i’ll be your mirror, reflect what you are, in case you don’t know

By now, you all probably know that I am obsessed with Brigitte Bardot. (And if you didn't, then - Hello,  I am the Dolly Rocker Girl and I am a Bardot-a-holic). Brigitte Bardot has served as the inspiration for female style (and male fantasies) for over a half-century. The Beatle boys' pride and joy was to have a girl that looked like the actress - John even encouraged Cynthia (a natural brunette) to have a Bardot makeover, and apparently George wasn't quiet about how much he loved that his bird Pattie looked like Brigitte (as recounted by Cyn herself in her first book, "A Twist of Lennon"). Models Claudia Schiffer and Georgia May Jagger, as well as actress-turned-designer Ashley Olsen all name Brigitte Bardot as their main fashion influence. Even La Moss, the 'most stylish woman of the decade' (per Vogue U.S.) looks to BB for inspiration. 

I think the reason that Brigitte has been countlessly cited as a fashion icon is her ability to combine sultry sexpot with sophisticated French femininity. Brigitte was a bombshell in the truest sense - she owned her sexuality, yet never flaunted it. Whereas other women were running around in dresses cut up to there and scooped down to here, Brigitte could look absolutely drop-dead in a pair of checkered cigarette pants, ballet flats, and a simple cardigan. 

I look to BB for inspiration when it comes to makeup, clothes, a lot of stuff (maybe not political opinions, especially in light of her recent court cases in France) - and I know I'm not the only one. 

This is 'Then and Now: the Bardot Edition'

First off is the Bardot pose - legs clad in black tights crossed over each other, smoky eyes, a teased mane, and little else! This pose has been replicated by the likes of Lindsay Lohan (on the cover of Entertainment Weekly), Elle Macpherson (in a 1994 issue of Playboy magazine), and more recently by Rihanna and Gisele Bundchen

Editorials have often drawn inspiration from Brigitte's undeniably feminine, sultry style

For their 'Le Rouge' campaign, Chanel looked to Brigitte's film Le Mépris (Contempt) for inspiration. Model Julie Ordon takes on Bardot's role in the advertisements, reenacting the opening scene of the film - she asks the camera, in the same style as Bardot does her onscreen lover, "Tell me ... do you love my lips?" 

Other models try their hand at recreating another of Brigitte's famous looks from the Jean-Luc Godard film. Her black-and-white ensemble, matched with a thick bandana and even thicker eyeliner, is one of the most famous from Le Mépris 

Welsh songstress Duffy often channels bombshell starlets of decades past - here she does her best Brigitte Bardot, complete with a modest (yet still utterly va-va-voom) black dress, long slightly wavy blonde hair, and Bardot's signature black cat eye-and-nude lip combination 

For the cover of Redbook, Faith Hill stepped into the shoes of three of the most imitated and admired women of the 20th century: Grace Kelly, Twiggy, and Brigitte Bardot

Vanessa Paradis looks like she could double for Brigitte Bardot in her wigged-out scenes in Le Mépris. With their feline features and insouciant French personalities, the two women resemble each other considerably - even without those short black wigs 

Many sexpot singers of recent years have mimicked Brigitte's carefree comfortable style. Kylie Minogue does it best I think - she keeps it fresh and modern, but the nod to her style icon isn't unnoticeable. Madonna ... not so much

Title: from "I'll Be Your Mirror" (The Velvet Undergound & Nico)

they'll name a city after us

Daily Inspirations: a hodgepodge of images I find exciting, enthralling, beautiful, captivating, funny, or smart. They probably won’t make sense altogether, but our most exciting thoughts never do.

Love this photo of Jean Shrimpton and Dudley Moore, shot by David Bailey for the June 1965 issue of Vogue UK

Following up the previous Audrey post, how can you not love her as the daring darling Holly Golightly?

Vanessa Paradis with a guitar, a floppy felt hat, a lace dress, white over-the-knee socks, and maddeningly gorgeous makeup and hair. In the immortal words of Rachel Zoe, "I die."

I am such a Rose, it's not even funny.

Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks - my what a height difference! Imagine trying to get the two of them in the same shot!

You know when you see a photograph not of you, but it perfectly describes you during a certain time in your life? Yeah, this is me in the early nineties.

Why I envious this photograph: 1) I wish I could be that bendy, 2) I can't even play the piano right-side up, let alone upside down on the top of a piano, 3) I want to learn how to make my hair do that, 4) I do not have the body to pull off that outfit, 5) those are some may-jah shoes.

Club kids and Hindu gods, what's wrong with that? But seriously... there are arms everywhere (and not just coming from Vishnu).

I will forever be obsessed with the life of Marie Antoinette. That, coupled with my debilitating desire to live inside of a Sofia Coppola film, means that this film will own my life. Forever.

Betsey. She's my best friend. I adore her in so many ways. Betsey, can we just run away together and live in Betseyville forever?

The five Ames Sisters in 1929 in order: Dorothy, Alice, Marjorie, Mary Eloise, and Barbara. Marjorie looks a lot like Mariel Hemingway to me. And I'm kinda obsessed with Barbara's expression.

I don't know, but I love it.

Louise Brooks. Need I say more?

I absolutely adore this. I wish to be a train wreck with someone one day.

I don't know why this was such a revolutionary thought to me.

My forever, undying love of all things Alice. Again, like Sofia Coppola, I dream of living inside Lewis Carroll's world. Gasp! Imagine if instead of Tim Burton, Sofia Coppola had made a version of Alice in Wonderland. It would be so dreamy and unreal.

I love the idea of going to Coney Island. I've never gone before, but I would want it to be all vintage-y and hokey like in the 1940s. Since I know that's not the case today, I won't ever go because I don't want to spoil the dream.

while mona lisa and mad hatters, sons of bankers, sons of lawyers, turn around and say "good morning" to the night

I've always loved hats. Even as a little girl, I never considered my outfit to be complete until I had put on my glitter plastic heels and some variation of a hat on my head. I rocked bonnets (during my hairless toddler days), berets, top hats, newsboy caps, and turbans. I was the suburban five-year-old equivalent of Little Edie of Grey Gardens. Perhaps my love of hats had something to do with my early obsession with The Secret World of Alex Mack, where the main character seemed to have a bevy of hats in her possession (she could also turn into a silver puddle on command, but that's another story). Or perhaps it was a genetic trait inherited from my former hippie mother, who has boxes of polaroids from her younger years where she was sporting all sorts of eccentric accessories atop her cranium.

My favorite style is the wide-brimmed hat. There is something quite alluring about a wide-brimmed hat - it adds an element of bohemian mystery to one's look. Unfortunately, due to my deceptively large head, I cannot wear most store purchased hats. So I will take solace in these photos of several lovely ladies from the past and present:

Mia Farrow is photographed in full Daisy Buchanan costume, including a white afternoon summer hat with dried flowers and lace, on the set of The Great Gatsby.

Sienna Miller with her then-beau (and now again current-beau) Jude Law on set of their film Alfie in a fantastically floppy hat. Though I'm personally not a fan of the film itself, Sienna's role as Nikki, a mentally unstable party girl, made me fall in love with Miss Miller.

Like mother, like daughter: Lisa Bonet and her equally as fashionable spawn Zoe Kravitz stroll the streets of New York in two fantastic head-toppers.

With the perfect hat on top of your head, any moment can seem beautifully romantic. Photographer Sarah Moon captures a lovely moment for the 1972 Pirelli calendar.

The fantastic Kate Moss is seen in a wide-brimmed fedora and her signature unkempt hairstyle.

Mischa Barton, who cites Marianne Faithfull and Anita Pallenberg as her main style idols, is photographed for Nylon magazine in an early 1970s-inspired shoot.

In artfully-applied hair and makeup, Jean Shrimpton looks the epitome of chic in a black turtleneck and black hat.

A large hat enthusiast, Marianne Faithfull doubles up on wide-brimmed hats to complete her classic bohemian look.

Wearing several Hollywood It-Girl staples, Vanessa Hudgens walks the Los Angeles streets in an American Apparel hat and Balenciaga motorcycle bag.

Born and bred in Hollywood, actress Tina Aumont looks adorable in her tan felt hat, brown suede vest, and purple top, paired with her signature kohl-rimmed eyes.

French model Vanessa Paradis looks bohemian chic in her wide-brimmed hat and ivory lace top.

The late Francoise Dorleac strikes a pose in a wide-brimmed hat and large knit shirt.

Maria Schneider looks seventies chic with costar Marlon Brando on set of Last Tango in Paris.

Muse to extravagant hat designer Philip Treacy, the late Isabella Blow is captured in her typical eccentrically chic style.

Edie Sedgwick fills every bit her role as a style icon in a black straw hat and Mongolian fur coat during her Ciao! Manhattan.

Zooey Deschanel looks precious in her 1930s-inspired hat.

Brigitte Bardot poses for the camera in a floppy felt hat and her signature sex kitten makeup.

Anna Karina looks fab in her feminine tailored suit and hat during the mid-1960s.

Paris-born model Charlotte Martin, former flame of Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page, looks hippie chic in a floppy hat adorned with dried flowers.

the big bang theory

I don't know if it's because of too many late night viewings of (500) Days of Summer, or if it's because of these recently released pictures from InStyle, but my desire to have choppy fantastic fringe has come back full force. Not to say I'm completely against a naked forehead, but I can deny that a girl with blunt bangs and painted eyes looks utterly gorgeous.

Here are some photos of girls from yesterday and today:

Penelope Tree, the epitome of blunt bangs and painted eyes

"Why yes, Pattie, your hair does look fab..."

Cher (avec Sonny) sporting heavy fringe in '68

The lovely Brigitte, with a healthy tan and even healthier bangs

Francoise Dorleac, the late sister of Catherine Deneuve, looking gorgeous with her eye-skimming trim

Style maven Susie Bubble, looking utterly precious with her fringe

Sienna Miller as Nikki in Alfie, rocking a haircut that spawned a million admirers

Jane Birkin, the possessor of the most enviable fringe in history

Serge Gainsbourg prodigy France Gall lives up to her innocent image with her blonde bangs

French model (and Johnny Depp baby mama) Vanessa Paradis looks like paradise with her chic blunt cut

Daisy Lowe, the rebel model who walks as many nightclub entrances as runways, rocks the bad girl essential: choppy, uneven fringe

The recently-turned brunette socialite/designer Nicole Richie (wearing her own Winter Kate dress) shows off her equally as stylish bangs

Frequent Vogue cover girl Jean Shrimpton looks the picture of elegance with chandelier earrings and perfectly trimmed fringe

Indie darling Zooey Deschanel is rarely ever seen without her brunette bangs

The always beautiful Marianne Faithfull captured in a candid shot from the mid-sixties, modeling her requisite forehead fringe

Kate Beckinsale, channeling the lovely Anna Karina in Roller Girl, sports long waves and blunt bangs