She said things we shouldn’t repeat, did things we shouldn’t condone, and somehow ended up in every conversation about style anyway. That’s Brigitte Bardot. She made nothing, fashion-wise, popularized everything, and your closet still knows her name. Her voice might’ve been loud, occasionally unbearable and all toο often wrong, but the trends were too, and surprisingly, they still are.
Bardot Neckline
Brigitte Bardot just shrugged, literally, and the world lost its mind. Shoulders out, mass hysteria, and voilà, the Bardot neckline. Of course it existed long before her, Regency women wore it with empire-waists, Victorians wore it with corsets, Marilyn wore it with sequins, and to be fair, this trend probably predates them all, hello, pirates. Bardot just did it messier, casually, effortlessly, and here we are still naming shoulders after her.
Bikini
She didn’t invent the bikini, obviously, humans had been exposing torsos for centuries, but after And God Created Woman (1956), magazines screamed, parents fainted, and the beach became a battlefield of shocked glances. Swimwear turned into a symbol of casual sexiness, and the very idea that showing skin could be both normal and scandalous at the same time. And decades later, your summer wardrobe still pays homage.
Gingham Dress
The fabric of picnics, school uniforms, and boring afternoons. After her wedding in 1959, suddenly everyone was staring at a dress that previously said “bake pies and behave” but suddenly became a flirtation manifesto. Thanks, Bardot. Messy hair, a twirl or two, and suddenly the plaid country girl look was good enough to warrant its own section in fashion history.
Ballerina Flats
Flat shoes. Imagine the horror. Could just be the ultimate crime in a world that obsessed with heels. Enter Bardot, who decided comfort was the way to go. Partnering with Repetto, she aimed to make those ballerinas acceptable, but instead made them a must-have. You can be feminine, sexy, and shockingly practical at the same time, and we’re all still pretending that flats require courage to wear.
Little white dresses, flats, checks, head scarves, basically the French girl aesthetic… the sacred relics of the Bardot era. Bare shoulders and messy bangs, possibly the most important contributions to civilization since sliced bread. All thanks to someone who mostly smiled, at least she looked happy. To history’s most casual revolutionary, thanks for the push I guess.
