“You are the real thing. America’s next It Girl.”
What makes an “It” Girl?
The “It” girl represents something indefinable –
a quality, charisma, or spark that makes her stand out and
captures something of her time.
She’s an eye-catcher, fostering an aesthetic or set of values
that epitomize her cultural moment.
“Zendaya is such an icon.”
“What does it mean to be, like, an actress, model, it girl?”
Throughout generations, the “It” Girl shares common traits
with her predecessors:
a daring fashion sense, a willingness to use her voice,
and a persona that often overwhelms her body of work,
sometimes making her seem famous for being famous.
Her star emerges seemingly overnight, so where does she come from?
“I’m going to be, just, the It Girl. I promise.”
The term “It Girl” was coined in the ‘20s and popularized by
silent film star Clara Bow
who literally embodied the It Girl in the 1927 film “It” –
a silent movie about a shopgirl living in a tenement
who’s elevated to the elite by wealthy men who notice something about her.
Capturing the spirit of the Jazz Age,
Clara Bow set the model for future It Girls who similarly
captured their zeitgeist –
like Paris Hilton, who embodied the consumerism of the 2000s,
“1,500.”
“I’ll take it.”
Marilyn Monroe, the archetype of 1950s glamor and beauty,
“If my mother could only see me now.”
and Kate Moss, poster girl for 90s British fashion.
“When Kate Moss shot to stellar superstardom,
it was widely agreed that fashion hadn’t produced anything like her
since the days of Twiggy.”
So what truly makes a generation’s It Girl?
And who are the It Girls of today?
Here’s our take on this age-old archetype,
and how, by examining her, we can unlock the spirit of
the time when she was “it”.
The “It” Girl appears as a mirror for the cultural moment.
Because of this, she sometimes seems to emerge out of nowhere.
“How can this be your first movie, this big movie with Adam Sandler?”
“I mean, ah, it’s a miracle.”
Although her overnight success story is almost always a myth –
“I didn’t have this overnight success story,
I didn’t have this, like, you know what I’m saying, this hit out the gate.”
– that myth has been an important part of the
It Girl mystique since its origin, generating an enigmatic appeal
and drawing attention to the value she possesses.
The ineffable quality that shoots her to
stratospheric heights changes with the shifting culture:
the It Girls of the UK in the 90s –
socialites like Tara Palmer Tomkinson and Tamara Beckwith,
and supermodels like Kate Moss and Jodie Kidd –
embodied a spirit of hedonism that mirrored the growing mood of optimism
in the nation.
“It’s great to be English, isn’t it?
For a long while, we’ve not been feeling too good about ourselves in this country
and it’s wonderful to see people being thrilled.”
A decade later, reality television and the tabloid press elevated Paris Hilton;
her girly, materialistic persona reflected the idea of famous for being famous,
a socialite who could hang with the hottest celebrities.
Paris wasn’t a total departure from the super-skinny models of the 90s,
but unlike the It Girls of Cool Britannia,
Paris embraced and celebrated consumerism.
Her vapid, ditzy persona helped
re-introduce the classic “dumb blonde” trope,
this time with a subtle wink to the camera.
“Thanks, bitch. Have a great day.”
“This is fun!”
With that mocking self-awareness, she spoke directly to the rise of
reality TV and the tabloid- obsessed culture of the time.
“How was your party, Paris?”
“CD out August 22nd.”
Then, Kim Kardashian’s meteoric rise in the 2010s reflected a cultural shift
away from the rake-thin beauty ideal and towards a beauty standard that
celebrated curves.
She also reflected the shift away from the Paris Hilton era airheadedness and
the glamorization of inherited wealth, towards an emphasis on self-invention,
hard work, and hustle culture
“I have the best advice for women in business:
get your f*cking ass up and work.”
Looking back, the It Girl has always had a pulse on society's emerging trends.
Angela Moore argued that Clara Bow was the perfect
embodiment of the jazz age,
because her nimble agility –
why walk when you can run, dance, or hop –
made her utterly modern.
Edie Sedgwick literally embodied pop culture in the 1960s,
achieving It Girl status after starring in several of Andy Warhol’s short films
and becoming the face of the pop art movement.
“My question is why would you paint a Campbell's soup can?”
“Because it’s a part of the culture.”
For the It Girls of the 2010s,
a carefully controlled social media image was key to their it girl status –
Chrissy Teigen’s irreverent, comic Twitter profile,
or Kendall Jenner’s Instagram face,
or Kim Kardashian’s mission to break the internet.
For over a century now, as culture changes, so too does the It Girl.
But being the face of a generation comes at a cost:
because she so perfectly encapsulates the current,
the It Girl is often blamed for the more negative and shamed aspects
of her era’s attitude.
Phew, trying to keep up with the Kardashians or
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It Girls are beloved for how they embody culture –
“Paris, we love you!”
“Can I– Can I get a picture with you?”
– but they’re also hated for the same thing.
“Paris, over here!”
“I don't get it. What does she do?”
“She's totally spoiled and snobby.”
Kate Moss and the It Girls of the 90s in the UK
reflected larger cultural changes also driven by Britpop stars and
emerging film directors like Danny Boyle and Guy Ritchie.
But it was the It Girls who became the lightning rods for people’s anxieties.
They were too thin, too poorly behaved,
and their style was dubbed Heroin Chic.
“Which came first, the superwaif as modern-day icon,
or the generation of anorexia afflicted girls?”
As the 90s came to an end, Kate Moss was accused of
promoting smoking by the Cancer Research Campaign,
and eventually, even the vice-president of Colombia
blamed her for civil war in his country because she supposedly endorsed the
drug use that fueled the conflict.
In recent years, Meghan Markle became an international It Girl
as people were drawn to her modern-feeling, outspoken style
during her fairytale courtship with Prince Harry –
but her lack of traditionalism soon led to her being viciously demonized
in the British press as the face of millennial entitlement and whininess.
Meghan Markle complained to my boss that I didn’t believe
what she told Oprah Winfrey in that two-hour whine-a-thon
she did with Prince Harry.”
Kim Kardashian has been blamed by medical professionals
for the increase in deaths from the dangerous “Brazilian Butt Lift”
cosmetic surgery.
Even Paris Hilton has retrospectively pointed the finger at herself for the
mental health impacts of social media and influencer culture.
“Everyone says I’m the original influencer,
but sometimes I feel like I helped create a monster.”
To a degree, the controversy is inseparable from the It Girl’s fame.
Emily Ratajkowski’s breakthrough moment was as the beautiful but
anonymous girl in Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines video,
and because she was at the center of a storm of disapproval over the video,
her star as a model and actress rose.
From there, what made her more than just a passing It Girl is how
she leveraged her fame and even eventually branched out
into becoming an essayist and commentator.
“If you ran for president, what would your slogan be?”
“Let’s redistribute wealth in this country.”
It’s hard to separate the It Girl from the culture of the moment,
but in our more fragmented digital age, what even is the cultural moment,
and who are the faces of it?
“This is the year of Lizzo.”
“I mean, it’s the decade, like the 2020s are…
I’m claiming it.”
With the rise of internet subcultures, now there’s arguably not one unifying
trend or fashion that could be represented by one It Girl.
Of course, there’s always been more than one It Girl –
Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan were the ultimate frenemies at
the peak of their stardom.
But unlike previous generations, today’s cohort of It Girls don’t
collectively represent one unified culture.
Instead, each of today’s It Girls represent one part of a collage
of trends that make up our complicated culture.
While Lizzo’s entrance to the music scene depicts today’s emphasis on
body positivity and the value of self-love,
Alexandria Ocasio Cortez’s rise speaks to the growth of
progressive politics and social justice.
And like AOC, another of today’s biggest It Girls, Zendaya, proves
how a commitment to social justice is important to younger generations.
Even as a child star, Zendaya was outspoken about issues of
racial equality –
the only reason she returned to the Disney channel for the final
season of KC Undercover was because of a lack of diversity
on the network at the time.
“I want to be able to be a platform for other people
and other Black creatives to be creative.”
The It Girls of today also reflect this generation’s
obsession with streaming culture.
Billie Eilish’s music reflects the wide range of influences that she’s
been able to draw on growing up in the streaming era:
“I had all my phases,
I had Green Day and My Chemical Romance,
The Strokes and Red Hot Chilli Peppers,
and then it was like Tyler and Marina and the Diamonds
and Lana Del Rey, and everything.”
And It Girl Olivia Rodrigo reflects another value of the streaming era:
nostalgia.
Because we have such easy access to the music of decades past,
older artists can easily be rediscovered and celebrated anew.
“The thought of all these really young people hearing the song
for the first time and discovering it is, well, I think it’s so special.”
Olivia says her biggest influences are bands like Paramore,
Alanis Morisette, and Avril Lavigne –
artists who were making music before she could walk.
“Alt-rock songs like that, like The Killers and The Cure
and stuff like that.”
Today’s It Girls of the fashion world similarly
reflect an embrace of eclecticism –
cherry picking, remixing, and repackaging nostalgia into
something new and exciting.
“The first reference for this makeup look was Kate Moss,
which, I mean, how can you go wrong with that?”
Anya Taylor Joy was elevated to icon status for her daring fashion sense
and the variety of her movie roles.
“Legally, my ethnicity is fashion week.”
Julia Fox, too, has deliberately varied the looks she drops,
saying she provides a “visual service” to the public.
The It Girl is tied to the moment in cultural history that she represents –
when the moment changes, so too does the It Girl.
Because there have been so many It Girls over the years,
it’s easy to think that they’re disposable, or that they’re
less valuable than other artists who seem to transcend the time they’re in.
But It Girls are important cultural markers:
they embody the spirit of their time, and they live to tell the tale.
“You can’t do the brand forever. You’re gonna age out.”
“No…I’ll just be like this forever.” [Laughs]
To understand the popular culture of any given moment,
you don’t need to look further than the It Girl.
And for that, she’s worth celebrating.
“Everything visual, fashion, things people say…
I can’t keep myself from it.”
“Thanks for watching The Take.”
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