara, who are we to argue? 2. Brigitte Bardot Most wouldn’t even dare to take inspiration from the blonde bombshell that was Bardot – who are we, after all, to think there could be any physical connection? But, as we are so often told, French women are made of different stuff (not to mention, calorie-negative croissants). They are just naturally confident in their God-given sex appeal – while we wear pants, they wear lingerie, while we wear PJs, they wear negligees. None more so, it seems, than Brigitte Macron, the glamazon of first ladies – the woman who arranged to be photographed in a blue floral halterneck swimsuit on a Biarritz beach for Paris Match ahead of her husband’s 2016 presidential campaign. Smooth, tanned legs, beachy, undone hair, and the victorious smile of a woman who’s bagged a handsome younger husband, there was a clear resemblance of a confident, carefree “Bardot does Cannes” – the original sex bomb; the epitome of feminine sexuality. This is surely Mme Macron’s unspoken cause, to remind women that they too can be sexy whatever their age. 3. Catherine Deneuve Did any woman in French history have a better blonde blowout than the iconic French film star Catherine Deneuve? If glamour, polish and sex appeal are your watchwords (as they evidently are with Brigitte Macron), why wouldn’t you take a leaf out of Deneuve’s playbook and infuse your hair with buttery blondeness, volume and lift? Of course, expensive, high-maintenance hair is a terribly middle-aged French woman pursuit, because they all know that, as ably demonstrated by Mme Deneuve, big blonde hair is a fast track to voluptuousness when the body is perhaps less inclined (the Macrons, by the way, are understood to spend €62,000 a year on hair and make-up, as revealed in 2018 by the French Court of Audit). What’s more, a golden crown of bouffy hair creates a perfect frame for wearing more make-up than is strictly necessary. But the Deneuve reference is not just concerned with big hair – or, indeed, their shared love of late Parisian designer Yves Saint Laurent (which the French first lady wore to welcome the king and queen on their state visit, and which Deneuve commissioned for her first meeting with the late Queen Elizabeth II – and which always, always lends an elegant, sophisticated simplicity). It’s about an attitude, one that is cool, sexy and a little edgy, with so much going on beneath the surface. It’s all tres, tres French. 4. Françoise Hardy As any fashion historian will tell you, the French chanteuse Françoise Hardy set the benchmark for wearing leather with effortless chic. In fact, she famously “double leathered” with a black leather biker jacket and black leather trousers while sitting on the back of a motorbike, her luxuriant, fringed hair unfettered by any unsexy safety equipment. Brigitte Macron might not be able to do the motorbike, but she can – and regularly does – do the skinny leather pants. Worn black like Hardy, with yet more of Mme Macron’s beloved sky-high heels, the French first lady ably demonstrates what Theresa May was just never going to grasp – that succeeding with leather, is all about sex. You don’t achieve sex appeal by wearing leather, but rather, you pull off leather when you have an innate ability to deploy some sensuality. Sometimes you just have to leave it to the French. 5. Coco Chanel There surely isn’t a French woman of any standing whose fashion sense isn’t informed by Coco Chanel. And of course, Brigitte Macron would not be doing her job as ambassador-in-chief of French fashion if she were not seen to be wearing plenty of Chanel. But that’s not really the point here. It’s not just about being able to have an ample, Chanel-labelled armoury of classic design, good taste and French chic – as displayed this week when Queen Camilla and the French first lady visited Chanel, Brigitte Macron wearing a red boucle long line jacket from the fashion house (think, as ever, a strong shoulder, a nipped waist and flattering tailoring). Non, it’s about “liberté”. Chanel’s fashion philosophy was about freedom of movement and independence so when Brigitte Macron teams a blazer with jeans (admittedly unlikely on this state visit but clearly in evidence on many a walkabout), you know who paved the way for that. Chanel style is also about ensuring that you are the statement as opposed to your outfit. With Brigitte Macron’s style signature being legs, lashes and a distinct lack of apology for not dressing her age, Coco would surely be proud. 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Fashion influencer and model Wisdom Kaye has spoken out to defend skinny jeans from Gen-Z ridicule. The dated denim has received widespread backlash from younger generations and fashion retail platform VIAVIA only added fuel to the fire when it posted a TikTok on 4 September, in which it interviewed a number of Gen-Zers on which fashion trend “absolutely needs to die”. Multiple interviewees were vehemently against skinny jeans, with one proclaiming: “If you’re rocking skinny jeans, take that sh*t off, go to the thrift, go get some baggy sh*t.” Meanwhile, another added that they looked “especially” bad on men, and one woman said she was trying to convince her boyfriend to stop wearing them. Since its posting, the video has received over 2.1 million views and 5,800 comments, the majority of which consist of millennials defending skinny jeans. Amid the ongoing skinny jeans discourse, fashion model and influencer Wisdom Kaye decided to weigh in on the debate. Kaye posted a video to his 9.2 million followers, stitching VIAVIA’s original video with a video of him styling a pair of black skinny jeans with black boots. The influencer went on to show viewers different ways to style a variety of pants with a skinny fit, including a leather pair and a grey pair. The video racked up over 2.3 million views and over 8,500 comments, with users commended Kaye for illustrating to viewers how skinny jeans could be styled in an updated way. Kaye went on to upload the same TikTok video to X, formerly Twitter, where it received 9.7 million views. “I don’t defend skinny jeans because I love them but becuase I think the hate is stupid,” the model wrote beneath the video. “People swear you can’t look good in them when that’s just not true, I admit typically they’re not styled interestingly but the jeans themselves aren’t the issue. Also baggy does not always equal good.” Kaye highlighted that fashion trends have been cycling in and out at a breakneck speed in recent years, adding that “hating on skinny jeans for being outdated is kinda outdated” when trends are “continuously becoming less relevant as everything is just kinda existing all at once”. @wisdm8 IMAGINE WEARING THESE 🤮🤮 ♬ original sound - Wisdom Kaye Viewers agreed that the baggy versus skinny jeans debate really depended on how the items were styled, while some theorised that some people were hopping onto the hate train simply for the sake of trendiness. “There’s literally nothing wrong with skinny jeans,” one viewer wrote. “It’s just how you style them and the shoes you wear that makes it.” Meanwhile, someone else commented: “People are such conformists. Skinny jeans were in style til last year now suddenly everyone pretends to hate them.” Another added: “All the people hating on skinny jeans are gonna be the first to jump on them as soon as they’re trendy again.” As Y2K fashion continues to establish itself as the fashion era that inspires Gen Z the most, many millennials who grew up during that time will continue to marvel at how quickly some not-so-old trends have come back into play. Many also plan on holding onto their skinny jeans regardless of trends. Read More Love Miu Miu’s ballet flats? Nail the ballerina-inspired style with these similar high-street pairs Hairstylists warn against Sofia Richie’s viral ‘lazy girl’ updo: ‘My least favourite for damage’ Schoolboy almost dies from swallowing magnets for TikTok challenge Woman shares honest review of New York City apartment TikTok mom slammed after making 5-year-old son run in 104 degree heat

Prepping for fall has never looked this good — especially because all of our favorite Fenty Beauty products are on sale. The celebrity-founded makeup and skincare brand knows we’ve got beauty-buying on our minds, that’s why they’ve given us a Fenty Fam Sale you can’t afford to miss. The change in temperatures is the perfect excuse to exchange that peach shade for a burgundy one or replace that lightweight foundation with a more full-coverage option. You don’t have to limit yourself, either. From viral lip treatments and cream blushes to top-rated foundations and contour sticks, when we say everything’s discounted, we really do mean everything. Today through September 25, you can get 25% off sitewide. No promo codes are needed, simply add your faves to cart before your perfect shade sells out completely. Keep reading to see what we’re coveting from this Rihanna-approved sale.

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