Forget Emily In Paris, This Is The Only French Style Inspiration You Need To Pay Attention To

So, we now know that Emily is staying put in Paris for a little while longer. This week Netflix announced that it was renewing everyone’s favourite guilty pleasure binge-watch for a second season.

Forget about the Emily-Gabriel-Camille love triangle, what we really want to know is whether the titular heroine will manage to shake off her ‘la plouc’ rep, ditch the novelty phone caseand inherit any of Sylvie’s sophistication come the sophomore season? Hmmm. If she does fancy giving her wardrobe a bit of a Frenchover, however, we would advise Emily to look to another Parisian for inspiration: Brigitte Bardot.

Indisputably iconique, Bardot was born in Paris in 1934. She initially set her sights on being a ballet dancer. However, after appearing in a 1949 fashion show and magazine, she was spotted by the actor and director Roger Vadim. He went on to become her first husband (of four), and cast her in his 1956 film And God Created Woman. Before retiring in 1973 – to become an animal rights activist – she had appeared in almost 50 films, including Jean-Luc Godard’s spectacularly stylish 1963 masterpiece Le Mépris, and recorded over 60 songs.

Even if your tastes are more Netflix romcom than French New Wave cinema, you will know that BB – as she is known – was born to be a bombshell. With her signature bouffant bed hair, cat-eye makeup and sulky pout (usually with a cigarette hanging out), Bardot naturally, easily inhabited her sexuality.

Bardot’s style only served to heighten her status as one of the 1960s most irresistible icons, and is as desirable today as it ever was. Her sexy-chic look had an enviably effortless quality. Sure, it’s hard to mimic, but not impossible (looking suitably moody is a good start). Just break down the components: mini skirts and shorts, streamlined tailoring and snug knits, Capri pants and ballet pumps. Knee-high boots were worn on repeat as were floppy hats.

The glamour is there (see her fondness with animal print coats) but it is pulled off with a laissez-faire, barefoot ease – quite literally in 1967 when she rocked up in a Rolls Royce, sans shoes, to a party thrown by her then husband Gunter Sachs at Paris’s Maxim’s restaurant. And modern brides with an aversion to frou-frou confections would be advised to check out the short and sweet gingham dress she wore to marry Jacques Charrier in 1959 (PSA: see also her friend Bianca Jagger's 1972 wedding skirt suit).

If you head has been turned by the inexplicable revival of sexy fashion this season, Bardot should be your muse. Skimpy pieces weren’t solely reserved for the South of France. The sheer Paco Rabanne dress she wore to an awards ceremony in 1969 needs to be top of your moodboard, ditto thigh-high boots and leather tailoring. Ooh la la.

Of course, the sexiest thing of all is to be yourself, which is exactly what Bardot has always done. Second to that? Reconsider that novelty phone case. Emily, we’re looking at you.