The Sartorialist
The thing about Style Icons, as I have mused before, is that you don't necessarily have to want to emulate their style in order to bask in their brilliance. For me, Emmanuelle Alt is a perfect example of this. Never, not in a million years, not if I had legs like Geraldine Saglio and the french insouciance of a Roitfeld would I even contemplate leaving my house in most of what Alt wears. And, this from a girl who is a self-confessed minimalist acolyte with just a smattering of the francophile. Granted, I do like the masculine/feminine fusion in her outfits (I am always drawn to the menswear section more so than the womenswear), the bretons, the le smokings for evening wear. But that french sexiness - the leather pants, the studded sandals, the strong Balmainia shoulders, the zebra print pants, the studs, they're just not for me. But she is unquestionably one of my 'Style Icons', such as they are. Not for what she wears, but for how she wears it. Not for her clothes, but for the way she carries them off. In Emmanuelle Alt I am inspired to supreme confidence in whatever I wear.
It is silly, but I think Alt personifies that "je ne sais quoi" about fashion. Most of what she wears is fairly stock standard. But on her it looks like royalty. And that is what is truly inspiring. Sure, you can be told a million times that the "je ne sais quoi" can only be born, not bought, but I think that's not quite right. Because i think the most untouchable, most misunderstood thing about Alt is her confidence. She is just as confident in gorilla fur coats and sparkly evening dresses as she is in ripped jeans, cone-heeled boots and a baggy tee shirt. She wears Balmain as if it is Bonds, and Gap as if it is Gucci. Sure, it helps to be reed thin, and French, and working for Paris Vogue. But at the same time, it is a confidence that you can find with all women who are real "style icons". No true style icon has problems with insecurity. So when I look at photos of Emmanuelle Alt I'm not looking to copy her charcoal jeans, her Alaia sandals, her snakeskin jackets from Pucci - even though they are very beautiful indeed. I'm looking to try and copy just a little bit of that Gallic confidence, the way you walk, talk and inhabit a character of style. That is truly iconic.
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