who gets to be a fashion girl?
and is Beyoncé one?
Who gets to be a fashion girl? In certain circles of the internet, this topic is one being highly debated. From my research, this all seems to have started with a very popular thread shared by Melissa Michelle (@CLOTHESMINDED) where she broke down her theory that every celebrity can be sorted into one of two groups: Fashion Dolls and Fashion Girls. She provided her definition of both along with plenty of examples for each.
I saw the thread about a month ago and forgot about it until I was reading Rachel Tashjian’s brilliant article about Beyoncé’s approach to fashion. In it, she mentions the controversy brewing in the Beyhive concerning her status as a fashion girl. Some believe she is well dressed but never gets the credit, but others think she just isn’t stylish. Shocked by this, I decided to look into it and ended up back at Melissa’s thread where she calls Beyoncé, “probably one of the best dolls to ever do it.”
While I completely disagree with Melissa, I find the discourse fascinating. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. What makes a modern fashion girl? Where is the line drawn between serving a look and selling out? Does wearing recognizable runway looks signal that you are a fashion insider or an advertisement? In the age of contractual dressing, who stands out?
Personally, I don’t believe in this girl vs doll dichotomy. I think there are fashion girls and then celebrities wearing clothes. At the end of the day, everyone has to be dressed and fashion is a business. I think that the celebrities who make an impact are the ones who have a true understanding of the power their clothes have on their image. Fashion girl is a slippery term, one bestowed to and taken away from celebrities by fans on social media. It can be hard to pin down what exactly makes someone a fashion girl or not, but I think a big part of it comes down to how much they care. While we might assume everyone is trying to look like a fashion insider, some people just want to look nice and move on, and that is fine!
When anyone is interviewed on a red carpet or asked about something they’ve worn in the past, it quickly becomes obvious who really cares about fashion and who doesn’t. If they go into the backstory of the look, talk about the process of designing or choosing it, name the person who designed it (not just the brand), or mention anything about the collection it’s from or details about the construction, you are most likely dealing in fashion girl territory. If they seem like they are reciting a script about the look, trying to make sure that they say the names they need to say, and praying that no one asks any follow-up questions, they are probably just a celebrity wearing clothes.
Some say that the fashion girl thing is relatively new, an invention of the last few years. The conversations we have about it may have changed, but celebrities have always had strong ties to the fashion industry and many have served as designer’s muses. Take Audrey Hepburn & Givenchy, Liza Minnelli & Halston, and Madonna & Gaultier as a few of the best examples. The difference now is that the general public has the knowledge to be able to call this what it is, great marketing. Does that diminish the iconic looks created in those partnerships or insinuate that they were purely monetary/contractual? Absolutely not, but I’m sure fashion Twitter (or X?) would have had bitchy things to say about it. In the current world of no nuance, aligning yourself with a brand makes you a walking advertisement, which is “not fashion-girl behavior.” Are we going to say none of these women have personal style? Not on my watch!
Back to Beyoncé: Is she a fashion girl?
Beyoncé is absolutely a fashion girl. If she wasn’t before (and I think she was), she has certainly cemented her place as one during the Renaissance era. From the couture collection co-created with Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing to the Etsy disco cowboy hat, the past year has been full of iconic style moments. She has a real reverence for fashion and it shows in every meticulously considered detail.
The Renaissance World Tour has become a worldwide fashion showcase with new looks being debuted nearly every night. I was lucky enough to see the tour at Metlife and the anticipation of seeing what she would come out wearing next was thrilling. I am sure that everyone in my section loved getting to hear me scream “oh my god the FASHION!! She is so insane for this!!” every single time she came back out in a new look. I am very fun at concerts, can’t you tell?
Vogue called the tour “fashion diplomacy at its finest,” citing her choice to honor each place she is performing by featuring looks by designers hailing from that country, as well as her Juneteeth show where every single look was made exclusively by Black designers. One of the designers featured was Beyoncé herself, wearing one of the many Ivy Park looks we’ve seen on the tour so far. On her Instagram, she said that her inspirations for the pink Ivy Park look were Studio 54, Bob Mackie, and the disco era.
One of the things that has really stuck with me from that Washington Post piece is the sentiment that you can’t look at her and see any one designer’s influence. In short, Beyoncé looks like Beyoncé. The designers making the clothes are diverse and expansive, but the end product is always her. This sartorial singularity is accomplished by very few, especially in the modern age. You could make the case that she isn’t a fashion girl at all, she is an icon.
The Renaissance tour still has plenty of dates left, including her hometown shows in Houston where I am sure she will pull out all the stops, so there are more incredible looks to come. I just could not stop thinking about the thread, and the fashion girl discourse has fully taken over my brain. I have more thoughts on other people who were on the thread (or weren’t included in the conversation at all), but I will save those for another day. If you have any strong opinions about this topic, Beyoncé, the current state of celebrity dressing, or literally anything else please share those with me, I would love to hear them!
I hope everyone enjoyed my ramblings on fashion girls and if you didn’t, you might be just someone who wears clothes… sorry! Either way, subscribe because you never know what beans I’ll be spilling next!