Lee Heidhues 7.24.2023
Jane Birkin died a week ago and the story of her iconic life continues to unfold.
At the age of 40 Jane Birkin took a turn in life. Away from the fashion pop star of Je’ Taime persona towards a more politically aware life. A decision which only enhanced her reputation and credibility for the next 36 years.
Maintaining her sense of style while immersing herself in the real World of everyday people.
Excerpted from The Wall Street Journal 7.24.2023
Following the death of Jane Birkin on Sunday at age 76, Instagram was flooded with photos of the Brit-in-Paris singer in her photogenic 1960s and 1970s youth. She was a style icon everyone could agree on, be they designers such as Saint Laurent’s Anthony Vaccarello and Simon Porte Jacquemus to French President Emmanuel Macron. In numerous tributes, we were reminded of her risqué, girlish fashion moments: the lacy dress worn backward, the completely sheer gowns, the denim mini shorts and the straw basket she used as a handbag.
But that leggy, pouty period, coinciding roughly with her relationship with Serge Gainsbourg from 1968 to 1980, will not be Birkin’s only style legacy. Her later decades, particularly her 40s, 50s and 60s, are an inspiration to women hoping to age without succumbing to plastic surgery and conventionality.
After 40, Birkin abandoned her famous babydoll look for menswear, a makeupless face and unlaced sneakers. “As time went by, I did less and less,” she told British Elle a few years ago.
Birkin’s turning point from ingénue to self-possessed, confident artist was her 1987 concert at the Bataclan in Paris, when she was 41 years old. She was then dating Jacques Doillon, a filmmaker who encouraged her to leave behind what he called the “gimmicks” of her youth, from the basket (which he ran over with his car) to the makeup and minidresses.
The less Birkin seemed to care about Fashion with a capital F, the more it embraced her as a pinnacle of chic.
In 2017, she sang at the concert hall Le Palace in Paris for a Gucci fashion show, wearing a simple suit as models in over-the-top multicolored lace and sequined looks marched around her. She often wore Saint Laurent alongside her daughter Charlotte Gainsbourg in recent years, but stuck to white shirts and black suit separates.
Top photo: The late Jane Birkin photographed in 1989. ‘I think at 40 years old, I was at my best, really,’ she once said. PHOTO: JEAN-CLAUDE DEUTSCH/GETTY IMAGES
https://www.wsj.com/articles/jane-birkin-women-over-40-49e913ef?mod=style_arts_lead_pos2
Lee's Perspective 