“ Hello London !” said Lana Del Rey when performing at Leeds festival over the weekend, dressed in a floral slip that cost no more than £50 . The musician perhaps experienced less confusion surrounding her whereabouts when she was photographed in Paris. That is because – much like Selena Gomez and Nicole Kidman before her – she used its streets as an onramp to play the archetypal “French girl”.
Having just performed at Rock en Seine music festival, Del Rey was photographed strolling through the historic Rue Royale in jean shorts, a red tank top and white Mary Jane ballerinas from Sam Edelman, as if to semaphore the colours of the tricolore. She also had what looked like a walkman (?) or an aural walking guide (?) clasped between her hands. How analogue! And very French.
“It’s seen as a form of nonchalance, and that freedom of being is what people find attractive,” said model Caroline de Maigret on the allure of the French girl back in June. (See: Del Rey’s “windswept” hair and Chanel rucksack.) “She’s the girl who looks like she’s just rolled out of bed and doesn’t care what people say about her.
That is something that I really identify with, looking like I’m the one who has spent the least time in front of the mirror when I show up somewhere.” Emily be damned..